Haiku Ellipses...Invitation...Response...

INTERCONNECTED interconnected colored circles and black lines coming together the circles need the black lines to connect with each other, and together, they form an interconnected web of life...we are like the circles, each seemingly separate, and the invisible black lines of love, light, energy, and information connect us together in an invisible web of cosmic consciousness consider your relationships...if love is connection, as neuroscientist Julia Mossbridge suggests, then meditating on our loving connections creates the potential to experience unconditional love...why not experience that unconditional love right now for at least one minute...

  EXPANSION inside the red zone pumping, throbbing, making love center of the heart feeling an expansion within this mandala...love growing in the heart center... practice: stare at the mandala about 1 foot from the face and think of different colors...did you get a wow, a mini psychedelic experience...try a softer gaze this time...can you feel the expansion

HOME AGAIN feeling out of place someone looks at me and smiles i am home again sitting inside a Hindu temple entryway, waiting for my son's chess tournament to start, nearly everyone looked Hindu (brown faces, women in saris and men in dhoti's) coming in for a service (the tournament was in an adjoining social hall)...i felt "out of place" until one middle-aged Hindu woman smiled directly at me...i instantly felt seen, welcomed, and "at home"  practice: make the effort to intentionally smile while looking directly at people you see in the course of your everyday life if the circumstances feel appropriate...people in your household/family/roommates, co-workers, fellow students (and teachers), strangers on the street, acquaintances, friends, relations...let go of hoping for a positive response...if the smile is returned, good, if not, also good, as they probably needed it! let us connect with one another by smiling more often, helping the other feel seen, welc...

PERSPECTIVE      finding your true home it is not 'out there' beyond you it is hidden...right HERE the yellow part of the image is my yellow-framed glasses that i'm looking out of, seeing the page below me with my hands sketching...i cannot see my own head, i am headless from this point of view, the red heart is my real home, the center of awareness, the place of right HERE these ideas are part of the "headless way"--see Richard Land's book, Celebrating Who We Are based on the works of Douglas Harding...looking out from our eyes we see the world but not our own "head"--that is, we know who we are by looking into the faces of others, similar to the looking glass self of Mead, AND there are many more implications here... practice...what does it mean to look out at the world with eyes that cannot see themselves...where do you feel your center...heart, belly, head...all three? consider a decision you need to make today from the perspective of heart (feel...

LABELS see me with labels please don't put me in the box unlabel...set me free consider the labels that form your identity, both public and private, the ones others know you by and the ones you use for yourself...family, household, neighborhood, school, work, community, organizations, culture...all parts of you, AND which of these are the real you...all...some...none? what if we peeled off the labels and looked to the real person beneath the labels, the soul or spirit of the person...what kind of world would that create? practice: make a list of labels that people use when referring to you...another list of labels that you use for yourself...which resonate the most...least...can you let go of both? what would be left...what is the essence of who you really are at the core of your being...surely not a label...what then...perhaps this "essence" is the gateway to a deeper life   

10K THINGS starting at center 1 thought leads to the next thought then...10,000 things! from the one come ten thousand things [paraphrased] says the Tao Te Ching ...the complete lines are: The Tao gave birth to One / One gave birth to Two / Two gave birth to Three / Three gave birth to the ten thousand things. practice, observe your own thoughts in a 3-10 minute meditation...see how one thought leads to another...and another...ad infinitum...for fun, take one thought and trace it backwards to discover its origin...and where did that thought come from...and that...and...where is your center, your point of origin...see if you can rest there for a time without generating more thoughts...a little peace

THE PRACTICE write the mantra then create the mandala end with a haiku every week for several years i've done the following practice: write out one page of the manta (single spaced, one word, written mindfully, over and over until it fills the page), then whatever thoughts have come to mind while writing the mantra become part of the semi-conscious background for creating a mandala or similar art form (like the one below), finally, inspired by the art, i create a haiku to language the practice, and make it more memorable. practice: create your own weekly practice that allows things from the unconscious to bubble up and find expression in some art form (e.g., art, music, dance, tai chi, yoga, cooking, gardening, flower arranging...), share your experience with at least one other person.  

