 Just being is enough.
This thought rang through my mind in a meditation. I needed the reminder. I had been getting wound up in trying to do, do, do, in order to be who I thought I was supposed to be, spinning my wheels and getting stressed out, getting way off center. I breathed a sigh of relief as I settled into the bliss of being. Ah, thank you Spirit. Just being is enough. In our culture we think we have to do and do more to be enough – as if in doing more we will be more. But we are not what we do. We are who we be. And our greatest gift in our doing is not in what we do but who we be as we do. Just being is enough. It is when we are being that our brilliance comes through. Being does not make one lazy. Being is generative. In resting in being, we are contributing our light and our peace. Then at the right time, being prompts us into effective action to create the most benefit for all. As I work with people from a space of being, the brilliance beyond my small egoistic identity can come through me and work its magic in transforming bodies and transforming lives. Just being is enough. Being requires that we let go of worry and judgment. There lies the freedom, the joy and ease in being. It’s an invitation for divine expression. My artist friend doesn’t paint to be doing something to be somebody. Painting is an expression of her being. That’s why her art is so inspiring. Just being is enough. So in your space of being, what brilliance and greatness can come through you?
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 Though the holiday season is not as merry and bright this year, we can see that the Covid Grinch could not steal Christmas. The spirit, though quieter, still persists with decorations, music, and holiday greetings, warmly given even though virtual. Even the Cosmos would not let Christmas slip by unacknowledged as She has arranged the planets Jupiter and Saturn to converge in the sky as a replay of the Star of Bethlehem right on the solstice. In fact, I feel the spirit more deeply in the context of these trying times. Without the outer fanfare and merry making, I am focusing on the real meaning and message of Christmas, and I feel many others are too. Again Covid has presented another opportunity to get real and focus on what really matters in our lives. What is the holiday season really about? What makes it so magical and holy? What is the message of it? To me it’s always been about love and joy and peace and the light within and seeing and honoring that love and light in each other through our kindness toward each other. It is the message of Christ. This is a truly healing balm after such a tumultuous year. For in this context our differences become irrelevant. We come to value each other as human beings and see each other as souls, making insignificant the color of our skin or the color of our politics and petty personality clashes. Compassion arises for the pain that causes us to forget. We see the magnificent Light within each of us that we all have in common. This is the only way we can make the world better. Imagine what could be possible if we come together in the light of our common humanity. Wishing you a most blessed and Light-filled holiday season.
 Did you know that soil is actually alive? Soil is rife with microorganisms in a beautiful symbiotic relationship with the plants that grow on it. Plants and soil microbes feed each other and communicate with each other. There is an amazing balance between the bacteria and fungi that contribute to the plants, nourishing them and providing immunity, mirroring the same thing that goes on in our gut. If you haven’t seen the film on Netflix called Kiss the Ground, I recommend you do so. The revelations of soil science that it speaks about is rocking the agricultural world these days. Over decades of practicing agriculture as an extractive business giving no thought to how the life in the soil nurtures the plants, we have decimated soils, turning farmland into deserts. Chemical inputs have destroyed the bacteria in the soil, and constant tilling disrupts the fungal mycelia network. The once rich soft soil has become hardened, unable to hold water or supply the plants with nutrients they can absorb, contributing to the vicious cycle of more and more chemicals added to try to squeeze out another meager harvest from the hardened depleted soil. In recent years, farmers and soil scientists decided to go back to observing nature and see how they can imitate it to improve the condition of the farmlands. They made many fascinating discoveries in the process. One thing they found is that you can control the weeds by changing the soil ecology. If you give the soil good nutrients and activate a healthy microbiome, soft gentle weeds grow from it. In poor soil, the spiky tough weeds like thistles dominate. Many of these tough weeds secrete strong enzymes through their roots into the soil to break down the dirt to render the minerals and other nutrients more available to the plants and bacteria. With more inputs of water and organic matter like compost and dung, the soil is transformed as more bacteria, fungi, and earthworms show up. The hard spiky weeds, their job done, fade out and are replaced by the soft weeds like mustard that are easily controlled or left to keep the ground covered until planting time. Then with regenerative agriculture, the weeds are crimped down rather than dug up to make a mulch cover that protects the seedlings and