A few weeks ago my family gathered to deliver my father’s ashes into the ocean. Dad was a watercolourist and his mastery was particularly expressed in either early morning or late afternoon wet-sand beachscapes. So to honour the occasion we sent him off at his favourite beach- Mudjimba on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland. We chose the outgoing tide just before sunset: wet sand and pink light infusing everything. Dad called this time of the evening “galah-galah” time, after the bright pink feathers of the Australian rose-breasted cockatoo. Because we were at the beach we just had to have a big bag of hot steaming chips – and to top it off- I suppose to ‘ground’ the whole affair with our typical irreverent Irish-Australian sense of humor- we popped a bottle of Veuve Clicquot to wash down the chips. Sorry to the French. My mother, at first a little tentative, became ebullient as we grabbed handfuls of ash, laughing as we avoided being caught by the waves. There were some onlookers who could clearly see what we were doing. Some were smiling in simpatico but some had little scowls of disapproval. To them we must have been doing the ashes thing withRose Light, Hot Chips and Veuve Clicquot – by Stephen Fearnley
Higher Frequency – by JJ Flizanes
Meditation is a great tool for helping us to release resistance and get into a quieter, more centered space. While becoming “neutral”, where you offer little to no resistant thought, is highly beneficial, it often doesn’t last too far into our daily lives without years of practice. I create meditations that combine guided visualization to raise your frequency and vibration to a state of joy, hope, excitement and love so the power of the higher vibration can resonate a bit longer through our day and put us in alignment with that which we desire. JJ Flizanes, Special Guest Meditation Guide for September 2017 Our Special Guest Meditation Guide of the Month shares their unique perspective and gives us insight into the inspiration behind the month’s 10 Minute Meditation member bonus. To experience this meditation for yourself, try One Mind Live by going HERE Save
Letting Go – by Chris Phillips
Sometimes mindfulness meditation practice is called, exercising the letting go muscle. I first encountered the Letting Go meditation at a Vipassana retreat in Byron Bay. At the time I was holding on to a belief that was holding me back. The practice was wonderfully liberating. You can listen to the recorded meditation on Letting Go or use the following instructions as a guide: Find a comfortable place either sitting or lying down. Place your attention on your belly and see if you can notice the breath in the body. Now keeping some awareness on the breath, thinking about whatever it is that you are holding on to that you would like to let go of… a story, a situation, a feeling, a relationship… Whatever it may be, hold it in the heart of compassion. Notice any discomfort and unhappiness that you feel from holding on. Then tune in to your heart and to ask the question – is it time to let this go? Now gently say the words, “Let go, let go, let go”. Over and over. As you continue to repeat the words, see if you can notice the images, the sensations of tightness and holding on inLetting Go – by Chris Phillips
Forest Walk – by Stephen Fearnley
It’s been 18 years since I left Sydney to live on a mountain, set up a studio with my partner and raise a baby girl. We had no idea how we were going to make it all financially work-out, splitting away from the city to a rural area with low employment but somehow everything always just fell into place. At the time some of our friends said don’t sell your house and leave Sydney , you will never be able to get back into the market ! Of course on the inside Celeste and I said Yay ! Who’d ever want to return ? For us it was a no-brainer. Trade-in a small old semi-house for a mountain top vista ? About half of my place is covered with original rain forest. Its rare and untouched. Normally one associates rain forest with hot climates but this is cool and temperate, full of tree ferns and lichen and chocolate coloured wallabies and wombats. Wisely this rainforest, to protect itself, creates boundaries of harsh prickly plants and stinging nettles to stop intruders. We have also ensured with a lot of fencing that cows and other heavy hooves cant get in – encouragingForest Walk – by Stephen Fearnley