Spiritual Transformation Group - updated

I have added another meeting with a different day and location.  See below.

Spiritual Transformation Group

Set your spiritual intention for the year

Discover the blocks to achieving your goals

Engage in spiritual practices that open you to higher states of consciousness

Support one another in this process

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Each weekly session will include a short meditation, presentation of information, sharing by group members, and a soul-to-soul connection exercise

Two different groups are being offered.  One group is on Tuesdays at 10:00AM in Mission Viejo starting January 13^th.  A second group is on Fridays at 4:30PM in Laguna Hills beginning on January 16^th.

The cost is $35 per week

Please contact Donna McCullough, PhD for further information or to register for the group (949) 246-7724 or donnamccullough@cox.net

Spiritual Transformation Group

Here is information about a group that I am starting in Orange County:

Spiritual Transformation Group

Set your spiritual intention for the year

Discover the blocks to achieving your goals

Engage in spiritual practices that open you to higher states of consciousness

Support one another in this process

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Each weekly session will include a short meditation, presentation of information, sharing by group members, and a soul-to-soul connection exercise

The group will meet on Tuesdays at 10:00AM for 6 weeks in Mission Viejo starting January 13th

The cost is $35 per week

Please contact Donna McCullough, PhD for further information or to register for the group (949) 246-7724

Happy New You!

While doing a spiritual practice called "Mutual Awakening" recently with a friend, I experienced a sense of Joy that comes when we let go of the egoic identity.  I experienced a taste of what it is like to live life without being attached to the egoic mind.  As attachment to the mind fell away, there was a lightness which felt free and Joyful.

My New Year's resolution is to continue this process of letting go of the heaviness of the psyche/ego and move into a greater sense of Joy.

Here is what David Hawkins, M.D., Ph.D. has to say about Joy:

"As Love becomes increasingly unconditional, it begins to be experienced as inner Joy.  This is not the sudden joy of a pleasurable turn of events but instead is a constant accompaniment to all activities.  Joy arises from within each moment of existence rather than from any outer source."  Transcending The Levels of Consciousness, p. 257.

Love and Joy are our natural states and as we let go of the identity that we have created we experience these Higher states.

We can facilitate the letting go by setting the intention to let go.  I also find it helpful to stay grounded in the body as I am doing this process.  We hold onto emotional energy in our bodies and by relaxing our physical bodies it is easier to let go of the emotions.  I heard a Minister (Rev. Carolyne at Unity of Tustin) say that we can prepare ourselves to let go, and then Spirit does the rest. We prepare ourselves with the intention to let go and by relaxing, and, Spirit does the rest.

My experience during the Mutual Awakening practice showed me how much freer and Joyful life is without the constant attachment to Ego.

During this time of new beginnings join me in stepping into a New You...a You that allows the Joy and Love to well up from within...a You that does not rely on what is happening in your life to feed your sense of well being... a You that already knows and feels that all is well.  I truly believe that God intended for each of us to live a life filled with Joy and Love. Join me in saying "Yes" to a life filled with Love and Joy in this New Year.

P.S., For those of you who live in Orange County, I am going to be starting a "Transformation Group" in the next two weeks.  I will be posting more details on the blog and will be sending out an email to those of you on my email list.

Are you ready to experience Truth?

What if, even in our best moments as a human being, there was a lot more to each of us than we ever imagined?  What if all that the Sages, Master Teachers and Enlightened Ones have told us is true...that we are One with God, that there is no separation, and that Love is our true essence?

What if the mystical experiences that you have had or have heard about point to who you really are?   What if the limited beliefs and concepts that we cling to are false?  What if there really is nothing to fear because life is Eternal?  

What if we really don't know anything at all?

We won't really know the answers to these questions until we experience Truth.  The question at this point is are we willing to let go of what we know/think/believe to be true and step into the mystery of Life and of God?  Can we trust God to show us our True nature?

"Unless you become like little children you shall not enter the Kingdom of God."

Little children live in the moment without clinging to expectations, beliefs and judgments.  They allow life to show up without trying to orchestrate, predict, resist or alter their experience,

Sitting in the silence, letting go of attachments, living mindfully, and praying without ceasing are all ways to prepare ourselves to experience Truth.  