retains the water. A desert thus is restored to Eden. So what is the state of the soil of our society? I see the soil of American society has become hardened with chemicals of materialism and an extractive economy, now devoid of life affirming human values. Thistles of hatred, racism, authoritarianism, and divisiveness have sprung up in abundance; the roots of these hard, spiky weeds are breaking the hard crust of pretense and indifference and bringing into our awareness the need for a deep change of our ways. To heal our society we can open our hearts and reintroduce friendly “microbes” of nurturing thoughts, visions, and appreciation to proliferate in the soil of our collective consciousness. Then welcome the earthworms of wisdom and understanding to digest and transmute the ugly, the fear, the rage, and anger into compassion of loving kindness.  I observed Mother Nature responding to mass consciousness shortly after 9/11 when we were heading into the Iraq war. At that time there was a lot of anger and warlike mentality. Thistles sprang up in abundance that spring in the wildlands near where I was living. Thistles are spiky and mean and ugly looking, but amazing medicine to cleanse the liver, the organ where our angry emotions get stored. Mother Nature brought forth these plants that reflected our mass mentality of anger, plants that contained the very medicine to heal us. What if every thing that arises in our lives, individually and in the collective, are there to heal us? Donald Trump has been riding on the surfacing of the anger and rage and fear of a great many Americans, doing a fabulous job of exposing the collective shadow of the nation. With that in mind, I can be in a space of love and appreciation, rather than fear, of the turmoil that is going on. This is the process of evolution. The breakdown of the old tree and the new life arising from its death. The extinction of the dinosaur that gave way to mammals arising. We can all each take a breath and appreciate the gift – the invitation – to take all this trauma, the anger, the fear, the hatred, the grief, the pain – and transmute it all – offer it up to the Light. And think about the lowly creatures that do that for the Earth: the bacteria, the fungi, the worms, – these most primitive, elegant beings that we are repulsed by that do this wonderful function as the Earth’s “Essential Workers” making nutrients available to plants, sequestering carbon, detoxifying the soil and conditioning it for the plants to thrive. And we can thank the weeds that cover and protect the soil and show us what is going on beneath the surface. Bacteria, fungi and worms live in our guts too. Yes, parasites live in us too. I wonder if some of these parasites are beneficial as well? At least they are there for a reason; that they have something to tell us, even if it is to let us know that we are out of balance somehow and that we need to change our internal terrain. Starting with our mind. Our thoughts and emotions create the chemical environment that determines which microbes flourish – the beneficial ones or the bad ones. The microbes affect our thoughts and emotions as well. The gut is where mental health and physical health intersect. So to heal ourselves we must change our inner terrain, physically and mentally. And healing ourselves is the first step to healing the nation and healing the planet. Just like with ourselves, to heal our country we must also heal the terrain. We must stop feeding the parasites of materialism and selfishness. Then soothe the inflammation of hatred and divisiveness with tolerance and compassion. Let’s bring in more beneficial life forms of love, compassion, hope and appreciation. These changes are not only possible, they are happening now. Just as the farmers are proving that gentle methods in harmony with nature are better for farming, so we can see how kindness can create a better society. Then we will see the thistles give way to mustards.  Learn how you can heal yourself - In this interview I share my experience of how I overcame cancer healing from the inside out and what my Soul Empowerment work is about. Women Rocking Life Interview 
  It’s hard to believe it’s been one year since my last post. Life has many interesting twists and turns, and as it turns out in January of this year I received news of a recurrence of cancer after a nine year remission. So the last several months I focused my energies on healing myself. It was a time of inner examination, cleansing, and renewal. Now I am celebrating a return to health and a renewal of faith and joy that had been missing from my life. I am grateful for the many lessons and insights I’ve gained, and the letting go of attitudes and beliefs that had been keeping me down, and for the joy that fills my life now. I am grateful for the loving support of family, friends, and community. I am grateful for the new techniques I have learned for transforming my life that I can now pass on to others. I am grateful for all that I’ve had all along that I can appreciate even more now – the beautiful island I call home, dear friends, family, spiritual community, and the Divine Giver of all these gifts. Now I’ve come back to my service with renewed enthusiasm, new tools, and perhaps more wisdom and humility. And with proof again that the tools I use and teach really work, which makes me more eager to share them. Come and play with me at the OHM Expo in Maui:  Free Workshop – Unleash Your Inner Healing Power! I will be sharing some of my favorite tools for turning on your inner healer and getting your happy on. (Hint – one of them is gratitude.) Sunday December 1, 3 to 4 pm OHM Expo at the Maui Beach Hotel 170 Ka'ahumanu Ave by Kahului Harbor. Free admission to the Expo and to the workshop. www.facebook.com/events/555834045248900/ Mini Sessions at the OHM Expo: Get happy and receive blissful relaxation, realignment, renewal, and clarity with massage, Access Bars, Reiki, or reflexology. Saturday Nov. 30, 12 -8 pm and Sunday Dec. 1, 10-6 pm. Maui Beach Hotel, 170 Kaahumanu Ave.  