Anodea Judith & Sacred Centers

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

We are all the 1%

WE ARE ALL THE 1%

(from somebody's perspective)

Image borrowed from csmonitor.com

It's so easy to identify with the 99% Occupy movementthat has now reached 600 communities in the U.S. and 82 countries worldwide. Certainly, the financial difference between the elite rich and the rest of us is off-the-charts bigger than it's ever been in recent history and shows little sign of slowing down. Economist Paul Krugman writes that the number is really more like .1%, making this gross inequality even more mind-boggling. If even a portion of this difference were redistributed to those in need, it would be an enormous benefit across a wide spectrum of the population.

But are the elite 1% the only ones unwilling to give up their advantage to better others less fortunate (or less ruthless)? Just as Obama's lack of audacity may represent the way many of us exhibit our own wishy washy complacency, I find it useful to see how the major archetypes in the news reflect something in the general public. Let's be conscious as we hurl that first stone.

Image borrowed from thefreemanonline.org

If you are reading this Blog on a computer, you are in the 1% from somebody's perspective, just on a different scale. You have a roof over your head, electricity, probably food in your belly, and a place to sleep. You may even have some disposable income, even if it's a meager pittance compared to Wall Street insiders.

Yet how willing are you to relinquish some of your cash to the beggar on the street, to organizations like Oxfam or Women's Earth Alliance or Amnesty International, or any of the other thousands of organizations set up to address social inequalities? Is it worth passing up that cute little necklace or foregoing a few soy lattes?

I recently considered buying myself the new iPhone 4 for a mere $200, even though I already have an old 3G model. Then I heard a chilling description from Mike Daisey's monologue aired on NPR. It's about Apple technology and Foxconn, the plant where they make all those nifty life-changing products we love so much. Foxconn is a plant in China the size of a city -- 430,000 people. Many of the workers he interviewed are age 12-16, crammed together like sardines, doing meaningless repetitive work for 12- to 16-hour shifts. Their hands get crippled by their work before they reach adulthood and they have to put nets on the buildings because there are so many suicides. Terry Gou, chairman of Foxxconn, refers to them as "animals."

Image borrowed from businessinsider.com

I'm not sure what to do about this problem, but it's keeping me awake at night. I love my Apple products the way Wall Streeters love their bonus checks. Daisey's monologue has produced a flurry of letters to Apple, and apparently they have their own rebuttal about attempts to change the situation.But we know this is happening, not just in China, but all over the world, where slave labor brings us cheap products that we in the first world get to enjoy.

Whenever I am tempted to complain about my life, or vilify the 1% that are soaking up the general circulation of funds like a blood clot soaks up blood, I have to remember that whenever I point a finger outward, three fingers point back at me.

It's all just a matter of scale.

Brightest blessings,

-Anodea Judith, Ph.D.

Friday, January 13, 2012

Finding Grace in Transition

Finding Grace in Transition

Evolution. It's not just a good idea, it's inevitable.

One thing about evolution: it's always moving to the future. Even when it seems like we're moving backward in some kind of bizarre regression like the Tea Party -- the actual movement is still forward -- sort of like the planets going retrograde every so often. They haven't actually changed direction, it just appears that way from our stationery perspective. Astrologers will tell you that retrogrades can represent the disruption that leads to a new order. Retrogrades are also times to clean up the past.

So here we are, at the front end of 2012, perching on what we believe will be evolution's Big Shift Year. Decades ago, when I first thought about it, I imagined we'd be much farther along by now -- that we would have figured out how to live in peace, share wealth, take care of the environment, and live elegant lives supported by advanced technology. I certainly didn't think a world teeming with overpopulation would be arguing about women's legal right to use birth control (thank you Rick Santorum), or that 115 days into the Occupy movement we'd be listening to Wall Street brokers threatening to quit if their bonuses were reduced.

