Reading the Signs of the Season. Join us on Indie Spirit as we explore the symbols and meanings of the Winter Solstice, Yule Tide, Caroling, the Christmas tree and Santa Claus. Discover how this season is calling to you directly and offering rebirth – the Light is Returning, the Dark Days have been defeated again, REJOICE! Thurs, 11 am EST on Indie Spirit

Are you grieving? Have you suffered a loss? Are you looking to connect to the other side?  Join us on Indie Spirit, Thurs @ 11 am EST as we explore ‘Peace and the Other Side.’ It is a very thin line that separates us from those who have past. We can still connect to their spirits if we know how…Discover easy techniques to transcend this thin line.

Meditation.  Laughter.  Indie Music.  Peace.  Join us.

Do you have a Holiday Hangover?  Are you stressed-out and overwhelmed with Hanukah, Christmas and New Year’s coming up fast?  Stop and join us on Indie Spirit as we laugh, meditate and discover common sense solutions to life’s ups and downs.  Don’t miss out on the Moon/Energy Report – New Moon on the 5^th and Mercury is going retrograde soon…Indie Spirit Radio Show @ Thursday, 11 am EST.

Here is the bitch of it: for all my understanding and faith in a higher power – life is still not fair sometimes. Negativity and depression beat a path to everyone’s door at some point – so tonight join us on Indie Spirit Blogtalk to learn tools to learn from and transcend negativity and depression.  Chat, laugh, meditate – feel BETTER.  Tonight 6 pm MST

You want to transform your life?  Try guided meditation.  Why?  To transform your life, you must first change your thoughts and that’s the rub – how to change your thoughts from what is not working to what is…and again I answer with guided meditation.

Guided meditation helps create the space within yourself to identify thoughts that are not working and replacing them with new thought patterns that enhance your life.  Meditation isn’t a quick fix, but a foundation for real transformation

Several years ago I went to a lecture by Marianne Williamson.  A person in the audience wanted her guidance on why her life wasn’t getting any better.  This person had struggled with eating disorders and depression in the past, but she just couldn’t quite find her way out.  Williamson asked her what she was doing to help herself.  The woman responded with, “I go to therapy and have asked God to help me.” 

Williamson responded, “Not enough.”  I was stunned.  Then Williamson continued, “If you had a failing liver, you would be taking medicines every day, where is your medicine for your ailment today?  Not a once a week plan, but every day?  Changing your life isn’t something you do a couple times a week, but every day.”  Williamson suggested specific prayer (she’s a proponent of A Course In Miracles) and meditation as a place to start.

I absolutely and whole-hearted agree with Williamson – transformation doesn’t happen overnight, but as a result of many steps.  This is not to say transformation is difficult as much as it is a habit – some habits are easier than others to change.  To change a habit,  first identify something to replace it with.  For instance, you’ll see a lot of quitting smokers chewing gum.

For many people, their bad habit is how they are thinking about themselves or life, i.e. I’m unlovable or life is unfair, there’s never enough money.  Both these thoughts cripple the individual and manifest incident after incident in their own lives to valid these negative beliefs.  So like the smoker that quits cigarettes, one must quit negative thinking, but what to replace it with?  Guided meditation allows you to replace negative thought patterns with ones of success and peace. 

Try falling asleep to guided meditation and discover for yourself how these new ideas slip into your dreams and your language easily and effortlessly.  Whenever I am needing a little extra support I listen to I Meet Success or I am Safe.  Guided Meditation has transformed my life, how ‘bout you?

Looking for daily inspiration?  Join my Facebook page, The Indie Spirit, to connect to others and feel good.  Each week I co-host a radio show about all things Spirit with Jeff “Classic” Popka on http:www.blogtalkradio.com/indieonair.  It’s Thursday evening 6pm MST – we meditate, discuss, answer call-in questions – everything from matters of the heart to career guidance to connecting to peace.  Hope you can join us.

Last year I went to Vegas for the first time.  My girl’s trip was taking me to the Wynn that year and I was thrilled.  Almost everyone in my regular life had a negative opinion of this impending trip.   

I heard; it has bad energy, too much drinking, sleazy people, unclean and immoral and my favorite said to me by my acupuncturist, what good can come of a happily married woman going to Vegas?  Hello projections and opinions – where did these people think I was going to hang out?  Stripe clubs and street corners?  Of course all these negative comments only made me more determined to go…However I was concerned about the cost.  Vegas, unless you’re winning, can be expensive quick – of that much I was sure.  Thus I was confused – should I or shouldn’t I go? 

Meditation helps me to get clear and become quiet – within the quiet I can often hear guidance.  Loudly, clearly the message came through to go on the trip and the money would be taken care of.  My eyes popped open and I thought of course, I’ll throw dice and get a huge tip.  Off to Vegas.