Did you know gratitude is good for your health? Probably you've believed so but the news is that there are now scientific studies that support it and give us an inkling how. The feeling of gratitude stimulates the production and release of a “neurotransmitter cocktail” of serotonin and dopamine that make you feel good. At the same time it reduces stress hormones. This results in better sleep, mental concentration, lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol, and improved kidney function. Hmm… in Chinese medicine the kidneys correlate with the emotion of fear. The research has shown that people who practice gratitude tend to take better care of themselves. They exercise more and eat more balanced diets. Practicing gratitude stimulates the development of a particular cortex of the brain associated with positive thoughts and well being. Practicing gratitude then creates a habit of gratitude that gets literally hardwired into your brain. So practice gratitude not just on Thanksgiving Day, but every day for your health and happiness! Happy Thanksgiving!  Our Mother Earth richly provides everything we need to live, giving us every reason to celebrate her abundance and beauty. On Maui we have an annual festival in her honor where we celebrate and learn what we can do locally to give back to her and support her in her supporting us. This year Maui Earth Day Festival will be happening on Sunday April 29 at the Kihei VFW grounds at 1136 Uluniu, by the beach. Join me there and receive mini sessions of bodywork, Reiki, reflexology, Access Bars and more- including a special Access body process to connect us more deeply with the Earth. And you can bid on a 90 minute treatment in the silent auction! All the information is on the poster below. Hope to see you there!   How much of your life energy are you tying up in resentments and guilt? What have you not forgiven that is diminishing your life today? It is said that to err is human, and to forgive is divine. The act of forgiveness is not easy, but it is the most spiritually empowering and liberating and healing thing you can do. Forgiveness does not make what happened okay. It does not leave the offender off the hook. Forgiveness is simply a choice to let go of the negative feelings harbored against the offender or situation. I discovered the power of forgiveness and how liberating it is when I was able to let go of a childhood trauma. The moment I chose to see it as simply something that happened, that wasn’t about who I am or who the offender was, and to have no anger about it, I was instantly healed of the wound that had emotionally crippled me for over forty years. I am no longer affected by what happened to me so many years past. I have come to understand that if Jesus had not chosen to forgive those that crucified him, there would have been no Resurrection. In my instant of forgiveness I was resurrected from a suppurating wound that crucified me for forty years.  Resentment ties up and consumes tremendous amounts of the body’s energy or life force. In her book Why People Don’t Heal and How They Can, Caroline Myss relates to our reserves of life force as a cellular bank account. Tremendous amounts of energy is consumed by holding onto hurts and traumas, which depletes our cellular bank account, inviting depression and illness. In releasing negativity, our cellular bank account call fill up again so we can begin to heal.  Cancer can be said to be an illness of hidden anger and resentment. We don’t like to admit we are angry, because nice people don’t get angry. In my case, I uncovered a river of unexpressed, unacknowledged rage beneath my niceness. In seeing what thoughts and feelings I was harboring deep inside, it was no wonder I was sick. What is it costing you to hold onto the story and the resentment? What is it costing you to push the anger down? In terms of peace of mind, of health? I invite you to take a deeper look, even though it’s uncomfortable, maybe downright painful, because it’s so well worth it. Later on I will share with you a simple clearing technique to help you get through to the other side and begin to experience the sweet release of forgiveness, and hopefully, your own resurrection. First, take a deep breath please, and call in your Source of Light and Love.  Now consider the resentments you hold. See that as long as you seek to hold the offender in bondage by your resentment, you imprison yourself. Are you secretly feeling superior because you hold the expectation that this person is evil and continues to do this evil? Is your resentment so toxic you cannot wish salvation for your offender? And how much is that costing you? Can you consider the possibility that forgiveness creates space for wrongdoer to heal as well, sparing future victims? Are you willing to release this person now and invite them to rise to a higher level and thus unravel the story that you hold so dear, and free yourself? And can you consider that perhaps you invited this to happen to you as a way to grow and evolve or fulfill some higher purpose? Can you let go of the guilt and shame and judgment that keeps you stuck in the same story? In releasing shame and blame, you are healed and free to move on.  