But wait, isn't it always darkest before the dawn? Aren't we just barely crawling out of the darkest time of year, still at the pink-orange sunrise of the new year, let alone the dawning light of the next era? Here's something to think about as the light grows around you: Like a holograph, whose parts always contain the whole, each photon of light carries information in a 360-degree perspective. That's what light does; it helps us see where we're going, helps us see the big picture. If we listen to each other's perspective, we can see the whole take shape.

The dance of evolution moves toward greater bodies of wholeness -- more parts working together in larger numbers. From single-celled organisms that took 3 billion years to cooperate as simple creatures, to ego-based individuals who must now figure out how to run a planet together, evolution is a cauldron of creativity always finding new ways to melt its disparate parts into a greater whole.

To transform into that whole, we first have to melt. We have to be willing to let go of old forms, attachment to outcome, to believing that we know everything. We have to let go of the illusion of separation, even as we hang on to our own important agency. Our unique note in the symphony is necessary, but the symphony is something we create together. We can consciously co-create with evolution -- as long as we understand that it's the senior partner in the dance -- much, much older and wiser than we are.

Where there's pain, that's evolution urging you somewhere else. Feel it, pay attention, then melt your stance. Listen to the heart, which moves toward greater expansion. Anytime you create more organization, harmony, beauty, truth, or goodness, you are moving in the direction of evolution. Where can you create more beauty in your life? Where can you find more harmony with your friends, neighbors, co-workers, home environment, or within yourself? How can you use this time to get more organized for the year ahead? Step outside, into the light, and see the bigger picture taking shape, one photon at a time, all around you.

Grace is the music that coordinates separate parts into a greater whole. When those parts move in harmony, singing to Divine's not-so-subtle urges toward greater perfection, try to surrender and ride the waves -- even through their ups and downs. Have faith that you really are going somewhere -- just like all the rest of us on this bumpy ride to the future.

Brightest blessings,

-Anodea Judith, Ph.D.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

These are the Times

Beloved Co-Hearts:

The time we have all been building up to for lifetimes is now upon us: the time of the Big Shift, all hands on deck, for what many are calling the Great Turning. I call it the Great Awakening because we are on the verge of the greatest awakening that any species has ever had on this planet. Everything is accelerating toward this point and has been for some time. What is important must be anchored, tied down, for the storm ahead. What is not important must be released and recycled-it only becomes dead weight a we rise from the depths of winter, returning toward the light.

I could write lots more but for my New Year's gift I will leave you with this poem.

THESE ARE THE TIMES

These are the times we have been waiting for.

These are the times that our countless lifetimes

of living and dying have been leading up to.

Through endless cycles of hope and despair,

as master and slave, soldier and slain.

As a mother who lived through yet another childbirth,

and a child who died much too young,

All to continue the species to be here, now,

Alive at this time of Great Awakening.

These are the times that we have chosen to be here

Chosen to be part of the Big Change

The wonderful realization of who we are,

The recognition of who we've been in the past,

And the tantalizing vision of who we are becoming

Beacons of light co-creating a new world.

These are the times to say

"We were the ones!"

with a thousand, million others

We were the ones,

Who cared enough to change the world.

who considered the fate of the unborn children of the future

Who saw the immense possibilities of miraculous rebirth.

These are the times for us all to say

We were the ones who did turn away

Turned away from what was, turned away from what is

And joined our hands together to turn toward what will be

Birthing the phoenix of glorious possibility from the ashes of a dying world.

We are the ones who dared to see and dared to say

Who stopped at nothing to change the way

Who faced the darkness of our initiation

Faced the death and transformation,

To awaken our divine powers to create a new world.

We are the ones

Blazing with vision, bursting with truth

Weeping with compassion

Staggering with the implications of our understanding

For we are the ones who dared to love

When the world itself had forgotten.

Brightest Blessings,

-Anodea Judith

Click here to view the rest of this blog.

Darkness Reveals & Light Heals

DARKNESS REVEALS SO

THE LIGHT CAN HEAL

Once again we are ending a cycle, completing our trip around the sun with Winter Solstice, the darkest time of the year. The most ancient of archetypal partners, darkness and light play deep in our psyches and indeed all of nature. Yet we scarcely know what darkness even is anymore - so vast is the array of electric lights drowning out the stars in the night sky. The fear and inconvenience of darkness, like that of death, has spurned endless achievements and triumphs of light, from our oldest mythologies to modern technology.

