What Does Self-Love Look Like? –Richard’s Commentary
“Love creates. Love bonds. Love attracts and holds securely. Love frees. Love develops and Love lets go. Love releases bonds that no longer serve.”
When I first read Rosemary’s “litany” about Love, Paul’s letter to the Corinthians came to mind, that often used text in Christian weddings: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking. It is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.” (Quoted from the NIV Bible published by Zondervan.)
While these lists of what Love looks like are superficially very different, they certainly are parallel. Rosemary’s list is about creation and development. There are bonds in Love but those bonds need to serve, not hinder growth. And Paul’s description of Love can certainly apply to creative development, growth. His words almost more appropriately apply to the Love between parent and child; there is a definite paternal quality to his list which likely reflected his feelings toward the Corithians.
Then how do these descriptions of Love apply to Self-Love, the main topic of Rosemary’s post? Creation and development are key in Rosemary’s list. And I believe this is very true for Self-Love to grow and flourish. As humans we can never stop growing, Life is about learning our lessons. And these lessons are all about the evolution of Consciousness. The explosive creation of the Universe, out of Love, initiated this entire evolutionary expansion we find ourselves in the midst of. If we were loved into existence then isn’t it incumbent on us to continue that love-stream?
Then look at what Paul says in the context of Self-Love: it is all about development, growth of a child. What if we apply these actions of patience, kindness, recording no wrongs toward ourselves? This creates an environment for learning our lessons, for expanding our consciousness and contributing to the evolution of Consciousness.
Paul’s and Rosemary’s litanies about Love turn out to be highly parallel and mutually supportive!
And what if we treat ourselves as they both implore? Rosemary says “Love releases bonds that no longer serve.” And Paul says Love “keeps no record of wrongs.” These words are describing forgiveness. And, for me, Self-Love and self-forgiveness are closely bound. There can’t be one without the other. I can only love myself from the capacity to forgive myself. And I can only forgive myself from that secure base of Self-Love.
When I am feeling low I sometimes need to drag out that “record of wrongs” I keep on myself and remember they are past wrongs that I need to let go; I need to release those “bonds that no longer serve.” This is a recurring theme for me; forgiving myself is at the base of picking myself up by my own bootstraps.
“Love is kind, it is not rude, it is not easily angered.” “Love frees.” I need to apply these words to me, often and always. Then perhaps I’ll more easily know what Self-Love does look like. And then, too, I’ll be contributing more to the evolution of Consciousness!
What does Self-Love look like for you?
ROSEMARY’S EXPLORATION: What Does Self-Love Look Like?
For each individual the specifics of Self-Love will differ, but the underlying energy is the same.
Love is a very high vibration, much higher than Romance, with which many people confuse Love. The energy of Pure Love is the vibrational frequency of the unifying force of the Universe. Love creates. Love bonds. Love attracts and holds securely. Love frees. Love develops and Love lets go. Love releases bonds that no longer serve.
These statements are true for every element in the Universe, from the smallest particle of matter to the energy of a human being to the largest planets, stars, galaxies. Love is the strongest force in the Universe.
All Love flows from Self-Love. The Universe-before-the-Universe so loved itself that it exploded into the Universe that you are experiencing at this time in the 21st Century. Everything that exists in this Universe was created out of energy potential of the Love that existed in that explosion of Self-Love. Every Universe came from that same energy.
In the life of every human being, there must be enough Self-Love to explode energy – that is the creative force energy – to manifest dreams into reality. If there is not enough Self-Love, then energy is sucked into oneself without the pure expression of Love energy in the outer world.
Those who exist with little or no Self-Love cannot manifest their high vibration dreams and desires.
All Love blossoms out of Self-Love. If you have a high enough level of this Self-Love then you cannot help but overflow into sharing that Love as Creative Energy in the world around you.
No relationship improves by working on it without also elevating one’s level of Self-Love. No situation – job, career, financial, legal, etc. – will improve before the person involved increases the level of Self-Love within.
