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How Can We Access Our Inner Spiritual Wisdom?

Posted on July 9, 2013 by Sandra Brossman

This is an image of a chalkboard with colorful chalk that says, "Follow Your Intuition"

Living a life of spiritual integrity requires that make we make decisions and choose perceptions that align with our inner spiritual wisdom. This sounds rather simple, but how do we access our inner wisdom?

Many of us associate the thought of accessing inner wisdom in an esoteric way, such as: going into a lengthy and deep meditation in an isolated environment; seeking seclusion in a monastery; spending time in a distant place such as an ashram; or, at the very least, needing to be completely alone in a quiet place. While all of these techniques are highly effective in accessing spiritual wisdom, the truth is that every human being has the ability to instantaneously and directly access the universal field of intelligence from wherever we are, at any time, and all of the time through intuition. In essence, we are each a conduit for a constant stream of limitless wisdom.

One of the definitions of intuition is, “the immediate knowing of something without the conscious use of reasoning. Because intuition is a right-brain function, it isn’t something we can analyze with our minds. Intuitive messages bypass the judgment of the mind and come directly through to the heart, thus the saying, “the truth is within.”

How Do We Perceive Intuition?

Because intuitive messages come through the heart, they are perceived through our senses. These feelings are sometimes described as “gut level,” “sixth sense,” “inner wisdom,” “inner knowing,” and “flashes of imagination.” Many of us actually experience physical sensations when we hear or see something that coincides with our truth. We may suddenly get goose bumps, feel a tingling sensation, spontaneously take a deep breath, feel an electrical current going up our backs, or sense an overall wave of energy moving throughout the body. These sensations are indications that our bodies are literally resonating with the energetic frequency of the truth of spirit. We can also get physical indications when something we are hearing or seeing is not truth. Usually it is a contracted feeling, such as a knot in the stomach or throat, shortness of breath, or a sudden chill.

Every person has intuition.

Although we all sense it in different ways, and some of us even deny sensing it at all, every person has intuitive abilities–it is part of our human nature.

The reason it appears that not all of us are intuitive is simply because some of us listen to and act upon our inner messages, whereas others simply dismiss them as insignificant. We many times ignore our intuition because we want to validate our intuitive messages with our left-brain logic and analysis. When we attempt to do this, we choke the spontaneous flow of wisdom coming through to us because messages of spirit are infinitely larger than the logical paradigms of the mind. An example of this is getting an intuitive message to write a book and rationalizing all the reasons why it is not a “good idea” before exploring all the possibilities of why it is possible.

How can we distinguish the difference between “intuitive feelings” and “impulsive feelings?”

When we get an impulsive message, it is usually initiated by our ego in the form of a whim to immediately do something, whether it is in our greatest good or not. Our impulse may be to indulge in an addictive behavior, such as overeating, or to run out and buy something we neither need nor can afford. If it is an impulse, chances are we will change our minds if we wait for a while or sleep on the idea. Also we are likely to feel guilty or unfulfilled after acting impulsively.

Intuitive messages, on the other hand, are relentless and persistent. Even when we ignore them, they have the tenacious habit of resurfacing time and time again. Intuitive messages are always in our best interests, causing us to feel uplifted and fulfilled. Because intuition connects us with our Oneness of Spirit, the messages it reveals to us are always rooted in unconditional love and pure truth. We develop our ability to perceive intuitive messages by listening, trusting, and acting upon them. The more we do this, the more we empower ourselves to live our lives with spiritual integrity.

Love and Light,

Sandra

Letting Go of Our Judgment of Others

Posted on July 2, 2013 by Sandra Brossman

This is a vintage image of a glamorous women being judged

Nothing creates separation and discord among human beings more than when we judge each other. While this is true, judge is a word that causes confusion for many of us.

On one hand, for centuries humanity has received countless messages through spiritual masters from all walks of life instructing us not to judge. Two of the most well-known are the biblical verses citing Jesus as saying,

“Judge not, lest ye be judged,” and,

“Let he who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone.”

On the other hand, most of us would agree that we certainly need to use our judgment skills to navigate through this very complicated, polarized physical world of experience.

