Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Order my Steps

"Order my steps in your word dear lord,
Lead me, guide me everyday,
Send your anointing, father i pray;
Order my steps in your word,
Please, order my steps in your word.

Humbly, i ask thee to teach me your will,
While you are working, help me be still,
Satan is busy, god is real;
Order my steps in your word,
Please, order my steps in your word"

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Thursday, December 3, 2009

Living in Love

I once heard Bishop Dale Bronner say "When a person least deserves love is when they need it the most."


That quote has always struck me since. This is probably because it is in the opposite of my marinade. (The ways I learned from my environment growing up) My mother is very passive-aggressive. In this way, I have taken after her. We can be the sweetest, nicest, most helpful and loving people you would ever want to me. However, in times of conflict we often retreat and shutdown not necessarily discussing what is on our hearts. Eventually this leads to an IMPLOSION and EXPLOSION on the person who keeps violating the boundaries that we have are frustrated have not been enforced. It is definitely not pretty. Once we have finally reached our breaking point, the sweet silent angel you once knew is spewing slurs and expletives worse than Linda Blair in The Exorcist. Trust me, you do not want to feel that wrath.


I also learned from my childhood the Vengeance is sweet. The women in my family most definitely believed in revenge. Whether it was cold silence, icy glares, destruction of physical property, eye for an eye, withholding affection, or worse..it was the way I learned to let someone know when I'm displeased with their actions.



As I continue on my path of personal growth, I realize the effect the my lack of communication and aggressive behaviors have hindered both personal and working relationships. I have left many great jobs without fully communicating my dissatisfaction and feelings of lack of appreciation. I have hurt many people by becoming fed up with them and leaving their lives without warning only to leave them hanging about while I am upset in the first place. I hid behind the disguise of being silent in an attempt to avoid conflict and drama in my life only to create that very thing.


In the past, I have researched near death experiences. I found uncanny that many of the subjects profiled all almost identical interpretations of the time spent technically dead before they were resuscitated. There were many stories from people who say they were shown a playback of their life, and it was like a film all of the good deeds and indiscretions played before their eyes. All of these people said the most painful part to watch was all of the times that someone was crying, pleading of begging for their love and they refused. They were then told in various forms that they needed to return to complete their mission of spreading love, compassion and light to humanity.


I think about all of the times I responded with negativity when all the person needed was a kind word, hug, or to be reassured of unconditional love and support. I also think of the times when I went out of my way to do a "Jabez" appointment and help a stranger or loved one in need and how much better my spirit felt from that simple act. I believe often times the enemy convinces us to believe we must protect our self and not be vulnerable. (Think Adam & Eve) I am starting to think that maybe not until we expose our heart and love with the same intensity that God loves us will we find the happiness and fulfillment we so desperately seek.




Paramahansa Yogananda, guru of Kriya Yoga says in his book WHERE THERE IS LIGHT: Insight & Inspiration for Meeting Life's Challenges.


"Many human beings say "I love you" one day and reject you the next. That is not love. One whose heart is filled with the love of God cannot willfully hurt anyone. When you love God without reservation, He fills your heart with His unconditional love for all. That love no human tongue can describe....The ordinary man is incapable of loving others in this way. Self-centered in the consciousness of "I, me, and mine," he has not yet discovered the omnipresent God who resides in him and in all other beings.



To me there is no difference between one person and another; I behold all as soul-reflections of the one God. I can't think of anyone as a stranger, for I know that we are all part of the One Spirit. When you experience the true meaning of religion, which is to know God, you will realize that He is your Self, and that He exists equally and impartially in all beings. Then you will be able to love others as your own Self."


