I am In Ten Satis Fied . . .

IntenSati ~ A practice for your body, heart and mind.
"Inten" derives from "intention," and "Sati" is a Pali word which means mindfulness.

My insanely talented friend Erin Stutland (pictured), actress, dancer, writer and most importantly, a beautiful human being, had been after me to take this class she was teaching called IntenSati. She had been following my posts on Facebook and knew that I was a fan of Abraham-Hicks and Louise L. Hay and all of the wonderful teachers that have been placed in my path. Therefore, she just knew that I would love this class. So, she kept inviting me to her workshops and for one thing or another, I kept not being able to do it. I also didn't quite understand what Louise Hay had to do with an exercise class. It made no sense to me.

Erin tried once more and this time it worked. I asked my friend Nikki Walker to come take the class with me and she agreed. In all honesty, I had read some of the information on Erin's website but it had been a quick scan and not much had sunk in. When I invited Nikki I didn't really give her much information other than that Erin was teaching and that it sounded like a good time. On our way there, Nikki asked me if I knew anything about what we were about to do. I said, "well, I think we're doing some kind of yoga class while saying some "You Can Heal Your Life" affirmations mixed in with a little aerobic work. . . . I think . . ." I had no idea what was about to happen to us!

We got to Chelsea Studios and waited for Erin to arrive. It was a lovely reunion of old friends (Nikki and I had done a show with Erin years ago that made everyone in the cast become like family). Class began and Erin explained a bit about what IntenSati was about. This was a one-off class, therefore, it was not the beginning of a workshop, but just a teaser. She warned that it was going to be a little harder than usual.

Nothing that I had read on Erin's site or anywhere else could have prepared me for this class. It was one of those life-changing experiences that makes you ask yourself, "why haven't I been doing this FOREVER?!" The combination of high intensity aerobics, with yoga moves, dance and martial arts plus spoken affirmations made perfect sense to me! There was this immediate connection with every single person in that room. We were all there as one united force to be reckoned with! But, this wasn't just another exercise class this was an intensely spiritual experience, at least for me. Many times during class, my eyes teared up from a sense of belonging and serenity of mind and spirit. Underneath the music and the sweat, and believe there was sweat, there was this incredible feeling of empowerment. There is a reason why IntenSati is considered a "practice."

After class was over, I knew right then that I would be taking part in Erin's upcoming 4-week workshop. I was also so very proud of my friend for it was so obvious how much she loved what she was doing. Erin was pure loving energy. She radiated her brilliant and beautiful light and guided us every step of the way on our own personal journey. Her teaching went beyond the physicality of the class, but much deeper into the soul of each student. What a privilege to be led through yet another glorious path in life by such an accomplished and loving teacher.

I'm up to the third week of the workshop and I've already seen changes in many areas of my life, not to mention the way my body feels. I'll be writing more about the whole experience once I'm finished with the last week of the workshop. I cannot recommend IntenSati enough to anyone that is looking for a practice that has the potential to change EVERYTHING!

Namaste.

Gene-Manuel

For additional information on IntenSati, please click here: SatiLife

Dreams have No Expiration Date . . .

"People like you and I, though mortal of course like everyone else, do not grow old no matter how long we live . . . [We] never cease to stand like curious children before the great mystery into which we were born." ~ Albert Einstein (letter to Otto Juliusburger)

Photo: Upward by Llima Orosa (courtesy of the artist)

I can relate to this quote from Albert Einstein. I find myself in love with life and the beauty of nature and people around me at all times. I look at the sky and I am constantly amazed by what I see. Cloud formations that bring to mind magical cities full of wonder. On my daily walk to catch the bus I spend the 8 or 10 minutes it takes to get to the bus stop in pure bliss, just staring at the sky, amazed if I see an airplane flying above and cutting through a big cloud. What a miracle!