What does this look like?
For one person, Self-Love might appear as eating a healthier diet. For another, it might be taking time to meditate or journal or walk in Nature. For someone else, Self-Love may mean severing a friendship, ending a relationship or quitting a job.
One person might need to speak their truth aloud. Another might need to stay quiet and change their situation.
The high vibration of Self-Love eclipses lashing out to hurt another but that doesn’t mean that others might not choose to feel hurt or even to play the victim in the situation. Self-Love leads one to stand in their own truth no matter what happens outside and around them. There is no intention to hurt another and yet there is also no responsibility for the reception one receives when standing in Self-Love.
Self-Love is not the same as Self-Care but all Self-Care develops out of Self-Love if it is healthy care. One does not rebel or feel guilty when Self-Care stems from Self-Love. There is a neutral character to this Self-Care—it just IS because it is based in Self-Love.
Ask yourself if you Love yourself enough to make choices from a place of Self-Love. Are you willing to look inside yourself and to love every part that you find there? Are you open to loving even those parts that you are wishing to change, simply because they are YOU and they have served you in some way up to this point?
Self-Acceptance and Self-Care come from Self-Love. As the Universe loved itself into existence, so should your Life be a reflection of great Self-Love. If you are unhappy about some element of your Life, then focus on increasing your level of Self-Love so that your Life can change to reflect that higher level of Love vibration.
Love your Life into existence as you desire, letting it blossom forth from Self-Love.
PS: In honor of the Equinox this week Rosemary is offering a Spring Cleaning Special – a big discount on your Scientific Hand Analysis Session — $100 off! This is the time to learn about your Soul Purpose and the gifts you’ve been given to manifest that Purpose in your life. If you’re ready to leap forward and take advantage of those expectations then send Rosemary an email and she’ll give you the discount code for your Scientific Hand Analysis Session. Get your Spring Cleaning done by clearing away the questions you have about ‘Why am I here?’ and ‘What are my next steps?’! rosemary@TheScientificMystic.com
Need more information on Scientific Hand Analysis? Find it here!
ROSEMARY’S INSPIRATION: Love Yourself into Your Greatness!
Here’s Rosemary’s video for the week: Love Yourself into Your Greatness!
PS: Are you interested in the subject of “Life after Life”? Rosemary did an interview with BlogTalkRadio program, Explore the Afterlife, the other day. Check out the recording here!
Monday’s Poem: Consensus Reality?
With the Spring Equinox coming this week my mind is on balance. I selected this poem for eqinox-Monday in a wistful recall of what once was “fair and balanced”!
Consensus Reality?
Perception is reality.
Mine or yours?
Consensus seems quite thin
These days.
Who’s right, who’s up, who’s in?
Adjustment is needed now.
Ours or theirs?
Who’s ready to give in
These days?
Not us, not them, no win.
Balance seems a thing long gone;
Fairness need not apply.
Maat is sorely stressed
These days.
Consensus fails the test!
©2013 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.
Are You Expecting? –Richard’s Commentary
The possibilities are endless! And this is exactly what I was hoping for. So, yes, I’m expecting some wonderful possibility to emerge this Spring! What about you?
This past Saturday I passed my Level 1 Qigong evaluation and am now certified to teach Jeff Primack’s base level of his Qi Revolution. Jeff’s goal is to expand the number of teachers of Qigong in the US; he is a true believer in this ancient form of exercise. And it has been pretty clearly documented as a superior approach to health and longevity. Here’s just one citation:
“In the early 1980′s, scientists in China began to study the medical benefits claimed for qigong. Since then, research on hundreds of medical applications of qigong have been reported in the Chinese literature. Of special interest … are clinical reports of the medical benefits of qigong that claim to retard or reverse some diseases associated with aging.”
–Kenneth Sancier Ph. D.
