December 2008

Sometimes a breakdown can be the beginning of a kind of breakthrough, a way of living in advance through a trauma that prepares you for a future of radical transformation.
- Cherrie Moraga

 
Life is a series of breakthroughs.
 
Consider the way in which we come into the world. Quite literally breaking through, we begin the cycle of life as we know it. We are pushed into being by a force beyond our control. What lies on the other side of the trauma that we are experiencing is unknown, and is therefore feared. Soon we learn that the same force that pushed us into the world is the essence of nourishment and safety. Nevertheless, in the moment of birth and emergence, we cry out as the light pierces the veil of darkness. Naturally, we wince at a power that exceeds comprehension.
 
We spend the rest of our life re-living this birth pattern, comforts followed by contractions. These contractions often come to us as breakdowns - some aspect of our life threatening to dissolve. Each time, life is leading us to a new emergence (greater light) so that we might experience more brilliance - of insight, of connection, of purpose. Through each and every breakdown - however dark it may seem - is the womb through which more light will emerge. Thus, each breakdown is a breakthrough - a state of emergenc-y in the truest sense.
 
If we so choose, we may reframe our approach to the emergencies of life. There is no denying that such seasons of change can be painful and confusing. The time spent in the midst of breakdown is a time of contraction requiring strength and endurance, and can be especially difficult if the light of breakthrough cannot be readily seen in the distance. A breakdown forces us from the comfort of the status quo so that we might acknowledge what we have too long denied. We have become dependent on habits that we have outgrown, and we are being forced to take our life to the next level.
 
Generally, breakdowns are met with fear. (Just look no further than current state of our financial sectors for evidence of this on a cultural level). The natural energy of fear is contraction, withdrawal, and sometimes panic. In times of breakdown, we are conditioned to feel smaller as we are faced with a force beyond our control. We may feel defeated, ill-equipped, and unsure of what is to come. In essence, we ask the same questions that we did not have words for as we emerged from the womb - where oh where could these contractions be taking us?!
 
I suggest we approach this time of contraction with consciousness, introspection, and a certain degree of trust. Activate your inner witness, and assess what is no longer in harmony with your most heartfelt desires. Ask yourself: What habits have I outgrown? How am I being asked to change? In what ways am I limiting the possibilities in my life? And, what am I most afraid of? In this way, we consciously engage with each contraction, willingly and openly breathing through the waves of challenge in the hope of greater insight.
 
Yet awareness, while most essential, is only the yin of it. in the end - and only you will know when it is time - you must be prepared to engage the yang within...to push your way out. Contractions get closer together; discomfort forces you into action...and you facilitate your own rebirth by taking courageous steps that align you with the potential you are stepping into.
 
Listening to the wisdom of breakdown, we learn from it, and thereby facilitate breakthroughs in our own lives. Keep in mind, reflection can be made easier in the company of a coach, an ally, or a dear friend. When we are held in the spirit of self-empathy, fear is transmuted into power. When navigated consciously, fear can actually be used as a wisdom that results in a more expansive you. Just as contractions enable birth, if allowed, fear enables new life. Contraction begets expansion. Breakdown begets breakthrough.
 
Keep in mind, most breakthroughs happen in stages. Each and every contraction bringing more awareness of how we must continually move and grow. Take it one step at a time, and know that the joy of a new path is emerging:
 

AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
IN FIVE SHORT CHAPTERS
by Portia Nelson
 
Chapter I:
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk
I fall in.
I am lost ... I am helpless.
It isn't my fault.
It takes me forever to find a way out.
 
Chapter II:
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don't see it.
I fall in again.
I can't believe I am in the same place
but, it isn't my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.
 
Chapter III:
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in ... it's a habit.
My eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.
 
Chapter IV:
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.
 
Chapter V:
I walk down another street.

Seeing The Light Ahead,
Candice

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Tags: life coach portland, life coaching, shine coaching

November 2008

Cowardice asks the question, Is it safe?
Expediency asks the question, Is it politic?
Vanity asks the question, Is it popular?
But, conscience asks the question, Is it right?
And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because one's conscience tells one that it is right.
Martin Luther King, Jr

Courage is be true to what is in your heart, even in the face of potential backlash. There is pressure in our culture to be politically neutral in the arena of business. Like the separation of church and state, we often keep our principles and politics out of the workplace and confine it to our homes. In many instances, there is wisdom in such intentions. Too often, personalities become intertwined in political debates and everyone loses in the need to be right. For some reason we find cause to argue, caught in the out-dated illusion that in order to be for something we have to be against someone.

Nevertheless, tonight I challenge the status quo. I step out of the box. I become transparent in my principles because, for the first time in my life, I feel the emergence of a leader who echoes my conscience. My business and my practice are really a reflection of who I am, and an aim to share my gifts through the way I am designed to serve. And so, with joy and an unprecedented feeling of my own ideals and truths reflected, I share my unabashed joy at the election of Barack Obama as the new president of the United States. In doing so, I take the risk that some of you will confuse my principles with political issues and turn a derisive ear on my musings. It's a chance I am willing to take; as I believe that truth and transparency always lead us closer to what unites us in the end.

Hope is the voice within, that in the absence of all evidence insists that Light is still present.
Hope, a fundamental SHiNE Principle.

I can't ever remember feeling connected to a political leader who lived and drew breath in my lifetime. I have yearned to feel inspired by, not only a personality, but a message that resonates at the core of who I am. My life has been a bumpy journey guiding me towards the ideals of truth, humility, grace, compassion, and most of all, hope.

I so often looked around at the world in which I lived with confusion, wondering if the unity, diplomacy, and promise that I know is possible might ever be reflected back to me on a large scale in my lifetime. As a child who moved from small town to small town, I felt isolated from the world of stability and abundance. As an adolescent I was baffled by my small but powerful reality that demanded an offensiveness of me that I didn't inherently possess. As a young college student, I dove into philosophy, religion, and ancient texts as substitutes for the leadership I yearned for in my coming of age. And as a young adult, I have often felt I am designed to live in a different world than the one reflected back to me in our cultural habits and expectations. Nevertheless, I have fought to live the life of hope through my choices. No matter what safety, expedience, and vanity might have to say...inner authority matters most of all. And there is a light inside of me - however dim it may seem at times - that says it is possible to be who I am in this world. It is indeed possible to recreate a world in which everyone feels he or she has a place and a significance.

Tonight, I shed tears of joy as I witnessed a crowd of hundreds of thousands of people like me (young, diverse, and full of promise) with light and possibility in their eyes. While I have confidence in Obama's principles and what he represents, I did not vote for a man, an issue, or an icon. I voted for a message of hope and unity. I have no doubt that as a president he will face challenges, and I pray that as Americans we offer he and his family the grace of humanness. However, it is the premise of possibility and common purpose that inspires me beyond he, the person. It is what his brilliance elicits in others that matters most to me. It's the look of determination, inspiration, and strength that I saw reflected in eyes of so many in the crowd that gathered all over the country that moved me to tears. You see, as a coach and teacher, I know the power of a will driven by purpose. Nothing stands in the way of the promise of possibility when the will is self-initiated and encouraged.

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.
Barack Obama

I have never felt more certain and motivated in my work and in the potential of a new world. Tonight, I cried for the child inside of me - and the ancient archetype inside of so many around the world - who never thought someone like her could ever be fully accepted by the world in which we live.

Regardless of your political affiliation, may you have the courage to look beyond division and find a way to unify and align with the greater good that we all seek. I respect you fully for your beliefs, your principles, and your vote in any direction. May we embrace a world where we can all be honored and listened to in our joys and successes, and more importantly in our disappointments and frustrations.

Personally, I see a universal victory in the outcome of this election. In this season of long days of darkness, we are forced look to the light within - the spark of potential felt, yet unseen in the absence of sun. It is from that prick of light inside that spring is seeded. In actuality, potential for change comes not from an outside source, but from our own conviction and inner compass in life. May we all tend to the hope within in order to unite in a common purpose. After all, in the end, it is our differences that empower and enable us to experience deep love, living in a symphonic harmony that sameness simply cannot express.

Yours as a New American,
Candice

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Tags: life coach portland, obama hope

In recent months, I have been swimming in paradox. It's been a peaceful ride through drastic changes in my day-to-day life. A relationship that brought me closer to my fears in order to overcome them has ended. Our parting was filled with compassion and truth, and left me with a sense of completion and wonder. More love than ever, in this case, means letting go.

Another move (the third in 2008!) across town into a solitary existence for the first time in years has been challenging. Add to that, an epic realization that I am no longer the impassioned movement teacher who moved to Portland five years ago. The teacher in me lives on; however, I am no longer drawn to what I once taught. My relationship with Nia has taken me to where I am today and will always be a part of me... but I no longer have the same urge to teach. Teaching hooping has been a joyous journey of learning and connection... yet the business must continue to evolve with me behind the scenes. I am all at once devastated and relieved to be admitting to what I have known for over a year now. I am transforming into a new kind of teacher... and apparently, what exactly this looks like will not reveal itself until I let go of all that I know.

In a final attempt to revive what-once-was, I taught a couple of events this past month. What happened as a result is not unfamiliar to me... it's an experience I have had in the past when I hold on to a reality when it is no longer serving my highest good. It seems to be my spirit's way of speaking to me when I am not listening.

In this instance, it was a moment of teaching... sensing my body, sharing the experience, weaving cues together in new ways and old, as I have for the past seven years... I felt a part of myself (a part that I identify as my spirit, the witness within) begin to rise up just above my body. It feels similar to some out-of-body experiences that I have read about... only without the woo-woo magic and with a lot more fear! I become immersed in the witness and its vantage point, all the while, I am teaching the class on auto-pilot - without missing a beat. The words flow out, the students respond, and I am suspended slightly above, observing it all. Re-reading this it sounds entirely too mystical... when in actuality, it's far from warm and fuzzy. When it is happening, I feel a surge of anxiety that borders on panic. My sensory perception becomes so heightened that it is almost painful to take it all in... everything amplified - sounds, light, my own emotion. It's like a threshold that I can contain only for so long without going mad. Usually with body awareness, I can recover center once more within a second or two. Anyway, when I tap into this hovering aspect of myself, it always delivers the same message in the end. Something like: I don't want to do this anymore. I've done all I can here. Set me free.

