Who Will You Be When You’re 80 Years Old?

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When you wake up in the morning, where are you? Are you remembering yesterday, its highs, its lows? Are you instantly flooded with that argument, that financial situation, or that health issue? Do you worry about tomorrow, next week, or next month?

So many of us are anywhere but present, anywhere but living here; now. 

So many don’t even know what it means to be. here. now. Do you?

My father is visiting us for a few weeks and last weekend we decided to do a hike in our local redwood forest. I thought it would be fun to arrange for a volunteer hiking guide to accompany us so we met in the parking lot of our local forest preserve. 

As my father and I stood looking for our guide, I noticed a sprightly woman walking towards us. She wore a baseball cap, hiking shorts and a t-shirt. She had the brightest eyes that sparkled with so much light and a smile that lit up the room. She asked me, “Are you Elizabeth?” and I said, “Yes I am.”

She nodded and smiled and said, “I’m Louise and this is my husband Jim.” We all nodded and introduced ourselves and set upon our hike together. 

Louise quickly pointed out the local hiking map, explained where we would trek today and went on to point out some plants and trees along our path. 

Louise was quick, nimble, and very sure footed. Her legs were strong, muscular, and lean. In fact, her entire body was hardened with the kind of muscle earned over many years of disciplined athleticism. As I watched her jump and slide down rocks and walk over dirt patches of earth I marveled at the power, strength, and youthfulness this woman exuded. I couldn’t help myself and exclaimed, “Louise you are an inspiration! I don’t know how old you are, but you are amazing.” As I said this my eyes spontaneously filled with tears. 

Louise laughed and said, “I don’t feel as nimble as I used to.” But her humbleness was quickly overtaken by her proud husband behind me saying, “She just celebrated her 80th birthday a week and a half ago!”

My father and I were amazed. The rest of the hike was peppered with my questions of what her life was like and listening to her stories of running regular ultra marathons (that’s 100 miles for those that don’t know), competing in iron man triathlons, rock climbing (including Half Dome in Yosemite), deep sea diving, and zipping around town in her red mercedes convertible.

When she told me that her year started off with a sad note of losing her 9 year old rescued dog I quickly asked her if she planned on getting another companion animal. She then said that she and Jim had a month long trip planned to Antartica (again) in February next year to go deep sea diving and didn’t think it would be good to get another animal if she was going to be away for so long.   

Louise made me smile. She made me cry tears of joy. She excited me and inspired me. 

I looked at this woman and her equally athletic husband and marveled at the intensity at which she lived her life, the deep interest in the natural world, the challenge she put her physical body through, and the keen mental stability and balance one would need to live a life such as this. 

Our two hour hike passed in what felt like 5 minutes and I was sad to say good-bye. Luckily my father was on the same wave-length as me and wanted to commemorate this experience as much as I did so I asked for a quick photo right before we left. 

Louise is a living example of living in the moment; fully present, fully aware, awake and ALIVE. The only signs of ‘old-age’ was her bright white hair and slight forward bend. Other than that, she was more agile than most 20 year olds.

This human being that I had the grace to meet is a reminder to never take anything for granted and to always live each day to the fullest. Having seen this marvel of a woman, how could I not share her story?

Live now. Take the leap of faith now. Challenge yourself. Explore. Go on an adventure. Don’t wait for someone or something to happen. Make it happen.

If you’re waiting for that sign,….here it is.

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Magical Power Places – Sedona, Arizona 

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What Are Magical Power Places?

You may have heard of places like Machu Picchu (Peru), Glastonbury (England), Mount Shasta (California), Bali (Indonesia), Varanasi (India), Uluru (Australia), and many many more.

These places are considered sacred, spiritual, and powerful. Many people are actually drawn to these sites unconsciously thinking they are going because of the history, culture or natural beauty.

No matter how one comes to discover these magical power places, one cannot deny the mystical, magical and mysterious nature that these destinations naturally exude. 

Travel is wonderful for the soul because it opens you up to different ways of life, new scenery, and offers possibilities and opportunities to perceive life differently.

When you visit a magical power place your opportunity to grow and evolve is accelerated because the energy is more concentrated and uplifting. 

For those that are interested in spiritual evolution and conscious expansion, visiting a magical power place is an absolute must. 

First, the space itself is charged and helps one to be more sensitive and attuned to higher frequencies. This is nature’s way of giving you a natural ‘boost’ to your energy system and allows you to imbibe and take in the different energies much easier.