No wonder we are confused! In the strictly literal sense, some of the definitions of judge are:

a person qualified to decide on the relative worth of anything
to criticize or censure
a person designated to determine the winner

Wow! When we apply these definitions to how we engage with other people, it brings up a lot of questions. For example, who among us is the one person who is supremely qualified to decide on the worth of anything? Who among us appreciates being criticized or censured? And, how about, who among us is the ultimate judge of who is a winner?

In order to understand what is meant by letting go of judgment of others, we need to adopt a more neutral interpretation of the word judge. Rather than construing the word judge in a polarized way that involves attacking or assessing the value of another person, we can rise to a higher perspective by perceiving judgment as an act of discernment. We need to use our skills of judgment to discern situations, opportunities, agreements, and decisions to determine what is in our greatest good.

How do we differentiate between the polarized perception of judge versus the more enlightened, neutral interpretation?

A good point of reference to determine this is to ask ourselves, “What is the source of my judgment?” If it is coming from an intuitive space guiding us to make choices that are in our greatest good, we are most likely coming from a space of spiritual integrity. When we judge from this neutral perspective, we are assessing and evaluating objective things, such as a baseball game, a career opportunity, deciding on a financial investment, or choosing which college to attend. If we find ourselves subjectively judging another person, then the source of our judgment is coming from ego in that we have determined our superiority over some else. When we do this, we are, in essence, proclaiming ourselves to be the expert in someone else’s life. The ego perspective implies that we think we have the answers to someone else’s problems. Judging others is usually a sign that we have decided someone else needs to act the way we want them to. We are saying we are right, and someone else is wrong, which almost always creates conflict.

How can we let go of judging others?

We begin by reaching into our hearts (not our heads) to remember compassion. Compassion is a deep level of kindness in which we are open to trying to understand where other people are coming from by putting ourselves in their shoes. We acknowledge that we have not experienced their victories, their losses, their relationships, and their pain. We draw on our own experiences to understand other people more than we seek for others to understand us. We practice treating other people the way we want to be treated. We also take responsibility for the fact that when we judge another, we are also judging ourselves. Whatever we find annoying in another person is an aspect that, to a greater or lesser degree, we need to heal within ourselves.

Being non-judgmental requires that we choose to look beneath the behaviors we are witnessing and focus on the soul level of our fellow humans. There is a principle called the “Pygmalion Effect” (from the popular book of the same name or the movie, “My Fair Lady”) that exemplifies this state of grace. This principle states that if we expect the best from another and communicate such to them, they will respond by adjusting their behavior to match. The main idea concerning The “Pygmalion Effect” is that if you believe that someone is capable of achieving greatness, then you have created a space of potential for that person to achieve greatness. Stated simply, when we let go of judging others, we focus on the goodness (Godness) within everyone, rather than what is wrong with them. When we practice being non-judgmental, we offer others the opportunity to find themselves and to meet us partway.

The famous Sufi poet, Rumi, expressed this truth so eloquently when he said:

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I’ll meet you there.”

Love and Light,

Sandra

I welcome your comments, insights, and experiences on how we can let go of judgment of others.

How To Remain Balanced While Helping Others

Posted on June 25, 2013 by Sandra Brossman

Image of two men on a mountain - one trying to pull the other one to the top.

One of the most sensitive balancing acts we experience in our spiritual growth process is that of helping others in a way that supports them without decreasing our own energy. There is so much suffering in the world, and most of us truly want to reach out and alleviate some of the pain–especially when we see it within our family members and friends. However, unless we help others in a mindful way, we are likely to deplete ourselves by draining our own personal energy, rather than being a conduit for channeling the limitless energy of spirit through us and to those whom we are helping.

Odd as it may seem, we can best help others by first helping ourselves. We do this by honoring our own needs for spiritual nourishment. If we try to help someone without being in a position of emotional strength ourselves, we can quickly become drawn into someone else’s drama. When this happens, not only can we not help anyone, we are actually adding to the collective pain of the world by taking on the negative issues of others.

When people share with me their pain and aggravation over complicated emotional issues in their lives, I frequently ask them, “What part of this belongs to you?” While this may seem like a surprising question, it is astonishing how often we waste our energy by getting emotionally entangled in other people’s emotional dramas, rather than being a support system. Of course, we are greatly impacted by the pain of people whom we care about, and we always have our own lessons to learn or we wouldn’t be involved at all. But we need to remember that we support others by reinforcing them with our strength–not by imposing our judgment on them or participating in their anger and pain.