Later, once in-body and out-of-class, I fight back with reason. Come on now! We have invested so much time and energy here. (and yes, it's a "we"). We are good at this and we should keep doing it! This argument is my ego's attempt to reign my spirit in... to get it to sign on for an agenda that is safe and secure. Only, it's not. My spirit plays the trump card when it lifts me out of body. My rational mind is silenced. There is no "reason" for what I am experiencing... and nothing about it feels like what my ego calls "safety."

I was reflecting on this to a dear friend in a moment of sorrow. I told her about a moment of rising above myself teaching on auto-pilot. And the sense of emptiness that I felt while teaching what used to fill my heart with passion. I voiced my frustration and self-judgement ... WHY are things always changing? Why can't I just be great at something and then do it again and again, fulfilled by the service I am offering? Why the need to re-invent myself? Why I am rejecting the status quo yet again? Am I just an ego-maniac looking for a fix that I will never find?!

I could almost feel her smiling on the other end. Then, in a sage moment, she responded and struck a chord of truth that I desperately needed strumming. ... Candice, you are a creator and a seeker. You will never be satisfied doing anything once it becomes auto-pilot. You are just not wired that way. You will always transform and change beyond it because it is in your nature to do so.

Uh, yeah.
It is undeniable and true.

Thanks, Sylvia.

And so, I yield.
I let go, again.

This must be what it feels like to be the dust speck on Horton Hears A Who... floating about in the air, hopeful that some force much larger and unseen will carry it to safety. In a way, I guess it is the SHiNE message at work through me... as we all feel that way from time-to-time, especially when we answer the call from within. In the words of Horton, may we remember: "let that be a lesson to one and to all; a person is a person, no matter how small."

And might I add..
Whomever, however, wherever you might be.
The heart of your SHiNE has the right to be free.

Be you. Embrace who you are to keep the light on.

September 2008

Many are the names of God and infinite the forms
through which He may be approached.
- Ramakrishna, 18th century Indian Sage

When we hear the word yoga most of us think of conscious movement, repetitions of downward facing dogs, sweaty palms, and deep breathing. I find it inspiring that so many in our culture are inhabiting their bodies more, and channeling the built-up stresses of a restless spirit into conscious mind-body practice. Even as a practitioner myself, I have always known that modern-day yoga is a secular by-product of a spiritual tradition that dates back centuries.

In my recent studies as an enthusiastic grad student (see announcement about AIHT!), I have been skimming the surface of my coursework. I was immediate drawn into some writings on Hinduism and the origins of yoga. Simplified, "yoga is a method of training designed to lead to integration or union." And while we are accustomed to a practice designed to unify body and mind through movement (making it more marketable and accessible to a secular world hungry for fitness and stress-relief), the origins of yoga reveal greater depth and meaning.

To simplify, four paths are available to actualize the human potential through yoga. Raja Yoga (the way through psychophysical exercise) is what many modern-day practices have been derived from. Other paths include: Karma Yoga (the way through work and action), Bhakti Yoga (the way through love and devotion), and Jnana Yoga (the way through knowledge and wisdom). The Hindu faith believes that all paths - yes, even those of other religions - lead to the same ultimate destination: integration with the Infinite (spirit by any name is one and the same). The four paths of yoga acknowledge that different human temperaments approach their relationship to the Divine uniquely. Peering more closely into yoga as a multidimensional practice has opened my eyes to what it means to be a yoga practitioner and a human.

Too often we reject the most wonderful aspects of a spiritual tradition we know little about because we have an all-or-none mentality. But what if we replaced that with an all-is-one mentality and embraced the brilliance ignited within as the truest teaching, while learning from a variety of sources?

If you feel so inspired, join me this month and expand your practice as a yogi or yogini to "embrace the many paths." Simplify the essence of each and then choose the medicine that speaks to your need in the moment. Maintain awareness of your mental and physical energy and keep movement alive through life as a meditation (raja yoga). Allow more of your actions to become thoughtful and a selfless expression of the Life moving through you (karma yoga). Express love and devotion towards the form and formlessness that Spirit takes in your life (bhakti yoga). And intuit and discern between that which is real and lasting truth and that which is the illusory and fleeting dance of the ego (jnana yoga).

Remember, what moves you at your deepest core is what matters to your life most in the moment. Claim your personal practice of growth and transformation. Stay alive and open in the now. And embrace all paths that bring you home to the Universal Divine. Take what speaks to you, and let the rest go by.

Honoring All As One,
Candice

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Tags: life coach portland, yoga, life coaching, shine coaching

SHiNE TeleCoaching
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Sometimes all that stands in the way of reaching out for the support we need is convenience and affordability. This fall, Candice is committed to making SHiNE Coaching more accessible. Check out these amazing deals. Rates have never been this low!
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AIHT
American Institute of Holistic Theology

I have always been passionate about bridging the spaces that separate. As a child, I was often the mediator between feuding friends; as an adult, the diplomat able to navigate delicate communications. Yet I feel most passionate about supporting integration in the intersecting avenues of spirit. I am taking this opportunity to do just that by learning and growing through AIHT's distance learning program. No doubt this journey, just beginning, will inspire my work in powerful ways. Stay tuned and thanks for your kind thoughts of support on my new adventure!
- Candice

Learn more about AIHT

The Story of Stuff
with Annie Leonard

If you haven't yet seen this video and interaction website, you've got to check it out! It sheds light on the consumer culture we live in and offers awareness to take us into a more conscious way of being that honors our planet and fellow humans worldwide. Watch it now!

check it out

HoopGirl Teacher Training
Nuneaton, England

What an amazing way to start out the month! I have been traveling in the UK, co-teaching HoopGirl teacher trainings with my soul sister and radiant colleague, Christabel Zamor. The training is filled with so many inspirational women (and one man!) with roots stretching far and wide - England, Scotland, Wales, Poland, Italy, and Columbia to name a few! Altogether creating a myriad of accents, talents, and creative impulses.

It is always an honor to see trainees stepping into their power as teachers. And working with Christabel - a powerhouse of inspiration and possibility - is a total joy! Can I just say I adore our connection?! What a divine partnership it is. Our joint facilitation is so effortless and contains an undeniable synergy. Wow. Lucky for me, we are training through August 5. See you when I return!

The highlight of my teaching experience thus far is getting to know Kim, a 20-year old individualist with pink/purple hair and a variety of strategically-placed body piercings. She exudes a sensitivity and femininity beneath a tough exterior. She possesses a potent power clouded by the uncertainty to be expected at her age. I observed with fascination when, on Day 3 (the day of the teaching practicums), she was held hostage by self-effacing inner dialogue. She was filled with fear and dread at the thought of teaching in front of 20 other hoopers. Though the space was safe and supportive, she withdrew feeling powerless. Going to her, I did my best to penetrate this voice with my own. Listening through tears, she would nod, smile, and even laugh at my musings... only minutes later to sink back into the space of doubt.

Eventually, with some coaching and coaxing by myself and others, she chose to face her fear. I was so proud and in awe as she placed the headset on and began to lead the class with a command and presence I knew would come so naturally to her. Then it happened... one split second, a loss of words, and the truth of her effortless brilliance was again hijacked by fear. She seemed almost defenseless against it, and as her shoulders sunk her confidence was lost to her again. What happened next is like slow motion in my memory.

Christabel and I stood back to allow space for her to regain her center. Empathically I knew that doing nothing was the best way to be of service in this moment. And I watched with understanding and alarm as, one-by-one, the women around me (Kim's fellow trainees) began to rescue her. Motherly instincts kicked in, and each offered their own brand of love and kindness - some subtly teaching the class for her, and others ushering her along with physical closeness. As I witnessed, I noticed the result to Kim's energy... and something in me took over the space immediately. I stepped forward, not sure what I was about to do... just knowing it had to be done, and fast. Kim's soul was counting on us to do her a greater and higher service in the moment.

I simply knew - without a doubt - the truth of her brilliant potential. I firmly requested that everyone step away from Kim. With conviction I asserted over the buzz of the group, "I am stepping in here. I am 100% confident that Kim can do this. And I would like to give her the opportunity. I am requested that everyone stop doing this for her, and give her the space to have the experience she is here to have."

Everyone set their best intentions aside and backed away... they knew that I was on to something.

Within a minute or two, Kim was back in her power again. She is truly a lovely facilitator, very articulate and strong, with her own unique brand of humor. Throughout the course of her practicum, she lost her center again a couple of times... but because we did not feed those voices of self-pity with their co-dependent counterpart (the rescuer), she was able to rise from the ashes again and again. I am so proud of Kim. She is an emblem of courage to me. And to be pushing through fears like this as such a young adult... wow. I appreciate what she taught us all yesterday.

It was a miraculous moment to witness her in her brilliant glory!

We all have a choice when it comes to the negative self-talk (jackals) that can sometimes vie for our precious energy. It is in believing the story that our jackals tell us that we become helpless in connecting to the available brilliance within. (And yes, it's always available). Certainly, there is a time to nurture others (and ourselves) with empathy and understanding. However, it is easy to cross the line into unhealthy enabling of untruth when we support anything other than brilliance with the need to rescue. It's a fine line to walk... and safe containers (personal growth seminars, counseling sessions, loving relationships) are where we can practice a sort of tough love to bring one another back into the light again.

My thanks to HoopGirl, Christabel, Kim, and all the other inspiring trainees for this remarkable opportunity.

Tags: finding your voice

August 2008

At the deepest level, the level of the soul, you are the author of everything that happens to you. - Deepak Chopra

Inner Authority. It is an essential component in following one's own path of brilliance. The word "authority" implies both a sense of sovereignty and, perhaps less obviously, the ability to author and/or create an outcome. Inner Authority (Mahatma Gandhi called it soul force) places the power to create back in your heart and hands. Soul Force is hard-wired to override evidence (or opinions) to its contrary. It is a knowing that, at times, defies reason. And due to its unreasonable and unworldly nature, it brings you closer to the Divine.