I've never been one to think too much about age. I think the last time a birthday made any sort of bleep in my radar was my 25th. That was the only time I thought about it and only because someone asked me how it felt to be a quarter of a century. I had never thought of it that way. But, that was it really. I went through my twenties not really paying much attention. Well, I was hardly paying attention to my life let alone what age I was. Thirty made no impression or thirty five. Most of those years I sort of coasted along, not really putting too much emphasis on where my life was headed or what I was doing here.

This all changed a couple of years ago when I started to question my purpose here on Earth. One thing led to another and the more involved I became in taking control over my reality, being a participating co-creator in my life, the more enchanted I became with the world around me. Then, when I was chosen by my art to bring it to life on paper, nothing's ever been the same.

This new-found sense of wonder and excitement has just grown stronger ever since I started daydreaming on a regular basis. I've written before about how we come into this physical realm with the ability and knowledge to be able to do anything we set our minds to. There was never any doubt that what I wanted to happen, would indeed happen. It was a given. Nothing was going to stop me from doing what I wanted to do.

OK, so I lost the connection for a while but exercising my imagination with guided daydreams and visualizations has once again connected me to this brilliant energy. The energy that I felt when I was a child. I do believe that anything is possible and that we have the ability to use our magical powers to create our lives. We have the ability to make the impossible, POSSIBLE.

And age? What's age? We are ageless beings. As Dr. Wayne Dyer writes in his new book, Excuses Begone!, "Part of you has an ageless mind and is quite oblivious to the physical aging process - and it's available to you if you'll just encourage it with conscious invitations to participate in your life." Our ability to dream and to act on those dreams and make them a reality is also ageless. The thoughts that shoot rockets of desire off into the ever-abundant and wish-granting Universe have no concept of age. They have no idea how long my physical being has been here on this planet. Those thoughts are absolutely pure, without an expiration date, and have every right to have me work towards their manifestation.

I encourage you to once again take the time and nurture your dreams. Take them out for a test-drive and play with them a little. Slowly, bring back that little kid that believed in magic, in fairy tales and in the impossible. He or she is still quite capable of teaching you all you really need to know about why you are here and what amazing things you can do, what beautiful things you can have, and what a brilliant person you can be. Take a lesson from the child in you about what an incredible world we live in. Bring back that sense of wonder and every single day, you'll be able to give thanks for being here and find new things to be grateful for. Defy aging and join Einstein in becoming one of the "curious children", always amazed by life!

Peace and Light and KEEP DREAMING!

Gene-Manuel

Repairing our connection . . .by "checking in."

“Learn to let your intuition—gut instinct—tell you when the food, the relationship, the job isn’t good for you (and conversely, when what you’re doing is just right).” ~ Oprah

Every time I've gone against my gut instinct, I've paid the price. And I do mean, every single time, without exception. I have recently been more attuned to it and have made a conscious effort to truly listen and pay attention to my gut at all times. It's how I've come to create my art. The fact that I now work on something that brings me so much joy and feels so good is all due to following my gut instinct and listening to Inspired Action.

This hasn't always been the case. I have plenty of experiences where I decided to either listen to other people, or I've let my ego get in the way. When I've done this, I've completely turned my back on my inner voice, my intuition, and the results have always been disastrous! That is because we come into this physical world reality with this miraculous built-in connection to Source Energy. I mean, we are born with this otherworldly GPS device already programmed with all that we'll ever need to guide us in this world. From the start it is giving us information to help us along. As babies we cry when we're hungry or sleepy or need changing. Nobody told us to do this! This was all instinctual. We came here knowing this was how things had to be until we learned to communicate with these beings that were our parents and started using words.

As we get older and get exposed to outside influences, we tend to start listening to other people, maybe a little too much. We also start dealing with our friend, ego. And our ego, if we let him or her, will take over our lives. Dr. Wayne Dyer likes to say that the word ego stands for Edge God Out. I think he's totally right. That's one of the things our ego loves to do. It gets in the way of our gut instinct and tries to shut it down. Ego believes it has what's best for us in mind when in reality, it's only thinking about what's best for ego to survive. The more it can get in the way of our connection to our Source Energy, the better its chances of sticking around telling you what to do.