TIPS FOR LIVING IN LOVE
taken from Journey to Self-Realization by Paramahansa Yogananda
-Become more saintly, so that like a true king you sit on the throne of love in the hearts of others. Begin by being kind to all. Unkindness is a spiritual disease. If you indulge in unkind acts and feelings, you make yourself miserable and damage your nervous system.
-When you see others behaving unkindly, it should give you greater determination to be kind. I practice this all the time. No matter how hurtfully others behave, they cannot make me react with meanness. The more unkindness people show to me, the more understanding I give to them.
-Sometimes, in order to stress an important lesson, I speak very strongly to those who have come to me for training. But I am never angry or unkind. Those who receive such discipline have seen that at the height of the scolding, when I seem to be most displeased, I can shut off fiery speech and use the gentlest of words. That self-control has tremendous power. Never allow your voice to be harsh out of anger or vengefulness.
-Like a flower, shed petals of kindness when you are aggravated by others or attacked by the evil in them. By self-control and right behavior you will ultimately realize that you are a part of the Eternal Good, you do not belong anymore to the wrong ways of this world.






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Friday, May 29, 2009

KRIYA YOGA MAY 30,2009


Introduction & Benefits of Kriya Yoga
A WORKSHOP & Seminar with Paramahansa Atmanandaji




SATURDAY, May 30, 2009 • 2-3 PM

Fulton Central Library & Library System Headquarters

One Margaret Mitchell Square • Atlanta, GA 30303
FREE ADMISSION


Paramahansa Atmanandaji is a highly qualified Doctor of Medicine. His specialization in Neurology, the science of the brain and the nervous system, has proved to be a great help in the understanding and teaching of Kriya Yoga as a scientific and ageless technique to good health, peace, happiness, and eventually to self-realization.


Kriya Yoga is a scientific method offering simultaneous benefit to body, mind, and spirit. It includes time-tested Yoga techniques like Mudras, Pranayams and Meditation to bring health and happiness in everyday life. Kriya Yoga benefits are a calm mind, healthy and strong body, sharp and penetrating intellect, excellent memory, prompt understanding, and ready wit, along with self-realization. This workshop offers a no-obligation introduction to this ancient art, with the opportunity to go further for those who are interested.


RSVPNilesh Sharma 404.324.3302Dinesh Katoch 404.824.0853Atlanta.KriyaYog@gmail.com
http://www.kriyayog.org/


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Saturday, May 23, 2009

What Is NLP and how can it help me??




NLP shows you how to work more effectively, how to control how you feel, how to interpret events and how to communicate successfully


NLP, or to give it its Sunday title - Neuro Linguistic Programming, is a technology and an approach that comes from the study of human excellence. It is highly respected by leading employers and is used successfully in many fields, including business, sports, art, health, education, politics and personal growth.


NLP's communication tools can enable you to..
*Improve your verbal and non-verbal communication with others.
*Deepen your appreciation of your own and others thinking styles.
*Learn techniques for high performance mental states.
*Exchange unwanted habits with desired habits.
*Set goals to fit (and change) your life.
*Use language with much greater precision.
*Perform at your highest level.
*Enjoy activities you used to fear



NLP was developed in the 1970s out of an academic enquiry into how people excel in various fields. The result was the distillation of certain principles and subtle communications structures that can be taught, learned, and applied to any area of your life.



Over the past 30 years since its pioneering days, NLP has undergone, and continues to undergo, considerable refinement. Many of its techniques and principles have passed into common usage under other names and appear to us daily, not only in the classroom and in coaching situations but also in cinema, television, and, of course, business communications ranging from the office to advertising.


If you understand that there may be room for improvement in your communication skills, or if you are not getting what you want out of life, NLP’s tools can enable you to uncover, change or transform and become truly successful.

Building Rapport the NLP Way

The term rapport is mainly used in the context of NLP or in unconscious human interaction. In technical terms, it is process of being synchronized with a person to whom you are talking. It is considered to be one of the most important features of unconscious human interaction.

Rapport is no doubt, one of the ultimate tools in improving relationships of any nature, Using advanced rapport techniques, you can resolve almost any conflict and you can improve relationships between families, boss and employee etc.

Rapport Techniques:

There are various NLP techniques that can be used in building rapport, which is the foundation of a healthy relationship. Some of the most popular NLP techniques for building rapport are Matching, Mirroring, Pacing and Leading. These techniques will be discussed in more detail later.

The main principle behind every technique is for one person to establish rapport with another so that they will empathise with one another. When each person feels in the same way as the other person they are much more likely to reach agreement or to be influenced. The more you can get into synchronized state with another person the more likely you can persuade and influence them.

