Archive for the ‘Soulful Living’ Category

Living Inside My Body

October 1st, 2010 by Elizabeth Joy Mueller | 4 Comments

As it turns out everything I need to know is already inside of me.  But what I didn’t know is that it is not sitting inside my mind or my mental capacity to ‘figure things out”.  It is inside my whole being, my own internal sense of wisdom and true knowing.  The only way for the knowledge that I had so assiduously acquired to be fulfilling is to have it connect with the heart and through the body.  It is from within the body we begin to recognize our own truths and our own sense of knowing.  READ MORE

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Intuition often comes through quietly. How do you tune in?

May 4th, 2010 by Elizabeth Joy Mueller | No Comments

Last week I went to Los Angeles for a week of business, pleasure, family, and friends.  I jumped on the opportunity to attend a marketing workshop specifically designed for solo-entrepreneurs like myself.  I circulated and learned a lot at the workshop and also had a ball spending time with my family and friends.  It turns out I know quite a few great people in LA and even got invited to a small Hollywood gathering!  Who me?  You just never know where I might end up!

My sister also did some recruiting to try and get me to move out to LA and I was open to exploring the idea.  I spent some time ‘feeling’ it and tuning into the question, “Would L.A. suit me?”  It certainly requires more research but it does have me wondering:  how do we tune in to our intuition to guide us in everyday choices as well as in making those big leaps like moving across the country?

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Earlier this year I spent an afternoon on a tour of art galleries in Chelsea with a dear friend. We were having a blast hopping from one gallery to the next to see the latest in photography, painting, sculpture and more.

About halfway through the tour we came to one of the largest and most famous galleries in all of Chelsea (our guide was sure to point this out).  In this large open space only two large sculptures were on display.  One of them was constructed with a series of metal security doors welded together to form a large intertwining rectangle of rusted metal.

It was a rather distressing piece and left me with a profound sense of despair and the feeling of being locked in or trapped by all these rusted metal doors.

Up until this point I had been having fun looking at the art but this piece made me feel gloomy and heavy.  Clearly the artist intended an effect, which was certainly not uplifting, and even leaving me a bit uneasy, but I was willing to keep checking things out.

The next piece by the same artist was a big coach-style bus.  The guide gave us some background about the piece. It turned out you could also walk through it to see how the had converted the bus, using the same rusted metal security doors as the first piece.

So I went through the bus and as I did, something really terrible struck me.  I suddenly felt claustrophobic and anxious. Something felt very wrong and the feeling took over my whole body.  Every hair on the back of my neck stood up and I had to get out!  Eeek!  I managed to get off the bus without pushing anyone in front of me but it certainly wasn’t fast enough.  Ahhhhhhhh, I immediately went outside to get some air.

How often to do you tune into yourself or your environment before moving forward?  When you sense danger or even just something that feels a little off, do you listen or do you talk yourself out of it?  Do you adjust your actions?  Do you slow down?  How willing are you to trust your own intuition, those internal nudges that subtly ask for attention or, when it’s really trying to get your attention – the hair standing on the back of your neck?

If I had slowed down for even a minute to tune into the feeling I got from that bus, I would have known that I didn’t want to go inside for the tour.  The bus was painted black on the outside and there was something very dark on the inside that was not anything I needed to learn more about.  For me, I just needed to walk away.

Now this was only a bus in an art gallery, but it’s a good example of intuition at work.  It could have just as easily been a potential employer, or a man asking me out on a date, or an invitation to a party.  So what can we do to better focus our ability to tune in to our soul’s messages?

Here are a few tips that I’ve found can bring me back to my own knowing.
1. Slow down. Walk slower. Talk slower.  Open up your awareness to notice the environment around you.
2. Breathe. Deeply. Breathe.
3. Feel your feet connect with the earth (even if you are on a bustling NYC street corner!).  Connect downward through your whole body and remember that we’re all connected to the earth, no matter how much concrete or metal may be between us and the soil.
4. Tune into all your senses. Use all your senses – sights, sounds, smells, sensing, even taste.  Allow your whole body to ‘speak’ to you.
5.  Intuition often speaks through the ‘imagination’ so notice what are you ‘imagining.’  Cultivate ways to allow it in without judging or demanding instant answers.

Intuition often comes through quietly.  It doesn’t demand or get pushy (that’s the mind) and it never gives you a list of ‘to do’s.’ So often we need to cultivate some quiet space to really hear it.

Some people meditate, some go running or rock climbing, some knit or engage in a hobby that allows the creative process to unfold.  Explore and cultivate activities that nourish your spirit and in turn, you will naturally and easefully strengthen your intuition.

After letting all that negativity clear out I joined the final leg of our art exploration. The end of the gallery tour came to a close with some hand-made pieces created from tossed beer labels. It was a great reminder of how to make beauty from what most would consider garbage!  This was spectacular and inspiring!

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Are you ready to follow the nudge?

April 27th, 2010 by Elizabeth Joy Mueller | No Comments

Do you ever wonder who you really are and what you are here for? If you have, you are not alone. I have asked myself these questions over and over! And in asking myself these questions, I’ve gone searching, asking, researching.

This insisting, nudging and tapping on my shoulder would not go away until it was satisfied and as a result it’s lead me around the world exploring – books, dvds, trainings and to the sources – the teachers, the gurus, the masters, the monks, and even the mountain (Kanchenjunga!).