Through experience in working with my own internal guidance and authority, I have learned to trust it. When I resist the guidance that I receive within (usually due to fear of failure or judgment), my outer world begins to express symptoms of my soulular discomfort. If I push my limits, my body may begin to shut down or pack on the pounds. If I continue to do something that no longer inspires me, conflicts may begin to emerge or money may stop flowing freely. All in all, my life seems to be divinely orchestrated; I only need have the courage to respond to its cues.

In this month's recommended reading, Deepak Chopra lists what he calls the Three Requirements to be Happy on The Soul Level. He invites us to ask the following questions:

Do I act without effort?
Do I feel joy in what I do?
Are my actions bringing results?

He very plainly put into words the process that I have been going through over the past few months. I am delighted to report that I am taking steps to shift the order of my everyday so that I can again answer an emphatic YES! to each of the above.

Now what about you? How is your soul represented in your everyday? Your physical reality is a reflection of your soulular alignment...yes, at all times. Are you making choices that are in integrity with the truth of you, the highest expression of who you can be at this moment? If so, Grace will walk alongside you as an ally. Or it may be that you are ready to make some space for your soul's deepest truths to emerge with more ease. Choices, one at a time, are all that stand between you and the deepest level of joy and fulfillment you could ever know.

Saying Yes Now,
Candice

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Tags: life coach portland, inner authority, self love

Why Is God Laughing
The Path to Joy and Spiritual Optimism
by Deepak Chopra

Deepak Chopra's latest book is a quick-read narrative style, laced with empowering insights. The story of a comedian's journey to enlightenment is followed by a brilliantly written guide to spiritual optimism. Inspired writing meets an easy read.

I read the entire book, cover-to-cover, on a 5 hour flight to Newark!
Enjoy.


more info

July 2008

  
If you receive guidance that compromises your physical comfort,
would you be willing to follow it?
- Caroline Myss

The translucent butterfly (pictured above) has become a mascot for my own path of trusting the promise of brilliant living. Allow her journey to shed some light:
 
One day a lone caterpillar was suddenly called. She was told by the force of her very nature to retreat into solitude and containment in order to experience a death of one self into another.
 
In saying yes, she was called to a resting place - suspended in thin air. There she began to shed her skin. It was frightening! Who would she be without it? The form she once knew was replaced by a shell and she was enveloped by darkness and paralysis. She couldn't move. Where exactly was she? And what had happened to all the light?! She hung, suspended between two lifetimes within one. She waited in the dark, at times feeling very afraid and alone - wondering why she had agreed to such a calling. Yet all the while, she felt a spark of promise whispering from deep, deep within.
 
Over time, the light inside her very core - once faint - became a wellspring of divine light. It kept her warm and safe as she felt who she once was dissolve and transform. It was scary to be stripped of her very caterpillar nature and all that she once knew. She wondered what might become of her...and what would be her place in the world? At times she fought the urge to break free from this cocoon that surrounded her. To squirm back out into the world as she once was. Yet each time she tried, the path was denied. She knew that in heeding that first call, there was no turning back.
 
In time, a potential deep within her pushed its way to the surface. She was ignited by possibility and an outrageous freedom to take flight. And all in one miraculous instant she felt death and new life merge. She pushed, she squirmed, and she broke free - soaring into the unknown.
 
Like the caterpillar, sometimes we are called to be born anew - towards the next grandest vision of how we might best serve the world. Our interconnectedness to All That Is becomes apparent - if we are humble enough to heed the call. Paradoxically, with each of our mini-incarnations we come to understand that to live and make choices in authentic self-love is far from a selfish pursuit. By following the compass of our soul, we give our best to the world around us.
 
For some of us, it is a call we will receive many times in our life. Letting go of what was once a comfortable existence and accepting the promise of something that requires we change who we think ourselves to be. And it usually requires we (temporarily at least) surrender the physical comforts that we once knew (relationships, career paths, and sometimes the approval of friends and family).
 
In fact, one of the most challenging aspects of a time of transformation is the potent force of the unknown. We wonder, "where did the light go?" as experiences that once inspired us no longer ignite our soul...or as those who once held us in high opinion question our path of change. Yet the darkness and self-containment is the greatest gift of all. It is by experiencing this season in which we are cut off from the light sources in our external world that we learn to tap Brilliance and Guidance from within.
 
I encourage you to the heed the soulful call that comes your way. A calling on the modern spiritual path is not a booming voice from beyond. Instead it creeps in through the cracks of our daily existence - through physical or emotional imbalances that threaten us to grow and change or continue on suffering.
 
And may more of us emerge from our cocoons with the promise of the transluscent butterfly. May the wings that carry our brilliance out into the world be clear and transparent so that the glory of the True Source might SHiNE through in our everyday flight.

Cracking Through My Cocoon,
Candice

Click here to see a caterpillar's journey to butterfly on YouTube.

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Tags: life coach portland, time of transition, life coaching, shine coaching

Entering The Castle
by Caroline Myss

I am loving this book! It is a work that appeals to all who feel themselves to be "mystics without monastaries." Myss has written a soulful and engaging book that speaks to the deeper desires at the soul of who we are as humans. A great prescription to awaken from the distractions of the physical world.

more info

June 2008

It's choice...
that determines your destiny.
Jean Nidetch

As a coach, I come across people everyday who are in a season of transition. Often I sit with a client as she weighs her options in regards to the various aspects of life. Be it venturing out on a new career path, taking a relationship to the next level, or rising from a season of depression, people come looking for a container of grace in which all facets of a situation can be seen more clearly.

Through experience, I have learned the power of language as a tool for transformation. The simple act of attending to our inner dialogue has the power to change the course of our thinking...and of our lives. When teaching exercises in conscious communication (stay tuned, workbook coming soon!), I suggest we flag certain words in order to shift the flow of energy in our minds and hearts. This creates a reset function in regards to our thinking and can be the key ingredient to shift a mental construct for good.

Make Choices vs. Decisions

When I hear a client say..."I need to decide, and I'm just not sure what to do." It is then I know that choice is the medicine of the moment. To decide in a moment of ambivalence forces a false sense of finality to the present moment. I invite us to honor the now of our reality, rather than focusing on the how (which is a function of the future, taking us out of the moment). Sometimes when we feel pressure to make decisions (knowing how), rather than choices (knowing now), we inadvertantly disempower ourselves. We make assumptions about the future and add unnecessary weight to our choices - assuming we know where each will lead us over time. We bind ourselves to a way of being that may serve us in the moment, yet not necessarily long-term. And, most of all, we rob ourselves of the freedom to experience the miracle that is a change of heart.

Choices are authentic, in-the-moment, and ever-changing - as are we! To choose is to evoke the essence of self acceptance and allows room for growth. Choice is a priviledge meant to evolve us towards more responsible expressions of who we are in the world. The highest choices are those that create more peace, love, and harmony in the world around us. We can decide to change the world, but can only happen one choice at a time.

So this month, practice presence. And if and when you feel the weight of decision upon you, choose what feels right in the moment instead. Respond to the now and release the how.

Thanks to inspirational singer and songwriter, India Arie, we have the perfect anthem for this month's focus:

I Choose, by India Arie
listen to it now



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Tags: life coach portland, choices vs decisions, choice, life coaching

May those who love us, love us;
and those who don't love us,
may God turn their hearts;
and if He doesn't turn their hearts,
may he turn their ankles
so we'll know them by their limping.
- Irish Blessing

I must admit that I have spent considerable life force - as so many of us have - reaching eagerly for the love of those around me. Nevertheless, I can't say that I relate to this blessing as it applies to others. I find that the love that matters most is not that which we receive. It is the love that we give that later comes back to us. And that love we give is what is reflected in the number of hearts that turn our way.

And, paradoxically, many times it is the love and tenderness we give unto ourselves that is most medicinal over time.

Only a few days ago I stumbled upon a strange turn of events (puns intended). The week began with a trip on the stairs and turned left ankle that left me with a small limp. Luckily, I yielded to the fall; thus, the injury was minor and discomfort passed rather quickly. Oddly, it was less than 16 hours later that I fell again - this time not so gracefully. My right ankle was rocked to the core - a severe sprain that left my skin purple and swollen. For three days I have been resting, icing, compressing, and elevating. Only yesterday was I able to put pressure on my right foot...today a limp is the evidence that lingers.

When I read the Irish Blessing above, I couldn't help but smile. The blessing has been in turning my attention to my own heart... and the limp is helping me to see better how often I turn away from that which nurtures me and the direction I wish to move in.

In my life experience - and in my professional life - I have seen again and again how the body acts as a metaphor. After discovering this through my own personal experience, I stumbled upon teachers such as Louise Hay (and her epic book Heal Your Body, Heal Your Life). The joints of the body are all about mobility... and the ability to move forward. They are about flow and right direction, if you will. And so this week I take stock of my choices and how they align with the direction of my dreams. And I am grateful for the message my body sends me.

BTW, here is my edited version of the old Irish Blessing

May I be at one with the Flow of Divine Love
and when I am not,
may the Beloved turn my heart towards It once again;
and if It doesn't succeed in turning my heart,
may It sweep my feet in Its direction
and I'll remember Love by my limping.

- Irish Blessing [edited]

How To Be A Woman
May 13, 2008 by Candice Schutter
(response to How to Be A Man by Steve Pavlina)

The Yin Warrior is an ancient archetype, and a woman of a new and enlightened world. She is the wayshower for the many who yearn for the Feminine to re-emerge as compassionate, empathic leadership.

The Order of Life for the Yin Warrior is:
Instinct: elemental connection with her environment (her physical body being the most important environment to fully embody)
Intuition: the way that life speaks to and through her through Instinct (felt sensation) as a foundation
Interdependence: how her instincts and intuitions enable her to effectively interact with others in relationships

For too long the Yin Warrior has been asleep in our culture. The Order of Life for women has been operating backwards. Relationships are often put before all else - overriding both the impulses of Instinct and Intuition. Intuition has been overshadowed by measurable truths or mistaken for mystical fantasy. And Instinct - spoken through the physical body world - has become a vehicle in which to meet desired ends, rather than a sacred space to embody as the foundation of life.