As we continue to make room for more Light to fill us and as we prepare to step into a New Year, are we ready to let go of our limited beliefs and attachments and let Truth be revealed to us?

The Little Drummer Boy

For many of us, Christmas, Hanukkah etc. represent the birth of more Light into our lives.

An idea to contemplate during this time is:

What is it that I really want for Christmas?

What I really want for Christmas does not come from the world.  What I really want comes from Grace, God, Spirit, Life.  The Joy that I would like to receive (i.e., experience) and give arises when I open my heart and mind to experience the Light in the present moment.  I love the analogy here of opening to the present...sounds like 'opening a gift'.

I am inspired by the Litte Drummer Boy story.  My understanding of the story is that the little drummer boy's parents died and he found his way to the manger.  He felt that he had nothing to give to the newborn King.  Then the little drummer boy decided to play his drum and as the song goes "I played my best for Him... and He smiled at me."

The loss of his parents symbolizes the loss of our egoic attachments.  The little drummer boy then brought the best that he could to the moment in order to honor the Light of Christ.  To continue the analogy, the Light within responded with more Light, a Radiant smile.

How are you being asked to let go of egoic attachments this holiday season? How are you being asked to 'play your best' in order to honor the Light within?

For me this is about letting go of expectations and positionalities.  It is about staying centered in the Truth of my being.   The best that I can do is to keep my awareness on my connection with Spirit even in the midst of the ups and downs of life.  I can participate in the festivities and the stresses of the season without getting caught up in them.  I notice and appreciate what is happening but return to the awareness that God is my source of Joy at all times.  And as I say 'yes' to more Light I feel it fill my being and my awareness.

Wishing you a Blessed week filled with Joy and Light!

"Thoughts stay because we invite them to stay."

At various moments throughout the past week I have noticed when I have been perceiving life through the egoic, limited mind and when I have been peering through the lens of my deepest Truth. Everything changes when I perceive and act from my highest Truth - I feel more peaceful and loving, I judge less, I let things go more easily, and my words and actions have a greater positive impact on my world.

Yesterday morning I found myself stuck in the egoic mind.  I was holding onto some negativity about a situation, judging myself and others, and feeling irritated.  I saw what was happening but was unable to let it go.  I decided to re-affirm my intention to embody love.  I searched deep within myself for the decision to let go of this negativity and I surrendered it to God.  I then did a little yoga to center myself and a few minutes later the negativity lifted and I felt a sense of love and gratitude.  Every time this kind of negativity returns I remind myself of my intention and I surrender it to God.  

Michael Singer says "Thoughts stay because we invite them to stay."  I can see that the egoic mind wants to hold onto negativity.  It will always return to being disgruntled about something...it needs to in order to maintain a sense of separation.  But the reality is that there is no separation because at our core we are all made of the same Divinity.

I will continue to choose to perceive life through the lens of my highest Truth...that God is expressing Itself as Love and Joy in every moment.  I will align with that Truth during this Holiday season, thus allowing more Light to shine in our world.  

Surrender as a way to rasie your consciousness

"The strength to adopt positive instead of negative attitudes is already available in the province of the will.  The entreaty of Divinity for assistance results in a transformative process that becomes more powerful with practice because the personality is now aligning with a strong, positive attractor field rather than with the weak linear ego."  ("Transcending the Levels of Consciousness," David Hawkins, M.D., Ph.D., p. 180)

After setting the intention to embody love (what I wrote about last week), I found myself reading the most transformative words in the above-mentioned book by David Hawkins.  I read about traits and attitudes that I have been holding onto which block me from embodying love.  David says that even just noticing when we are holding onto negative attitudes can help us to let them go.  For the last several days I have felt a shift in that I am feeling more positive and less judgmental/defensive.

The above quote speaks to me so clearly about the power in setting an intention and surrendering or asking God for help.  As David says, as we do so we are aligning ourselves with a higher consciousness.  By setting the intention to live our deepest truth and asking God for help we are raising our consciousness.    

Ask and you shall receive.