Darkness is a deeply fertile time, a time of imagination and visioning, a time of rest and renewal, a time of going deep within yourself to commune with the depths of your own soul and that of Nature. We avoid this darkness at our own peril, exhausting our resources within and without. In the archetypal dance, darkness is the senior partner, the realm of emptiness and fertility, from which all things emerge.

Darkness represents the most feared and repressed aspect of the Goddess-the wisdom of the ancient Crone. Her repression has resulted in a linear trajectory of constant expansion, endless activity, and achievement. Without the cyclic nature of balancing light with darkness, we are unwittingly creating it - through an unsustainable society that threatens the end of over a million species and hundreds of millions of people.

As we head into the beginning of 2012, we are facing an unknown future. Business as usual cannot be assumed. We cannot bank on anything staying the same - not the economy, the environment, certainly not technology. Yet we must vision and plan anyway. What do we count on?

We can only choose to build our lives on the values that are most important to us. They become the foundation, the first chakra earth base upon which we build our future. Whether it's a business, a relationship, or a project, set a firm foundation of integrity - and take your time creating it. Preparing the ground makes for fertile growth when the light waxes in the new year.

As we near the bottom of the wheel of the year, we are hitting the pivot point from which we bounce back up the other side. In order to make it back up from the depths, we need to let go of excess weight, in terms of old patterns and aspects of life that no longer serve us. It is interesting that the word "light" represents not only the source of illumination and growth but also the opposite of heaviness.

Letting go into emptiness and darkness is actually a way of lightening up. What we release lightens our load, makes it easier to ride up the wheel toward the returning light and new growth of the next cycle. These first few days of the new cycle can be a good time to fast - though it's a difficult time to avoid the endless parties and delectable goodies of the season.

Just as bulbs need a good chill in the winter to make beautiful blossoms, we need to dream in the darkness to invite in the light. Linger here. Taste its sweet bitterness. Empty out and listen to spirit. Disengage the clutch of your life and allow yourself to change gears. You may find that spirit has a download just waiting for your mind to be empty enough to listen.

May you all have a blessed Holiday Season of Joy, Love, and Light,

Anodea Judith

Manifesting Real Abundance in the New Year

Dear Anodea,

What are your New Year's intentions for your life and for our world?

And how committed are you to realizing those dreams, break free from limitations and fully give your gifts to the Shift?

Well, just in time for the New Year, I'm delighted to be offering my Manifesting through the Chrakras course through The Shift Network with master teacher Dr. Sue Morter's Real Abundance course - available together at HALF-PRICE.

We're calling it Your 2012 Manifestation Package - and, together, these teachings give you everything you need to create the life of your dreams while staying fully anchored in your own divinity.

Order your 2012 Manifestation Package now (half-price offer good 'til Dec. 31st)

We think this package will make a great and meaningful holiday gift for you or someone you love!

In these self-paced sessions, Dr. Sue Morter and I will guide you every step of the way to help you clear the obstacles from your path and live your highest vision.

And after diving into the material, you'll have a chance to interact live with Dr. Sue and me as we'll each host a Q&A Call to answer your questions and further deepen your journey in manifesting real abundance.

Plus, you'll receive weekly handouts and guided exercises to supplement each session. AND you'll receive 3 Bonus Sessions -- recordings with top transformational teachers Michael Bernard Beckwith, John Friend and Devaa Haley Mitchell.

