Super Soul Sunday: Sufi teacher Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

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“Sufism is about love. It’s about the heart. It’s about this extraordinary secret of human beings that within our heart – not our physical heart but our spiritual heart – we have a direct connection to God. And we can experience that directly within the heart through love,” Sufi teacher Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee told Oprah in a recent episode of Super Soul Sunday on the OWN Network.

Author of the book “Sufism: The Transformation of the Heart,” Vaughan-Lee sat down with Oprah in the garden of her home and explained Sufism is a belief in oneness and love. Not matter what religion a person may practice, Sufism can be a part of that, the author said.

“You can be a Christian, you can be a Buddhist, it doesn’t matter … what matters is how you live your relationship to God,” Vaughan-Lee told Oprah. “God is everything. This is one of the basic experiences not just of Sufism but the core of every mystical path is oneness. Everything is God. There is nothing other than God. We are all part of this great mysterious outpouring of love that we call creation. Everything in creation is an expression of this incredible love. If you go to the core of your being, into the very center of yourself, what do you find there? Either love or longing for love.”

In the book, Vaughan-Lee explains in Sufism there are three journeys – the journey from God, the journey to God and the journey in God. The first – the journey from God – is about forgetfulness because when we come into this physical world, we forget our Divine nature. But for many, there comes a time when something wakes them up, and they begin their journey to God, he said.

Reaching the journey in God is realizing there is nothing other than God. This can be an experience of oneness or even an experience of love, the author explained. “You live what God wants you to live without an eye that says what about me.”

Oprah pointed out that for many, the journey to spirituality can be painful, and often it is a tragedy or trauma that opens the door to the spiritual path. Vaughan-Lee believes this is because the heart needs to break open.

“Most people are so closed. They are so contracted, it’s all about me, me, me … one has to learn humility. You have to learn patience. You have to learn that it isn’t about you, and those are all painful lessons, and we don’t learn them so easily [as] human beings,” he told Oprah.

Both Oprah and Vaughan-Lee pointed out the world is in a state of longing, as are most people. Many look to material things or situations around them in order to fill this void, but what they are truly seeking is love.

“It’s a hunger for something that is real. All these things, all these material things, they don’t satisfy our soul. They may give us a moment of pleasure … they don’t nourish our soul,” Vaughan-Lee explained. “There is this longing and people sometimes mistake it for depression … we have lost the understanding of longing and so [people] project it. They want a new pair of shoes. They want a new boyfriend. They want something, and they do not realize it will not satisfy this hunger in the heart.”

The author also spoke about the ego, and what he called “crucifying the ego,” in order to know God. In Sufism, they talk about dying before death, and this is about the ego.

“For most people the ego is the king … [But] there is something else. There is this Divine part of you that you can be guided by, you can connect with, that can give you the help, the grace, the nourishment, the meaning that you need. It’s the soul that gives us meaning in life,” he explained.

Right now the world and our planet are in a moment of crisis, said Vaughan-Lee. We have forgotten that everything is sacred – every leaf, every tree and everything around us, he noted, explaining he would like people to remember the world belongs to God, not to us.

“Part of my practice, and the practice I try to teach people is in your prayers remember the world to God, feel it in your heart, the suffering world and offer it to God because God is the greatest power. God is the greatest healer. God is the only real truth. And then maybe out of this world of forgetfulness there can become remembrance, and then the world can respond and something can be born again.”

If you missed the episode with Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee you can watch it at the Super Soul Sunday Web site.

Dr. Brian Weiss Explains Past Life Regression Therapy

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In the Elevated Existence September 2012 issue cover story interview, best-selling author Dr. Brian Weiss, along with his daughter Amy Weiss, MSW, explain past life regression therapy, what the benefits are, and what they have learned from working with it over the years.

Weiss also explains how he discovered it – as he was once a skeptic about past lives and reincarnation – and they both discuss the new book they co-wrote, “Miracles Happen: The Transformational Healing Power of Past-Life Memories.”

