The Spiritual Chicks Question Everything

Living a Charmed Life

2009-06-23T03:44:00.000-07:00

When we were looking for published authors to endorse our book, The Spiritual Chicks Question Everything, bestselling author, inspirational speaker, and life coach Victoria Moran was one of the first to come through. She’s been a great friend of the Spiritual Chicks from the beginning and is completely on our wavelength. We love how Victoria uses practical magic to show readers how to transform everyday life into something much more.

If you could use a little magic in your life right now, check out Victoria’s new book, Living a Charmed Life. AND, if you order today, you’ll receive over 100 valuable bonus gifts from other noteworthy authors and experts.

Go here now and get the details:

http://www.victoriamoran.com/charmed/

The Times They Are A-Changin’

2009-06-22T15:17:00.000-07:00

After seven years of elementary school at PS 3 in New York City, my daughter Sophia graduated from 5^th grade on Friday. It was quite a celebration. The auditorium was packed with parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, friends, teachers and students. The proud graduates were well-dressed and well-behaved (a rare sight) and like little angels they sang John Lennon’s Imagine with so much heartfelt emotion that there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. There was a lot of hugging—teachers hugging each student as they received their diplomas, parents hugging children and each other, the principal and vice-principal hugging everyone. PS 3 is an affectionate school. And, there was cake.

PS 3 was started in the early 1970’s by parents as an alternative progressive public school. Even before Hair came back to Broadway and tie dye was trendy again, PS 3 was known as the Hippie School, a place where kids called their teachers and principal by their first names and where desks were few and far between.

I have good memories of this school and this community. I remember when I took a tour of the school way back when Sophia was three and we were looking at Pre-K programs. I visited a Kindergarten/First Grade classroom where organized chaos flourished. I knew the minute I saw a poster of Bob Dylan and three child sized guitars hung on the wall that PS 3 would be the right school for me. Luckily, it turned out to be the best school for Sophia, too.

We sang protest songs in the auditorium when the US invaded Iraq in 2003, gathered together to march for peace, and raised money to start a school in Afghanistan. We critiqued George Bush’s policies and after campaigning tirelessly, we watched and celebrated Obama’s inauguration all together in the auditorium. Most recently, we joined together to protest the ineffective and shortsighted policies of New York City Mayor Bloomberg and School Chancellor Klein. It’s been great.

But the times they are a-changin’. PS 3 is more conservative now than it was in the 70’s or even than it was back in 2003. The recent boom years of financial speculation are over and lay offs and scaling back are now the norm. Obama is in the White House but our economy and the world is still in turmoil. Despite everything, I am not sad or disheartened. John Mayer might still be waiting on the world to change, but a new crop of young hippies is moving onto middle school and they already know how to make a difference.

Tami

The One Life Principle, Synchronicity and the Anat Baniel Method

2009-04-27T15:11:00.000-07:00

Scroll to end of article for Free Podcast "The Spiritual Chicks Talk Change"

Ever since I was a child I have believed that there is an answer to every question and a solution to every problem. My natural optimism led me beyond the borders of conventional wisdom that all too often seemed predicated on a pessimistic and fear-based approach to life, to study metaphysics and to dedicate myself to the spiritual path.

The core of my spiritual belief system (and that of The Spiritual Chicks) is the One Life Principle, which states that there is a single underlying power in the universe, but the expression of this power takes many forms. If there is only One Life, then I am it—and so is everyone else. So despite how it may appear, I am not separate from anyone or anything, including God or divinity. And if I am not separate from God or divinity, then I must have access to all the knowledge and wisdom experienced and gained by it, which would mean that if I seek, I will, without a doubt, find. My discovery of this ancient idea changed my life dramatically. The problems that once plagued me transformed themselves into adventures of discovery and my life became both more meaningful and more fun.

In addition to being a Spiritual Chick, I am a Spiritual Life Coach. When I have a client who has a problem, I make major use the One Life Principle try to help them find a solution.

Recently, the son of one of my clients was diagnosed with sensory integration dysfunction. This very wonderful little boy was working with an Occupational Therapist, but my client was not seeing the kind of improvement in her son that she wanted to see. My client and I were both convinced that there must be something else out there that would be a more complete solution.

At the same time, the son of a dear friend was diagnosed with ADHD and nothing the mother tried seemed to be helping. In addition, the boy’s self-esteem was suffering because he was beginning to have trouble keeping up with his school work. I love this child and have known him since he was born. He is smart, sensitive and very caring, not to mention an awesome pianist. I was convinced there must be a gentle way of helping him to be able to focus and become more whole.

Soon after these two events, an email appeared in the Spiritual Chicks inbox asking for help promoting a new book by Anat Baniel. Karen and I had no idea who Anat Baniel was and we had just helped promote another book by an author we love, so we weren’t that interested in doing it again so soon. We were going to reply negatively, when I decided, on what seemed like a whim, to check out Anat Baniel’s website.