So, as the years go by and our ego gets stronger and we start listening to other people, we tend to rely less and less on our gut instincts. We pay less attention to that built-in GPS system. Especially if what our guide is telling us to do goes against what everyone else thinks we should do.

We all have stories of times when we went against our instincts and things went horribly wrong. What we have to do is remember these instances when a similar event happens and we're about to do something we feel deep down that we're not supposed to do. It's important to exercise our instinctual powers. Really get in touch with our inner voice and get that connection to Source Energy or God back in fine working order. One of the best ways to do this of course is by spending some time actively seeking to repair the connection.

In the mornings I like to do Ah Meditation sessions for about 10 minutes or so. But, I've started to extend this time a little at the end and do what I like to call a "checking in" exercise. I check in with my core and make sure that all is well. How do I feel about the state of my life at this very moment? Are there areas that feel wrong, that don't fit with me? Are there things I'm doing that I know I shouldn't be doing? Am I happy with my life?

When I first started "checking in", I found that ego liked to come in and answer the questions for me. It liked to come up with excuses for any of the questions that I instinctively knew the answer to. But, the more I calmed my mind and quieted ego, the easier it got to repair that connection to Source, that invisible line going straight from my core, my center, to Source Energy. Now in my periods of checking in, the answers come immediately. I can't even say they come in the form of words but more as immediate feelings. My gut remains calm and peaceful whenever a question is asked and I'm living in its truth. If I ask myself a question and I'm not in a good space with that question, my gut lets me know in the form of a small yet palpable twisting feeling. Whenever I get that response, that lets me know that I'm dealing with an area that needs further investigation. It doesn't mean that I now have to berate myself and that I've done something wrong. This just means that it's time to look inward and seek for the answer, which is already there, at a deeper level.

To start repairing this connection to Source, or make the connection you already have even stronger, I do recommend doing the "checking in" exercise a couple of times a week. As always, I like to make things easy, because you know what I believe . . . if something is easy to do, the more likely you are to DO IT consistently. So, depending on how good your connection is, then that can determine the amount of time spent checking in. At first, like I said, ego might like to get in there and mess with you, so it could possibly take a little longer to get through the questions.

The questions are simple ones. You can come up with your own set but I usually start with these:

• How are you?
• How is your life?
• Are you happy?
• Is there anything troubling you?
• What is going right for you?
• Is there anything you'd like to see change?

These are just a few examples. It really helps to customize your questions to whatever is going on in your life at the moment. I like to do the checking in exercise before I undertake any new project, no matter how exciting or lucrative it might seem. Checking in with specific questions relating to the issue at hand really helps to clear my thoughts and get in touch with my gut instincts. If all my questions come back with a positive response and my core remains calm and relaxed and at peace, you better believe it, I'm going ahead with that project. It's that simple.

Spend some time checking in and see how your connection to Source will help to guide you in the right direction. The stronger the connection the easier it will be to immediately trust your inner voice. It is right. Every. Single. Time.

Peace and Light to you and KEEP DREAMING!

Gene-Manuel

Watch your words with care . . .

"Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.”

~ BUDDHA

After a daydreaming session, it's so important to keep that dreamy, positive energy going. I can't stress this enough. Make sure you follow a daydream with some words affirming those dreams. This is important, because the last thing you want to do is negate what you've done with negative thoughts or words.

For example, let's say you've taken a five-minute break to do a little dreaming. All is beautiful. All is just perfect in your daydream. The time is up and you follow your dreams with "Well, that was nice. . . But, it'll never happen." BLOCK! With just those few words you've completely blocked the manifesting energy of your dream. With a simple thought of "that was a complete waste of time," you're on your way to proving yourself right. It was a complete waste of your time if you just didn't let yourself believe.