At the time I may not have really been able to articulate what I was searching for and why – I just had to follow it. It may be that I went to the mountain so you don’t have to! I can show you how to tap into your own passions living your life right now (unless you are dreaming of going to the mountain yourself!).

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What’s your purpose? What are your passions?
Why is it important to even consider these questions?

Because, as you know, no one can answer these questions for you, but you. And, life is too precious to not know (or at least be experimenting) with what’s true for you.

Sometimes when we consider following our desires, it feels as if it will up-end everything in our lives and that feels too overwhelming. We freeze right there. We find a million excuses, reasons, or justifications to keep from taking any steps. It’s safer to stay where we are than to risk shaking up the status quo.

I also know how hard it can be to wade through all the expectations, teachings, learning’s, socializing, habits and beliefs of what you should do or what ought to be.

I doubted myself for a long time and tried many other things – careers, paths, and teachings along the way to get it ‘right’. But no other ‘right’ will satisfy you for long.

I have searched the world to understand my own calling. For nine years, I’ve journeyed to the far corners of the earth seeking out masters, mystics, and healers to teach me how each of us can open to who we are and what we are here for. I’ve been fortunate to study and train in techniques both eastern and western, ancient and modern. I’ve explored over thirty-four modalities in everything from Space Clearing, to Buddhist meditation, to Kundalini yoga, to Soul Awareness healing even Green Medicine.

Only you can discover what’s true for you by tuning into all of you and opening to who you truly are.

That’s it. Yes, being you. Uniquely. Perfectly imperfect. You.

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What’s tingling in the palm of your hand?

April 2nd, 2010 by Elizabeth Joy Mueller | 1 Comment

I have to confess the last few weeks have been tough for me. I hit the wall. I had a health crisis. I lost my mojo. I’ve been totally stressed out. I’ve been utterly exhausted. And naturally, in the midst of all this my vision of what I truly want, wavered. It wavered so far away I couldn’t recall what I was really striving for or why. Hmmmmmm, have you felt this way?

Read on to hear more of my own personal story and learn about the opportunity to live soulfully on a month-to-month basis. (You decide when to start and stop!)

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Burned out! . . .
A few weeks ago my own personal wake up call arrived in my hand. Literally, in my left hand. It came in the form of this painful nerve tingling in my palm. It was so odd I had to take notice. I mean I don’t really have these types of things happen to me. I don’t really have lots of pains and aches and complaining in my body. So this was really strange.

Luckily, I already had an acupuncture appointment scheduled so I just decided to show him what was happening. Fast forward a few more acupuncture appointments and some intense and painful massage and the diagnosis, stress. Months of built-up stress in my neck and upper back.

After we started to unravel the knots and tension, I was hit with the exhaustion. Oh my! Now I have months of my insomnia catching up to me. I feel like everything was in slow motion and I can’t make any decisions. I was in the middle of my own standstill.

The timing couldn’t have been better since I’d already planned to spend a week in Las Vegas. Ha, did I catch you there? Yup, I said Las Vegas but no, not an ordinary trip to Las Vegas as I had planned to meet up with my family for a wellness week including out spring cleanse. Restorative. Yes, that’s exactly what I’ve needed to do the last two weeks.

With this has come some re-evaluation from inside out. And with it comes changes in how I will be creating my practice.

The exciting news is that I’ve created a new way of working with me that allows you to determine your own start and stop.
Have you wanted to try out my one-to-one mentoring without a minimum three-month commitment?
Have you decided you want support but you aren’t sure for how long and want to keep it open-ended?
Do you just want to flexibility work together throughout the year depending on what’s coming through and when you need it?

If you felt, “Yes!” then consider my new Soulful Living Month-to-Month Program!

It includes:
Three 75-minute one-to-one sessions per month.
There is one monthly fee. No deposit. No long-term commitment.
You decide when to start and when to end.

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Have you had a wake-up call in your life? How have you managed it?

I confess in the past I’ve just kept pushing myself. Yup, I’m guilty of it, too. We all are. There are endless to do lists, information to be processed, requests to respond to and that doesn’t include all your own desires and dreams that want to be manifested. It’s not like the world slows down just because you are exhausted.

But this time, I responded differently. I started listening much deeper. I literally laid my body down. And all my parts of me said, this has got to be more fun, easier, and feel more supportive. Above all, it’s time to start listening to me.

The funny thing about this is sometimes it feels too scary to really listen to yourself. Have you ever thought to yourself, I just do not want to go in there!

I had a friend call me the other day in a crisis. All of her defense systems were hard at work to keep her believing she was ‘safe.’ The last thing she could hear was her own wisdom. It was buried in all the noise trying to keep her away from the crisis itself.

And that’s the illusion. That if you don’t go in there, you will be safe but those are the exact places that want your attention – are literally demanding your attention.

Those are the exact places that will help you hear the whole story. And when you can start listening, it starts to shift. Big shift. Naturally. Sigh of relief. Now you can really hear what’s happening. Ahhhhhhhhhhh.

Ready to listen to all your parts more deeply? I can facilitate that process so it feels supported, natural and frees you from the old story that is holding you back.

Would you like post your own story or comment to this newsletter?
I’d love to hear from you so please share your own wake-up calls with me! Post a comment!

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