Second, there have been many people and cultures that have recognized the land/space as being high energy frequency and have maintained the sacredness of the land through rituals and traditions. These sights of worship, ceremonies, and meditation have all added to the energy frequency making it very potent for us to ride the wave of previous energy work.

Third, a magical power place always give you what you need at the perfect time and place for you. This means that chance encounters with certain plants, animals, or people are very purposeful and important to your spiritual growth and evolution. Repeated signs, coincidences, and unique inner experiences often magically find their way into your consciousness, inviting you to explore and discover at a deeper level.

Magical power places are an invitation to learn more about yourself, nature, energy, and existence. They are a gift to us, when we are ready, to follow our calling and absorb the energy of the sacred land, sea, and sky.

The Twinkling Wonder of Sedona – Bell Rock’s Masculine Vibe

Bell Rock, Sedona AZ

I’ve been wanting to visit Sedona, Arizona for many years. My opportunity came this past week when my husband and I ventured into the gorgeous Red Rock country for our first glimpse of Sedona’s magic.

Our first stop was Bell Rock. As we made our way up the trail we paused to contemplate which way to trek. Looking to my left I felt this path would offer less traffic and a greater opportunity for silence.  

The surrounding scenery was breathtaking and the hike was relatively easy. We had a great time winding our way up the rock going higher and higher.

After some time we found a little area that had a shady rock overhang and a small flat surface. We brushed away the loose stones, took off our hiking boots and socks, and settled into a nice meditation together. 

Meditating in a power place amplifies your natural frequency. Tuning into Bell Rock’s energy was immediate, intense, and felt like it had a purpose. Many have described Bell Rock as being ‘masculine’ in nature which means to say that it is outward focused, sharp and powerful. If you are looking for solutions, answers, creative insight or just seeking a way forward, then meditating on Bell Rock will offer you all this and more.

After our meditation we continued winding our way up Bell Rock. To my left I noticed a particularly curious tree. It was as much peculiar as it was magical. I felt drawn to its irresistible energy and quickly sat underneath its twisted shaded branches.

The connection was immediate. The tree vibrated a sparkling tingly quality of effervescent energy. It was like the tree was giggling or laughing. Sitting beneath her branches it was easy to imbibe her natural bliss.

There are so many little nooks and crannies that one can escape to on Bell Rock. It was as if each stone, tree, insect and bird held an ancient secret tucked deep within themselves that held the promise of revelation only if you took the time to sit and listen. 

Magic was certainly in the air and the twinkling wonder of Sedona’s captivating red rock had us enthralled.

Not bad for our first introduction to mystical Sedona! 

Laughing Tree, Bell Rock, Sedona, AZ

(The laughing tree! Notice how the limbs of many trees are twisted due to the intense energy vortex found on these rock formations.)

Cathedral Rock – A Call Back To Mother Nature’s Womb

Cathedral Rock, Sedona, AZ

The next day I felt a very distinct call to hike up Cathedral Rock another one of Sedona’s very famous rock formations. This time we set off early and were on the hiking trails by 7am.  

We made our way to the top which had breathtaking views and gorgeous natural scenery. But it was my experience on the way down that I will hold in my heart for quite some time.

As we made our descent I felt a pull to my right and found an area that was shaded by trees and out of the way. 

We settled in and began our meditation. 

Once the body and mind are settled and at ease, with little to no thought, then the land speaks to you.

Power Place Tip: In order to feel the energies of any power place, one needs to get into a meditative state. If you are a regular meditator then this is a very natural process but if you just started out then becoming sensitive to the energies may be a little more difficult. 

In my experience, I started to feel the energy from the earth rise into my body. Subtle vibrations of energy slowly started circulating through me and all around me. It was such a soft, graceful energy; quite different from the energy of Bell Rock from the previous day.

As I enjoyed this gentle energy I suddenly felt a rise of emotion course through me.

A heavy sob erupted from within me and I could feel tears rolling down my cheeks. I wasn’t sad. The energy was so subtle, so gentle, and so soft that it touched the very core of my being.

It felt as if I was being cradled, embraced, and enveloped in a very gentle, mother-like energy that was incredibly soft, nurturing, unconditional and forgiving.

