A minute on the Autumnal Equinox 2020
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VIOLET #2 – A Healing Meditation
MATTERING
I think therefore I am
this is what I have learned
that my mind defines me
it makes parameters and structure
and great long avenues of delineated thought
that flow upon logic freeways and take me where I want to go
and that are in step and in synch with the global cultural experience.
We agree upon that.
And so my Mind has been my spiritual path
it was the agreed upon road to follow
the quickest path to the consensus goal of “achievement and success”
and so I learned it
I learned to reason
I learned to be reasonable
I learned to be creative within the parameters of structured thought
and I became slowly, but surely, confined by it.
I became slave to it.
My mind became my keeper
It became the Golden Calf,
But what I am realizing is that I am God.
I was God all along.
I am materialized God in form.
We all are.
And my little innocent light
the one that has no brain
the one that just is
the one that doesn’t even try
and, in fact, trying would make it less so
the one that asks for nothing
and knows that it is everything
the part of me and us that wonders
and simply lives and breathes
and loves and lives
AND yes, thinks
without any strategy
without a plan or a five-year goal
without botox or a diet
without a new car or the internet
without any language even
is the one that matters.
And it is this innocence, this natural reflection of God
this gentle response to Light
the simple holding a butterfly on our finger’s grace
that matters most of all.
And so I am knowing, these days, that I matter
And I can move thru this world, on this road less traveled
the one that is impulsed by my inspiration
a direct reflection of my light,
or be on the crazy 405
and still,
just be me
and that is enough
in fact, not just enough,
but a grace upon the earth
a gift unto the world.
And we are all of this,
that.
We matter.
© Diana Lang 2019
As many of you know, I am a lifelong astrologer, and there is some good news in the sky these days, and I wanted to share. Mercury has been retrograde for the last 3 weeks and it goes direct tomorrow evening, a semi-minor occurrence, as this occurs at least three times a year for about 3 weeks every year. (Though, it gets interesting when the retrograde crosses important points and planets on your chart, and in that case, it can be a very big deal!) Mostly, however, these things come and go like a little frisky wind moving through the life. It is always good, in a wake up and smell the coffee kind of way. Tomorrow, Thursday, Mercury goes direct. If you have noticed little miscommunications or misfires of efforts, the tides will begin to turn now. Wonderfully, it’s also a new moon. Think of this like a little breath of really fresh air. Like a morning where the house is warm and you open up the windows to allow the cool fresh air of winter to come blowing through, brisk, revitalizing and renewing. There is, as always, so much I could say about all of this, but see if this little celestial weather report opens up a corresponding window in your awareness for a new beginning and some bright, clear, clean, forward moving energy in your life.
love, Diana
Meditation is fundamentally and etherically practical.
Meditation is an ancient discipline designed to help you learn to be more present in your life. It is an art that is practiced. It is something that we keep growing into, discovering, unraveling, and expanding to learn the gorgeous difference between thinking and mindfulness. Meditation resets your soul compass and reconnects you to your inner guidance.
Meditation works best when you least want to. Part of the discipline of meditation is to sit whether you feel like it or not. It is a training of the ego, to learn what I call, “sit and stay.” In the stillness that this discipline entrains, a space of deep and growing awareness can be known. This is an enormous gift because you inner knowing will never lead you astray. It always leads you to the soul’s next step. By setting up a daily practice, you are opening up a dialogue for an ongoing conversation with your soul.
www.DianaLang.com 2016
Her eyes were riveted on the rim of the glass she was carefully holding, as she practically tiptoed across the living room floor to bring her grandmother the very full glass of the special pink lemonade punch her mother had made and asked her to deliver. She felt like she was practically hovering over the ground, her concentration was so deep. “Don’t spill the punch, don’t spill the punch” she chanted as she crept across the snow-white carpet of the living room floor.
One time, last year, at her sister’s birthday party, she had spilled the bright red kool-aid on the carpet as she hurried to quickly across the room in time for the birthday song, and she had gotten in so much trouble. Her mother had had to call the carpet cleaner, and when her father got home she got in trouble again, she could still feel his disappointment in her. That was seventy-five dollars they didn’t have to waste. She was humiliated and embarrassed. She would be more careful next time, she had promised.
So now, as she made her careful way across the wide expanse of the living room floor, the punch gently swashing from side to side, just edging up to one side of the lip of the glass, then gently to the other, she hoped fervently she would not spill this drink. But boy, was it full, she thought.