Trying to save someone by getting involved in their emotional issues is like trying to rescue a friend who has slipped onto the edge of a cliff by going out onto the edge with them. When we do this, not only have we not helped our friend, we have actually added to the problem in that both of us are now in a precarious space and in need of assistance. Of course, we want to help others, but helping others does not mean self-sacrifice. There are other, much more effective ways by which you can support others without draining your own energy.

The following are some guidelines for remaining balanced while helping others:

1. Regenerate Yourself – It is crucial that you remain balanced and centered by accessing the flow of spiritual energy that is always available to you at all times. You can do this by consistently engaging in any practices that you find to be regenerating, such as: prayer, meditation, yoga, walking in nature, spending time with positive people, playing with children and your animal friends.

2. Ask Your Friend/Family Member If They Want Your Help – So many times we waste our time and energy trying to change someone’s situation because it is something WE want for them, not something they want for themselves. It is pretty tough to assist someone’s recovery if they are resisting us while we are doing it. You may find that the person to whom you are offering assistance is not ready to receive your help. The time may not be correct or perhaps the person is simply not willing to embrace the lesson(s) at hand. How and when we each learn our life lessons is a personal choice.

3. Honor The Lessons of Others – We each create our own reality. It is important to remember that, at some level, our friend/family member created the situation with which they are struggling and that they need to learn from the painful issues they are experiencing. We each have to discover our own personal lessons that come through in the form of life’s challenges. When we try to short-circuit this process for someone else, we are robbing them of an opportunity to learn something they need to know for their own spiritual growth.

4. Stay Out of the Drama – Learn to be an unconditional observer of someone else’s drama, rather than getting emotionally trapped by your own fears. Staying neutral and non-judgmental allows you to see the situation from a much higher perspective, which places you in a position of strength to offer guidance, compassion, and clear insights, and constructive choices.

5. Offer Tools That Empower Others – The most constructive way to help someone else is not to do for them, but to empower them to do for themselves. You can offer choices that will inspire your friend to help themselves, such as: doing research on doctors or healers who could be of support, suggesting specific books, being a non-judgmental listener (you don’t have to provide the answers), providing ongoing encouragement of their healing.

Most importantly, we need to remember that the most powerful support we can give to anyone is by the way we model our own choices and behaviors. The healing of others is not done by us but through us. When we tap into our universal spiritual source, we receive all the energy, love, guidance, and strength we need to help others. In fact, helping people in this way is actually energizing–not just for them, but for ourselves as well.

Do you have any suggestions or questions regarding how you have coped with helping others?

Love and Light,

Sandra

10 Steps for Living a Sacred Life

Posted on June 18, 2013 by Sandra Brossman

This is the image of the word love written three times with colorful finger-paints

©Yanush/shutterstock

Our true life purpose is to live a sacred life by consistently expressing our spiritual values in all that we think, say, and do.

10 Steps for Living a Sacred Life

1. Honor the divinity within yourself, everyone, and everything.

Everyone and everything was created in divine love. Accordingly, align your thoughts, words, and deeds with kindness, respect, and cooperation.

2. Accept people as they are without trying to change them to conform to your expectations.

The only way we can change others is through our own positive example.

3. Forgive yourself and others.

Be compassionate toward yourself and others – It takes a great deal of courage for any one of us to be here.

4. Recognize that we all have the same spiritual purpose – to receive and express unconditional love.

You will remember this in your own unique way and in your own time. So will everyone else.

5. Understand that it is not in your greatest good to judge or criticize anyone.

Whatever you criticize about someone else is an aspect, to a greater or lesser degree, that you need to heal within yourself.

6. See life as a process of growth.

There are no failures. Every situation you experience and every person you meet is an opportunity for growth and greater insight to universal truth and love.

7. Develop an attitude of gratitude.

Being thankful for everything and everyone is the most effective way to create peace and prosperity in your life.

8. Remember we are all a part of the whole of existence.

What affects one of us affects all of us. Take responsibility for the fact that your thoughts, words, and actions, and even your underlying motivations, are constantly impacting the entire world.