Let's re-visit The Order of Life for the Yin Warrior through some of her many tools:

INSTINCT
A woman has a visceral knowing - being one with the earth. She understands the elemental dust from which she - and all things - arise from and return to. She embraces the body in its curvaceous celebration of the cyclical nature of form. The body is her temple and instinct is the voice of the Earth itself echoing through its walls. As the space through which life enters, she is masterful at understanding energetic landscapes and the weather patterns of the life unfolding all around her. Her body speaks volumes through sensation.

Sensation
She becomes silent enough to attend to the winds within her body and its resulting rhythms. Harmony is found in nature and her connection to it. All of life around her is Nature speaking to her. She asks: Are you listening? How is the flow of the Body World supporting your desires in the moment? Is there resistance? In which direction can your steer the vessel of your life so that flow is found again? She makes choices that yield to a rhythm her body can move through with ease. She cultivates strength by befriending grace and sensation as allies. She is a master of patience in the birth of all things.

Perhaps most importantly in this time of women-against-women... she puts down her sword of judgement once and for all. The Yin Warrior wields no weapon. She shines with an Open Heart - as it is the only "protection" she needs. When anyone (including another woman!) speaks, the Yin Warrior listens with her entire body. She overrides the cultural tendency to self-compare (attire, physique, age, etc); competition is meaningless to her. Instead she hears what is being said beneath the surface of things, using her body as a fine-tuned instrument of presence and discernment so that she may re-create harmony.

Harmony
She makes her personal well-being a first priority and a felt sensation. She asks: When something "goes wrong" in your environment, where do you go to address the disharmony? Do you frantically resist your environment outside, hoping to change your internal landscapes? What does it take to restore a sense of balance in your body and heart? The Yin Warrior cultivates self-love by taking overt actions that affirm how her life matters to her.

The Yin Warrior listens to her own rhythms and instincts first and foremost. She feels no need to criticize, gossip, or complain... for she understands all impulses rippling in and around her are mirrors through which to see herself more clearly. She looks closely in such moments, and discerns how she might care for herself and the world around her more efficiently. Through self-nurturing, she re-aligns herself with the voice of her instincts (and the environment responds with harmony in accordance with her self-love). Her god-given enchantment is nurtured on a soulular level, so any measures to adorn her physical form are meant to enhance her natural radiance.

INTUITION
A woman knows without knowing how. An inner-aligment with instinct is the foundation for intuition. Tuning in - sensing the world within and without - is the grid upon which the heart rests in its knowing.

Radiant Knowledge
The knowing of the heart is radial. It encompasses all - even the unseen - in its assessment of the moment. This is why instinct coupled with sensation is the foundation of such knowledge. Without this radial awareness, instinct becomes egocentric and blind to the whole. Fearful instincts are not considered in context, and are thus mistaken for intuitive knowing. Therefore, the Yin Warrior is firmly anchored in the body world so that she may be a conduit for knowledge of another kind.

When intuition comes, it need not be accompanied by fireworks. It creeps up in the heart of a woman, and she knows not its true source. A sudden awareness emerges - through thought, word, image, or sensation. The Yin Warrior holds this knowing up against her internal compass which measures its implications on the environment around her. Only when a confirmation responds from within does she give movement to her knowledge.

Emphatic Truth
Empathy is that which makes necessary the path of the woman as a warrior archetype in our existing culture. Empathy is the tool the Yin Warrior lives her life learning to understand. A woman who embraces her inherent gifts and is in touch with the world around her may sometimes feel bombarded with information and stimulation. Sensation is heightened and can overwhelm the body. Intuition is activated and can overwhelm the heart and mind. The Yin Warrior applies her empathic abilities to balance these tendencies, as she receives from so many sources at once. Once balanced, empathy says, I sense the energy that is present while knowing that I am she who is sensing. I do not confuse myself with the energetic environment in which I live... nor that which I interact with. I do not confuse your experience with the truth of who you are. I see behind the veils of this world; and therefore, I never lose my faith in love.

In this way, truth is welcome in a new way. The Yin Warrior speaks great truth with an ease, an acceptance, a grace. She shares what is alive inside of her without becoming lost in the experience. She comes from a place of harmony... so no matter the potency of the honesty she transmits, she is understood in her intention to create connection. She is direct and clear in her communication, but never confrontational. Connection is her starting point, and her endpoint. She is truly a conduit of love through word and action.

INTERDEPENDENCE
When instinct (physical radiance) and intuition (heart radiance) are attended to, a woman is at one with her world. It is then that relationship reveals itself Whole through her.

Partner with the Beloved He
The Yin Warrior knows that the union of Her Most Sacred Heart with the Beloved He comes first. She places her body, heart, and soul in union with the force of life... and it dances her with a graceful ease. Her life is meant to service and nurture Relationship the the All of Life, first and foremost. This is the Divine Marriage through which she will find her greatest joys and sorrows (both of which she honors and treasures for their unique gifts).

The Infinite Spaceholder
The Yin Warrior holds space through which life can happen. She is the fertile soil of the land. No matter how the fields of her heart are tended, she returns to wholeness again and again. Resilience as a concept can not do her justice. Nor the concept of the Survivor, for it implies victimhood. She is no victim, regardless of circumstance. She is the ultimate power of acceptance. Divine acceptance that sees through veils of personalities, challenges, and consequence. Her choices are sacred acts of love - each a birth of life worth celebrating to fruition. And, knowing nature, she knows this... ALL will bear fruit, in due time.

The Nurturer, she pulls all of life to her bosom in order to shed light of love.
Treat all as innocent children, she whispers.
Accept this world. Love it whole in order to change it.

Tags: how to be a woman

I just had to post this... from the website: www.stevepavlina.com
Beautifully done, and so insightful. I reminds me a lot of the work of David Deida.

He actually had an open invitation to post a "How To Be A Woman" commentary. I took him up on it. See the post prior to this one for my take on it.


How to Be a Man
May 9th, 2008 by Steve Pavlina

What does it mean to be a man today? How can men consciously express their masculinity without becoming cold or closed-hearted on the one hand… or wimpy and emasculated on the other? What’s the most loving way for a conscious man to express himself?

Here are 10 ways to live more consciously as a man:

1. Make real decisions.
A man understands and respects the power of choice. He lives a life of his own creation. He knows that life stagnates when he fails to decide and flourishes when he chooses a clear path.
When a man makes a decision, he opens the door he wants and closes the doors he doesn’t want. He locks onto his target like a guided missile. There’s no guarantee he’ll reach his target, and he knows this, but he doesn’t need such guarantees. He simply enjoys the sense of inevitability that comes from pushing the launch button.
A man doesn’t require the approval of others. He’s willing to follow his heart wherever it leads him. When a man is following his heart-centered path, it’s of little consequence if the entire world is against him.

2. Put your relationships second.
A man who claims his #1 commitment in life is his relationship partner (or his family) is either too dishonest or too weak to be trusted. His loyalties are misplaced. A man who values individuals above his own integrity is a wretch, not a free thinker.
A man knows he must commit to something greater than satisfying the needs of a few people. He’s not willing to be domesticated, but he is willing to accept the responsibility that comes with greater challenges. He knows that when he shirks that duty, he becomes something less than a man. When others observe that the man is unyieldingly committed to his values and ideals, he gains their trust and respect, even when he cannot gain their direct support. The surest way for a man to lose the respect of others (as well as his self-respect) is to violate his own values.
Life will test the man to see if he’s willing to put loyalty to others ahead of loyalty to his principles. The man will be offered many temptations to expose his true loyalties. A man’s greatest reward is to live with integrity, and his greatest punishment is what he inflicts upon himself for placing anything above his integrity. Whenever the man sacrifices his integrity, he loses his freedom… and himself as well. He becomes an object of pity.

3. Be willing to fail.
A man is willing to make mistakes. He’s willing to be wrong. He’d rather try and fail than do nothing.
A man’s self-trust is one of his greatest assets. When he second-guesses himself by worrying about failure, he diminishes himself. An intelligent man considers the prospect of failure, but he doesn’t preoccupy himself with pointless worry. He accepts that if a failure outcome occurs, he can deal with it.
A man grows more from failure than he does from success. Success cannot test his resolve in the way that failure can. Success has its challenges, but a man learns more about himself when he takes on challenges that involve risk. When a man plays it safe, his vitality is lost, and he loses his edge.

4. Be confident.
A man speaks and acts with confidence. He owns his attitude.
A man doesn’t adopt a confident posture because he knows he’ll succeed. He often knows that failure is a likely outcome. But when the odds of success are clearly against him, he still exudes confidence. It isn’t because he’s ignorant or suffering from denial. It’s because he’s proving to himself that he has the strength to transcend his self-doubt. This builds his courage and persistence, two of his most valuable allies.
A man is willing to be defeated by the world. He’s willing to be taken down by circumstances beyond his control. But he refuses to be overwhelmed by his own self-doubt. He knows that when he stops trusting himself, he is surely lost. He’ll surrender to fate when necessary, but he won’t surrender to fear.

5. Express love actively.
A man is an active giver of love, not a passive receiver. A man is the first to initiate a conversation, the first to ask for what’s needed, and the first to say “I love you.” Waiting for someone else to make the first move is unbecoming of him. The universe does not respond positively to his hesitation. Only when he’s in motion do the floodgates of abundance open.
Man is the out-breath of source energy. It is his job — his duty — to share his love with the world. He must wean himself from suckling the energy of others and become a vibrant transmitter of energy himself. He must allow that energy to flow from source, through him, and into the world. When he assumes this role, he has no doubt he is living as his true self.