Every fiber in my being felt this energy undulating through me. My heart felt like it could burst from the raw compassion being offered to me. It was so tender, warm, and infinite in it’s depth.

I remained in this energy state for quite some time simply enjoying being cradled, held, and loved.

Suddenly and without notice, I was given information about this sacred place.

I was shown that this place, Cathedral Rock, was like a ‘womb’ and those that are called to it find themselves wrapped in the gentle loving embrace of the feminine or motherly energy. I realized that whether consciously or unconsciously, all those that are called to visit Cathedral Rock are being called back into the womb; not of our mother but of creation itself.

This womb cradled me, rocked me, and gently whispered her wisdom to me. The emotional release felt cleansing, uplifting, and purifying.

After some time I knew that my journey was coming to an end. I asked, “Is there a message for me?” Immediately there was a response as if just waiting for me to simply ask:

“Dear One. Beauty. There is beauty everywhere; and not just in the obvious places.”

Just as this message came a small bird chirped a gorgeous silky trill right above my head on a branch above me.

The bird’s song was exquisite and pleasurable beyond words. I sunk into it like I’ve never sunk into a sound before. The very vibration entered me and I felt it as if I was it.

In that moment the overwhelming perfection of creation sent a shockwave through my being and I humbly realized that such divine ecstasy was given to me for FREE.

I didn’t have to do anything for it. It was always there, an unconditional love personified as nature’s perfection, always available, always present, always accesible.

I didn’t have to do anything to receive such beauty, such grace, such divine perfection. And yet, these everyday moments of nature’s divinity are everywhere, every moment.

The profoundness of such a realization was just overwhelming and I let out another sob from deep within my soul. Crying not of sadness but of deep appreciation, realization, and gratefulness to simply be alive.

At that moment, in an instant, I just knew the thousands about thousands of millennia it must have took for this simple creature to sing so effortlessly. I realized the complexity of creation, the perfection in the chaos, the magic in the mundane.

I was being reminded to never again look upon anything as ordinary. The Mother of Creation was reminding me that we are no simple happening.

Everything is a wonder; filled with infinite mysteries.

And such was the message from Cathedral Rock; womb to Mother Earth, Gaia, and Pachamama – beauty and perfection are everywhere.

What can one do with the realization of the perfection of creation?

I did the only thing I could do.

I raised my hands in namaskar mudra, a symbolic gesture of bowing down in reverence.

I gave thanks to everything that conspired for me to be here; to be alive, to exist, to be aware, and to appreciate all that I am and ever will be.

“May you unfold your being with folded hands.” – Sadhguru

Chocolatree in Sedona, AZ - Orbs

(After my meditation we stopped at the ‘Chocolatree‘ a nearby vegan restaurant where I took a shot of Guruji’s Grace a natural ayurvedic shot. When my husband tried to take my pic the camera refused to focus on me. Clearly I’ve attracted some higher beings in my aura that were riding the wave of bliss that Mother Gaia bestowed upon me. If you look closely, you can even see an eye in one of the orbs.)

My gratitude for this inner experience is beyond words and yet I attempted to put it into language for the benefit of my readers.

I am sharing this with you so that your heart may be stirred. So that you are aware that there is magic everywhere.

“Dear One. Beauty. There is beauty everywhere; and not just in the obvious places.”

Where in your life can you reconnect to the divine?

Your child’s laughter?

Your homecooked meal?

A reinvigorating shower?

The sunrise? Sunset?

Your favorite tree?

Your very breath?

Don’t discount the ordinary, mundane, or everyday experiences or things.

Within all of creation is beauty; infinite beauty, so says Mother Gaia. 🙂

With you in wholeness,

Elizabeth

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How To Get Over Imposter Syndrome

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Do you sometimes feel like a fraud even though you know you have the necessary accomplishments, education, experience and acumen to be doing what you’re doing?

Do you feel underserving of the wins and successes you’ve gained?

Do you sometimes have the nagging feeling that someone will discover that you’re just a sham?

If so, you might be suffering from Imposter Syndrome.

Imposter Syndrome can be defined as a psychological pattern in which a person doubts their accomplishments and suffers a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a “fraud”.

Many people feel this way at some time or other in their lives. There are certainly plenty of successful people at the height of their careers that feel this way now. Just where does this come from and why does it occur?

Feeling like an imposter means that you are remembering a past version yourself that didn’t have the necessary skills to embody who you are today. You are essentially “stuck” in the past. In order to break free from the past you need to become present to the you that you are today. 

