August 1st, 2013
Living on the edge
You accepted me
Sitting on the edge
You invited me
Alone on the edge 
You witnessed me
Breathing on the edge
You exhaled with me
Crying on the edge
You held me
Waiting on the edge
You inspired me
Walking on the edge
You journeyed with me
Emptying on the edge
You healed me
Hiding on the edge
You honored me
Sharing on the edge
You trusted me
Returning from the edge
You celebrated me
Dedicated to my spiritual guide, teacher, and holy witness, GH.
Photo by Mary Anne Flanagan
Posted in Vulnerability | Toning the Om
July 31st, 2013
Meditation is about mental transformation. Meditation is more than relaxation and feeling good. The questions we need to ask ourselves about our meditation are: Am I changing? Am I kind? Am I more compassionate and less judgmental?
It takes more than one morning or one sitting or one weekend to go into these questions and go within. When people say they don’t have time to meditate, are they really saying, “I don’t have time to listen to my heart?”
It’s a continuum of looking at our meditation practice and noticing what is changing for good in our life.
Is what I am meditating on for the benefit of all?
Am I being more loving, kind, compassionate, and joyful?
What am I willing to transform?
What is the focus for my meditation?
Am I willing to focus on peace?
Notice what happens when we abide in peace.
How are we more peaceful with ourselves and one another?
Photo by Mary Anne Flanagan
Posted in Meditation | Toning the Om
July 24th, 2013
Posted in Wholehearted | Toning the Om
July 18th, 2013
Posted in Meditation | Toning the Om
July 13th, 2013
Yesterday marked the 13th anniversary of my mom’s passing. In the past I spent the day quiet, weepy, and often withdrawn. I decided to do something different to honor my mom.
The hugging saint, Amma, is in New York City July 11-13. An embrace by Amma is a unique, inspiring, and personally transformative experience. Amma spends hours as people line up to receive their hug.
I spent my mom’s anniversary in Amma’s presence. As I waited my turn for a hug, my whole body started shaking. And then I looked up and Amma was in front of me. Amma looked at me, smiled, and pulled me into her chest. She put her lips right to my ear, rocked me back and forth and said, “My Dola, My Dola, My Dola, My Dola.” It took me awhile to understand that she was really saying, “My Daughter, My Daughter…” I was overcome with tears as I felt as if my whole body was being comforted and loved.
My daughter. My daughter. An embrace by Amma reminds me just how much I miss and love my mother. I returned to my seat and closed my eyes. I felt my beloved mother and her embrace. Amma’s embrace filled me with the love I have for my mom.
Heaven to earth. Earth to heaven.
Dedicated to my mom, Catherine Flanagan.
Posted in Storytelling | Toning the Om
July 12th, 2013
Tears flow
Grief softens
Time passes
Pain lessons
Life returns
Heart opens
Love expands
Remembering my beloved mother.
Posted in Vulnerability | Toning the Om
July 10th, 2013
After a recent conversation about my healing work, I sat in meditation listening and felt such an alignment with my mind and heart.
Meditation:
I teach meditation.
What kind?
Prayer meditation.
Prayer?
Yes. Isn’t every thought or word to the universe a prayer?
I never thought of it that way.
Our voice is our prayer, is it not?
Yes, everything is a prayer. Everything is meditation.
Posted in Meditation | Toning the Om
June 25th, 2013
I sit in my hometown
Stop to get a slice
Pizza, ice tea, and a magazine
The peace of a Sunday starts
Small local town
Someone knows someone
Who knows everyone
I still get lost here
Sports topics surround me
And shopping of clothes
Sizes of shirts
What stores take returns
When did I start listening?
When did I stop listening?
My hometown
I left long ago
I return over and over
The ghost of the teenager
I long ago abandoned
Your order is ready
Time to leave
On the road
Over the bridge
The place of my birth
The city that took me in
When I had nothing
Now, where is home?
