Imagining Forgiveness

You will not want to miss the multi-talented Shantha Sri, composer of healing music at the second VIRTUAL WORLD CONFERENCE entitled “Yoga, Meditation, and the Philosopher’s Stone.” It is coming up on Feb. 8 – 12, 2011. Find out more at www.yogahub.com. Visit www.energimusic.com to explore his wonderful music.

Tags: Energi Music, Healing Music, Shantha Sri

Save the date. The IMAGERY INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE for 2011 is coming up on Sept. 30 to Oct. 2, 2011 at Mercy Center in Burlingame, CA.

The theme for this year is Hope and New Beginnings. It is co-sponsored by Beyond Ordinary Nursing.

PLEASE JOIN US.

To follow the information trail, please go to http://imageryinternational.org.

Tags: Imagery International

This week’s guest on EMOTIONAL PATHWAYS (www.webtalkradio.net) is Jerry Wennstrom. His perspective on “walking into fear and finding something beautiful” is shared as well as work with his interactive art pieces. For more information on his intriguing work and words, visit www.handsofalchemy.com.

Dr. Marty Rossman’s newest book is out. See http://www.worrysolution.com for details. I recommend his book to bring you into the new year with a positive start.

To listen to a couple of discussions I had with him about his work, please go to my web radio show, Emotional Pathways, at www.webtalkradio.net and to hear our podcast for Imagery International at http://imageryinternational.org.

Tags: the worry solution

May your path with lit with courage, wisdom, and grace for 2011 and beyond.

Many blessings to all for a safe and pleasant holiday season.

Please consider participating in a study on how a simple imagery exercise can aid in the stress of caregiving. This is a study that Dr. Marty Rossman is involved in at California Pacific Medical Center. There are several versions to choose from in regard to your level of participation, from just a few minutes to longer. Please go to www.cpmc.org/professionals/research/trials/imagery/html

Dr. Rossman’s website for his new book is http://www.worrysolution.com. You will find out more about stress and “bad worrying.”. He will be a guest on Emotional Pathways at www.webtalkradio.net during the first week of January as wel.

For more on caregiving, please check out Dr. Miriam Franco’s website at http://www.imagerywork.com. She is the guest all this week on Emotional Pathways.

Among other radio spots, I was a guest in October 2010 with attorney Mari Frank’s show at www.kuci.org/privacy/piracy/. She is the author of Safeguard Your Identity, which is a very informative book about identity theft. This is a good time of year to read her book, particularly if you are ordering products online.

If you would like to hear my hour long guest spot with her as we discussed forgiveness and my book IMAGINE FORGIVENESS, you may go to itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/kuci-privacy-piracy/id112015069

Please welcome our guests for this month on my www.webtalkradio.net show EMOTIONAL PATHWAYS. The line-up is as follows:

Week of December 6th
Beautiful Confidence at Your Core** Our guest this week is Miriam Franco, PsyD, MSW, MSCS. The focus of our discussion is particularly on women and on building a sense of inner worth. Dr. Franco shares with us some results of her current research projects as well as an introduction to her series of four guided imagery exercises for building inner beauty, confidence, and emotional well-being. www.imagerywork.com

Week of December 13th
Peace at the Final Passage ** Our guest is Trudy Harris, RN, who has worked for over 30 years as a hospice nurse with over 1000 patients. She talks about her books, Glimpses of Heaven and More Glimpses of Heaven, in which she describes true stories of hope and peace at the end of life’s journey and what it is like to be with those who are “dying well.” www.glimpsesofheavenbook.com

Week of December 20th
Blessings at the Table ** We are joined by Adrian Butash as we discuss and read excerpts from his book, Bless This Food, which is a complilation of blessings and poems of gratitude from various tradtions around the world. www.adrianarts.com.

Week of December 27th
Indigenous Wisdom and Renewal for the Coming Year ** We are joined by Pati Turner, founder of Tierra Sagrada: Sacred Earth Foundation, and Maurino Santiago Carhuancho Guillen, Quechua Spiritual Leader. www.sacredearthfound.org.