Rapport, as mentioned above, is considered to be foundation of any healthy relationship. Using rapport techniques helps you in discussing serious issues without any agression. Using rapport makes it easy to discuss criticial issues more easily and it also helps in finding effective and practical solutions. Rapport usually happens at many levels. You should learn how to build rapport.

You can easily build rapport at any time through:

*The rapport skills that you have acquired.
*The way you sound
*The way you look and behave
*Your set of beliefs.
*Your values of life.
*The places where you spend time with people.

Matching and Mirroring:

Matching and mirroring is one of the most useful NLP techniques to build rapport. You might have noticed the rapport between people in bars and resturants when they dance or they talk while sitting on the table. You can often observe the synchronization in their body movements and the way they talk.

If two people are totally out of synchronizations as they are while having intense arguments, you can often see how much they mismatch. Matching and mirroring are the ways in which a person tunes himself or herself according to someone else. The person who tries to synchronize has to watch the world with the other person’s eyes. When you have a rapport with someone, mirroring can happen naturally.

For effective rapport you should aim to match:

*Body Postures and gestures
*Breating rates
*Energy level
*Your voice tone

Pacing and Leading:

It is sometimes essential that you pace others in order to build healthy relationships. It is as though you run alongside a train. If you want to jump on to a moving train, it is very likely that you’ll fall. You can only do it if you gain the speed of the train. Similarly, to influence someone with your views, you should begin by pacing them to establish rapport.

Once you have established rapport through pacing, you can begin to lead them; hence it is called as Pacing and Leading. In the process of pacing and leading someone, you must be sure that you are in rapport before you move into leading them. If you have not established rapport through mirroring, matching and pacing you will not be able to lead them. In fact trying to lead someone too early is likely to break rapport with them. Be patient!






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Thursday, March 5, 2009

Is your attitude blocking your blessings? Tips for mental purification





















For managing difficult negative emotions, the yoga tradition recommends applying these four attitudes toward four kinds of people:

~Practice friendship toward those who seem to be more fortunate than you.
~Practice compassion for those less fortunate than you.
~Be cheerful toward those who seem more virtuous or closer to God than you.
~Be indifferent toward those who seem less virtuous than you.



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Sunday, February 22, 2009

Vision-Tips and Tools for a better TODAY!


"Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is simply passing the time. Action with Vision is making a positive difference." ~Joel Barker


Anyone who knows me has probably heard me raving over Vision boards. I truly believe that when we reveal our dreams in a concrete and tangible form, we can sit back and watch them manifest in our life!


I must admit, after I first read, watched, and listened to "The Secret" I procrastinated on making my vision board. I figured, "I already know what I want and I frequently write down goals, what difference does a poster board make?" Then I became aware of reticular formation.


About a year ago, I was looking for a new SUV to comfortably fit my growing family. I wanted something large yet feminine and something I wouldnt see all over Atlanta such as a Tahoe, Yukon, Explorer, etc. I decided on a Black Infiniti QX56. Wouldn't you know that prior to purchasing, I never saw those trucks anywhere. After I bought one, it seemed like not only did the whole world drive an Infiniti QX56 but a black one at that!!!


Reticular formation is the part of your brainstem that brings into your awareness things that are important to you. It is the explanation for why we notice things that were there all along. We notice these things more often once they have significance to us and we consciously bring them into our awareness.


By making a vision board, we are looking and meditating on words, pictures, activities and symbols which then enact the reticular formation in our brain. Consciously thinking about these things with a positive mind state helps bring them into our reality.
I recommend using a poster board or a cork board. Gather all the magazines, newspapers and pictures you can find.

-Think about the theme for your life: New career? Healthier Relationships? Fit physique?

Find pictures that would support this new lifestyle. What would you wear? Where would you live? What kind of car would you drive? Who would you meet? What awards would you win? How would your family react? LIVE THE DREAM

-Positive phrases- I am motivated by positive quotes and affirmations. I cut out sayings from magazines that reflected my idealogies of success

-Write yourself a check- Then believe that it is on its way! I always tell myself "Money comes easily and frequently" Instead of saying "I can't afford that", I ask myself "How can I afford that?"