Listening
Here—right here
Still growing up
Posted in Gratitude | Toning the Om
June 14th, 2013
Greeted by a Warbler
Lunch with an Eastern Bluebird
Storytelling with Grackles in the afternoon
Early evening with Turkey Vultures
Home at last with the winged-ones
Watching
Learning
Listening
Being
A Cardinal flies across the field;
Lands on a branch and
Sings its rhythmic piercing song
Loud cries above my head
As a Blue Jay claims its territory in the tree
A Red-winged Blackbird chases the crows away
Evening arrives, softly—
Gently
As a Red-tailed Hawk
Greets me goodnight
Posted in Happiness | Toning the Om
June 4th, 2013
I’m hyper-sensitive. I have come to discover that means I am an empath.
I feel other peoples’ pain as if it were my own, even if I don’t know them. My face loses all color and I turn “sheet-white” if I watch something devastating or really sad. I cry easily at Hallmark shows, Maxwell House Coffee commercials, or even melancholy song lyrics.
I have known this for many years and have been made fun of for it. People would say, “You’re too sensitive” or “Lighten up.” For a long time, I thought that it was a bad thing until I realized my sensitivity made me a better listener and a better visionary.
It’s been a huge asset as an entrepreneur, writer, leader and artist. I relate to people in ways other people are not able to do so. I often understand what they seek and aspire to. I relate to their emotions. It lets me work with clients on more of an emotional level. I see past the facades and can speak to, create, and offer inspiration for what really matters.
Being an empath has allowed me to take a deeper dive inside my own heart as well as have in-depth conversations with those around me. I am able to question more, probe deeper, and create space for expansion.
It’s also been hugely beneficial in allowing me to connect when I teach, present, and facilitate. My empathetic ways allow me to feel my way through conversations on an intuitive level. It allows me to really “see” people for who they truly are.
Of course, it is not always easy. When someone else is in pain, it can be hard to distance myself from it. I tend to take on too much of what and who is around me. I want to help other people — at times to the detriment of myself.
So, how do I navigate in the world as an empath? I know I don’t want to go down the rabbit hole when I am feeling overwhelmed and I don’t want to push people away in order to not feel. I need to be able to engage and be present and let go in order to best serve.
For me, I do my best to balance the gifts of feeling deeply with the grace of letting go. I live with vulnerability and also have very clear boundaries.
I wouldn’t change being an empath for the world. I have come to accept that to feel is to be alive.
It’s the raw emotions that allow real meaning and connection to flow into creation and inspiration.
The challenge is to understand when to let it in and when to let go. And the challenge is also when to let in just enough to allow for deep connections, compassionate experiences and extraordinary creativity.
I’ve danced with this process of letting in and letting go for as long as I can remember. It has been a driving force for some intense journal writings, channeling messages, and connections with many mentors and spiritual teachers.
A few years ago when I started Toning the OM™, for an entirely different reason, I found something else that’s helps me process life as an empath — meditation and mindfulness.
It doesn’t mean I still don’t cry easily or close my eyes when something profound is happening. It means I can allow my emotions to flow rather than consume me. What it also does is allow me to understand when I’m being drawn in and then make a more conscious effort about whether I’m going to open to empathy or detach with love. And it reminds me to breathe and not get stuck in the shallowness within my own body.
Honestly, it is not easy and it takes work. There are days I am lousy at it. And I’m still learning just how important it is to stop and take slow, deep breaths. Having awareness of my breath and being mindful has made me more awake and alive in the world.
Being of service is an honor and privilege. Recognizing what emotions bring compassion and what emotions bring exhaustion have been part of my life-long journey. Identifying the waves of emotion as they rise, acknowledging them, and pausing to breathe has empowered me to lead and serve more humbly.
I’d love to know what your experiences have been with this.
What has your journey of the heart revealed about you?
Tags: Creativity, Empath, Engage, Flow, Grace, Insightful, Inspiration, Leadership, Meditation, Mindfulness, Present, Vulnerability
Posted in Vulnerability | 1 Comment »