WELL-BEING meditation and... body, brain-mind, heart, center... health and well-being the words at the top of the image (partly cut off) read: holeness, health, integration, well-being, balance, alive, aware, fully present, flowing, being the images show meditation, body grounded, brain-mind connection, heart full of love and compassion, and from center of being moving out to others practice: create a simple practices for each of these vital areas of "self" to cultivate well-being and health  e.g., 5 breaths, each time breathe into one of the 5 areas, sending love, light, and energy for health and well-being

HEART CONNECTIONS talking of spirit intertwined heart connections love, love, and more love hearts within hearts, hearts touching hearts, hearts of love, heart felt interconnections...it's all about the love...where would talking of spiritual things lead you...inevitably, if you talk/listen long enough, the dialogue will lead to love...heart felt love...loving heart connections  practice: with your journal or with a trusted friend, have a conversation about all the things on/in your heart...see how intimately connected you are to each other (and/or to the parts of yourself) through the love in your heart(s).

SQUIGGLING opposing forces joined together... squiggling dancing energies the tension between seemingly opposing forces can, when juxtaposed, create a dance, a squiggling of energies that yields unexpected outcomes practice: the next time you find yourself in opposition to another's beliefs, opinions, and/or behaviors...consider dancing with them, start "squiggling," blending and moving with the flow of energies, creating something unexpected, perhaps even wonderful

HEART CREATURE stacked on each other from top to bottom they form a strange heart creature the heart is often used in stories as a symbol of love...might our bodies also be, not just symbols of love, but parts of ourselves that give and receive love such that we are a heart creatures. practice: send love to  all the parts of your body today, give yourself at least 5 minutes to energetically send love accompanied by whatever words make sense to you, for example, sending love to____(name the body part)...end with, sending love to my entire body...how does your heart body feel?

HEART CENTER at the heart center angels are waiting for us to ask them for help when we tune in to the heart center of our physical body, there are energies, forces, beings, and light waiting for us to ask for assistance...in this image, the semicircles surrounding the center of the heart give the heart angel wings, reminding us that our guardian angel is ever present in our heart, ever ready to help us...all we need do is ask. practice: ask your guardian ang el to assist you with some challenge/issue/decision you are presently engaged with...ask for a sign, some concrete "thing" that will serve as a pointer to information that will help you cope with your situation...expect to receive the sign today, or in the next few days.

CONSTELLATION asteriks' or stars all are interconnected a constellation for most situations/things, there's more than one way to look/perceive them, and when stepping back into a more holistic view, one can often can see interconnections, a constellation. consider a current decision/problem you are dealing with...can you identify/see/perceive most of the parts...step back from the individual parts into a more holistic-observer view, let an overall concept/idea/image emerge from the interconnections...like when you soften your eyes to view a "magic eye" image (search for "magic eye" to see a variety of images and/or generate your own), bringing order to chaos by allowing the image to emerge.

LOVE , LIGHT , & ENERGY love, light, energy moving at the speed of light fills all creation i use the phrase love, light, and energy in mediation/prayer every morning, sending it out to all beings/creation...it moves at the speed of light in every direction...it permeates all things/beings...it is supremely divine try it for yourself...some version of the following: connect to the heart and breath, e.g., place one or both hands over the heart and breathe in love with the first breath, light with the second, and energy with the third...then send forth that love, life, and energy from your heart into all of creation at the speed of light, in every direction, infinitely...how does it feel to be the channel of love, light, and energy?  