And here is an excellent definition of Qigong by Dr. Kathleen Hall:
“Qigong is an ancient Chinese practice that creates health by balancing the chi, or vital energy, in your body. Qigong is about discovering one’s true balance.
“Kaiser Permanente, the largest health maintenance organization (HMO) in the country, offers Qigong to their patients. They report they began Qigong with their chronic pain patients and had such great results they are now providing these classes for all health care plan members.”
With teachers and practitioners like Jeff Primack beginning to spread the word I think we will soon be seeing Qigong everywhere.
I’ve been practicing two forms of Qigong for about a year now. And I can honestly say I feel great, I have lost weight, I am sleeping well, and I feel much less stressful about life than I did a year ago.
And now the challenge begins. I am motivated to get started and only need to set up a class, gather some interested students and get going, right? Well, maybe it’s not that simple; but I do have a plan and “I am expecting” to step out in confidence and begin to bring this ancient longevity technology to as many people as I can reach.
This is part of my Spring break-out. Do you have a plan? It’s a great time of the year to review, revise and refresh your activities and assess your direction. Do an internal check on your health; 
Rosemary and I suggest doing a scan of all of your bodies, the physical, of course, and your emotional, mental and spiritual bodies as well. Remember this diagram we published a few months ago?
Do you feel blockage anywhere? In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) “When your chi is blocked or stagnant you get sluggish, slow and can experience illness.” (Dr. Hall) And since Qi is vital energy it can block more than just the physical body. Qigong can release these blocks to relieve the sluggish “hang-over” from winter and provide just the spring-tonic needed to revitalize and nourish.
I have found that Qigong supports all four levels of the body. The movement and breath work are physically beneficial, the meditative aspects of Qigong support both the emotional and mental bodies, and throughout the practice there is a flow and connection to the divine that is deeply spiritual and truly inspiring.
This spring, try something new. Look for Qigong in your area. Give it a go; I think you’ll appreciate it!
And all the best with that!
PS: In honor of the Equinox next week Rosemary is offering a Spring Cleaning Special – a big discount on your Scientific Hand Analysis Session — $100 off! This is the time to learn about your Soul Purpose and the gifts you’ve been given to manifest that Purpose in your life. If you’re ready to leap forward and take advantage of those expectations then send Rosemary an email and she’ll give you the discount code for your Scientific Hand Analysis Session. Get your Spring Cleaning done by clearing away the questions you have about ‘Why am I here?’ and ‘What are my next steps?’! rosemary@TheScientificMystic.com
Need more information on Scientific Hand Analysis? Find it here!
ROSEMARY’S EXPLORATION: Are You Expecting?
Are you ‘pregnant with possibilities’?
The Universe is filled with the potential of answering every dream you can dream for yourself. But what are you expecting?
The energies of attraction are not focused like a laser when they are generated from the emotion of fear. You can’t be worried and manifesting your dreams at the same time, for the laser that you send out like a beacon, attracting like energy into your field, is a laser tuned to that upon which you focus your worry energy, not the energy of your dream.
You do have the power to attract a nightmare but why would you?
When people start studying prosperity and the law of attraction they often do exercises to change their expectations. Recently our daughter started expecting the Universe to give her money. She found a dollar on a store parking lot and sat waiting for the person who had dropped it to return but no one did. She found several dollars in the dryer when she did the laundry. Magic? No. She EXPECTED the Universe to find a way to be generous with her and then she ALLOWED the Universe to choose how to do that.
I often teach that prosperity can come into your field in surprising ways when you are open to it. One way that the Universe gives me money is to have a sale on something that I have to buy. I was going to buy it anyway but I can save money that I would have spent. This just happened for the Color Class that I am teaching. We had selected the binder we wanted to give participants and had found one that came in lots of colors [this IS for a Color Class!]. We developed the prototype workbook with one binder then went back to purchase a larger quantity when we had the final numbers for the class. The binders were on sale and they had all the colors in stock!