With Manifesting through the Chakras and Real Abundance, you can take big steps in 2012 to:

Identify, visualize and manifest your most important dreams - quickly and easily - using a step-by-step manifestation process
Create a shift to true self-love and real abundance as the new foundation for your life
Gain greater energy and vitality by aligning with your Divine source
Master your own bodily energetics to begin to break free of long-held limitations
Gracefully move through the inevitable obstacles and resistance that arises
Attune to your soul's calling through lifelong goal-setting skills where you know exactly how to break large projects down into manageable chunks

Here's what previous students of ours have to say about these transformative offerings:

"I have been studying the chakras for many years, but Anodea's approach, way of explaining each chakra, mediations, exercises, handouts and sense of humor made this experience the best one I've ever had. If you want to manifest your dreams, don't hesitate to take this course!"

Mariela

"[Dr. Sue Morter's Real Abundance course] has been a true master class from a true master... it has awoken me to a much better understanding of who I am and what I'm made of, and how our own loving energy is our greatest gift for our own healing."

Teresina

"I have had the immense pleasure of being in Dr. Sue's magnificent presence. Both her online courses and in person courses are by far the most brilliant, the most effective, the most worthwhile and the most sustainable courses I have ever been involved with. Dr. Sue is the embodiment of Divine Love, she is truly a great Gift to all of Humanity."
Anna Gilopidis

"The Manifesting Through the Chakras course was no less than amazing. And so is Anodea Judith. She taught me that much more is possible in this lifetime -- more love, more money, more time, more fulfillment in work -- despite what your mind tells you. Invaluable course."
Melissa Waldron

We're so excited to offer these two courses together -- and I hope you'll take advantage of the opportunity to create what is most meaningful for you in the New Year and tap into your limitless wisdom, joy and abundance.

Again, click here to order Your 2012 Manifestation Package.

Many abundant blessings to you,
Anodea

P.S. Remember, the 2012 Manifestation Package makes a unique and thoughtful gift for that special someone (could be you!) Get more details and order your package today.

Advance Yourself at Sacred Centers Spring Immersion!

EarthRise at Institute of Noetic Sciences

Petaluma, CA

5/5-5/17, 2012

Sacred Centers Immersion Retreats are really more like advances - an opportunity to advance your personal growth and professional skills in a beautiful setting with likehearted individuals. Whether you want to get your feet wet with introductory courses, or dive deeper with our advanced courses, here's your chance to immerse yourself in small, intimate classes designed for depth and personal attention. Areas of study include yoga, psychology, energy work, bodywork, and more, taught by Sacred Centers top teachers.

Find Out More!

About SACRED CENTERS

Sacred Centers is a teaching organization that uses the map of the chakra system for an embodied awakening of individual awareness and the evolution of global consciousness.

We provide cutting edge information, teach workshops and classes, and provide certification training for advanced students who want to carry this work into the world.

Visit our website to find a gateway to your inner world. Explore your chakras, learn, and grow. Become part of our community and help change the world, one chakra at a time.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Happy Holidays from Sacred Centers!

First of all, heartfelt thanks to all of you who wrote such loving blessings for my birthday. I can't individually thank you all, but your love and support meant a lot to me. It was a great day, and I appreciate you all. My motto is that we don't get older, we just get better. Well, I must be getting pretty good by now! May all your blessings return three-fold!

Halleluja!

Occupy Anthem

One highlight was that my friend, Gary Horvitz, shared a moving song he wrote about the Occupy movement - to be sung to the tune of Leonard Cohen's recorded song, Halleluja. See the lyrics and see the You Tube video here, sing it together, pass it around and circulate widely. It could become a national anthem.

Into the Darkness Before the Light

So now we head into the dark times again - nearing winter solstice, the pivot point of the year. Prior to electric lights, this marked the time of ultimate descent, and the point of renewal for bouncing back up the other side into light again. If you are discouraged by the news and the state of affairs, have faith. Use this time to explore the darkness in the following ways.

Sink into the Darkness

With all the holiday merriment aka busyness, it can be hard to find time for deep contemplation, but that's what this time of year calls for. Take time to be quiet, to sit in the dark with a candle or two, and to drop down into your lower chakras.