This is a feeling Universe and as I've written before, when we let ourselves dream as vividly as we can, we come close to "living as if!" We let ourselves experience those feelings of living the life we truly want. In turn, powerful manifesting powers are activated. But, with a simple sentence of doubt or disbelief, you can block that flow. There is, as the famous book states, MAGIC in believing. Let yourself experience this magic if only for those five minutes a day. But make sure to keep the magic going. Once you're finished with your daydream, follow it with a few positive closing words. Try "As we think, so we'll become." "Let all these things or something greater manifest for me." Or, as Meister Eckhart said, "If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough." Just say a simple "Thank You" after your daydreaming session and that will be enough to keep you in the flow.

I try to stay in that creative dream flow for as long as I can after a daydream session or after my meditation. With a simple "Thank You" I acknowledge what I've done. I give thanks for all of the possibilities and opportunities that will appear as I work towards those dreams. Oh yes! There's work involved when there are dreams to manifest. But, it all begins with the dream!

Peace and Light to you and KEEP DREAMING!

Gene-Manuel

"Thank you Universe for . . . "

I've started to do what I call Thank You Universe rampages. It's my way of thanking the Universe for all the good in my life and showing appreciation for it all. I've taken the idea of the rampages from what Abraham-Hicks sometimes does where Abraham will go on what they call a rampage or a verbal rush of words on a specific topic. You can experience one of my favorite Abraham rampages here:

It's really quite simple to do and we all know that the simpler something is, the more likely it is for us to do it. A Thank You Universe rampage can be done at any time and since it doesn't necessarily have to be done out loud, you can do it anywhere. I usually like to do it out loud in the mornings but there are times when I do it in the crowded bus and turn my commute into a game.

The object of the rampage is to not only show gratitude and appreciation for all the things in your life, no matter how small, but it's also a way to recharge the energy around you. It's really an amazing tool to use when you're not particularly feeling very upbeat. I've done a rampage when I've been feeling just a bit low in energy and mood and the shift that occurs after I'm done, is absolutely amazing! The simple act of pointing out all of the things in your life, at the very moment you are doing the rampage, that you are grateful for, opens up an entire realm of positive energy you might not have been tapped into before doing the rampage.

I start by saying "Thank you Universe for. . . " and I mention the first thing that pops into my head. It can be as simple as the coffee pot that's brewing in front of me. Then I go from there. Feel free to start with "Thank you Universe for. . . " and then list the things you're appreciating one after the other. That is just fine. Personally, I like thank the Universe for each individual thing in a separate sentence. For me it gives each thing its proper acknowledgement. It's fascinating where the rampage can take you. Since I try to say one thing right after the other, I'm never really sure where the rampage will take me.

For example, if I start with the coffee pot, I might then be thankful for the coffee, then that takes me to the coffee bean, and the place where the coffee bean was ground, then the water, the heat in the pad to keep the coffee hot, etc., etc., etc. Sometimes, in the midst of a rampage, I'm made aware of how many steps there are and how many people are involved in doing something so that I can benefit from it. These are things and people I never would've even dreamed of thanking and being appreciative of if it wasn't for a rampage of appreciation! I mean really, how many times do we thank the person that delivered the eggs to the store so that I could go buy them and enjoy my Denver omelet?

While doing them on the bus, I turn the rampage into a game. As I pass by different parts of the city, I search for things to be grateful for. The sun, the rain, the pavement, the trees in the park, the fountain, the streetlights that do their best to keep us safe in traffic. The opportunities to be thankful are endless and my sometimes long and traffic-filled commutes become more of an opportunity to be grateful than a time being stuck in traffic.

The rampages don't have to last very long. There's no specific time limit for them. The goal is to feel good and get into that state of appreciation where then all things are possible. If you're being grateful and are fully appreciating everything that is happening in your life, then you have entered a state of allowing. There can be no resistance coming from you when you are so open to the Universe's abundance and wisdom.