AND COMING UP IN JANUARY, WE HAVE DR. MARTY ROSSMAN, who is a pioneer in mind-body medicine, the author of numerous books, articles, and CDs, a Clinical Faculty Member at UCSF Medical School, and an advisory board member of Dr. Andrew Weil’s Integrative Medicine Program at the University of Arizona. We discuss his new book, THE WORRY SOLUTION, which is coming out this month. www.worrysolution.com and www.thehealingmind.org

We also have JERRY WENNSTROMM as a guest. He shares about the transformational journey. His book, The Inspired Heart, is now available as an audio book. www.handsofalchemy.com

and more to come…

Tags: bless this food, blessings at the table, confidence, end of life, guided imagery, hospice, indigenous wisdom, peace, the inpired heart, the worry solution, women

As we move through this “holiday” season and into 2011, approximately 800,000 people are being cut off from unemployment benefits. We are going to be witnessing many heart-wrenching stories. There will be those who lose their homes, their vehicles, and worst of all, their sense of hope. While extreme poverty on this planet calls our hearts in the most profound of ways, let us not forget even the “middle-class-persona” children who may be bullied and/or lose opportunities because of their inability to have the materials necessary for their talents to thrive. Here is a piece shared by a man as he reflects on his early high school experience in the 1970’s, a time that was similar (but not as daunting) as these economic times. He was one of six children and his family was suffering financially:

“We couldn’t afford cleats. I was so disappointed when I was told that we couldn’t afford to get me cleats for the upcoming football season. My friend, Mike, from my previous neighborhood, was nice enough to five me an old pair of cleats he had. They were worn down to the nub but they were better than nothing. There was a new coach this year. I was a bit disappointed about that because the coaches from the previous year knew a little about me and I thought that they would give me a shot at a skill position. The new coach placed people in positions pretty quickly. I found myself on the defensive line. I was the smallest kid on the line. I didn’t like being put up there at all. Why didn’t I get a chance? I was a good catch. I threw well and ran well. It wasn’t my decision, though. So I played the best I could against bigger kids. In fact, I ended up starting at defensive tackle. It was ridiculous. I was so small compared to the other lineman. I did alright in spite of my size. Somehow, I could find a way to outmaneuver the slower guys across from me and I used my body well for leverage. During practice, I kept throwing one big kid to the ground in drills. The coaches kept yelling at him and I kept doing the same thing to him. Eventually, he pleaded with me in private to let him win so he could get out of the drill. I’d already done my job so I went ahead and let him block me. I felt good about myself that this bigger kid a year older than me saw no solution but to ask me to let him off the hook. So I was defensive tackle. I remember one game where we really needed someone to make a play. I was determined. I managed to break through the line on a pass play and had the quarterback right in front of me for the sack. I had him. He tried to avoid me and as I planted my foot while grabbing him my feet slipped right out from under me. I had no spikes on my cleats. They were practically flat. If I had had the right equipment, I could have made the play. Instead, I slipped and skidded on the turf and blew a golden opportunity. I cursed the fact that I couldn’t have decent cleats. It made me look stupid. I probably didn’t get a skill position because I looked clumsy slipping all over the field. God, how I hated being broke. We couldn’t afford vacations, we couldn’t afford the nice things other kids had. And worst of all, we couldn’t afford my damn cleats. I think it made me a bit angry at my parents. It made me look stupid on the field and that really burned me up inside. I was better than that and I was at a disadvantage just because of my flat cleats.”

This is a poignant piece that speaks to the inner experience of a youth who is attempting to strive in an environment where other kids take for granted that articles of their craft/sport will be provided for. His family got to the point where they ate only rice for a couple of weeks on several occasions, yet nobody knew and there was no place to turn to for charity because the family was prideful and they “looked and acted” as if all was well.

I hope that we can be sensitive to those who not only suffer from a lack of very basic needs, but for those who have “hidden” socioeconomic concerns and who may be feeling shame among their peers and in other social interactions. Just a thought for this time of year when American consumerism can often dominate the capacity for the true gift of compassion.

Tags: shame, socioeconomic, unemployment