 On the third day in Vegas I was down maybe twenty bucks but I was really enjoying myself.  I loved always dressing up, the shows, free drinks, the shopping, the lights, the dancing, the pools, our hotel…It was fabulous.  As my girlfriend and I walked through the casino that day, a few older gentlemen with piles of chips in front of them called to us to throw dice and I thought – that’s it, my money.  Before I could say a word, my friend waved them off and said to me, “Kelly, you of all people can win here.  Just feel the game call to you.  You know you can do this.”

 I thought, she’s right, I can do this, I can create my own winnings.  Not five minutes later I saw the slot machine for me – Queen of Hearts – redhead like me, nickel slot (I didn’t even know they had nickel slots…)  I pulled maybe three times, probably spent 40 cents total, and $868 appeared.  Happy, screaming day!  We were idiots, giddy with success and the best part – we cashed out and ran up to our rooms to lock it in the safe.  The trip paid for itself.

 I had been so quick to think someone else needed to give this to me instead of realizing I can create it myself.  Amusingly this was the beginning of a wonderful pattern – most of my vacations somehow pay for themselves now.  It’s remarkable really and I feel it is a direct result of being in flow with the universe, an abundant universe that is always looking to support and lift you up. 

 I invite you to slip into your own quiet meditative state and discover what magic is waiting for you…create your own winning today.

Dance – Flip on the tunes, grab your microphone (aka favorite hairbrush) and shake-it!  Nothing and I do mean nothing can change your mood for the better faster than getting up and moving around to a grinding beat. 

 Play – a card game, Wii, draw, cook, create anything…Stop looking at the to-do list and begin having more fun.  How did life get so serious anyway?  Too much thinking, not enough playing.

 Dream – a vacation, a new job, a new beginning…Before dreams become reality, first the dreaming…Do some research online, journal, watch travel DVDs and begin talking to new people.  Expand your horizons, be open – who knows where your dreams will carry you…

 Set an Intention – What is one shift you could make today for the better?

 Forgive – does a name pop in when you see the word forgive?  Is it you?  Forgive yourself.  Remember you’re learning, growing into a better you.  Mistakes are to be expected (opportunities…)  When you really forgive yourself, others can be forgiven too and peace becomes possible again.  (Create forgiveness with meditation.)

 Be grateful – for the air you breathe, the food you eat, the warm bed you slip into each day…be grateful.

 Today is a good day to…be.  Who do you want to be?

January is long.  After all the hubbub of holiday gatherings beginning in November, January can feel an odd mix of relief and loneliness.  The dark days fill with almost endless nights and your thoughts – whirling, spinning in your head…Did he really say that?  What did she mean?  Can you believe that happened – it was horrible…Over and over – examining each incident, every offense, all the words…Why?  You stay connected.

 It may seem strange but the fights, angst and worry keep you in relationship with those you pretend to no longer care about.  Think about it – when you don’t really care, you are neutral.  When you fight/worry over someone, you reactivate connection.  In a way this feeds the connection.  You get to think about them and judge their actions/behaviors from your own other place. 

 Forget the messy business of real communication and speaking to the person, you’ll have the discussion/arguments in your mind…over and over and over.  Imagining what you could have said, what you will say next time, the witty comebacks…and there’s January spinning within.

 I invite you to stop.  Give everyone a break – the holidays can stir up emotions in the most grounded of folks.  Hence emotions can run high during the first few days/weeks of January.  Take a nice deep breath in – down into your belly.  Exhale.  Let’s try one more.  Feel your shoulders relax.  It’s ok, really it is ok.

 This is a time of quiet, a turning inward.  A time when being alone is essential.  This alone time is a chance to rest, rejuvenate and create.  It is the opportunity to slip into your own cocoon of transformation…

 The quiet can be frightening at first.  When it’s quiet you can’t avoid the real issue – you.  Yupe, back to you again.   It’s where the struggle began and where all paths lead back to – you. 

 If you are spinning – write, meditate, seek out support and most importantly, stop.  At some point you have to decide to think about something else, to stop yourself and force yourself to be a different way.  It’s not going to feel comfortable.  Why?  It’s different, you’re doing it in a new way, of course it would feel a bit awkward at first.  But do it a different way anyway.  Within a short time, what was awkward becomes normal. 

 This month use the quiet to discover hidden talents, write, rest and most of all, unlock peace.  Let the quiet tuck you into solitude and rejuvenation – the flowers will bloom in later in Springtime, now is a time to quietly transform…

Please enjoy this guided meditation.  I wanted to provide you a way to quickly ground yourself and provide an easy pathway to peace no what kind of holiday kookiness is unfolding around you…Peace be with you.