This doesn’t represent a lot of money saved but it was going to have to be spent anyway. We expect the Universe to give to us in surprising ways.
What do you expect from your business? Your boss? Your significant other? Your children? Are you expecting challenges, threats, anger, disrespect? And are you getting that?
How adaptable are you to change? Are you willing to ‘go with the flow’?
Sometimes we get so stuck in our expectations that we forget to adapt to changing circumstances or energies. Have you ever thought about changing your expectations? Are you willing to change?
I knew someone who had a business and lost her business partner so was faced with only being able to pay half the rent. It was time to renegotiate the lease and she thought she might have to move. Instead, she focused on staying in the same space and paying half the rent. She focused and prayed and concentrated and expected this. She came out of the meeting with the landlord with a lease at half the rent for the next year! It CAN happen!
Are you, at this point, telling yourself that this only happens for other people, that it doesn’t work that way for you? As Henry Ford said, “Whether you think that you can, or that you can’t, you are usually right.”
Trying being ‘pregnant with possibilities.’ Think that you CAN manifest your dreams. EXPECT the Universe to support you in that manifestation. Then go with the flow and allow the Universe to figure out the ‘how’ of making things happen.
Let this week be your ‘due date’ – expect great things!
PS: Rosemary did an interview with BlogTalkRadio program, Explore the Afterlife, the other day. You can listen to the recording here!
ROSEMARY’S INSPIRATION: Examine Your Expectations
Rosemary’s video for the week: Examine Your Expectations
PS: Rosemary did an interview with BlogTalkRadio program, Explore the Afterlife, the other day. You can listen to the recording here!
New Moon in Pisces; New I Ching Gua
The Moon emerged from conjunction with the Sun at 3:51 pm EDT on Monday. I like to do an I Ching reading on the New Moon to see what energies might have influence over the coming month (or Moonth as it was once known). The Gua I cast using the traditional yarrow stalk method contained three changing lines! Maybe this is appropriate since we are approaching spring here in the Northern Hemisphere and with the Sun moving toward Aries there is always new beginnings, growth, change. Here is the first Gua:
This is Jie/Relief.
The second, third and forth lines were all moving; to avoid confusion I selected the middle line to read as the changing line. It was a yin, six which then changes to a yang line to create the approached Gua:
This is Heng/Long Lasting.
So, what does any of this mean? First, from the last New Moon my Yi moved from “Hindrance” to “Watching” – see my February 11 post. In mid-February I did feel stuck; we were in the mid-winter doldrums so this made some sense to me. Then I could “watch” for opportunities to come along to make changes, to break free of the stuck-ness!
Along came Qi Revolution with Jeff Primack on February 16 and I went; I definitely felt the change, the break out!
Now for this month I get some “relief.” But with that changing line at the third position I need to be attentive to the work; there is no time to let down now. This is directly related to my Qigong practice. As the I Ching says, I need to remain “steadfast and upright” in this practice for it to be effective; otherwise I could lose it.
Then “long lasting” comes into play. This is a propitious Gua. Sincerity, purity and unselfishness are demanded (more about my practice).
The form of this Gua is Thunder (the top trigram) over Wind (the lower trigram). This is a very natural occurrence, and therefore is auspicious. It can represent marriage or partnership with “firm” over “gentle.” And it is favorable to have somewhere to go.
Some warnings also go with this Gua: “never over-react and hold to the central path”; good advice for any partnership! This is an excellent Gua with great news as we approach the Spring Equinox. It is time to move forward with plans; the elements and Heaven and Earth are in alignment. It’s time to move ahead with all possible good intention and energy.
Here’s what Confucius wrote as the main theme of this Gua:
Sun and moon rely on the Tao of Heaven;
Thus can their shining be long lasting.
The four seasons change and transform;
Thus can their production of beings long endure.
The holy sage remains long lasting in his way of life;
Then all things under Heaven are transformed to completion.