I quickly learned that Anat’s method was derived from the Feldenkrais method, “a learning system that uses movement and awareness of self to bring about remarkable changes in the human mind and body” (http://www.anatbanielmethod.com/).

I spent over two hours on Anat’s website watching videos of this fascinating woman work with children far worse off than my client’s and my friend’s sons. The progress these kids made after working with Anat, some of whom had cerebral palsy and universal brain damage, blew me away. I called my client and my friend immediately. Within a week, each of these boys began working with an Anat Baniel practioner and they are each showing remarkable results.

Through another synchronicity that I won’t go into here, I went to see Rebecca Gardiner, a gifted and loving Anat Baniel practitioner here in New York City (http://www.learningfrommovement.com/). This method is not just for kids or for seriously injured people. According to Rebecca’s site, both Feldenkrais and the Anat Baniel Methods “use movement and touch to create the specific conditions required by the brain to re-program itself and provide solutions to pain and injury bringing about health and healing, well-being and self expression.” After an hour working with Rebecca, I not only felt a lot better, I understood on a deep level that just as the One Life Principle had guided me to this remarkable work, the Hermetic Law of Correspondence, which states “As above, so below; as below, so above,” was the core spiritual message of this work.

Just as the body learns from the brain, the brain can learn from the body. When we begin to allow our bodies and brains to engage in dialogue, we become more whole. When we engage in dialogue with the One Life, we learn that nothing is hidden from us because we are already whole. It only took a few wonderful synchronicities to lead me to Anat Baniel’s remarkable work and back to the One Life. Life is good.

I believe that the Anat Baniel method is truly remarkable.

Her book, Move Into Life, The Nine Essentials for Lifelong Vitality, comes out today, April 28. Check it out www.anatbanielmethod.com/book.

And for our readers, and those of Anat Baniel, here is our free podcast:

The Spiritual Chicks Talk Change
Seven Steps to a Deeper Understanding of Life's Ups and Downs.

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The Spiritual Chicks Talk Change

2009-03-09T22:00:00.000-07:00

Hello to all you Judith Orloff fans. This posting is a free podcast:

The Spiritual Chicks Talk Change!
Seven Steps to a Deeper Understanding of Life's Ups and Downs.

To listen on your computer, just click the posting title.
(It's a big file, so give it a while to load)

To download the podcast to itunes:
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Paste the following url: http://spiritualchicks.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

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Bread and Roses

2009-02-23T09:26:00.000-08:00

I recently went to see Billy Elliott on Broadway. There is something about a Broadway show that always lifts my spirits and refocuses me as a spiritual being. Watching any arts performance—music, theater or dance—reconnects me with my Soul and forces me out of “little me” and into the bigger “I am/One Life” level of existence.

It was a profound experience watching an 11 year old boy sing, dance and act the part of a miner’s son who struggles to pursue his heart’s desire to become a ballet dancer. The backdrop of the play was the 1984 British mining strike that lasted a year before ending without any concessions from the State-owned mining industry. The miners’ struggle to meet their basic needs for food, clothing, shelter and community, is juxtaposed with Billy’s journey to move beyond these basic needs and to a level of existence where he can express his true nature through the arts.

The beauty of the play for me was the way the father, initially opposed to Billy becoming a dancer, finally understands that despite the fact that the family was in the midst of a strike, his son has a right to pursue his dream. As a parent, I related both to the miners and to Billy’s struggle. As a nation and a world, many of us are faced with challenging economic conditions. Like the miners, we don’t really know how it will all turn out, but like Billy we know we must pursue our dreams anyway. Somehow Billy knew that as Shakespeare said, “We are such stuff as dreams are made on.”

As we move forward through these challenging times, let us not squelch the creative spark alive within us all. To quote the old labor song—“Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes; Hearts starve as well as bodies; bread and roses, bread and roses.”

Tami

Question EVERYTHING?

2009-01-22T11:28:00.000-08:00

The Spiritual Chicks’ philosophy is very straightforward:

Question Everything
Condemn Nothing
Align Yourself With What You Want.

These three steps have helped me navigate through life and create what I want. But this simple process doesn’t always come naturally…unless you happen to be a six year old.

The barrage of non-condemning questions I have been asked lately by my kindergarten-age daughter is staggering.

“Why did Uncle Cheun die?”
“Why did they bury him in a box if his body is going to fade away anyway?
“Why are you working on making dirty water clean (my new volunteer project)? Do WE drink this water?”
“Why did we buy that candy corn if you never let me eat it?”
And my personal favorite, “Why does poop smell?”

Her questions encourage me to think about things that I typically do or believe out of habit. What’s even greater is that when I respond, it’s not always about me giving an answer that will then become her habit of belief, but about the two of us exploring how we can align ourselves with ideas that really work for us.