Below is an excerpt from the interview. For the full cover story, see the September 2012 issue.

“Past life regression therapy is a very powerful and very potent type of therapy where you can heal symptoms such as phobias, emotional problems, physical ailments and more, just by remembering your past lives,” Dr. Brian Weiss tells Elevated Existence. “Whether you believed in past lifetimes or not, the symptoms went away.”

In traditional psychotherapy, when someone recalls an event, trauma or other experience from the past – usually from childhood – it causes a resolution and healing of symptoms. Past life therapy just expands the arena, he says.

“I think the mechanisms are very similar, but now the arena doesn’t stop at adolescence, infancy or even in utero. It’s expanded into many lifetimes. The pattern or model is very much like the psycho-analytical model except the arena is much larger.”

Weiss has seen healing at the physical, emotional and psychological level. For example, if someone has a neck pain and discovers he or she was hanged in the 12^th century, this pain tends to go away, he says. Recalling a true story of a radiologist patient he worked with, who had undergone several unsuccessful attempts to treat his back pain, including orthopedic surgeons, Weiss used past life regression therapy and he remembered being lanced in the back during the Middle Ages. After this, his pain disappeared.

“Emotional disorders, phobias and psychological disorders can also be treated this way. We have seen people get rid of anxieties and fears, and we also see the fear of death diminishing because people are finding out they don’t die,” Weiss says. “They realize they go on after the death of their physical bodies and reunite with loved ones, and then they begin to approach their present life differently.”

During a past life regression, the client is taken through past lives, and then to the end of each life, where many report floating above their bodies and seeing a bright light, loved ones who have passed or a “transformation figure at the light,” Weiss notes. They also have a chance to review the life they just left.

“We often ask, ‘What did you learn? What were the lessons? How does it connect to your present life?’ Making those connections increases understanding, and the more people understand, the better they feel, and the more symptoms resolve,” he says.

People also begin to live with more joy and happiness, and less fear. They start to see their current relationships differently, as many discover they are reunited with a soul mate from a previous life and continue to do so over the centuries, and spiritually they open up to a new understanding.

“We see values changing and things that seemed important before – like accumulating things, competition and winning – evolve into sharing, kindness and compassion. Those are the things you really take with you, and not your things,” Weiss explains. “As you remove fears and obstacles to inner peace and joy, then you see life just flowering and flourishing. This offers tremendous advantages for life in the present moment.”

September Self-Love

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By Amy Leigh Mercree

How many of us have less than stellar memories of the first day of school? The odds are at some time in our lives, we had a bad opening school day. Whether we were made fun of for our fashion choices (me), or didn’t feel like we had any friends (also me), or had trouble at home clouding our day. We may have not felt fully supported, nurtured or safe.

Children and teens everywhere are heading back to the classroom. You can use it as an opportunity to reprogram any past trauma associated with going back to school, back to structure, and losing the freedom of summer. One simple, potent and miraculous cure will soothe and heal any old hurts: Self-Love.

Self-love is a pervasive acceptance of who you are. It’s believing in your true core that you are alright – that you ‘re worthy and special. Self Love is also making a commitment to treat yourself with loving kindness and working at that skill. Loving kindness toward yourself gives your body, mind and heart the clear message that you are important, worthy and valuable. When we steep ourselves in self-love, our bodies’ may heal, our hearts will lighten and begin to feel safe, our minds can relax, and our spirits will feel free to soar.

Right now, ask yourself the following question and just let the first thing that pops into your mind be your answer: What is the most important thing in your life you must change to demonstrate your love for yourself, to yourself?

Your actions give your body loud, potent messages. In your love life, if you are not loving yourself and accepting nothing less than kind, loving treatment from a boyfriend, girlfriend, or spouse, you are literally giving your body a negative message. This is multifold. It’s energetic. It’s emotional. It’s physical. And it can wear away on your spirit and inspire you to leak vital life force in a way that is detrimental to your health.