6. Re-channel sex energy.
A man doesn’t hide his sexuality. If others shrink from him because he’s too masculine, he allows them to have their reaction. There’s no need for him to lower his energy just to avoid frightening the timid. A man accepts the consequences of being male; he makes no apologies for his nature.
A man is careful not to allow his energy to get stuck at the level of lust. He re-channels much of his sexual energy into his heart and head, where it can serve his higher values instead of just his animal instincts. (You can do this by visualizing the energy rising, expanding, and eventually flowing throughout your entire body and beyond.)
A man channels his sexual energy into his heart-centered pursuits. He feels such energy pulsing within him, driving him to action. He feels uncomfortable standing still. He allows his sexual energy to explode through his heart, not just his genitals.

7. Face your fears.
For a man, being afraid of something is reason enough to do it. A man’s fear is a call to be tested. When a man hides from his fears, he knows he’s fallen out of alignment with his true self. He feels weak, depressed, and helpless. No matter how hard he tries to comfort himself and achieve a state of peace, he cannot overcome his inner feeling of dread. Only when facing his fears does a man experience peace.
A man makes a friend of risk. He doesn’t run and hide from the tests of fear. He turns toward them and engages them boldly.
A man succeeds or fails. A coward never makes the attempt. Specific outcomes are of less concern to a man than his direction.
A man feels like a man whenever he faces the right way, staring straight into his fears. He feels even more like a man when he advances in the direction of his fears, as if sailing on the winds of an inner scream.

8. Honor the masculinity of other men.
When a man sees a male friend undertaking a new venture that will clearly lead to failure, what does the man do? Does he warn his friend off such a path? No, the man encourages his friend to continue. The man knows it’s better for his friend to strike out confidently and learn from the failure experience. The man honors his friend’s decision to reach out and make the attempt. The man won’t deny his friend the benefits of a failure experience. The man may offer his friend guidance, but he knows his friend must fail repeatedly in order to develop self-trust and courage.
When you see a man at the gym struggling to lift a heavy weight, do you jump in and say, “Here… let me help you with that. Maybe the two of us can lift it together”? No, that would rob him of the growth experience — and probably make a quick enemy of him as well.
The male path is filled with obstacles. It typically includes more failures than successes. These obstacles help a man discover what’s truly important to him. Through repeated failures a man learns to persist in the pursuit of worthy goals and to abandon goals that are unworthy of him.
A man can handle being knocked down many times. For every physical setback he experiences, he enjoys a spiritual advancement, and that is enough for him.

9. Accept responsibility for your relationships.
A man chooses his friends, lovers, and associates consciously. He actively seeks out the company of people who inspire and challenge him, and he willingly sheds those who hold him back.
A man doesn’t blame others for his relationship problems. When a relationship is no longer compatible with his heart-centered path, he initiates the break-up and departs without blame or guilt.
A man holds himself accountable for the relationships he allows into his life. He holds others accountable for their behavior, but he holds himself accountable for his decision to tolerate such behavior.
A man teaches others how to treat him by the relationships he’s willing to allow into his life. A man refuses to fill his life with negative or destructive relationships; he knows that’s a form of self-abuse.

10. Die well.
A man’s great challenge is to develop the inner strength to express his true self. He must learn to share his love with the world without holding back. When a man is satisfied that he’s done that, he can make peace with death. But if he fails to do so, death becomes his enemy and haunts him all the days of his life.
A man cannot die well unless he lives well. A man lives well when he accepts his mortality and draws strength from knowing that his physical existence is temporary. When a man faces and accepts the inevitability of death… when he learns to see death as his ally instead of his enemy… he’s finally able to express his true self. So a man isn’t ready to live until he accepts that he’s already dead.

Source: http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2008/05/how-to-be-a-man/

Tags: how to be a man, steve pavlina

May 2008


I
Have
Learned
So much from God
That I can no longer
Call
Myself
 
A Christian, a Hindu, a Muslim,
A Buddhist, a Jew.
 
The Truth has shared so much of Itself
With me
 
That I can no longer call myself
A man, a woman, an angel,
Or even pure
Soul.
 
Love has
Befriended Hafiz so completely
It has turned to ash
And freed
Me
 
Of every concept and image
My mind has ever known.
 
Hafiz, Sufi Poet

I am drawn to the writings of Sufi Masters such as Hafiz. Many of these great teachers share connection with a heartfelt spirit-led way of living that defies the conceptual mind. Sufism is a mystical tradition of ancient Islam. We can dip into its essence when working towards a global unity - touching the depth of spiritual inquiry where all the lines of this world of form blur, merging into a one religion without dogma. All paths are honored when we pierce the veil of concepts and begin to know God.
 
Nevertheless, living in the world of form means embracing life and its constructs. To continue in our evolution, we wrap words around feelings and apply labels to the paths we tread. These too can be sacred acts, when we approach them with the understanding that our feelings and pathways can be treated as reflections of how connected we are to the All of Life.
 
On the SHiNE blog I recently shared my personal evolution through labels as divine signposts - shifting my focus onto a path that more accurately reflects my passion for service. (You can read more here). In essence, for too long I was asleep at the wheel. The illusion of so-called survival mode was leading me to make unconscious choices based on what I could get. I was left empty - in more ways that one. Then, again and again, I asked for guidance - I wanted to wake up. Love befriended me, and the path of ministry and service became clearer each time I sought Its counsel. I have always known my deepest desire is to walk in the world as a minister/conduit of love itself. And my greatest gift to the world is seeing - and fostering - the inherent wholeness in everyone that I mean.
 
A client recently asked me how my current business might change as a result of shift to "ministry." Would I still be available to help her with the nuts and bolts of her business plan? I was so pleased that she asked. For my hope is that SHiNE as a collection of services can redefine ministry - expanding its definition to include anything that enlivens you to more inspired and purposeful living. So my answer was "absolutely, yes!" SHiNE Ministry includes service in the form that suits your heart's calling in the moment - be it business, livelihood, parenthood, relationship, spirit-based counseling, or movement as medicine. The primary focus at the core of all SHiNE offerings: supporting you so that you might give the best of yourself in each moment.
 
And let's re-define giving while we're at it, yes?! Harmonious giving is not self-sacrificing at its deepest level. On the contrary, it relies on an awareness that honoring the self (see last month's feature article) is the foundation for authentic generosity and abundant living through giving. When we truly know ourselves, the fear of giving dissolves. The illusions of lack, separation, loss of self, competition, and victimization fall away. Freedom is truly found in giving of ourselves - from a place of wholeness.
 
This month, I invite you to give of yourself in some unique way. Step out of bounds and experience how your brilliance shared is to honor love in all its forms - in, as, and through you.

 
We make a living by what we get.
We make a life by what we give.
 Winston Churchill

Blessings,
Candice

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May 2008 - Book of The Month
Transforming Fate Into Destiny: A New Dialogue With Your Soul
by Robert Ohotto

It's been awhile since I picked up a book that so truly spoke my language. There are so many gifted teachers out there, sharing powerful work... I am often struck by the potency a teaching. However, in this month's featured book, my appreciation was taken to the next level. I feel as though much of the knowledge that I have intuited on my own path is expressed so clearly here.

Excerpt:

We must understand that the freedom we have in free will is to align with our inner design, but we don't have the liberty to be anything other than who we're meant to become. Said another way, each of us eventually awakens to the terrifying reality that there is precious little we can truly control in life - that is, our ego is the caboose on the train of our being, and the soul is the engine that's truly in charge of our lives. The ego must humbly learn that it can only control the quality of our journey, not the destination, which was planned before we came here...

We must always be mindful of when we're seeking and chasing outer approval for our value. For the degree to which we believe in our inherent worth determines how much we can change the world through our Destiny.

These are beautiful explanations of what I consider to be tenets of the SHiNE philosophy. I suggest this book for the great many powerful themes expressed:

- Examine the western world as a fate-phobic culture... where remarkable teachings regarding the nature of life are too often over-simplified to meet our need to control outcomes.

- Develop soul esteem and connecting to the core inscription guiding your walk in the world.

- Explore the ways in which "the ego has gotten a bad rap"... and consider a expansive and compassionate approach to the ego in which it becomes an ally to the soul, resulting in inner authority.

- Practice the art of soul prayer... and learn how the Law of Attraction fits in when our ego wants that which our soul is not aligned with.

- Transforming how you view death, your body, the psyche... and so much more.

Reading this book, I feel grateful that Ohotto was able to share so many of concepts that are overlooked in modern metaphysical circles. I applaud his courage to state the obvious, and to take us into new frontiers of understanding the undeniable.

Check it out

Tags: robert ohotto

Had to share this fun and insightful questionnaire offered in a recent newsletter that I receive weekly. Great stuff for some juicy self-inquiry and fun. Pick a couple of questions that intrigue you or answer them all. Enjoy!


1. What did you dream last night?
2. What image or symbol represents the absolute of your desires?
3. In what ways has your fate been affected by invisible forces you don't understand or are barely aware of?
4. Tell a good lie.
5. What were the circumstances in which you were most dangerously alive?
6. Are you a good listener? If so, describe how you listen. If not, explain why not.
7. Compose an exciting prayer in which you ask for something you're not supposed to.
8. What's the difference between right and wrong?
9. Name something you've done to undo, subvert, or neutralize the Battle of the Sexes.
10. Have you ever witnessed a child being born? If so, describe how it changed you.
11. Compose a beautiful blasphemy that makes you feel like crying.
12. What do you do to make people like you?
13. If you're not familiar with the Jungian concept of the "shadow," find out about it. If you are, good. In either case, give a description of the nature of your personal shadow.
14. Talk about three of your most interesting personalities. Give each one a name and a power animal.
15. Make up a dream in which you lose control and thereby attract a crowd of worshipers.
16. Name your greatest unnecessary taboo and how you would violate it if it didn't hurt anyone.
17. Give an example of how smart you are in the way you love.
18. What ignorance do you deserve to be forgiven for?
19. What was the pain that healed you the most?
20. Make a prediction about yourself.

Reprinted from Rob Brezsny's FreeWill Astrology Newsletter, March 2008.