9. Respect everything in the environment.

The way we take care of the earth is the way it takes care of us.

10. Forgive yourself whenever you forget any of the above.

Excerpt from “The Power of Oneness, Live The Life You Choose”

Cultivating an Attitude of Gratitude

Posted on June 11, 2013 by Sandra Brossman

This is an image of a woman opening her arms to the horizon along the oceanfront

One of the most wonderful ways we can create peace and abundance in our lives is to focus our attention on gratitude. Gratitude is a word that we most typically associate with thankfulness. When we think of thankfulness, many of us focus on the relationships, conditions, and things in our life that we like and enjoy. Being thankful is a very healthy emotion that helps us to reinforce a positive attitude and maintain balance in life.

But what about all of the things that go on in our lives that we do not enjoy, like: getting sick, losing our jobs, the death of a loved one, the break-up of a close relationship, being injured in a car accident, making a bad investment, or experiencing violence? Are we supposed to be thankful for all of these experiences too, or just the “good stuff?”

This is where the infinitely greater meaning of gratitude comes in. When we are only thankful for things we like, gratitude is an emotion that is contingent on our situation, therefore it is a conditional emotion. When things are going well, we are thankful; when life gets tough, we wait until a time when things feel more optimistic before we express thanks again. The problem with this is that no human being is going to spend life here on earth with only positive experiences. So, if we perceive gratitude in a conditional way, we are quite likely going to have long and frequent periods of time during which we do not feel thankful.

In the spiritual sense, gratitude is an ongoing attitude in which we choose to be unconditionally appreciative for all that is. When we think about this, we realize this is a huge concept. This would mean that we choose to see the blessings in every experience we have, every moment of every day. There is so much pain and suffering in our third dimensional world, as well as a plethora of amazingly challenging, downright unpleasant experiences, so how is it humanly possible to maintain an “attitude of gratitude?”

Developing an attitude of gratitude begins by choosing to remember that absolutely everything we experience and everyone whom we meet is happening for a reason. Even though many times we do not understand things that occur in our lives, every experience we have is offering us the opportunity to become more whole. No matter what is going on, we focus on the perfection within what appears to be a lot of imperfection. Through our thoughts, we call into our life the people and situations that teach us what we most need to know when we most need to learn it. This occurs in both positive and negative ways, depending on how we learn best. For example, if one of our large life lessons is that need to stop giving our power away to others, we will most likely attract controlling personalities into our reality until we figure out how to love ourselves enough to take control of our own life.

When we function in a state of gratitude, we begin to appreciate everything. We are not born feeling grateful – it is a frame of mind that needs to be cultivated through practice. We become thankful for the penny we just found on the sidewalk, the parking spot that just opened up at the perfect moment, the smile of a passing stranger, the roof over our heads, and the food we eat. We begin to see the magnificent wonder of life within everyone and everything. We are thankful for something as seemingly small as the petal on a flower to the magnitude of the miracle of witnessing a child being born. We are thankful for a sunny day and equally appreciative for a rainy day. We express thanks for the unhappy experiences from which we grow, just as much as the happy ones.

When we practice being thankful for all things great and small, we are aligning our thoughts with the frequency of unconditional love; thus, we open ourselves to welcoming abundance at every level – mentally, emotionally, and physically. While some days may be a lot more enjoyable than others, practicing an attitude of gratitude is a perfect way to savor every moment of life.

Love and Light,

Sandra

Sandra Brossman is the author of The Power of Oneness, Live the Life You Choose. To learn more about how you can align your life with spiritual truth, order the book at http://www.thepowerofoneness.com/products/

What is the Difference Between Conditional Love and Unconditional Love?

Posted on June 4, 2013 by Sandra Brossman

This is an image of a heart shaped cloud in the sky

Love – This is a word that is very frequently used in every language to describe our emotions ranging from something as relatively trite, such as, “I love your shoes,” to something as deeply significant as a mother saying, “I love you” to a child in the most vulnerable moment.

Is there really a difference between conditional love and unconditional love?

The answer is, yes.

What is conditional love?