A client accepted hostile treatment from her boyfriend for too long and said nothing. She came down with a throat-based illness that completely and totally cleared up when she broke up with him and ejected him from her life. In our treatment together, she realized she needed to demonstrate some major self-love to herself to even have the option of feeling emotionally safe in a relationship again.

Here are some ways to love you today!

1) When making a life choice, consider your heart. What choice would make it soar? Do that!

2) Tell yourself, in the mirror, “I love you. I love myself. I love ______ (insert your first name).” Try it for one week, every morning and night. You will be amazed at the difference in how you feel.

3) Listen to your needs and take action to fill them. Make this a top priority.

4) In your love life, let every choice be an extension of your love for yourself. If a choice doesn’t honor you, don’t make it. Put your health and happiness first.

5) Feed your spirit. Sit in a meditative posture and take a few moments to hug yourself while doing deep, gentle breathing. Feel your heart and use the mantra

“love” repeating it every few minute to focus on love for self, love for nature, love for the universe. Open a little bit more each time to love and feel the love the Divine has for you. It’s unconditional. Absorb it. Let it fill your body and expand within you and commit to giving that same unconditional love to yourself daily.

This September bring your focus to self-love and feel any old hurts melt away as you wash them with deep, encompassing self-love.

Amy Leigh Mercree is the author of “The Spiritual Girl’s Guide to Dating: Your Enlightened Path to Love, Sex, & Soul Mates,” a Spiritual Dating & Relationship Coach, and a Medical Intuitive. For more fun articles and her dating advice column visit her blog and website:www.spiritualgirlsguide.com.

Check Your Sweet Tooth: Natural Sugar Alternatives

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By Lindsey Smith

Okay, so I admit. I used to be a sugar addict. It all started with those watermelon gummies. Quickly, I upgraded to Twix bars, and eventually I found myself hooked on Chocolate Brownie Frappuccinos. It seemed like every year, I upgraded my addiction to the newest sugary treat.

After all, sugar consumes us on a daily basis. It is in almost everything we eat or drink. Sometimes it is seen as the basic word “sugar” and sometimes it is disguised as high fructose corn syrup, dextrose, lactose, sorbitol, or sucrose — just to name a few! Despite the many names, the verdict is still the same — it’s all sugar!

Sugar, in a refined form, can take our body on an emotional roller coaster ride. When we first digest it, we get this jolt or high. We may become extremely anxious or excited. Then, the ride dips and our anxious or excited emotions turn to depression or fatigue.

In order to get out of our slump, we often will again, turn to sugar to give us a quick fix. This is a continuous cycle of junk foods and junk moods.

Even just a small amount of sugar makes us desire more. Overconsumption of processed and refined sugars can lead to weight gain and other serious health conditions.

So instead of using table sugar or even artificial sweeteners, try slowly swapping out for natural sugar alternatives when you are cooking or baking. These alternatives are still sugar at the core, but they have a slower absorption rate in your body, so you most likely won’t experience the emotional roller coaster ride that processed sugar takes you on.

Here are some natural sugar alternatives to try:

·      Stevia
· Honey
·      Date Sugar
·      Agave Nectar
·      Brown Rice Syrup
·      Barley Malt
·      Maple Syrup
·      Molasses
·      Unsweetened Applesauce
·      Fresh fruit juices

Sweet Note: These sweeteners are still to be used in moderation and merely as an alternative. The overall goal is to start to eliminate the constant need for sugary treats. These alternatives are a great way to help you wean yourself off the highly processed, refined sugars. However, the overall goal is to start appreciating the sweetness of life, the sweetness of real fruits and vegetables, and the sweetness of being you. Eventually sugar alone will no longer be your main source of sweet.

