Wind of the Soul

Update: March 8th–The Journeys Out of the Body Giveaway has closed. Congratulations to Goldie of California and Leah Moore of Grayson, Kentucky–they each won a copy of Journeys Out of the Body. I’d also like to thank everyone for entering. Please sign up for e-mail updates (on the left side of the page under “Subscribe”) or keep checking back, as a new giveaway will be posted very soon.

Though I still haven’t been working on writing any new spiritual or self-help blog entries for Wind of the Soul, I’ve desperately wanted to get back to hosting uplifting and consciousness expanding giveaways. And, in the coming months, that’s exactly what I’ll be doing. I have some ideas for a Wind of the Soul – “Pay It Forward” type project in 2010, with the uplifting giveaways being a major part of that project. So, to kick this first giveaway off for ‘10, I’m giving away two, brand new copies of Robert Monroe’s seminal work on astral projection: “Journeys Out of the Body.”

While the book isn’t necessarily a how-to on OBE, it does provide fascinating details into Mr. Monroe’s early excursions along the astral plane. And, it gives great insight into his mindset during those initial experiences; back when he was a stranger in a very foreign land.

Journeys Out of the Body provided an enormous amount of education and comfort for me during my initial out-of-body experiences and I can’t recommend it enough.

If you plan on entering this giveaway (and I hope you do), I only ask one thing – here’s where the pay it forward part comes into play. I’m asking that you find at least one person in need of some assistance, and you provide it for them.

Sounds simple enough right? If you’re interested in the type of subjects I’ve written and podcasted about, then you probably already help others on a regular basis anyway. However, I’m presenting this more as a challenge than a request for doing what you’re already accustomed to doing.

The “challenge” is for you to get outside the box of your normal good deeds and do something very different. Naturally, I’m not suggesting you put yourself in harm’s way or do anything crazy, but I am saying it should be something beyond what you usually do. For example, I usually do nice things for people whenever I’m out in public, such as holding doors, smiling, giving someone my grocery cart, letting someone go ahead of me in line, lifting something heavy for a person, etc.

Yet, in doing that, I’ve grown very comfortable in my routine and I rarely challenge myself to do a radically different kind of good deed. Basically, I’m talking about doing something that takes more than thirty seconds of our time. I’m talking about getting involved in something that may take ten, twenty or even ninety minutes, and possibly even days.

Now granted, this may seem like a lot to ask just for entering a giveaway, but wait until you see what I’m going to ask the winners to do! Just kidding.

But seriously, if more of us would start putting this concept into practice, I believe a single good deed (especially a “big one”) has the potential to change our world for the better. It’s like a reverse domino effect; instead of knocking them over, we’re picking them back up.
(Read the rest of Journeys Out of the Body Giveaway)

Inner Peace is the title of the 13th Wind of the Soul podcast installment. This episode features a reading of the blog post: 8 Tips for Achieving a More Secure Peaceful State of Mind, along with further thoughts on several of the ideas contained in the entry. This episode’s running time is 10:52 and file size for download is 9.95 MB. It can be played via the embedded player in the Audio section, or on your media player by following the Inner Peace link, or in the embedded You Tube players below.

Thanks for joining me for this installment. I appreciate the continued feedback regarding the podcast series.

Related Posts

Self Truths: Part 1
Shaking off Social Pressure to Achieve Self Actualization
Blazing Your Own Trail
8 Tips for Achieving a More Secure Peaceful State of Mind

This installment features a narrative of the blog entry: It Takes a Conscious Village. The episode explores ways to become more conscious and aware during our interactions with children. It’s extremely important we take into consideration the impact our actions have on their development. It’s the development during their formative years which will shape their mindset as adults – in turn, creating an impact on all of society.

This episode’s running time is 6 minutes, 4 seconds and file size for download is 5.56 MB. It can be played via the embedded player in the Audio section, or on your computer’s media player by following this link, or in the embedded You Tube player below. Thanks for joining me for this installment. I appreciate the continued feedback regarding the Wind of the Soul Podcast Series.

Posts Related to It Takes a Conscious Village

8 Tips for Achieving a More Secure Peaceful State of Mind
Evoking Change Through Uplifting Action
Forgiving our Past: Key to Unlocking a Joyful Present
Releasing Attachments to Judgmental Labels
Shaking off Social Pressure to Achieve Self Actualization
Universal Law of Reciprocation

Many years ago, when confronted by the question, “Are you happy?” I distinctly recall my reaction. Though the individual posing it was being completely sincere, I felt it was a ludicrous thing to ask. How could something so simple seem like such a strange query? As she awaited a response; my mind, only partially aware of the ever increasing lull in the conversation, was desperately trying to piece together some semblance of a reply. I stumbled around a bit and timidly answered with, “I guess”. After that, the rest of the exchange was a blur.

Looking back on it now, I understand why I reacted in that manner. It was a subtle form of shock. There I was, in my early twenties, never having contemplated whether or not I was truly happy at the deepest level of my being. In fact, up until that point, I don’t think I even considered happiness an option or an emotion associated with living life. Sure, I had fleeting moments of joy, but real, concrete happiness always seemed to be a nice fantasy reserved for someone else.

For me, life at that point had become completely unintentional. I lived to get things done and that was that. I was working and going to college, but all of my experiences were devoid of passion, drive, purpose, clarity and meaning.

Other than the emotion of fear, I had little reason to get out of bed in the morning. Fear and anxiety became my sole motivators for living. I stayed at a job where I was underpaid and under appreciated because of the fear of trying something new. I went to school, not for myself or because I enjoyed it, but because I was scared of what my family would think if I didn’t go and terrified of what would become of me without a degree.
(Read the rest of Granting Yourself Permission…)

Anyone familiar with the proverb (or Hillary Clinton’s 1996 book): “It takes a village to raise a child”, will recognize my play on words in the title of this entry. While I don’t have children of my own, the psychological well-being during a child’s formative years is a cause that’s very close to my heart. I suffered with severe forms of depression, obsessions and compulsions throughout my childhood. It’s a child’s development, for better or worse, which will continue to impact them throughout the remainder of their lives, far beyond their formative years. I know, because I’m still working on healing my past.

I often talk about changing the world. If it’s true we must be the change we want to see, and I believe it is; shouldn’t that change be directed primarily towards the youngest of minds, as they will come to have the greatest impact on the direction of humanity?

The majority of psychological issues faced by most adults were exacerbated during their childhood. The sad fact: as a nation, the United States has more children with mental health issues than ever before. I’m not talking about institutionalized conditions. I’m talking about “common”, “ordinary” issues like depression, eating disorders, emotional issues, body dysmorphia, etc. If our ways of raising, educating and socializing children are working so well, why are we seeing an increase in psychological trauma?
(Read the rest of It Takes a Conscious Village…)