There are reasons why so many people suffer from this syndrome and there is a permanent way out of it. I talk about this and more in my video below:

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Tired of Society?

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A recent subscriber wrote to me: 

“Why are societal values overbearing? I don’t want to accept that the purpose of my life is not of my choosing. It has been driven by aspects of economic survival and duty. I think of what it would be like to walk away from it all and travel to the Himalayas and meditate and live a spiritual life. Might an Ashram offer a blissful existence?”

Have you ever felt this way too? 

Are there places we can go to get away from it all? 

What would these places be like?

What could we learn about ourselves?

Is living in a spiritual community the answer?

I answer these questions and more in today’s video…

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Does It Help To Analyze Our Past?

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The Western view of mental health puts great emphasis on our past with Sigmund Freud popularizing psychoanalysis and our psychosexual developmental stages.

However, Freud’s views run in direct contrast to the Eastern view of mental health when viewed through the lens of the Yogic sciences and philosophy. In fact, the two couldn’t be further apart. 

We are all familiar with the more Westernized traditional forms of therapy where one goes to a professional to help dissect the past hoping to find a seed experience that might be shrouded in trauma which helps to explain or at least point to present day subconscious tendencies, poor coping skills, and maladaptive behavior.

People are often in therapy for years on end, endlessly digging, analyzing, and putting what they think are the missing puzzle pieces of their broken psyche back together again. 

But the ancient science of Yoga doesn’t place any emphasis on the mind or any of its disturbances. In fact, focusing on the mind and past experiences is of no interest at all to this path of enlightenment and higher awareness.

Yoga instead focuses on the present moment.

But how does one stay focused, present, alert, and aware of what is happening when we have obvious mental hang ups, negative thought patterns, and unbridled emotions that keep us from staying cool, calm, and collected?

Wouldn’t analyzing our past help us to stay aware of the present moment?

Don’t we need to look to our past to know who we are now?

The above questions come from an erroneous assumption. The assumption being that we are our personality or our ego.

But if we are not our personality, then what are we?

Ah, now we are getting somewhere! This is where the path of Western psychoanalysis has an obvious dead end.

No, we don’t need to endlessly analyze and pick through our past traumas and suffering in order to fix ourselves because fixing the ‘person’ is not the point. 

Our suffering, in any and all cases, is due to our deep identification with our personhood, our personality, our character, our ego, our likes and dislikes, all of which of course, include our past and projected future. 

The crux of the issue is what we identify as or what we think of as “us” or “me”.

Western psychology has not evolved past the notion of the egoic state of consciousness because those that are analyzing and digging through the past are themselves deeply identified with their own personality and egoic structure. It is like the blind leading the blind.

To truly move beyond all your self-imposed suffering one must create a distance from what you call as ‘you’ and start identifying with your greater ‘Self’, as your true and ultimate nature.

This is not the same as simply exchanging one belief system for another.

To be clear, a belief is defined as an acceptance that a statement is true or that something exists; trust, faith, or confidence in someone or something.

In contrast, knowledge is defined as facts, information, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education.

The reason Yoga is considered a science is because it has a systematic process that can be replicated over and over again through experiential validation. It is not a belief system and doesn’t require one to believe anything.

All that is required is to follow the process and realize the results.

All those that follow the path of yoga have realized that their true reality can be summed up in one Sanskrit word: Satchitananda or existence, consciousness, and bliss.

How would you like to let go of the past? No longer suffer? Remain present and aware to every moment and not miss the glory and miracle of being alive?

How would you like to be soaked in bliss every moment? 

This is not only possible but assessible for everyone right now.

We are not our past. We are not our personalities. We are not our likes/dislikes or even our family bonds and connections. 

We are existence, consciousness, and bliss. This is our true nature.

Do you believe this? Or, do you know this?

If one truly wants to discover who and what they truly are, then looking behind you will never free you.

The past is dead.

What is alive is this present moment; this NOW.

Yoga is defined as ‘union’ and describes the union of individual consciousness to universal consciousness.

If you feel the calling to connect with your true nature; your true Self, and would like a mentor and guide to help you navigate this process then please contact me and schedule your 1:1 Spiritual Consultation call with me today. 

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Elizabeth Hancock CPC, CSC - Spiritual Teacher & Empowerment Coach

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