I can't recommend these rampages enough. If you're alone in the house and can really let go, do it. Do as the definition for rampage states: rush wildly about. Let loose and really get that energy flowing. Radiate appreciation for the more you appreciate and are thankful for in this world, the more things you'll be given to be grateful for.

Peace and Light and Keep Dreaming!

Gene-Manuel

NO LIMITS . . .

"A young and vital child knows NO LIMITS to his own will, and it is the only reality to him.  It is not that he wants at the outset to fight other wills, but that they simply do not exist for him.  Like the artist, he goes forth to the work of creation, gloriously alone." ~ Jane Harrison

I came across Jane Harrison's quote while researching the limitless power of our dreams.  Last week, after an incredible IntenSati class, of which I will devote more time to later, I was walking with my dear friend Nikki, and we briefly spoke about the child's power to dream and believe in his dreams.  In particular, I remembered how when I was very little, age 2 or 3, I knew, beyond any doubt, that I had powers over the things around me.  It was a notion, deep within my little self, that knew that all things were possible.  There were no limits to the things that I could do.

Whenever I was told that something was impossible, I kept asking "why"? "Why isn't it possible for this to happen?"  "What is it this word you use: IMPOSSIBLE?"  The 3-year old me knew deep, deep down that the grown up telling me something could not be done, had lost the ability to dream.  They had lost a connection to something that I was still very much connected to.  I remember being confused by this.  I couldn't understand why such a simple understanding of the way things worked didn't occur to these adults.  

I found it rather interesting that I kept hearing them (my parents) read from the bible about miracles, yet when I inquired about these miracles, they'd say that the "age of miracles is over."  How sad for them!  Wow!  They read over and over again about a miracle happening here and another there and now, too bad for us, the miracles were over.  No more.  Sorry, we ran out a long, long time ago.  

After a while, I decided it was best to keep these thoughts to myself and not share them with the people around me.  This didn't mean that I stopped believing that all was possible, it just meant I kept quiet about it.  As I've written here before, I always knew that we'd be able to leave the country and that I would come to live in the United States.  As impossible as it seemed to everyone else, I kept on dreaming about it and was certain that it was just a matter of time before I'd be stepping on a plane, out of the island.  I was absolutely right!

I believe that when we are little, we are as close to Source Energy, Universal Power, God, whatever you want to call that which is greater than we are, as we can get.  It could be that since we've just entered into the physical, that connection to the non-physical is still very much alive, throwing sparks really.  Of course everything is possible when we're mere babies!  We know, on a cellular level, that we can do it all because we've just come from the realm where we've been doing it all!  Although exactly what we did in that realm is not clear to us, we still carry with us those feelings of amazing wonders.  

As Jane says in her quote, at that time, I knew no limits to what I could do.  Unfortunately, as I grew older and started to deal with life issues, I strayed further and further away from my truth.  Without any useful spiritual guidance, I let my belief in the impossible become a distant memory.  It was just a childhood dream.  I started to suffer from depression at a very young age and my connection to that Source Energy that allowed me to believe in my dreams with 100% certainty, was broken for a long number of years.

Until, interestingly enough, I was brought back, by Inspired Action, to art. . . to that act of creation . . . which little by little has become a miraculous link to my truth.  I've written about how that came to pass.  And every single piece of art that I've created since I started in July of 2008 has been a guiding light to the next phase of my liberation.  My spiritual liberation like Michael Bernard Beckwith writes in his book of the same name.  Alone with my paper and arts supplies, I have awakened to that connection that was broken for so long.  In the Universe's loving wisdom and abundance, I have been led by these pieces, to where I need to be. 