Perhaps the most important person to forgive is yourself. In my experience I find it very healing- and humbling- to let go of judgments of my own mistakes and own my human imperfection. This frees me to be able to let go of my defense of justification and blaming and take responsibility for my own part with compassion for myself and the other party. What are you not forgiving yourself about that, if you would forgive yourself, would release you from the never ending cycle of shame and blame? In forgiving I have healed body, mind, and spirit. As I keep forgiving, I have more and more peace in my life, and more freedom. And it gets easier to let go of negative patterns! I know I would not be alive today if I had not made that choice to forgive and to keep forgiving. Clearing of resentment:* With every past hurt or whenever you are triggered by someone else’s behavior say: “How much and in how many ways have I done this same thing to others? Everywhere I have done that throughout eternity will I destroy and uncreate it all?” Release it now, give it up to Source. This is very healing not only for yourself but for anyone you have hurt at any time, and releases the you from the victim pattern. You can also do this to release wrongs you have done in the past, which helps release you from the pattern of repeating the same behavior.  In her bestseller You Can Heal Your Life, Louise Hay tells how she healed herself of cancer with natural treatments and her inner mental healing. Along with cleansing her body and cleaning up her diet, she cleaned up inwardly, releasing old hurts and forgiving childhood abuse, and learned to love herself. She was clear that if she did not do the inner work, she would not have gotten over the cancer. In her book she states the probable mental issues underlying cancer are deep hurt, longstanding resentment, deep secret or grief eating away at self, carrying hatreds, and a sense of hopelessness- what’s the use. Do any of these resonate?  Here is Louise's affirmation: I lovingly release and forgive all the past. I choose to fill my world with joy. I love and approve of myself. Let go of everything that doesn’t allow you to all that. Blessings,  *Acknowledgment- Access Consciousness®  Within you lies the key to your healing. Few people realize this. Most people are quick to invest their time and money in doctors, treatments, and supplements when they get sick, looking for the magic bullet to make them well again. Few think to look within themselves. Yet that is where your greatest healing power lies. Just days after my cancer diagnosis I was gifted with this story. A woman with terminal cancer was at a workshop led by medical intuitive and author Caroline Myss. The woman was so ill and weak she had to be wheeled in on a bed. At one point in the workshop, Caroline Myss led an exercise on forgiveness. At the end of the exercise, to everyone’s amazement, this woman got up off the bed, and said, “Thank you very much,” and walked out of the room. The next year when Caroline Myss returned, this same woman greeted her at the airport. This story impressed upon me deeply the power of inner work and forgiveness on healing, and I took it as a message particularly relevant to me. That impression proved itself to be true. As the years go by that separate my cancer experience from the present, I think less and less of the physical challenges, and less and less of the fear and anxiety that was constant at least at a low level. Instead I see and appreciate more and more the beautiful unfolding of the inner healing I experienced: the letting go of old stories allowing my true essence to emerge more fully, the love and prayers and help of those that cared about me that taught me to love myself, enjoying the freedom from the shadows that I faced and triumphed over, and the en-‘lighten’-ment I gained in forgiving myself and others, all enabling me to get up out of my bed of limitation, unhappiness, and self-pity, and walk with more peace, joy, new possibilities, and immense gratitude.  During my cancer journey I did go to doctors, did the treatments, healthy diet and supplements – all the right things to help my body heal. But these things did only so much. I had to dig deep inside to release whatever darkness kept me ill, going to healers and therapists, doing inner processes at workshops and at home – whatever it took, layer by layer, until finally I broke through the most difficult challenge of having to forgive myself. Then with one short juice cleanse, the cancer left me and never came back. The scarier the shadow, the more healing power is released when the shadow is faced. In fact, go for it and tackle the scariest one; that will be the most liberating! Don’t wait for a life threatening illness to make you do your inner healing – do it now! It’s the best preventive medicine of all. Even better, your whole life will change for the better and you will be much happier. Access your inner healer now. Book your EMPOWERED HEALING session with Rita today. 760-815-8220
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Rita Massey
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