'Tis the Season . . .

If instead of a gem, or even a flower, we should cast the gift of a loving thought into the heart of a friend, that would be giving as the angels give. ~George MacDonald

I would like to first apologize for not writing an update sooner. I have been so busy that I honestly didn't have the chance to sit at my computer and write. No, I wasn't busy going nuts over Christmas shopping or pulling my hair out trying to figure out what to give "so and so" and "the other." I've actually been busy creating art and finishing the first of two commissioned pieces. I've been busy envisioning my life in the coming new year. I've been busy enjoying the company of friends and loved ones. I've been busy decorating our home and spending an entire Saturday night listening to new Christmas music from Tori Amos and Mary Chapin Carpenter with Jhon. I've been busy laughing, feeling joy, living the moment, loving, taking it easy, doing IntenSati, looking at our Christmas tree, watching the snow fall, looking forward to time at home . . . these are the things that have gotten my attention.

I haven't set foot in a shop or a mall. I haven't gone into debt trying to buy things I can't afford just out of obligation or to show off. There hasn't been one day so far where the thought of wanting Christmas to be over has entered my mind. Why? Because it has been my intention since the holiday season began, to feel only JOY. It has been my intention to give and receive only JOY. I've made it my intention to focus only on what makes me feel GOOD and in turn, when I'm feeling GOOD, I am able to make those around me feel GOOD as well.

I was struck by some Facebook updates today. So many people were complaining about leaving everything until the last minute. They hadn't bought gifts or had forgotten somebody and needed to run back to the mall. Others were dreading having to wrap 30 presents. Quite a few were wishing Christmas was over and others were asking themselves, "why do we do this to ourselves?" Hmmmm All these depressing updates made me ask the same question actually. Why do this to yourself? Why make the season so overwhelming and dreadful? Why make it so much about the gifts?

There are so many ways to spread holiday cheer that have nothing to do with a Target or a Macy's! There are so many beautiful things you can make yourself that will be treasured and remembered for years to come and not just for a couple of days. There are so many special memories that are waiting to be created and shared among friends and families that will put any store-bought gift to shame. All you have to do is start with the intention to have the best time ever without going crazy. Make it your intention to feel as much loving energy as you can and in return, give that loving energy out into the world. Give of yourself to others and let that be the best gift you give this year. Take a little time to investigate how you can redefine the season. You'll be surprised how all of a sudden, the holiday crunch will seem to have disappeared. In its place will be full-blown holiday cheer. Remember, what you focus on expands . . . what will you give your attention to this Christmas? What really matters?

Peace and Light to you and KEEP DREAMING!

Gene-Manuel

The energy of women . . . divine power!

For the past week, I've been writing about the energy created by the gathering of two or more. I'd like to share with you something that happened to me quite recently at one of my last IntenSati classes. If you don't know what IntenSati is, please read my blog entries here: IntenSati or visit Erin's website directly: Erin Stutland.

Well, this happened at the end of October, which was also the last class of the 4-week workshop. We had just finished the physical part of the class, which really kicks up a storm of amazing energy. Erin then had us form a large circle and had us look around at the people in the room. Really taking the time to acknowledge each other. As I did this, I realized I was the only male in the room. No big deal really. Most of the time there are only a few guys in the Wednesday night class but this night, I was the only one. We then started the process of updating each other on our progress for the month. How did we do with our intentions and what actions did we take to manifest those intentions that we had set at the beginning of the month.

One by one, these amazing women started to share their incredible progress and accomplishments. I was close to the end of the circle so I had time, before I had to share, to really pay attention to what they were saying. All of a sudden I felt it. I was enveloped in a soothing, pure, loving, caring, kind, yet strong and powerful energy. Undoubtedly feminine. Undoubtedly divine. In what felt like flashes, I was given snippets of information about the Divine Feminine and the strength and intelligence in all women. I felt how this could have easily intimidated men and how important to their egos it must have been to weaken the female sex in order to protect said egos. As I looked around this room, the flashes kept coming. I felt how it's all starting to change. How the tide is shifting along with the changing times and how women are more important than ever in our world. I felt a sudden sadness in regards to the state of our planet. Our beautiful, ever expanding planet would be a much different place to live in if women had been given more control over it. There is a reason we call our planet Mother Earth. It is female. It's loving energy is that of a tender yet stern mother and its love for us, her children is unconditional and everlasting. Deep inside I gave a sincerely apology to all of the incredible women of the past whose energy and vision were stifled by the times they lived in. How proud would they be now of their current daughters and sisters.

My turn came to speak and I managed to get a few words out. It was actually about this blog and how I had managed to begin writing three postings per week. I wanted to share a little of what had just happened but we were pressed for time and I also didn't know how I would explain it in just a few minutes. I won't say that I came out of the class with a new respect for women because I have always had that. I've always thought that women were the strongest beings on Earth. I will say that I left the class excited about the future of our world. With women taking a stronger and more powerful leadership role on this planet, things will finally start moving in the right direction. My hope is that there will continue to be a new wave of The Divine Feminine and with a united force, women will lead us into a peaceful, spiritual and loving New Earth! Shine on ladies! Shine on!