Let yourself feel, sleep, and dream. Slow down and be quiet. Let the darkness hold you like a womb, treasuring what is gestating within you, waiting to be born. Practice letting go, surrendering into a yin state. Take time to write in your journal what you want to let go if and what you want for the coming year. Visualize, imagine, set intentions. Don't wait until New Year's Eve to do this-give it some attention ahead of time. If you want to learn powerful techniques for manifesting your dream, join me at Kripalu in Feb. for the Creation is Ecstasy workshop.

Look at Your Shadow

Image Taken from Visaboo.com

The shadow, often thought of as our negative traits, is by definition, whatever is hidden to consciousness. So how do we find it?

Those who have taken our Psychology of the Chakras course know this exercise, but it bears repeating periodically. Ask yourself the following questions:

1. What do you typically judge in others that keeps showing up in friends, family, neighbors, co-workers, or people you can't easily avoid? (examples: people who are lazy, sloppy, controlling, pushy, loud, irresponsible, needy, self-centered, oblivious, selfish, etc) See if you can get it down to an archetypal name, such as the Tyrant, the Good-for-Nothing, the Slob, the Cheat, the Brat, the Prima Dona, the Bitch.

2. Where are you not allowed to have any of that trait? For example, how were you not allowed to be sloppy, confused, naïve, free from responsibility, etc? Is there any secret longing to be able to move a little more in that direction for healthy balance?

3. What might be a healthy root of that trait? (For example: lazy people know how to relax, controlling people know how to take charge, needy people know how to be vulnerable, etc.)

4. How can you reclaim the healthy aspect of that trait for yourself? Ground this energy by putting on music and dancing that archetype into your body, releasing the repressed energies. You will feel more alive, and the shadow aspects of that trait are actually less likely to take over. Not only do you become more integrated, but the people that exhibit these traits either disappear from your life, stop doing those traits, or you cease to be bothered by it. The result is you will feel more peaceful yet energized, as well as more tolerant of others.

May you be blessed by abundance, gratitude, and good grounding this holiday season.

Bright Co-Heart Blessings,

Anodea Judith

Find out more about Anodea Judith's workshop:

Psychology of the Chakras (Chakra Awakening)

Advance Yourself at the

Sacred Centers Spring Immersion 2012!

Whether you want to get your feet wet with introductory courses, or dive deeper with our advanced courses, here's your chance to immerse yourself in small, intimate classes designed for depth and personal attention. Areas of study include yoga, psychology, energy work, bodywork, and more, taught by Sacred Centers top teachers.

Courses and Schedule:

CEU's! The following courses meets the qualifications for the designated hours below of continuing education credit for MFTs and/or LCSWs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences.

Pre-Immersion:

May 5-6 (Class times 9:30am - 5pm) Off-campus locations

* Exploring Psyche & Soma: Creative & Healing States of Consciousness

Selene Vega, Ph.D. - 14 class hours $350

Saturday 9:30 am, May 5 - Sunday 5 pm, May 6

Held at Anodea's private home in Novato, CA

* Sacred Leadership

Lynne Michelson - 14 class hours $350

Saturday 9:30 am, May 5 - Sunday 5 pm, May 6

Held at Lion and Lynne's private home in San Rafael, CA

Immersion:

* Guiding the Journey: Facilitating Transformative Experiences

Selene Vega, Ph.D. - 30 class hours $550

Monday 9:30 am, May 7 - Friday 4 pm, May 11

* Energy Awareness I: Awaken Your Untapped Mind

Glenn Hartelius, Ph.D. - 12 class hours $350

Sunday 7 pm, May 6 - Tuesday 12:30 pm, May 8 (ends at lunch)

* Energy Awareness II: Living the Energy World

Glenn Hartelius, Ph.D. - 18 class hours $395

(begins after lunch) Tuesday 3 pm, May 8 - Friday 12:30 pm, May 11 (ends at lunch)