That child of 3 that believed in the impossible is alive and well and stronger than ever.  I encourage his enthusiasm for the wonders of our Universe on a daily basis.  I seek out miracles in the world around me, no matter where I am.  A quick glance up at the sky is proof enough that we live in the times of miracles still.  We are surrounded by things that were once just dreams.  We are on the leading edge of creativity and we must take full advantage of our power.  DREAM WITHOUT LIMITS! 

Peace and Light to you and KEEP DREAMING,

Gene-Manuel

Nothing happens unless first . . .

"When I daydream, I go all the way to the end of the Earth, and comeback. It's a nice exercise." ~ Yoko Ono

I love the fact that Yoko Ono mentions daydreaming twice in her list of 25 Things Even My Best Friends Didn’t Know Until Now by Yoko Ono. This ties in to the message of my post today since it's all about how some people think that if you're spending most of your time daydreaming, you most likely aren't doing much of anything else. The fact that Yoko takes the time to daydream a little here and there, to some outstanding results I might add, is proof that daydreamers can accomplish quite alot. Yoko is now is 76 years young and busier than ever; with her music and exhibitions all over the world. Her daydreaming hasn't stopped her! I bet it's something she practices on a regular basis to keep her dreams alive.

Since I started daydreaming again, "full-time", I have gotten a few e-mails of concern from friends. They want to know if I've completely given up on the "real" world and just spend most of my time in a fantasy land? Am I like a zombie walking around in a daze? Just spending my time dreaming and not being really present or interested in anything that's happening around me. Some have hinted, although they haven't said it outright, that it's a complete waste of my time.

I have to say that I was busy before I started the practice of daydreaming, and now, I'm busier than ever! Like I've mentioned before, daydreaming can be used as a portal to the life you really want to be living. In my daydreams I spend most of my time creating my art and when I'm not doing that, I'm out being of service. When I'm not doing that, I'm enjoying a wonderful dinner while on vacation in Tenerife . When I'm not doing that, I'm recording a new CD. And the list of things I'm doing and accomplishing just keeps growing.

In turn, what has been happening is that the more I dream of spending time creating, the more time I spend working on my art. The more I dream of having the opportunities to be of service, the more those opportunities show up in my life. Just recently, I've started to get ideas for brand new songs for my second full-length CD. I haven't gotten to Tenerife just yet, but I know it's going to happen in the not-so-distant future.

In other words, my every-day has started to mirror my daydreams in small ways. Daydreaming helps me to live AS IF all these things are already happening. It helps to place me in vibrational alignment with the things I want. The Universe is a feeling Universe. It responds to how we feel and the vibrations we are sending out. In the midst of a daydream, I'm sending out waves of vibrations pertaining to how that dream is making me feel. I can only feel joy if I'm daydreaming of an entire day spent creating my art. That daydream is making me feel as if I'm living that way. That's where vibrational alignment comes in. The feeling Universe is receiving those vibrations my daydream is setting off in me. It's all a marvelous process!

Therefore, the more I daydream, the more I enjoy doing it. The more I enjoy doing it, the more I'm working towards making those dreams a reality. The more time spent making those dreams a reality, the more the Universe will conspire to realize those dreams. There's that incredible process at work again. It's like a whirling. . . a constant flow of energy and vibration. "Energy flows where attention goes."

But, I'm very much in the present, even while daydreaming. I know what's going on in the world around me. The struggles some are facing. The joys others are experiencing. Daydreaming is just a form of connecting with my truth believe it or not. The life that brings me joy, peace and harmony presents itself in my dreams. That's the truth I strive for.  

To those that think of it as a waste of time, I ask that you consider the following. Some of our modern-day miracles were once daydreams. Leonardo da Vinci dreamt of flying, making the first real studies of flight in the 1480's. From some of his drawings we have today's helicopter. In his day, it was all a dream. Now, it's a reality. So many other inventions came from someone dreaming of the possibility, of what could be.

Carl Sandburg said "nothing happens unless first we dream," and I couldn't agree more.

Peace and Light and KEEP DREAMING!

Gene-Manuel