Conditional love is a polarized emotion, meaning that it has an opposite emotion. The opposite extreme of love is hatred. Conditional love comes from ego and generally focuses on someone (like a romantic partner, child, parent, friend) or some thing (like a house, a car, or a job). When we love someone conditionally, we tend to want them to look, act, and think in ways that fit our own paradigms and expectations. We hold others accountable to our expectations in order to qualify for our affection. If they act the way we want them to, we express our approval; if they act contrary to our wishes, we withhold our expression of acceptance of them, usually in some form of anger. Conditional love polarizes our internal thought process to believe, “I am right, and you are wrong, so I think you should see things my way.” As soon as begin to judge someone as being right or wrong, it is our cue that we are not in a space of unconditional love because we are perceiving that we are the authority for someone else’s life. This ultimately results in a power play for everyone involved because it focuses on control, which typically elicits a defensive reaction from the people whom we are trying to change.

Another version of conditional love is passion, a term we use for the sexual feelings we have when we meet someone with whom we have “chemistry.” The term “falling in love” is a revealing expression indicating that we sometimes lose ourselves when we are involved in a passionate romantic relationship based on conditional love. Possibly, this is because we are looking for another person to complete us rather than looking to share our whole self with another. “Looking for our other half” is a statement that strongly indicates we are seeking to make ourselves whole through someone else, rather than working on ourselves to become more of who we truly are.

When someone acts in a way that vastly deviates from our expectations or does something to hurt us or someone we care about, we can transform the emotion of conditional love to the complete opposite end of the spectrum – hatred. Hatred is a very strong emotion that is rooted in fear. Hatred is extremely destructive and wreaks havoc on our mental, emotional, and physical well being.

What is Unconditional Love?

Unconditional love is neutral and has no opposite polarity. The source of unconditional love is Spirit; therefore it is available to everyone without discernment, and there is absolutely nothing we need to do to qualify for it. Unconditional love comes through to us at a soul level, beginning at the level of self-acceptance and self-forgiveness, and radiates divine light to everyone and everything. When we make a conscious decision to choose thoughts based on unconditional love, it does not mean that we agree with everyone and everything. It means that we consciously commit ourselves to expressing respect, kindness, and cooperation to everyone and everything in our environment.

Unconditional love is not something that happens to us or outside of us. It is the life force of energy within our very being and is ingrained in every cell of our bodies. We don’t have to search for love–we ARE, each one of us, the physical embodiment of unconditional love. Because unconditional love is life energy, it is formless, infinite, constantly in motion, and unconditionally available to us 24/7!

Unconditional love has a positive effect on our physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual state of being, creating truth, joy, beauty, health, harmony, and everything in the world that is in our greatest good. The benevolent, compassionate nature of universal love flows through us and blesses everyone and everything it touches.

When we open our hearts to receiving and expressing the love of the universe, we feel expansive and radiant. We automatically rise above the limitations of fear because unconditional love is infinitely more powerful than fear; in fact, unconditional love is the most powerful force in existence. There is no amount of darkness that can blot out light; yet the tiniest amount of light can overcome darkness. This means that no matter how dark and chaotic our lives may seem at times, we can find comfort in knowing that our earthly world is always held within an infinitely larger context of universal love and light.

Remembering that we are each created in the energy of divine love gives us great inspiration and renewed hope that we each have the power to bring our own unique expression of unconditional love to the world, which brings healing to everyone and everything we touch.

Love and Light,

Sandra

What We See in Others is a Reflection of Ourselves

Posted on May 28, 2013 by Sandra Brossman

Cute image of an orange tabby kitten with a reflection of him in water

You may have heard it before, but it is such a strong statement: “We can only see things within others that we see within ourselves.” I think this is one of the most challenging spiritual lessons we are here to learn. When I first read this statement in a spiritual book many years ago, it seemed very odd to me. Like most people, my first response was, “Surely, I do not act like a lot of people who annoy me and push my buttons.” Interestingly, I find that when I facilitate spiritual classes, this statement typically elicits the same response from most others.

Everyone you meet is your mirror. Why is that?

We come to understand ourselves best through our relationships with other people. We can only be triggered by something we have experienced ourselves. The traits we tend to dislike in others are usually the traits we do not like about ourselves. We then tend to judge and criticize these characteristics. This calls to mind the analogy of pointing a blaming finger at someone. One finger is pointing at another person, and three are pointing back to ourselves.