-Hang it somewhere where you will see it each and every day-My vision board hangs right beside my bed. It is the first thing I see in the morning and the last thing I see before I go to bed. I often find myself staring at it and daydreaming about the life I will live. It is hard to be lazy when there is a G-5 and a gorgeous beachouse staring at you as if to say "What are you doing? We are waiting on you!"


On a side note..I would like to say that when I decided to make my vision board I was emotionally going through a very trying time in my marriage. We tried various counselors, books, seminars and it still seemed like nothing was helping to ease the pain we were causing each other. On my vision board I decided to put pictures of us during our happiest times together. I also put positive phrases such as "Greatest Couple" "Couple shares advice on how they keep their relationship stronger than ever", etc. All I know is that what seemed hopeless was transformed into everything I ever wanted. I thank the vision board and the prayers that I would say while staring longingly into those images.

Since making my vision board I have also manifested unexpected checks, free trips, better paying opportunities and worked with people related to acting that I placed on my board. The whole right side of my board has been accomplished in only 4 mos.


I have truly watched the miracles that this practice has worked in my life and I encourage you to make yours NOW!!!




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Monday, February 9, 2009

Hold on to your horses!


Expect trouble as an inevitable part of life, and when it comes, hold your head high, look it quarely in the eye and say, 'I will be bigger than you. You cannot defeat me.' -Ann Landers

Sometimes in life we spend too much time being hard on ourselves and throwing a pity party for the lot in life we were given.

I did not have the advantage of growing up in a two parent household and I was DEFINITELY not a trust fund baby. No one has ever given me a thing and I have had to work 10 x's harder for everything I have because I am young, black, a women and from the age of 17 I have been a mother. Sometimes, I felt sad when I compared my life to others that seemingly had things easier than I did. Now as I grow older and wiser, I am thankful for the work ethic that my hard knock life instilled in me. I have a great appreciation for the gifts that I am bestowed and I have incredible self esteem knowing that I can truly accomplish anything. I do not spend alot of time worrying about losing it all and living in poverty because I already know what that feels like. Instead I focus on creating wealth and a legacy for my children. The following passage reinstilled what I have learned in the past few years post college. I may have actually had an unfair advantage being exposed to such hardship and strife at an early age. It is because of these experiences that I have sought the path of enlightenment and am able to appeal to people of all walks of life. I have been there and have an understanding of life that you cant read about or pay money to experience.
My advice to you is to look forward to the trials and tribulations that will inevitably permeate your existence. Obstacles are put in our path to give us a chance to overcome them. We must overcome just as Jesus overcame before us.
John 16:33"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
Revelation 3:21To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.

I borrowed the following anecdote from the brilliant author Ichi Lee, author of Brain Waves. I found the message behind it very powerful.

There is an old Buddhist parable that describes four kinds of horses. The first kind is very easy to train, reacting to the master's whip before it has even touched the animal. The second kind reacts as soon as the whip touches the hair. The third horse must feel it in the muscles before reacting. The fourth kind must feel the pain of the whip to the bone before conforming to the master's will.

Which kind of horse do you think is best? Most people assume that the first kind of horse is best. It is certainly the least problematic and the one that requires the least attention. The fourth one, by comparison, seems like too much trouble. Yet, in the end, all of the horses end up in the same place. There is no reason to think that a horse that has taken longer to train will be any less serviceable. In fact, the biggest, strongest stallions are usually the most difficult animals, at least in the beginning.

You might ask yourself which horse you are most like. Maybe you are like that willful, stubborn horse, learning life's lessons slowly and only through great suffering. You should not beat up on yourself about that, however. In the end, you will end up in the same place as the quick horses around you. In fact, your understanding of life may be even deeper than those to whom understanding comes quickly. For them, the real meaning of life may remain a mere shadow. The fourth horse, on the other hand, understands the whip as the first horse never will. Because you have experienced the sting of life's lessons right down to the bone, you can truly understand the meaning of your life. It is in that way that the worst have the chance to be better than the best.

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