Lengthening Shadows

Autumn is full upon us now.  We turn our backs on summer and orient ourselves toward the lengthening shadows of oncoming winter.  Here, we count the many blessings of our internal harvest.  There is much to give thanks for.  Take a moment now to notice those things and give thanks.  You can do this by feeling gratitude and expressing that either silently or out loud.  Really allow yourself to feel gratitude.  Breathe into it.  Notice how it expands with your breath.

And note as well what we are letting go of.  What is no longer sustainable?  Imagine it as an autumn leaf picked up by the wind and carried away from you.  Let it go.  Give thanks for this, too.  For the release as well as the space it leaves within you. 

These cycles are always at work within us.  Their outer manifestation as seasonal change helps remind us to go within and find what is reflected there. 

Something is always coming into being.  Something is always passing away.  Something always abides beneath the changes.  What is that something in you?

In identifying and naming the core which abides, we honor and strengthen it.  Align with the part of you which is already whole, healthy and smiling.

Welcome Joy

Soul Alignments is a blog space for Karina's musings on aligning our Soul's Purpose with the demands of real life.

A radical spiritual practitioner who has trained and initiated in a variety of esoteric and academic societies, I believe Joy is available to us all right now. We don't have to wait for an afterlife, enlightenment or achievement of perfection. We don't have to wait until we fall in love, finish our degree, lose fifteen pounds or quit smoking. We don't need to wait until the divorce is final, the kids are grown or for our next birthday to arrive. We don't even have to wait until the weekend gets here. Joy is right here, right now if you want it.

Take a breath and let those words sink in.

Joy is here, right now. What a relief!

Feels pretty good doesn't it?

Sound too simple to be true? Consider that we have been listening to messages our entire lives that tell us

*Work hard now so we can be happy later
*Postpone contentment until everything else is finished
*Put ourselves last
*Set aside passion in order to obtain and keep a "real" job
*Spiritual ecstasy is for priests, monks and saints
*It's selfish to want more
*A prescription will negate existential longing
*Happiness is over-rated

You get the picture. Far from being a Pollyanna, I write about how to live by radically holistic spiritual principles which not only bring about but celebrate in the present moment such experiences as joy, abundance, sex, beauty, passion, pride, love, peace, respect and honesty.

Look to the top of the right hand column on this page. Make the Daily Commitment to yourself. Do it. You'll not only feel better, you'll do better and be better.