When certain characteristics in someone’s personality trigger a negative reaction from you, there is something within you that is coming up because it is ready to be healed. Usually, it represents issues from your past that have gone unresolved. An example of this would be constantly attracting people who betray you in close relationships because you have not dealt with a parental abandonment issue from your past. What you are seeing is a manifestation of your belief that you cannot trust anyone with your feelings. Here is another example: You are someone who has a constant need to prove to others that you are “right.” Chances are you will attract people who strongly disagree with you because they also have the need to convince others to see life from their perspective. Also, if you dislike controlling people, most likely you dislike some bossy tendencies within yourself.

Every person we meet in life is showing up at the perfect time in our lives to reflect something we need to heal within ourselves. The people with whom you interact are showing you who you are and ultimately providing you with an opportunity to love yourself. Since our mission is to discover what we don’t love and learn to love it, the people who get on our nerves the most are among our greatest teachers.

When you find yourself triggered by a person or situation, ask yourself the following questions:

“What is this person teaching me that I need to learn to become more whole?”

“Do I behave like this now?”

“Did I behave like this in the past?”

Believe it or not, forgiving YOURSELF is the most effective way to disengage from negative interactions with people. We can only love and accept others to the degree that we love and accept ourselves. When you make it a habit to learn from your relationships, eventually you will discover that you can observe negative traits within others without judgment and without getting hooked into someone else’s drama. If you discover that you are in a relationship with someone who habitually abuses you in some way, it is sometimes healthy to limit your exposure to that person or to avoid their company completely. This serves you well only after you have embraced the lessons that you have seen reflected to you through the relationship, followed by choosing to forgive yourself and the other person.

The good news is that the desirable behaviors we see in others is also a reflection of ourselves. When we predominantly choose thoughts of love, we live in a reality of love. In other words, as we focus on our light within, we bring out the light within others.

We came to this earth to return to the remembrance that we are ONE. Everyone we meet has come into our path to help us to remember this.

Do you find it challenging to believe that what you see in others is a reflection of you? I welcome your thoughts.

Love and Light,

Sandra

What Can I Do To Help Heal the Disasters and Tragedies Within the World?

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Sandra Brossman

This is an image of a hurricane from space

Monday’s news of a massive tornado in Moore, Oklahoma, that devastated thousands of homes and demolished an elementary school, speaks to all of us. Pictures of the broken remnants of homes, cars, trees, and roadways looked like tinker toys haphazardly torn apart and scattered to the wind. At least 24 people were killed, including 9 children.

Looking at these pictures and hearing and seeing broadcasts of people sharing their heartbreaking stories of losing all their material possessions, and in some cases their loved ones, goes right to the heart. What also typically accompanies this deep feeling of empathy and compassion for the pain and suffering of those who lost their lives and property is a feeling of helplessness. The more we follow the media on disastrous events such as this, the more our emotions of fear intensify, causing us to feel even more powerless to help those in need.

Of course, it is only human to be disturbed whenever disaster and tragedy strikes because we are spiritually connected, so what hurts one of us affects every one of us in some way. On the other hand, because of this spiritual connection, it is also true that every one of us has the power to have a positive healing effect on others. With this in mind, YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE by adding to the healing energy of the world.

What Can I Do To Help?

The following is a list that offers some suggestions as to how each one of us can make a difference by adding to the healing energy of the world. This entire exercise takes only a matter of minutes:

1) Limit your exposure to the media coverage of tragic events

Being aware of the world news is important. Of course, we need to know what is going on so we can be intelligently informed of the condition of the world around us. However, if you continue to be glued to your TV and stay focused on media recounts of tragedies and disasters, you are very likely to become mesmerized by the drama. This causes you to stay stuck in fear. When we are in fear, we are powerless to make positive changes within our personal lives, as well as in the lives of others.

2) Set an intention of love and healing

When things in the world are upsetting you, stop for a couple of minutes, take some deep breaths and imagine the energy in your head is moving down into your heart. When your energy is focused in your heart, you are shifting from focusing on the fear within your mind to the love within your heart. Think of someone or something you love – it could be a person, an animal, or a beautiful aspect of nature such as a sunset, blue skies, or flowers. Allow yourself to feel the energy of your heart becoming more expansive and filling your body.