Tags: rob brezsny

I just finished watching The Moses Code, a relatively new release by director James Twyman. Take the recent hit, The Secret, and add higher consciousness including a heavy emphasis on the role of service and interdependence in spirituality. Unlike the teachings of late that have paved the way, this film is not promoting a metaphysical message focused on empowering the self... instead it emphasizes a holy message intent upon empowering the soul. The movie centers around the words revealed to Moses at the burning bush... I Am That I Am... and offers a suggestion for an entirely new way of approaching this message. I will not go into the particulars... as the purpose of this posting is not to review the movie. There is much to be said about the film... yet, I am writing from a personal place tonight.

There is an undeniable truth that I have been overlooking in my life. It helped reveal itself to me tonight, and I have decoded a perception that is a recent source of great struggle.

Pictured above is me just a few months after I arrived in Portland, over four years ago. As you can see, I looked very different then. I had very short hair... and my body was tight and brimming with muscles from the diligence of daily pushing them to their edge. This was an important season in my life. Beginning in the year 2000, the body you see above carried me through many achievements and much growth. My streamlined physique above reflected my business ethic, my single-minded ambition, and my passion at the time.

This was the true beginning of a destiny that I felt called to embody. It stemmed from a reason for being that resonated within me for as long as I can remember. And in the years from the time of that photo to now, I have witnessed the miraculous. I have watched myself inch ever-more closely to my calling (and I know this, because the voice gets louder). And the primary way that I have done this to date has been to say "yes" to pathways that have enabled me to connect to the voice within. One choice at a time, I awakened to my soul's yearning... saying yes to heartbreak as a journey to self love.... yes to an insatiable spiritual inquiry... yes to the emergence of the leader within in job after job... yes to being unpopular to others in the pursuit of my truth... yes to movement as a vehicle for unleashing my brilliance... yes to hooping as a pathway to understand what enlivens me in the presence of others. Again and again, yes has been leading me home.

Now, I find myself standing at the doorway of my mission as a messenger in this time of great love embodiment. And, suddenly, "no" has stepped in.

I have been experiencing a great paralysis. I am no longer the same driven woman in that picture above... a young soul who manifested opportunity after opportunity... businesses, clients, and projects. The one who dared to dream of a life where she could work for herself. The one who worked endlessly, blasting through to-do lists and pushing through with a warrior mindset. I am the woman on the other side of the wall she busted through. I find myself standing at the point of entry, saying: "Ah yes, now... I know what I can and must do." And... I do nothing! Much unlike this decade of movement that propelled me into the now, anything other than stillness feels false to this new me.

And so, it was today that I wondered aloud to a dear friend, "What is it that stops me from the actions towards this next creation of my soul's deepest yearning?"

The pieces are coming together now. You see, I have felt conflicted in my heart. I have always been wired in such a way that I cannot step forth on a path where my heart does not fully align. I have experienced it admiration, resentment, and utter confusion from others for this inherent trait in me. Yet, I have come to accept it in myself.

The degree to which my heart has been halting the progression of my path as an aspiring author is becoming more clear. I now understand that an old paradigm has expired, and a new one has been forming. I am unwilling to take even a step forward with a worn-out energetic that feels out of integrity with who I am destined to become.

My Destiny in this life is Service.
And the gifts that I am blessed with are not commodity or product.
They are blessed pathways that require Grace and Humility.

The old paradigm is that of the Entrepreneur. Much of its energy hinges on the question of how to take skills and talents and make them a marketable and sustainable source of sustenance in my life. This mode of being is not good or bad, as it certainly served its time in my life. Nevertheless, it has been flipped on its head over the past few months, and I see it now clear as day. I don't know yet how this will change how and what I do... but I do know that a rapid and irreversible revolution is happening with me on a soulular level.

While I am not rejecting the ways of business development as we know them to operate, I am certain that my creative energies will continue to allude me if I continue to yoke them to dollars and cents. In this new world where I see us all benefiting organically from the way in which we are destined to serve this world, a financial plan for a path of transformation feels somehow forced. Certainly, I can set objectives! Yet, I know that what I must create I must create for the sake of serving a greater good.

I must serve because service is needed.
I must give of myself because giving is the only thing that matters.

Even to me it sounds a bit idealistic. How will I pay my bills if I take a month off to write a book? How can I energetically give away my time and energy to causes that need it without room in my budget? I will not go there. I leave such miracles to God. I only know that this is the simplification (however naive) that must take place as I move forward on my path. I opened myself to God through the path of the Entrepreneur... and now the Minister is stepping in to take her place.

It is not that I believe I have to live minimally (or go without the material pleasures in life) to be great in service.... yet I do know that, for me, service must start to proceed my monetary apprehensions and needs to feel secure. I fully appreciate and honor the ways in which the business-mind is shaping my reality and providing me with liberties to have choice over what I do with my time... yet, what AM I doing with my time? This may sound dramatic but everything aside from helping others to feel the light of their brilliance within feels like a slow death to me. Too much time is spent on complex business operations and not enough on the inspirations that pulse through me in the moment.

I am taking my life back now.
I pray for the divine guidance within me to show me the way.

Tags: the moses code, book review, i am that

April 2008


Well-ordered self-love is right and natural.
St. Thomas Aquinas

In recent weeks, I have become more aware than ever that I have much to learn about self-care. It's a common paradox for those of us in paths of service. Continually we encourage others to honor personal rhythms of healing, while ignoring the lights flashing in our own hearts. It's true indeed that we teach what we need to learn. I have come to notice that, quite often, in coaching sessions I am the messenger administering the medicine to us both via intuition and unexpected verbal elixirs.

It has been said before, love is an action. It is a series of choices. And so, when it comes to shining love inward, we must compassionately observe the choices that we make repeatedly throughout the day. How often are we present to what is alive in the moment? Do we sometimes override impulses to self-nurture in order to feed perceived urgencies in our environment? It takes only awareness to rewind, and re-choose.

True Self-love is hardly a singular or selfish pursuit. In actuality, it is blatantly spiritual - an act of reverence for the energy from which you came. Honor your body as a sacred temple, your mind as fertile ground for divine awareness, and your heart as a blessed antennae steadfast in rhythmic dance with all of life.

We only appreciate our good or evil
in proportion to our self-love.
François de la Rochefoucauld

It is a worthwhile practice to meditate on the quote above. It is our relationship to self-love that guides our perceptions in life. Take any event in your life and hold it inward in your awareness. If the light of self-love is dimly lit, you may see yourself as a victim of circumstances. Lack of light may taint your view of What-Simply-Is to incorporate a poor self-image, feeding inner drama and suffering. Depressing stories are built - not upon circumstances - but upon forgetfulness of the Brilliance within.

If, however, you have access to the abundance of light inside...if you see yourself as an essential aspect of the light of goodness, suddenly the world around you looks much different. You will see that each and every response to circumstance is built upon the choice that you make in the moment. Heightened self-love results in acceptance and self-empowerment, and both are unattached to storytelling as a means to justify feeling good. Loving the light within is timeless and unconditional with practice, regardless of what happened "once upon a time."

Investing in mini-acts of self-love is the greatest gift that you can give to those around you. Over time you see that your inner light needs to be fed with awareness in order for you to give the best of you to others. So take that walk in the park in the middle of the day, feed yourself healthy perpectives, and surely it can't hurt to give yourself a hug from time-to-time. In re-igniting your bliss, you become evermore committed to passing it along:

"Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared." - Buddha

Reaching my Light to yours,
Candice

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Tags: self love, shine coaching, life coaching

April 2008 - Resource of the Month
Hay House Radio

I felt like I had stumbled upon a goldmine when a friend recently suggested I check out Hay House Radio online. So many of my favorite authors, coaches, and distant-mentors all featured in one place. Become a member and you can download amazing talks for FREE! Sign up (again, it's free) and then visit the "Archives" to add talks to your iPod.

Check it out!

Tags: hay house

SHiNE Couples Coaching with Candice Schutter
Practice Presence in a Loving Container for Conscious Communication

An intimate relationship is meant to be an environment where the best of you is witnessed, reflected, and fostered. Yet, over time we too often become entrenched in the stagnancy of a comfort zone, and we lose sight of the ever-changing needs that are alive and real in the moment. Basing our awareness on the past, we make countless assumptions - thinking that our knowledge of our mate is complete and without flaw. In doing so, we miss out on the potential for heartfelt connection in the present.

SHiNE Couples Coaching is a container in which you and your partner can be fully present for one another. Candice will offer many tools and assist you to:
- Identify Energy Leaks present in your communications
- Balance heart-centered talks with Empty Listening
- Create tangible strategies to foster connection daily
- Differentiate your journeys to become singular souls on a shared journey of learning and transformation

FREE 60-min coaching session for 1st time clients.
Contact Us to book your session.

Tags: couples coaching

A New Earth  SHiNE Circle
Week 2

It seems that these late night hours are a waking window, post-sessions on Monday nights. Something unique happens to me each week... suddenly this day holds a certain resonance. Perhaps knowing that I will be serving others (by holding a space for awakening) is a catalyst for a dormant energy within me. Today, I have needed not food or sleep. Each meal that I ate was a conscious act - versus a response to hunger. I have felt full all day... and now feel awake though coming out of a very full day. Something is alive in me through the act of community and service.

Tonight's teachings were well-delivered by Tolle. I found the webinar to be extremely insightful and rich with insight. So much that was said reminded me how important it is to be develop workbook materials that offer tangible tools to embodiment of these lofty concepts. Ideas that I have had to generate materials are now alive in me... SHiNE Body, Sensation Matters, and a Conscious Communication Handbook (just to name a few)... all as ripe and ready tools to refine and share.

Our post-class session was remarkable. Such connection results from willingness to share ourselves from this heightened state of presence. I was moved by each and every person in the circle tonight in some very specific way. I am grateful to all who attended... and anxious to see those absent faces once again. And... lucky me... I get to do this again tomorrow evening with yet another group of new faces. What a blessing. Off to ride this wakefulness to sleepytime...

Breath and Smiles to you.

Tags: A new earth

A New Earth  SHiNE Circle
Day 1

The subtitle of this wonderful work is... Awakening to Your Life's Purpose. After nearly three solid hours spent focusing on this work tonight, it seems my being seems to have taken these words quite literally. It is 1:30am, and I am awake with eyes (and mind) wide open.