 CHAKRA chakras are swirling each with their own unique spin unification the system of chakra energy vortexes swirling, pulsating, taking in and giving out energy in our bodies is an ancient one that science is only beginning to empirically validate...each chakra has its own color, shape, type of energy, flow...each part of a greater system of energies that ideally unify and integrate to maximize our well-being practice: tune in (meditate and feel) to the colors and shapes of the chakras in yo ur own body from the root between the legs to the top of the head at the crown...label the health of each on a scale of 0-10, and for the weakest one(s), what could you do today, some simple 5 minute or less practice, to strengthen the chakra (e.g., a very simple practice is to intentionally send love to the chakra--notice how it responds, perhaps with a pulsing, warmth, tingle, glow...)

IGNITED ignited in black comes the multi colored rays reaching toward the light some religious/spiritual traditions suggest that everything finds it orgin in the black void of limitless possibilities, that our consciousness and intentionality bring things into being from this place...in the image below, the black void is depicted at center with rays of consciousness/intentionality calling forth light of multi colors...all happening at the speed of light in infinite directions...mindblowing possibilities! practice...in meditation, sitting comfortably, breathing easy, letting all thoughts/feelings/sensations float by like clouds across the blue sky...coming to a place of quiet blackness/darkness/peace...eventually, some THING emerges from this place...what is that for you...what does it symbolize...what is the message for your life in the here and now...what is it calling you to DO...how can you honor the call by taking one small step in that direction...  

COLORS shapes alternating look 2 circle then 2 square mind controls colors the alternating shapes in the image below create a hypnotic pattern, and when the mind thinks about 1 of the 6 colors, the circle and square representing that color come into focus, thus the mind controls the color we see. there is a host of information on the internet about a phenomenon called "manifesting"...what if all we need is already here, in the field, we just don't "see it" until we bring our attention to it by thinking, pondering, meditating on it...then our awareness finds the thing we are looking for! ask for a simple 1-word sign about something you want to know...leave it open-ended as far how it will manifest as an object, where it will manifest, and when it will manifest...then let go of the intention to manifest the sign...see if the sign shows up somewhere in the next few days...an actual object, a topic of conversation, in a music video, in nature, in a book or magazine,...

INNER 2 OUTER inner 2 outer ovular rings that vibrate come inside of me from our inner core we vibrate outwards in ever expanding rings that move at the speed of light towards infinity! the obvious sexual metaphor suggests ovular rings vibrating from a female core, inviting a male vibrating core to "come inside of me"...the tug, pull, push, and rapture of natural desires and needs. what is vibrating at your inner core...who/what might this inner core be calling/moving toward or inviting in...what can you do to align with your inner vibrating core in the next 5 minutes?

SPIRALING spiraling outward in ever greater circles smiling entities when water drains in sinks, tubs, and wells, it spirals counterclockwise toward the earth...in this image, multiple spirals start at the center and move outward, eventually coming into the fullness of smiling entities. Richard Bandler, in his version of neuro linguistic programming, describes a technique of spiraling one's index finger, either clockwise or counterclockwise, to increase/decrease the intensity of an emotion or of energy in a specific area of the body...try it for yourself...when happy (like the smiling entities in the image), see if you can increase the intensity of the feeling of happiness by spinning the index finger of your dominant hand clockwise/counterclockwise (one direction will increase the energy, the other direction will decrease the energy)...you can also experiment with increasing the energy by spinning your finger faster and/or in larger circles (or for negative emotions, to spin slowe...

COL ORED BA LLS  colored balls spinning  inward, outward, with each breath wheels of chakras for our entire lives, we breath,...in and out...about 6-12 times a minute, depending on our circumstances and mind-body connection...ancient wisdom suggests that chakras are energy vortexes that spin throughout our bodies...here the chakras are depicted as colored balls...continuously changing, adjusting, balancing...our breath can assist or crack this healthy balancing of energies. practice: note how you're feeling on a scale of 0-10, with 10 being a state of optimal well-being...then observe yourself while taking 3 conscious breaths seated or standing comfortably with eyes closed...inhale to whatever count feels comfortable and exhale about twice as long...check in with yourself at the end of the 3 breath cycle...re-evaluate on the 0-10 well being scale...compare this number with the first number...did the conscious breathing nudge you in the direction of well-being (a higher number...