Karen

Dr. Judith Orloff's New Book

2009-01-20T14:53:00.000-08:00

Dr. Judith Orloff has a new book coming out called "EMOTIONAL FREEDOM:LIBERATE YOURSELF FROM NEGATIVE EMOTIONS AND TRANSFORM YOUR LIFE." Check out this great reveiw by Carolyn Myss: http://www.spiritualchicks.com/Orloff.htm.

The Spiritual Chicks on Powerfull Living Radio

2008-06-04T09:52:00.000-07:00

Well, we set up our blog, but as you can see, we have not been very regular about posting. That’s mostly been my fault. I haven’t been writing things down much these days—my life has been more about speaking and listening. …And on that topic, Tami and I did a radio interview recently. We chatted with Lorraine Cohen on her show, Powerfull (yup, that’s right, double “L” as in full) Living Radio. Some of you may have heard us live, and for those of you who missed it, here’s the link to the show:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/PowerfullLiving/blog/2008/05/01/Powerfull-Living-Radio

We had wonderful time talking with Lorraine (and her friend Anita toward the end of the show) about Spirituality and Questioning. You know us Spiritual Chicks, always Questioning Everything—hey, I think there’s a good book with that title!

Thanks again to our growing reader base—our book has a marvelous life of its own, even if we don’t get around to blogging as much as we’d like!

Karen

What’s Love Got to Do with It?

2007-10-15T08:14:00.000-07:00

Turns out, love has everything to do with everything. Not the sentimental, sappy version promoted by Hallmark or its cousin sexual passion, however. Those versions of love—no matter how enjoyable or painful—are usually nothing more than emotional responses to circumstance, knee-jerk reactions often triggered by libido, fear, or our desire for power and control. This love is conditional, can be retracted at will, and has been used to justify everything from war to child abuse.

What we’re talking about is LOVE as the raw energy of the universe that creates, destroys, nurtures, and drives life itself. In our book, The Spiritual Chicks Question Everything, we call this raw energy the One Life Principle—the single underlying power in the universe that expresses itself in many different forms, including, but not limited to: “baseball players, puppies, exotic dancers, Supreme Court justices, rocks, trees, even criminals.”

We’re not the only people who talk this way about LOVE. Many spiritual teachers and philosophies either wax poetic about or pay lip service to this mind bending approach to reality but somehow miss the biggest implication of all—that if there is only One Life, then everything is a reflection of not only LOVE, but of ourselves as expressions of LOVE. You are an expression of me and I am an expression of you. There is no separation. From LOVE’s point of view, we’re all One.

This big idea is more than just an intellectual exercise as Joe Vitale’s new book, Zero Limits: The Secret Hawaiian System for Wealth, Health, Peace and More (John Wiley & Sons, 2007) makes abundantly clear. This amazing book tells Joe’s story of meeting Dr. Hew Len, a psychologist who used the Hawaiian technique of Ho’oponopono to cure an entire ward of mentally-ill criminals without ever treating them professionally. I won’t ruin the story by revealing the exact method here, go and get the book and you’ll find out all you need to know. What I will say is that the technique used by Dr. Len to harness the power of LOVE to heal the criminally insane, is incredibly simple and just might be the answer to healing the planet, or at the very least our own hearts and souls. (Don't forget, according to the One Life Principle, that's all there is anyway.) How do I know? I use it everyday and it works.

Tami

Is Pamela Anderson Ready to Marry Again?

2007-10-01T08:41:00.000-07:00

Every day when I’m online (yes, I’m obviously still on AOL) I’m bombarded with headlines such as the very fascinating one above. Personally, I don’t have anything against Pamela Anderson, Paris Hilton, Nicole Ritchie, Lindsay Lohan or Britney Spears. I think they’re all doing the best they can to live their lives with the knowledge they have about how the universe works. (True confession: This morning, as if in some hypnotic trance, I clicked on the You Tube video of David Letterman grilling Paris about her jail stay. Luckily, my phone rang right before the clip loaded and I was snapped out of my stupor.) My problem as a Spiritual Chick is that I’d prefer to be bombarded with more meaningful information, maybe even something uplifting every now and then. Here are some headlines I’d like to see:

• President Bush Brings Troops Home and Vows to Wipe Out War in His Lifetime
• The Pope Wants Everyone to Enjoy Sex!
• Israeli and Palestinian Governments to Lay Down Weapons and Find Out Why They Hate Each Other
• Big Pharma To Subsidize Single Payer Health Plan
• Hillary Clinton Announces It’s Okay to Stay Home and Bake Cookies
• Guantamo Closes
• Liquid Ban on Airplanes Lifted
• Curriculum on Love Instituted in Schools Nationwide
• The Spiritual Chicks Question Everything Rises to Number One on Amazon!
I know it’s radical, but a girl can dream, can’t she?

Tami