This work is not new to me, as I read the book when it was first released a couple of years ago. However, integrating the material comes in doses over time. I am pleased to be revisiting concepts in order to make them so much more - ways of being in my life. What is most powerful to me in the relevance of this subtitle (aside from my unusual alertness at such an odd hour), is the way in which I feel that much more awake to my life's purpose. Holding space for tonight's SHiNE Circle very much meets me on my path of service. I am absolutely blissful uniting others with the brilliance alive within. And to do this in the company of 10 beautiful souls... on this night... with over 500,000 people all over the world in attendance plugged into the same frequency!... Ah well... it is nothing short of a miracle in my heart, and a perfect outpicturing of the job of my dreams, in my very home. I am exactly where I am meant to be. And I am grateful.

This is an exciting time to be alive. Such a global awakening we have never seen before... and I have felt this time approaching for as long as I can remember. The world is finally ripe (a critical mass of us, at least) to live in the way that God intended us. Conscious, self-aware, respons-ible to body and earth. And we must unite, collaborate, and help one another to meet our grandest vision of who we can yet become as a species. We are not meant to do it alone. Individually, we must awaken. Yet it is together that we learn to walk in the world with eyes open. I am so blessed to be a part of this Age of Enlightenment.

May you find Peace in the moment as a gift to your human friends worldwide. Consciousness is an inside job with a outside to match.

Blessings to Love to you.

Tags: A new earth

March 2008

A friend is one before whom I may think aloud.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

 
It is a rare and most precious gift. Friendship. To give it is an honor - friendship teaches us how to be present and unconditional with another like us. To receive it is an art - to allow another to peer into our hearts requires a surrendering to self-love.

Whether it's talking with clients or holding space for community in a class, I see the power of connection at work. There is no greater expression of divinity than opening our heart to another. When we offer ourselves in communion with others, it is our purity that determines the degree of reciprocity. Empathy (I see You) coupled with Honesty (You see Me) creates a brilliant synthesis that transcends the drama of any given moment.

Many of us (myself included) are sometimes afraid of true connection. Our vulnerability is our best kept secret, and so we reach out in our communications with a facade of togetherness. Or better yet, a misrepresentation of where we are in the moment. We are drained by interactions because holding ourselves hostage is exhausting. Such instances most often happen on subtle levels. Consider an interaction with a grocery store clerk where a smile is forced and - How are you?...Fine, thanks - is as routine as our form of payment. You might say, but I don't even know that person! Ah, but you know what it is to be human. You know that the desire for connection is universal. And if you take a single instance (and by the way, time stands still when eyes lock) to reach forth with authenticity, you will receive the salve of oneness - a transparency that unites and heals us from the inside out.

Consider your friendships a training ground for true connection. Authenticity, vulnerability, and generosity are potent powers that can be cultivated in a loving friendship. I am fortunate enough to be surrounded by loving and conscious friends, committed to sharing in the journey towards expressing the Highest Love.

Become your own best friend this month by welcoming the many aspects of you into your awareness. If you should feel moved to, join us on Monday evenings as we share in the journey of A New Earth. This is a rare opportunity to self-reflect through a 10-week course designed to awake us in order to know ourselves better. I am committed to holding a space where you can be you, raw and true. Bring your joys and your fears, thePortal is vast, expansive, and most potent when authenticity is present.

No matter who you are and what your challenges, I see you whole. I see your divinity, and I see your purpose. And, I consider you a friend.

My Door Is Always Open,
Candice

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Tags: friendship, truth telling

March 2008 - Book of The Month
Happier Than God
by Neale Donald Walsh

I am so excited about this book for two reasons:
1) It is written by one of my favorite authors and teachers
2) It speaks directly to an issue near and dear to my heart... the misrepresentation of the Law of Attraction and how to take metaphysical teachings to a Higher Plane.

I myself have just started reading it, yet feel confident in the basic premise... one that echoes many of my earlier blog postings. It is time for us to mature in our approach to manifestation, metaphysics, and what it is to be a creative being. Reaching beyond the ego, into a Higher Realm of expressing our power in this world. I look forward to curling up in bed tonight with this book... and I hope you will check it out as well.

And by the way, I am quite certain it echoes with a similar resonance as that within my own heart. The opening page is a quote:

God says for me to tell you this:

Nothing needs fixing;
everything desires A Celebration.
You were made to bend
so that you could discover
all of the many Miracles
at your feet.
You were made to stretch
so that you could find
Your Own Beautiful Face of Heaven

just above

all that you think you must shoulder.

When I appeal to God
to speak to me,
I am feeling just as small
and alone
as you are.
But this is when
for no good reason at all,

I begin to Shine.

(Begin to Shine - 2007 m. Claire)

More Info on Happier With God

Tags: happier than god, neale donald walsh

January 2008

Praise is literal food for feminine qualities. If you want a woman to grow in her radiance, health, happiness, love, beauty, power, and depth, praise these qualities. Praise them daily, a number of times.
- David Deida, Way of the Superior Man

I have learned much from my work as a SHiNE Agent. As a teacher, guide, and coach facilitating brilliance in others, I have come face-to-face with myself. Sometimes with joy, other times with apprehension . In 2008, I am focusing on walking the talk even more, as I work (and play) hard to unleash the latent powers that lie dormant within. I am pleased to note that, this year, I myself have a coach and mentor to assist me on my journey to a more rich and fulfilling expression of how Brilliance works through me.

Becoming the client again has reminded me of the courage that it takes to reach out for support. Through my work, I learn more and more that the desire to be acknowledged for our deepest essence is inherent and universal. Nature intended that we create a web of brilliant support around us to nourish our growth. Thus, when our pride keeps us from reaching out for connection with others, it does us a great disservice. It often leads us to the most tragic disconnection that can happen - disconnection with the divine spark within.

The majority of my students and clients are women. This month being the month of love, I feel compelled to reach out to each one of you with a brilliant reminder. You are an essential aspect of a Radiant and Powerful Energy that deserves to be praised and worshipped daily! Worshipped? By who? Well, by YOU, of course!

If you aren't sure how to gift yourself with the awareness of self-love and put it into action in your life, we can help. I invite you to attend a class or schedule a coaching session soon. I am always honored to facilitate a container for recognition, self-celebration, right action, and praise. You are a perfect and essential facet of the Divine Brilliance alive in all of us. Self-love, when understood in its purity, is far from an egoic pursuit. It is the recognition of Oneness, not separation, that activates our SHiNE. Let's work together to remind one another, yes?

In 2008, I am more committed than ever to serving you through a new program: The SHiNE Ministry. Visit my blog to tag along as I experience various spiritual communities, reporting on brilliant outlets in the Portland area. Or, join me for a class, coaching session, or New Earth SHiNE Circle in the coming weeks.

I look forward to seeing you soon.

With Love,
Candice

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Tags: praise her, shine coaching, life coaching

February 2008 - Book of The Month
A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose
by Eckhart Tolle

A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose by Eckhart Tolle. This is a book that I picked up nearly two years ago, when it was first released. The degree to which the pages are earmarked and inked is a testament to what a treasured resource it continues to be on my spiritual path. I was thrilled when I learned that Oprah Winfrey has joined forces with Eckhart Tolle. They will be sharing this extraordinary work worldwide through a 10-week interactive webinar. - Candice

Creating a New Earth is a Community Event. Join Us.
Our community has the opportunity to be an active participant in a global force, led by Eckhart Tolle and Oprah Winfrey. Join Life Coach and Joyful Visionary, Candice Schutter, as she opens her home studio to a gathering of those interested in experiencing the power of collective awakening. Candice will help facilitate exploration of the depths of this work in a weekly offering - equal parts coaching and community book discussion. We will gather as a group to attend the online class LIVE, and then stick around to discuss our experiences. This is a donation-only community event.

A New Earth  SHiNE Circle
Group Coaching & Discussion Group
the SHiNE Portal - NE Portland
Mondays, March 3 - May 5
6:00pm to 8:30pm
6:00pm Webinar (view together)
7:30pm Refreshments & Discussion

Just 3 Easy Steps:

1
SIGN UP ONLINE
at Oprah.com for the online webinar and access to workbook supplements.

2
RSVP to SHiNE
Email us to let use know you plan to attend. Space is limited, so act now.

3
AWAKEN in COMMUNITY
Read each week’s assigned chapters and join us on Monday nights to share in the experience.

Donation Only Event
Please RSVP prior to attending

Tags: A new earth, book review

In February, it will be two years now that I have been hooping. Therefore, I feel it's high time to reflect on the past couple of years, and to offer a heartfelt shout out to some extraordinary hoop colleagues and friends.

I want to express my gratitude to Jasmine, my soul sister and friend who first introduced me to the hoop. She also inducted me into the world of teaching hoopdance, and the conception of HoopShine is owed to her. Jasmine, because of you, I am a better friend. Thank you for teaching me about truth, radiance, and integrity daily. You are like no other.

Also, to the whirlyGirlz (Jasmine, Holly, Keri, and Cara), who are an amazing group of women that I have had the pleasure of hanging with in and out of spin time. Thank you for your endless inspiration, creativity, and sharing of brilliance.

Christabel Zamor, a powerful and radiant angel in the flesh who is one of my many life guides in disguise. Thank you for inviting me into the world of HoopGirl to add what I have to bring. I have gained so much from our time spent together. Together, we have created a new paradigm that I hope we can bring to life in more of the world - what is it to collaborate fully without diluting any part of oneself. It is pure magic teaching with you. I look forward to future adventures facilitating together in and outside of the hoop.

Jonathan Baxter, you are the hoop shaman that made me realize what was missing. Thank you (and Ann) for all that The HoopPath brings to life in so many of us. You are a messenger of the highest, for you have allowed your uniqueness to create something unparalleled. May you experience the sense of freedom that you gift to so many.

HoopShine students, agents, and friends... YOU are truly what it is all about for me. Serving you is my joy. It is you that get me into the hoop on a regular basis. It is through your presence that the hoop speaks through me. Thank you for trusting me to hold the larger hoop around us all.