Contemplate the Tao of Long Lasting,
To see the nature of Heaven and Earth and of all beings.
[from The Complete I Ching by Taoist Master Alfred Huang]
This divining of the energies for the next four weeks fits very well with my plans and intentions. I hope you can find some relevance in this reading for you and where you are headed!
MONDAY’S POEM: Qigong Level 1 Instruction
This past weekend I went through a certification process for teaching Qigong at Level 1 in Jeff Primack’s Qi Revolution Movement. And I passed the test! Wow, hurray, I am a Certified Level 1 Qigong Instructor! In celebration of this accomplishment (there are only a couple thousand of us in the whole country!) I wrote this:
Qigong Level 1 Instruction
Breathe in,
Expand.
Breathe out,
Contract.
Inhale,
Larger.
Exhale,
Smaller.
Breath first,
Then act.
Feel
The Qi.
Breathe in,
Raise arms.
Breathe out,
Relax.
Inhale,
Round arms.
Exhale,
Hug tree.
Breathe first,
Then move.
Actions
Are slow.
Inhale,
Rise up.
Exhale,
Lower.
Building
The Qi
Higher,
Stronger.
Live long,
Prosper,
Feel
The Peace.
©2013 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.
Join the revolution! Feel the Qi! May you all be blessed with abundance!
Fatigue and Qi
It was an exhausting day yesterday. Once again I had too many priorities to juggle. But at least everyone was back at work so there was some quiet time to move into the day. However, I did feel my thorns coming out on a few occasions; I worked hard to shed them!
It was final prep time for Rosemary’s Rainbow Balance Color Therapy class. I knew it would be a long day and was as prepared for it as I could be. We had all the materials, we had already begun the assembly process and the presentation contents were coming together well. While I wasn’t worried about time I knew I didn’t have any to spare.
I had thought I would go about my normal morning routine: morning tonic and hot tea, shower, pages, smoothie, qigong, etc. But, I made a mistake and sat at my computer to determine the day’s schedule and must dos before the evening’s class. And one thing led to another.
Nine hours later we grabbed a nibble and headed to class. Yes, most of those things that can go wrong did. And, no, none of those things I had planned my morning around happened. Did this upset me? Yes, it did.
Let’s just take Qigong as one part of my practice: after Qi Revolution with Jeff Primack a couple of weeks ago, I committed to practicing his Level 1 Form daily for 30 days. I did not enter into this agreement lightly. And I am working on my certification to teach this Level; practice is mandatory! Certification is two days away!
No practice, inadequate intake of food, no chance to really catch my breath. Everything for the class got done on time, and all turned out well. Rosemary and I even had fun with colors discovering a neat website that converts just about any kind of color code you can think of, from RGB codes to the paint manufacturers’ codes, etc!
After a successful class it was time to publish the weekly MuseLetter. Oh, yes, there was more to my priority list. And the content had not been completed for that yet either. Rosemary set to work writing…
And I got my Qigong practice in!
Then I went back to work.
So, why am I telling you all of this? From my article yesterday you can probably guess that I can get pretty prickly at times; my thorns can be sharp. But I’m working hard to trim them, to contain my energy, control it and be in the flow of the Qi. And I think it’s working. I’m not saying all was smooth; computers acted up, the printer crashed several times, the network was slow, our high-speed connection was neither at times. But we got through it and even laughed as good old Murphy stepped in to scramble our printer’s brain!
My Qigong practice is working. And now, late at night as I write I feel good about this. I am breathing, deeply, into my core. I am reaching down and out to gather, then drawing it back to deliver. The movements of the practice are etching themselves more deeply into my neural nets that are controlling it all. I wonder if my practice is beginning to show up in the lines of my hands! (I’ll have to have Rosemary take a look!)
So I close out the week feeling accomplished. I think my thorns are tucked away for now.
But you better confirm that with Rosemary!
Men and The Goddess 