* Energy Awareness III: Clearing Energy

Glenn Hartelius, Ph.D. - 18 class hours $395

Saturday 9:30 am, May 12 - Monday 4 pm, May 14

* Chakra Yoga Teacher Training

Tulasi Jordan - 27 class hours $495

Saturday 9:30 am, May 12 - Wednesday 12:30 pm, May 16

* Mind-Body Integration - Level 1: Therapeutic Techniques for Wholeness

Anodea Judith, Ph.D. - 30 class hours $550

Monday 9:30 am, May 7 - Friday 4 pm, May 11

* Mind-Body Chakra Therapy - Level 2

Anodea Judith, Ph.D. - 30 class hours $550

Sunday 9:30 am, May 13 - Thursday 4 pm, May 17

* ChakraBody Works:

The Fundamentals: Bioenergetic Massage Therapy through the Chakras

Jason Auer-Sears - 18 class hours $395

Tuesday 9:30 am, May 15 - Thursday 4 pm, May 17

Find out more about Sacred Centers Spring Immersion 2012

Shop Our Sacred Centers Store!

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Grace and Gratitude

Grace and Gratitude

It’s that time of year when everybody’s blog has the topic of giving thanks. While this should be an everyday practice in a universe so full of blessings, the Thanksgiving holiday harkens back to a time when the end of November signified that the long summer’s work was done and the harvest was finally in. It was a time of abundance, and we celebrated and shared our harvest with others.

How different today’s world, where the Occupy movement is making it painfully aware how abundance is not shared with 99% of the population. As this movement grows and evolves, I give thanks that there are people willing to give their time and suffer cold and hardship to make a point that stands for us all.

We live in an abundant universe. Each pinpoint of light we see is one of billions of stars in billions of galaxies. Apple trees create an abundance of apples. No one is tested to see if they are worthy to eat them. Flowers on a hillside bloom in profusion, regardless of whether there is anyone to see them. There is so much to be thankful for.

But we must ask ourselves: In an abundant universe, where the majority of people are not living in abundance, where did we go so wrong?

I’ve recently been reading Charles Eisenstein’s book, SACRED ECONOMICS, a book for which I give profuse thanks. Eisenstein shows how the money system itself is at fault for our crises, and how it will recreate this gap between the rich and the poor again and again unless it fundamentally shifts. The way debt and interest work to constantly require more of our natural world to be converted into currency is a system that can only bankrupt our natural resources and eventually collapse. Sacred Economics explores avant-garde concepts of the New Economics, including negative-interest currencies, local currencies, resource-based economics, gift economies, and the restoration of the commons. To catch a bit of Eisenstein talking about the Occupy movement on You tube, go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRtc-k6dhgs (OWS The Revolution is Love)

The root of gratitude is grace – more evident in Spanish or Italian (Gracias or Grazie). If we are not living in abundance, we have turned too far from the natural world. If we are not living in gratitude, perhaps we have turned away from grace.

Opening to grace is enhanced by an attitude of gratitude. Gratitude is enhanced by opening to grace. We say Grace before meals, but too often the words are empty phrases and habits, rather than an invitation to open to the flow of grace.

If you have plenty, be thankful for it. Better yet, share it with others. If you give thanks, give it deeply, openly. Let others around you know what you are thankful for. Express it loudly and often.

If you give a gift to a child and they express sincere gratitude, you are more likely to gift them again. Is it so different for the heart of the world? Abundance isn’t about having more. It’s realizing how much you already have and being grateful for it. It is appreciating all that is, all that we don’t see – the hands that grew and shipped and prepared our food, the people that love and put up with us, the miracles that surround us every day.

What you appreciate appreciates. This Thanksgiving season, give thanks on more than just one day. Give thanks for all that you are, all that you are becoming, and all that will be.

Shop now for the holidays!

Seven Windows to the Soul

A Chakra Weekend Workshop

This weekend workshop gives you both experiential and intellectual tools for understanding the complete chakra system within your own body and psyche. Come prepared to both learn about the chakras and move your own energy into new places.

2011

St. Augustine, FL

12/9-11

Discovery Yoga

2012

Lenox, MA

2/17-20

Kripalu Yoga Center

800-741-7353

New York, NY

3/30 – 4/1

New York Open Center