The worst part for her, she was realizing, was that the more she concentrated the more the punch seemed to slosh closer to the brim. She wondered if she was noticing that it appeared closer to the brim because she was concentrating so hard and so it was magnified, or was she noticing it more because it really was sloshing closer to the brim? Both, she knew. She continued to creep her way across the what seemed ever-widening distance between the kitchen and the living room, concentrating with all her might, to where everyone sat laughing and talking.
“Don’t spill the punch, don’t spill the punch,” she repeated silently to herself.
The back and forth sloshing of the punch in the glass became greater and greater. Her hand was practically shivering from the muscular contraction that she held the glass with to hold it still. The more it moved, the tighter she held it. The tighter she held it, the more her hand shook from the exertion. It really was a physical conundrum.
This is not going well, she thought to herself. Her fear of spilling, the embarrassment, the punishment, flooded her mind, but also equally, the goal of bringing her beloved grandmother the punch created a chaotic condition in her mind that almost had her in tears, which of course, just made the tension greater.
It was just then that her grandmother’s gaze caught her eyes – and held her.
She used her grandmother’s eyes to right herself. She relaxed her hand. Her grandmother saw her concentration and she gently smiled. She relaxed some more. Okay, okay concentrate, concentrate, she told herself. I can do this. She held the glass steady, and looking directly at her grandmother’s eyes, she let her grandmother’s gaze carry her the rest of the way across the white-carpeted floor like a tractor beam. She never even looked at the glass. She just concentrated on her grandmother’s soft, knowing smile and aimed for it. And before she knew it, she was there. Her grandmother took the glass from her hands.
“Why thank you, darling girl. My, that’s a full glass. And you didn’t spill a drop!” She laughed and took a deep swig of red punch, then put the glass down, and swept me into her lap, where she held me good and deep into her big bazooms (that’s what she called them,) laughing and hugging me hard, and put me back together again.
DIANA LANG © 2016
Life can be so overwhelming. We can get distracted, confused, and overwhelmed by the sheer volume of it. We are bombarded with information and stimulation. We are trying so hard to make money, raise kids, be a good person; we end up getting over-stimulated, over-amped, and finally overwhelmed!
What we are really looking for, though, is meaning self-love and understanding. We are looking for a way to get back to ourselves — to that part of us that is sacred.
The fastest, most direct route to self-awareness and learning to truly love yourself, is meditation. Meditation takes us straight to our true selves. It teaches us about forgiveness, compassion and acceptance. Meditation reconnects us. It awakens that part of ourselves that is pure presence. When we meditate we have the actual experience of inner peace and a deep inner calm. We learn to authentically love — everyone — including ourselves.
It’s simple to mediate. You can try it right now.
First, make yourself comfortable.
Relax your attention a bit . . . even as you’re reading these words.
Simply, let your attention become softer.
Then, take a deep breath.
Notice if it’s full, or shallow, or held.
As you continue to observe your breath, notice if it feels stressed or calm.
Now, take another deep breath — through your nose.
Exhale slowly . . .
Notice how you feel.
Let your body relax.
Let your mind relax.
Then, take another deep breath
and relax even more . . .
You see? In just a few conscious breaths you can begin to change your state of mind. Even in this very short exercise you can get a feeling of what it’s like to meditate.
Within a meditation many things can happen: insights, understanding, forgiveness, resolution, and inspired ideas, all from this simple process.
There are no rules for meditation. The only thing to focus on is being present. When you are meditating, you are allowing yourself room for stillness and reflection — a vacation from the rushed flow of daily life.
By meditating we discover our most true and authentic self. When we meditate we begin to feel calm and sure. We begin to feel guided in every moment. Meditation connects us to our higher knowing. We begin to know the love that is all around us — all the time. We realize that we are worthy beyond measure.
Meditation connects the soul to the self, and by meditating we are building a conscious bridge. Inside this sacred container there is a whole new world. You’ll come to discover that your inner world is as rich as your outer world is!
By meditating you are sending out a signal that you want to connect, that you want to open your heart to the universe and receive all of its gifts. There is no rush. Meditation is a healing process. It is supreme love in action.
Meditation is a return to love. It will teach you to respect yourself, forgive yourself, and finally love yourself. It creates a clear path to real peace and happiness. The place to start is exactly where you are – as you are. And the time to start is . . . now.
Diana Lang is a spiritual teacher and author of OPENING TO MEDITATION — www.DianaLang.com
Follow Diana Lang on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Diana Lang
And I did get a couple of texts!
By Light I am guided. By Love I am impulsed.