3) Remind yourself that you are connected with Universal Love

Imagine that there is a beautiful cord of brilliant white light connecting you with an infinite field of love and light. Remembering this will help you to feel more peaceful, hopeful, and innately powerful.

4) Use your imagination

Envision the situation and location that you would like to be healed, such as in this case, the area of Moore, Oklahoma and all of its inhabitants. You may perceive this situation in many ways. Perhaps you will see darkness, feel heaviness, or envision people who need help. Whatever you sense is OK – It is simply becoming evident to you what is calling to be healed. Now imagine everything and everyone you are perceiving is in a bubble of brilliant white light, connected to the Source of Universal Love. Ask that whoever and whatever you are perceiving is blessed by the love and light of the Universe.

5) Trust your intuition

You may sense many things, such as light, colors, images, and tones. There is no need for you to logically understand what you are seeing or feeling. If you have set the energy of your intentions in love and healing, whatever comes through your imagination is your unique contribution to the healing of the people and situations you have intended be healed.

6) Release from the process

Take a deep breath and gently let go of whatever you are working with. You do not have to stay linked to the situation. In fact, by helping in this way, you are likely to feel much more peaceful and loving. Also, remember that you can return to this healing process anytime for anyone and anything.

7) Take Action

Constantly talking about the disasters and traumas of our world does little good. Instead, take action in whatever ways you feel guided to do, such as: making financial contributions, joining prayer groups, volunteering to help clean up damaged areas, donating food and clothes, to name a few.

Remember, every tragedy and disaster is an opportunity for each one of us to assist with the healing of the world by focusing our attention on divine love and light.

YOU DO MAKE A TREMENDOUS DIFFERENCE!

Love and Light,

Sandra

Gender Equality

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Sandra Brossman

This past Sunday, we celebrated Mother’s Day, which we associate with the feminine role in our society. We are now looking forward to Father’s Day on June 16, which we connect with the masculine role within our world. Since we are presently in the gap between these two gender-associated holidays, it feels like the perfect time to discuss a topic which is currently getting a great deal of attention and publicity: Gender equality.

Gender equality, is also known as sexual equality, equality of the genders, and gender neutral. All of these terms imply that men and women should receive equal treatment. The concept is based on the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, and the ultimate aim is to provide equality in law and equality in social situations, especially in democratic activities and securing equal pay for equal work.

There are presently two books on the New York Times Best Seller List that are delivering powerful messages about the importance of gender equality: Lean In, by Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer of Facebook, urges women to pursue their careers without ambivalence. The other book, The Athena Doctrine, by John Gerzema and Michael D’Antonio, discusses how the feminine values of nurturing, listening, and collaborating are redefining success for both genders. It is very interesting to note that Sheryl Sandberg is a woman advocating for females to invoke more masculine qualities; and John Gerzema and Michael D’Antonio are men calling for business to incorporate what is viewed as feminine values.

Everyone has both a masculine and a feminine side

It is important that we do not confuse this topic with perceiving that this is a battle of male vs. female. Whether we are male or female, and no matter what our sexual preferences are, everyone has both a masculine and a feminine side. This is the yin/yang energy that has been referred to in Asian cultures for thousands of years. There are certain characteristics that are inherent within both masculine and feminine energy. Masculine energy (yang) deals with the strength of the self and the value of your own life. Some of the qualities we attribute to being masculine are: power, aggression, survival, focus, and decisiveness. Feminine energy (yin) is more tuned into the value of the life of others and letting others take control of their own lives. Some of the qualities we associate with being feminine are: intuitive, gentle, nurturing, compassionate, and responsive to the needs of others.

For thousands of years, the collective energy of our world has been primarily masculine in nature. Business, in particular, has been dominated by masculine energy because it has been focused on competition, power, and the bottom line. While up to this point in our evolution, this predominance of masculine energy has been appropriate in order to survive, an excess of masculine energy is being reflected in our social problems of greed, violence, and crime. This is not to say that masculine energy is bad – far from it! It is an extremely important component in our society, but we need to realize that it is imperative to maintain a balance of masculine energy as we bring in more feminine energy. The key word here is BALANCE.