Lindsey Smith, known as the “food mood girl” works with people who have a habit of looking to food for all the wrong nutrients: comfort, reward, fun and acceptance. Through speaking and coaching she motivates, equips and inspires people to sort out their relationships with food so they can live a healthy, balanced life. She is also the author of “Junk Foods & Junk Moods: Stop Craving and Start Living!” Connect with Smith via her Web site, www.FoodMoodGirl.com, on Facebook and Twitter @LindseySmithHHC.

Gluten-Free, Vegan Spinach Dip

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Longing for spinach dip, but have gone dairy-free, gluten-free or both? Thanks to a recipe by cookbook author Susan O’Brien, spinach dip is no longer out of reach!

In her cookbook, “Gluten-Free, Vegan Comfort Food: 125 Simple & Satisfying Recipes, from “Mac and Cheese” to Chocolate Cupcakes,” she offers an easy to follow recipe ready for you to dip your favorite veggies or bread into it. And when stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator, it will stay fresh for several days!

Spinach Dip

INGREDIENTS
1 tbsp olive oil
½ cup finely chopped onion
1 to 2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup packed fresh spinach, steamed and drained
3 tbsp Tofutti sour cream
1 tbsp lemon or orange juice
1 cup ground raw cashews, finely ground in a food processor
¼ tsp. sea salt
Fresh cracked pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:
In a small saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat, and then add the onions and sauté until soft – about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté a few minutes longer. Turn off the heat and set aside.

Place the steamed, drained spinach, and all the other ingredients listed in a food processor and pulse until they are well blended.

Place mixture in a serving bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate before serving.

Enjoy!

Back to School Tips for Parents

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By Marthe Teixeira

It’s hard to believe the summer is coming to an end, and the school year is just about to begin. It feels like minutes ago you were packing your bags for the beach and the next you are walking zombielike down the aisles of Staples looking for spiral-bound notebooks. Whether your child is going back to school with all their friends, starting a new school or that big transition from middle to high school – going back to school is always a stressful time.

Forget last year’s midnight homework scramble and all the stress that came with it. The start of a new year is a great way to renew family routines, schedules and guidelines to help your child to have a success school year. Use the following tips to start off the year right.

Come up with a routine for the school year. Time to get that calendar out that will be hanging on the fridge all year long. This will help keep track of everyone’s schedules. Set aside time and place for homework and add it on the calendar. That way your child is in the routine knowing when it is time to buckle down and do homework.

The joys of paperwork and how quickly it piles up. From tests that needs to be signed, permission slips, emergency cards, volunteer sign-up sheets and medical forms, it feels like your child brings home new forms to be signed daily. To be organized have an IN/OUT box for all the important paperwork that needs to be signed and or returned back to school.

Listen without trying to fix the situation. During the first few weeks of school, your child will come home with stories and dramas of that day. An immediate reaction would be to try and “fix”it by talking to the administration at school or even the other parents. Try to concentrate on listening first, and later when emotions have calmed down, discuss the situation again and give guidance.

Shift focus. Instead of focusing on what your child has to do, focus on what your child gets to learn. Be positive and excited about school and learning. If you stay positive, your child will stay positive.

Make time to talk and listen. It is so important, especially for teens, to have that special talking time with their parents. This allows your child to confide in you, even if it is to rant about their awful day. If you don’t make time to talk your teen, he/she will feel as though they are not important. Get in the habit of talking and listening a few minutes each day.

Avoid overextending. Try to limit activities for younger kids, especially with parents with more than one kid. Hectic schedules and too many afterschool activities can cause stress all around for the whole family.

Marthe Teixeira is the founder/CEO of Stixs and Stones and a life coach for teen girls. She works with local schools, colleges and organizations, such as the Boys and Girls Club and Strong Women Strong Girls, and she coaches one-on one with clients. She currently has a weekly advice column to help parents of teenagers navigate the pitfalls and perils of teen life. Marthe is eager to affect positive change in the lives of teen girls, as she has personally experienced struggles and challenges as an adolescent girl.