“There is no misery or suffering within love. To surrender into and beyond fear aligns us to our truth, bringing us home to a place where love always exists”
Author: Tom Kelly
What is a Spiritual Path?
So what is the deal with being on a spiritual path? Does it mean that you are a different person, somehow totally different from the person you were before you connected with spirit, however this happened for you?
Not really.
What it meant for me, was that I started to see things about life differently and over time became more able to hold this knowledge (knowing) without question.
Everyone’s path will be different, and if like many you are living a more open and loving experience you have expanded and now know your world differently. You are not a new person and yet this expansion might take others by surprise.
Personal growth regardless of how it happens or what the reason will always bring new found passion and in the case of spiritual growth awareness.
If our life path brings us joy and happiness without a need for external validation or material compensation we have found inner peace.
In a space where we love our-self fully and can look beyond hate, seeing the world and all beings as our friends and family we have expanded.
We are not different people, but do see and feel differently about our life experience.
So regardless of the path you are on today, remember to embrace whatever you are seeing and sensing, and let those around you be who they are.
We are all in different places and this is a good thing. Being different offers us an invitation to evolve in way that otherwise wouldn’t have happened.
So, walk your path with care and kindness, always listening for the silent teachers who are always around us offering to help expand our lives.
-Tom Kelly
Quote of the Day
“Each new moment being its own world full of depth and completeness where lack does not exist.”
Quote of the Day
“Human suffering (our suffering) is most apparent when the mind (ego) is actively processing lower energy thought such as “guilt, shame or fear.” This unconscious playback of negative beliefs about ourselves, our world and others, keep us from expressing the beauty and magnificence of who we truly are.”
Cold Showers – Are there benefits you should know about?
I came across an article in late 2018 about people having and enjoying a cold shower and immediately thought, are they crazy! We’ve all watched people jump into a lake or river water in winter usually as a challenge or for charity and said “no way am I ever doing that!”
But, as I read more about cold and the possible benefit from having cold showers I was intrigued. A guy named Wim Hof (nicknamed the “IceMan”) kept coming up. This guy at first glace seems a bit crazy and yet he is able to do extraordinary things?
So I needed to know more and kept reading. There are people all over the world taking cold showers and not just once or twice a week, but every time they shower or can swim somewhere cold. Many of these people document months or years of their lives and are very honest and thoughtful in outlining what they perceive as beneficial from their cold therapy experience.
Not being one to sit on the sidelines if a practice seems helpful, I took up the challenge to know more. I had my first cold shower about 6 weeks ago and it was damn cold and not very pleasant. The next day I had another cold shower and thought, what am I doing, but did notice feeling quite awake and alert afterward. Day three was better in that I didn’t experience the shock to the cold water for as long and really felt good afterward. As the days progressed and I continued to have cold showers I realized that the initial adjustment to the cold sensation was changing. In about 5-10 seconds I was comfortable in the cold water and although the water hitting me was cold, I wasn’t cold, which is very similar to what people doing this were saying.
If you have every run the tap and put your hand under the water waiting for it to become a specific temperature you will have experienced the same thing I did in the shower. As your hand become used to the water you become unsure what the actual temperature is, needing to touch the water with your other hand to verify the water temperature. This idea of cold becoming tolerable is quite interesting!
As weeks pasted and more cold showers took place I noticed being outside in the cold winter air I felt warmer than it normally would have, just like in the shower. I felt alert and awake right after my shower and strangely wasn’t hustling to get warm (keep in mind that my showers would never be more than 3-5 minutes). One day after an extend time outdoors working and moving snow I thought I would treat myself to a hot shower and had a most interesting experience. The hot water actually seemed to reduce energy flow and I started to feel gross and groggy, as if the battery which is my energy was somehow shutting down.
For the record, I have since had a couple more warm showers (not hot) and have felt fine but certainly not as energized like from a cold shower.
So what is the deal with cold showers?
Although I have little data of my own to share, I can say that cold showers are not harmful. I can also say that if you dare to start having cold showers expect to feel very awake and clear headed (keeping in mind that brain fog will not be eliminated fully unless all obstacles that can cause this symptom are in check). You should also notice that your skin and hair feel cleaner and less blocked with junk (still unsure why?).
So, if you dare, TRY IT!
My suggestion is to get into a shower that you are accustomed to and over the first minute adjust the temperature colder, stopping at the point where it isn’t pleasant, then continuing to adjust colder, etc. Just play with the temperature until you can get into a lukewarm shower and turn it to 80-90% cold almost right away. Because it is winter in Canada just now, full cold is not my goal for now, work with that last 10% your own way. I finish my shower with a short 15-30 seconds burst at the very end of every shower.
Here are a few resource to read and help you understand possible benefits of cold showers.
Wim Hof (IceMan)
Have Fun Getting Cold!
Tom Kelly
Awareness Without Mind Clutter
When you teach a child that a bird is called a bird, they never see the bird again. – Unknown
Peregrine Falcon, Arizona
Without realizing it we often clutter the beauty of our life experience by expanding it far beyond what is there.
In the 1980’s when music videos became popular, Neil Young made a conscious effort to “not” tell a story with the videos he made. He said “we are killing imagination by offering a story-line to go with the music we write,” and I agree with Neil.
Why not spend some time experiencing life without clutter, expanding our experience.
Eckhart Tolle often speaks about observing without adding unnecessary thought. For example, as you watch a bird, simply see the bird and enjoy the experience without adding thought such as, what a beautiful bird, what beautiful colors, etc
By eliminating thought and clutter we open to a truly Divine experience. These are magical moments of consciousness, multidimensional in what is perceived.
Why We Meditate
We meditate to go from the level of problems to the level of solutions. Will meditation solve all problems? No, but meditation allows us to see problems through a much different lens. If we are then able to step forward with a different framing of our situation, a new and more clearly defined reality will be seen.
Meditation is the path to consciousness and being conscious is like having won the lottery. The only difference being, all sensation of this glorious state continue well beyond any material success.
Crystals to Enhance Life force Energy
If you are thinking about gifts for the holidays, here are some great suggestion. Don’t forget a nice grounding / protective stone or bracelet to round out this experience!
Quote of the Day
Awareness transcends time, and when we become aware we transcend time too.