I encourage you all, women and men, to do some research on The Divine Feminine and this article by Elizabeth Debold is a great start: The Divine Feminine, Unveiled

Peace and Light to you all and KEEP DREAMING!

Gene-Manuel

I intend to only give my best . . .

The best you can do for anyone is to thrive fully and be willing to explain to anyone who asks how it is that you are thriving, and what it is that you've discovered—and then, just relax and trust that all truly is well. ~ Abraham

I finished my first IntenSati 4-week workshop last night. Like I wrote in my first IntenSati entry, I wasn't really sure what I was getting myself into when I took the first class or really, even when when I signed up for the entire 4-week workshop. I trusted my instinct that told me "You're gonna fucking love it! Just do it!". So, I signed up and you know from my first post that I did indeed love every second of the classes.

(Erin Stutland photo courtesy of www.erinstutland.com)

For those of you that might not know what IntenSati is about, please go here: ErinStutland and here: Sati Life And you can also visit this NY Pix Morning News blog to see Erin in action: IntenSati

Great! So now you know that the class also involves spoken affirmations that you say sometimes OUTLOUD, at times in a whisper and other times to yourself. Speaking the affirmations throughout the workout is a great gage on how well you are doing with the physical part. As a certified Urban Rebounding & Spinning instructor, I'm a firm believer in the fact that you should always be able to carry out a conversation while doing aerobic work. Maybe not a full out debate about Gay Marriage but at least a few coherent sentences that lets you know you're still alive! :-) So, that's one great thing about the spoken affirmations and of course, the other is the intentions behind each affirmation as it ties in to the work you are doing, both physically and spiritually.

How the class works is you start with one affirmation that corresponds with specific movements and then you continue to add until it becomes a full cycle of affirmations and movements. It's quite a journey. Towards the end of the journey, during lower body work, my favorite affirmation is spoken:

• I intend
• To only give my best
• My best gets better
• I'm leaving all the rest

Those words are the ones that stay with me every time I leave class and for the next few days, they become my mantra. How wonderful that is! I keep being reminded that in all situations, my intention is to only give my best. As I do this, my best gets better, meaning I do better, I feel better and in turn whatever it is I'm dealing with gets better. While focusing on doing better, I then leave all the rest. Everything else just falls behind me and I'm able to let go of it. I'm able to let go of the negativity that can try to seep into my every day. I let go of self-doubt. I left go of habitual thinking that has only kept me trapped doing things I don't enjoy. I let go . . .

When I started the IntenSati practice, I was asked by Erin, our fabulous teacher, to pick three or four intentions for the month. Things I wanted to work on. This being my first workshop, I decided to work on a few things that were important to me but not anything too major. This was a testing of the waters in a sense. I intended to have FUN every single day of the month. I also intended to do my Ah Meditation every day. And, I intended to get my Whirling Art products to a new level. I have to say I did pretty well on each of my intentions. I did have fun every single day this past month. I did do my Ah Meditation almost every single morning. That's alright though. I loved every time that I got to do it and it showed me that it is something I enjoy so much, so of course I'm going to make time for it. I was able to create beautiful clothing with the help of Zazzle and my clothing line, along with a few other more personal items, will be ready for a full out launch very, very soon . . . hmmm this weekend perhaps!

Therefore, IntenSati was a success for me in the sense that I was able to follow through with the intentions I set out for myself at the beginning of the course. And for that I am grateful. But, I'm even more grateful for the way the practice spilled over onto other areas of my life that I had not included in my intentions for the month! That's where the real excitement for me has come from. As those words above kept repeating in my mind, I noticed the areas in my life where I wasn't doing my best because I wasn't giving it my best. This way of thinking then leads you to a myriad of questions that can unearth some pretty startling revelations about why exactly you're not giving your best! For me it all boiled down to a few fears that I've had to come face to face with. I'm still in the process of working through them but I'm so glad to have gotten here.

I'm definitely continuing with IntenSati. The next set of intentions that I'm going to work with and focus on for the next 6 weeks are huge for me! I can't say that I'm not scared but I'm not as scared as I think I would have been before starting the practice. I now know that I've got a great group of people that have my back. Being open to the flow of positive energy and a strong connection with Source will only make the work easier to handle.

Through it all I intend to give my best and that's all you can do really. Always give your best in every situation. Lean into the things that you need to work on. Nice and easy does it. Always giving your best. As you give your best, things will get better. As you focus on your intentions, all other things that aren't serving the higher purpose of these intentions, will fade away. The path will open up for all the goodness in life to come through for you.

Just remember to always . . . give . . . your best.

Peace and Light to you and KEEP DREAMING!

Namaste,

Gene-Manuel

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

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