Movement and Knowing When to Move Matters

Before I begin on the topic at hand, let me share my excitement that I am writing a column called Journaling with Spirit with Conscious Talk Magazine featuring diverse topics and writers from all over the world.  In May, the magazine will move from a purely Internet publication to an electronic magazine on Magzter and will be available via subscription only. For a free copy of the May issue, send your request to editor@conscioustalkmag.com.  Now, back to today's topic.........

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Today I read a variety of materials which dealt with movement in one way or another.  Specifically,

1. The current issue of the John Hopkins Health Review Spring/Summer 2018 mentions that one of the ten at-home remedies for arthritis is exercise.  The reason given is that exercise strengthens the muscles around the joints and takes the strain off the joints themselves.  Obviously, this is a call to move.

2.  Entries in my journal from August 2017 in which I wrote "stop and take a rest" and "wait for the forces of the universe to start moving again."  It coincided with my husband and I agreeing to take a break from a project because we were exhausted.  It also coincided with working on the same poem, Serial Assumptions, over a period of a month because I had sensed that I needed to wait for more of the words to come and to not force it.  This example, then, is recognizing and acting upon the call to rest or move.

3.  The meditation card I pulled today from the Answer is Simple Cards by Sonia Choquette read "HAVE FUN" and went on to list out ways to do so, all of which included taking action.  Some of the suggestions included dance, connect with amusing friends and do something frivolous, light or spontaneous.  What I find interesting is that sometimes when I pull a meditation card, it's a card that affirms that I'm doing what I should.  This was the case here because yesterday I spontaneously asked Alexa to play some Stevie Wonder songs and I danced around the kitchen while no one was watching, and I had already scheduled several dates with friends for lunch and tea this week.  I guess what's left is doing something frivolous....hmmm, what little luxury do I want to buy?
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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, the community and I would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else.  Most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.
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Reflective questions:
1.  Are you feeling a pull towards rest or movement?

2.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, "God, what do you want me to know?")

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, Sensibility, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide.

Photo by MH 

Note:  These posts are part of a broader call to do spiritual journaling which is simply journaling what's on your heart and mind and then asking God* what else you should know (read more at CardinalTouch.net).

When Nothing Else Works

I want to let you in on a little secret....I need to remind myself what works for me when I enter into a new stressful period.  I have joked that the reason I wrote Sprouting Spiritual Growth is so I may have my own resource guide to remember what works for me and that if I were to buy thousands of copies, I would be golden!  But seriously, I also know that what works for me works for a lot of people, but if these suggestions don't work, the most direct answers can be obtained by asking for God's* guidance.  In fact, that's what I was doing over a recent stressful period.  At night when I couldn't sleep I still did mental gratitude lists, coming up with up to 36 things that I was thankful for, sometimes not getting to that number because I've fallen asleep.  But on a few occasions, I could not get up to 36 things because I was too distracted.  That's when I just let go and said, "And I ask God to help me."  I said this repeatedly and any time that my mind wondered, until I could get back at the task at hand, whether it be gratitude lists or some other necessary task.  What I'm happy to report is that this has helped tremendously.  As a result, it's another tool!  So, whenever I can't handle things on my own, and especially during the middle of the night when I'm the only one awake, I can give my stresses, worries, concerns to God with the simple phrase "And I ask God to help me."
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Reflective questions:
1.  Do you manage stress by handling everything on your own, or do you seek the help of others or God*?

2.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, "God, what do you want me to know?")

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, Sensibility, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide.

Photo by MH 

Note:  These posts are part of a broader call to do spiritual journaling which is simply journaling what's on your heart and mind and then asking God* what else you should know (read more at CardinalTouch.net).

Poetic Gratitude

I am so excited to write a blog post, it's been a little bit.  It's because I committed to doing 4 speaking events each month from last July through this June.  June will then complete the one year book launch period.  And while my debut self-help book, Sprouting Spiritual Growth, is about an amazing journey and spiritual journaling, it also includes a story line about the poems I wrote from gratitude lists.  The poems are my favorite part of the book, because their creation and quality were surprising to me.
Not surprising then, is that a lot of my talks have morphed into teaching people how to come up with a list of 36 things they are grateful for from the day before, and then secondarily, how to write poetry from it.  What's so awesome is how thrilled people are about their own poems.  It's because they come from the heart, from gratitude.
Also, each time I give the talk, I write along and create a poem too!  As a result of this, and the year of launch being almost up, I've written up a course for independent study that moves someone from gratitude listing to poetry writing.  If you'd like to try it, email me at cardinaltouch@verizon.net and I'll send you a complementary copy of the course!
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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, the community and I would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else.  Most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.
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Reflective questions:
1.  Do you want to write poetry or some other creative endeavor from gratitude? 

2.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, "God, what do you want me to know?")

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, Sensibility, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide.

Photo by MH 

Note:  These posts are part of a broader call to do spiritual journaling which is simply journaling what's on your heart and mind and then asking God* what else you should know (read more at CardinalTouch.net).