The fact that the issue of gender equality is moving to the forefront of our attention is an extraordinary sign that humanity is evolving to a much higher perspective than we have been in the past. We are being called upon to integrate the masculine qualities of focusing on the strength of self and being action oriented with the feminine qualities of being compassionate and responsive to the genuine needs of others.

The energy of Universal Love is a perfect balance of feminine and masculine energy. While the world around us may seem pretty tumultuous right now, we can find great inspiration in knowing that we are beginning to integrate our masculine and feminine qualities internally and externally. As we each discover the balance of masculine/ feminine energy within ourselves, it is being reflected in the conditions of our outer world. Humanity is beginning to move out of polarity and into our spiritual truth of ONENESS!

I welcome any stories you choose to share regarding your struggles and successes on your personal journey toward gender equality.

Love and Light,

Sandra

Mother’s Day – A Perfect Day for Healing

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Sandra Brossman

This is an image of a mother holding her child above her head at sunset

Mother’s Day is just around the corner. Mother’s Day, a holiday proclaimed by President Woodrow Wilson in 1914, is a day of celebration in which we honor mothers, motherhood, and maternal bonds. The power and influence of mothers and maternal figures in our personal lives and in our society is beyond measure. Mothers and grandmothers are the core strength of the home, the creators of life, the nurturers of children, our first teachers, our female role models, and our indispensable companions. Most importantly, when we think of a mother’s love, we frequently think of the unconditional boundless love that is the closest human expression of divine love.

Mother’s Day, like all holidays, elicits different feelings for each one of us. Whether we think our mothers did a “good” job or a “bad” job of raising us, the truth is that our mothers played an enormous role in helping us to form our system of values, sense of self, foundation of security, and, in general, the initial foundation for all of our perceptions in life.

Some of us were fortunate to be raised by mothers or mother figures who were confident, strong, and a model of unconditional love. If this is the case, the mere mention of the word “mother” conjures up feelings of warmth, nurturing and safety. If you are one of these people, Mother’s Day is a joyful day where you are inspired to cherish and appreciate your mother and buying a card, giving a hug, and saying “I love you” feels completely natural.

If your mother has passed on, this may be an especially sad time of year as you recognize that losing a mom creates a void that no one else can fill in your life. Who could ever understand you, unconditionally accept you, and always love you the way your mother did?

And then there are others who have had a vastly different experience. There are many people who attribute the root cause of most of their pain and problems to their mothers. In working with clients over many years in my spiritual healing practice, I discovered that blaming our mothers for our shortcomings is the deepest underlying issue for almost every major healing issue: mental, emotional, and physical. In fact, I observed that our mothers have so much influence in our lives that when a mother would heal a painful issue, the child (whether young, middle age, or old) was automatically positively affected; and, conversely, when the child (of any age) would heal, the mother would also be positively affected.

From a spiritual perspective, the soul of a child chooses his or her mother, and the mother chooses the child. Because our life journey is all about becoming whole, we choose parents from whom we learn what we most need to know – we fulfill these lessons in both positive and negative ways. If, for example, our mothers did not praise us very much, it could be that our souls needed to remember that we get our genuine validation from within ourselves – not from external sources. On the other side of the coin, mothers learn just as much from their children. For example, a child with learning differences may be teaching a mother all about patience and acceptance.

The single most important factor that affects our relationships with our mothers is our own attitude. As children, we typically had great expectations of all the qualities we wanted our mothers to have — we wanted her to be our Rock of Gibraltar, the model of an ideal woman, have the patience of Job, and express the love of an angel. As we mature, we need to accept that our mothers are human and that they have had to deal with issues that were passed on to them by their parents. I truly believe that most mothers love to the best of their capacity and want the very best for their children. I also think most mothers would agree that motherhood is simultaneously the both most difficult and rewarding job in all the world.

Unconditionally accepting our mothers for who they are (or were) is our greatest lesson in compassion and forgiveness. Since we are inextricably connected with our mothers, forgiving them for their shortcomings and for falling short of our expectations is the same thing as forgiving ourselves for carrying forward any unhealthy patterns which need to be healed. And when you think about it, who better than our mothers to teach us this magnificent lesson.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Love and Light,

Sandra