For some time, I did internal battle with the fact that I was a hooper didn't really fit in the hooping world. As a hoopdance performer, I experimented. I adorned myself in costumes that didn't resonate with my being. I attended festivals and events that I felt should excite me more than they did. It has been a bit confusing really. Paradoxically, I am extremely drawn to inspiring people (many of those listed above) who have interests so different from my own. I fought the urge to become something I am not... but in the end, I chose to accept my variance in desires and do only what moves me. It has worked beautifully, for it instills a sense of self-love that is honorable to my heart. And, these inspiring individuals are all the more inspiring for the ways in which they respect and honor my uniqueness. I appreciate having such healthy and balanced relationships all around me.

I have come to understand that I am a Teacher and Guide above all else. The hoop is one of many glorious vehicles through which I can learn about (and share) the messages that come through me. And it is likely that the hoop's presence will likely wax and wane in my life. I am willing to be present to the now, as the hoop constantly urges me to be. And I am no longer anxious to be other than that which I am... or to echo someone else's practice.

I share all this to remind you to always follow the path of your own heart.
Make your practice personal. Do what moves you.
Hoop for you! After all, it's built for one, yes?

Tags: Hooping, hula hoop

To be in harmony with the Oneness of things is
to be without anxiety about imperfection.
Zen Master Dogen

I have been thinking a lot about body conditioning. You might think that I am referring to the many actions that we take to bring the physical body to its optimal state of performance. No, today I speak of something closer to my heart. I am in awe of our cultural conditioning and our conditional acceptance of the body as whole, functional, and perfect.

Last night, I stood in front of the mirror and witnessed my ego lash out venemously at my body. All in all, the winter months have been very good to me. I have a beautiful and cozy new home, a loving relationship of renewed balance, and a feeling of contentment I have never known. And, I have gained 10-15 pounds.

Our new home has only a very small mirror in the upstairs bathroom where I shower and primp each day. As a result, I rarely see my full reflection naked. I have certainly noticed the shift in my activity level (a common cycle for me in the cold months, while also a function of some professional shifts). My clothes fit differently, for sure. But I was, nevertheless, a bit shocked when I stood on the bed to catch a glimpse of my new fullness in the mirror above my dresser. Now I don't mean to place value judgments. The truth is, I really do see beauty in many different body shapes and sizes in women all around me. So why is it that the ruler against which I measure myself is so different?!

In 2001, I was miserable in my body. I had been managing a restaurant 60 hours a week for far too long. I was eating poorly, and had little to no physical stamina. I was fed up, and hungry in the spirit. I left my job and moved to Boulder, Colorado. It was there that I stepped into my first Nia class. I was completely hooked from the get-go. For over a year, I did Nia every single day. I couldn't move enough. I obtained my white belt, began teaching, and soon added regular qigong and yoga practice to the mix. I was suddenly addicted to movement and the flow of chi through my body. I was a physical machine.

Naturally, my body changed dramatically. At the height of this athletic phase in my development my body was thin, taunt, and very strong. While this may have been my initial aim, I was oddly unaffected by it. I just wanted to move, plain and simple. The new shape my movement took was just a convenient by-product. I took it completely for granted. It was easy to rarely think about it given that the conditions for my conditional body-love were more ideal at that time than they had every been. My body condition was such that, most of the time, I could conditionally accept it. No problem.

It wasn't until I moved to Oregon that everything changed. Over the past 4 years, life conditions have gradually led to less to less movement. As the Coach in me has become more activated, the Athlete has grown disinterested. For months upon months, I forced myself to teach Nia, even though I feel in my heart I have outgrown it as a teaching practice. In mid-December of 2007, I finally left my regular teaching practice.

In the summer of 2006, when the hoop entered my life, I experienced another burst of the physical. I rode the wave of newness and performance for a time, yet the hooping world - full of amazing individuals whom I love! - is, quite simply, a unique culture that I don't always resonate with as a lifestyle. I have yet to fully find my place in it outside of the classroom. Teaching Hoopdance has given me a new vehicle to explore via the body, yet still, I am called to do it less and less over time.

I am coming to accept that I am teacher above all else. My mediums are likely to shift and change throughout my life, that this I must allow. And so, my body condition has changed with the seasons of my heart.

Ironically, at this new weight, I am more grounded and stable than ever. Eating meat and honoring my body's natural rhythms (no longer pushing it to its edge every day) has been the greatest act of self-love. It has occurred to me that perhaps my ego's ideal body shape is not that which my body and spirit responds to best. At least at this moment in time. And my heart - the mediator between body and mind - is meant to foster the unity of self-acceptance.

I want to reiterate the recommended reading for July 2007, Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach. I am revisiting it now. It is a beautifully-crafted book that teaches us how to embrace each moment in time with love and gratitude. Read it again and again.

May your most important body condition be acceptance.
Namaste.

Tags: love your body, body acceptance, self love

This year, I have set an intention to visit various spiritual communities. This past Sunday, Daniel and I attended an offering at Maitripa Institute. The wise and internationally recognized Yangsi Rinpoche led a small group of us in a two-hour Tibetan Buddhist dharma talk and practice. It was lovely. There were around a dozen of us seated on meditation cushions before him and a gorgeous and elaborate altar that spread from one wall to the other.

When he entered, we stood out of respect. The Rinpoche then led us in chanting through three prostrations to the altar. Once he turned to face us, we followed the group (clearly his students) as we offered this respected teacher three more full prostrations. Each time, forehead to earth, we honored him with gratitude. Recognizing some new faces in the crowd, he spoke to this practice first. He explained that the gesture of bowing is meant to place the mind in the state of devotion. While we bow before our teacher, it is not about the personality that we bow before. It is instead to bless he whom to the teaching comes through. I am familiar with prostration as a practice, and feel happy to lay my ego at the feet of another - as long as I trust the guidance he or she may provide. I understand that I may choose to graciously decline any teaching as soon as it no longer serves my highest good. It took me some time, but once I came to know this, I became free to truly receive from others in my practice.

The two-hours that followed consisted of combined prayer and chanting. This interspersed with the Rinpoche's teachings of Tibetan Buddhism. My favorite moments were those in which his face exploded with joy. The many laugh lines appearing on his face at the bloom of a smile is enough to make one who doubts reincarnation a believer. Could one lifetime truly fill so much joy into one smile! Ah well, with a smile like that, there is very certainly much to be learned from this humble monk.

We ended with more chanting. I love the rhythms in Tibetan chanting. Each prayer was like a song. Some in Tibet, others in English... no matter the language, they held a similar resonance.

I recommend Maitripa as a place to experience Buddhist practice in action. Be prepared to sit for long periods of time... and be willing to follow the lead of those around you through practices that might feel somewhat foreign. A beautiful environment to connect with the essence of just one aspect of Tibetan culture. Thanks to places like Maitripa, it will never be lost.

Visit Maitripa online

What is My SHiNE Ministry?
You can view all My SHiNE Ministry entries in the blog archive (see sidebar).

Tags: maitripa

Many of us have a burning desire within us that is hidden. I don't mean a desire of the body world (such as in the acquisition of things). Rather, I mean a way of being that we feel somehow called to. I am making mine known and public now.

Deep within, I consider myself a Minister in the making. A messenger of spiritual matters. One who brings heaven to earth via word, thought, and deed. I aspire to become the Priestess.

For a time, I sought out ways in which to embody this... each resulting in an ill-fit. I explored education: a Masters in Divinity would give me credibility, sure. But am I not interested in being a religious scholar. I thought perhaps I needed to find a religious organization to represent and become ordained through. This, too, confused me as I am a Minister of The Spirit of Many, not any one religion or doctrine of practice. Part of what draws me to represent this spiritual re-education in our culture is the way in which I can always see the brilliance (and overlap) in the many religions out there. How does one minister as a representative of the core essence of all religions? There is only one way that I can see to do so. To walk the talk as best I can.

Over time, I have decided to venture out on a Spiritual Apprenticeship of my own making. In 2008, I will be sharing my journeys with you. I will continue visiting various spiritual circles... I have done this intermittently for the past 4 years since I first moved to Portland. Now I will begin to share my experiences with you. I hope to highlight the aspects of each experience that truly ignite spiritual brilliance in me. By experiencing the gift of each practice, and sharing them with you as a service, I am a Minister in Training.

May 2008 lead me to the fulfillment of a life-long desire. My SHiNE Ministry is born.

You can view all My SHiNE Ministry entries in the blog archive (see sidebar).

January 2008


There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action; and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. If you block it, it will never exist through any other medium. It will be lost.
The world will not have it.

It is not your business to determine how good it is, nor how valuable it is, nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, and to keep the channel open.
- Martha Graham

It's easy to judge your brilliance as nothing special...for you can't possibly see it clearly. Imagine asking the sun to see it's own light. What light? How can I separate from what I am enough to see it?

A friend and colleague of mine recently shared with me a practice that she did in school as a child. They called it carrying your ilac card. At the beginning of the day, each student received a card that read: I love and care for myself. As they moved through the rest of their day, they were told to tear away pieces of the card whenever they thought, said, or did something that tore away at their sense of self-love. It proved to be an insightful practice, no doubt. The best part? Each day they would receive a new, untainted card to keep whole again.

When I ponder our culture's collective approach to the new year, it seems to me that we are issued an ilac card each January 1st. As a result, resolutions are defined and courses set for new destinations. Yet, what happens when we slip a bit...when a split-second choice tears away at our resolve? Do we hang our heads in despair?...or do we approach each day with wholeness in our hearts?

This year, I invite you to commit to a year of love, nuturing, and forgiveness. Your very essence is coded to be different than those around you. Discovering a path that works for you is a journey that demands diligence and perserverence. Your goal is not too be perfect...but to purrrfect the choices you make to serve you better over time. In order to do that, you become a deliberate observer. Notice which choices tear away at you time and time again, and reclaim your personal power to SHiNE by loving yourself whole again. It's a simple path - one choice at a time. And help is only a scroll away.

Begin Again... and Again... and Again,
Candice

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Tags: self love, life coaching, shine coaching