The Newsletter from Wisechoices

Dear Friends and Family of Mari Hall and Wisechoices,

Thanks to all who participated in the last Usui Retreat. The next one will start on the 21st of December. The guest Reiki writer is to be announced.

Thirty-Nine years ago today I gave birth to my daughter Stacey. It has given me time to reflect on the events of her birth and life. It is awe inspiring when I look back and she how she has grown up and taken her place as an adult and a mother. This morning we sang Happy Birthday to her while she was still in bed. Her children all around her filled with joy and love. Instead of the customary spanking of 39 light touches with one to grow on…we decided to kiss her 39 times. She squealed with delight.

I have enclosed three articles or short stories for your reading pleasure, I hope you enjoy them.

I wish you days of happiness and fond memories are we head into August.

Love and Blessings,
Mari

There is Something New at Wisechoices!

Now registering and paying for your upcoming event with Mari Hall is much easier. You can simply choose the date of interest, click on the 'Pay' buttons, and use your Credit or Check Card to complete the transaction and ensure your place in the next event with Mari Hall. You DO NOT need a Paypal account to complete a transaction.

All the classes are listed yet but we are working on it. There will also be links directly to the organizer of each course or event
http://www.wisechoices.com/paypal.asp

There is still a chance to attend the "Healing Ourselves, Healing the World," Greater Washington Reiki Conference Saturday, July 30 and Sunday, July 31, 2005. Mari is one of the guest speakers and will be teaching a ONE class on Sunday. Just follow this link for more information and to register.

http://www.reikicenter.info/pages/907070/index.htm



Giving the Freedom to Live Accepting the Journeys of Others

Each of us, in life, walks on the special path that the soul is destined to undertake. Our journeys are very different and we progress at different rates. The pitfalls and blessings we encounter are unique, yet we are all learning and no one form of knowledge is more important than any other. Even so, when we observe others, it can be easy to pass judgment on their decisions and to assume their actions will correspond with what we feel is right. But for every problem, there are a multitude of solutions. Everyone makes mistakes and, while watching others do so can be frustrating, it is important that you accept each person's unique way of doing things. Giving others the freedom to act in the way they feel are best without the fear of harsh judgments honors the capacity for growth that all people possess. It is helpful to practice accepting others as they are. Never judge the decisions of others based on the path you would have taken because every person lives by different values and experiences. Challenge is a universal concept, but we all deal with difficulties in our own way. Give others the space to fail, but don't harden your heart against their experience. It isn't wise to try and fix people or control situations. You may feel compelled to intervene when difficulties arise, but it is important only to offer guidance when asked unless the person is involved in a truly dangerous situation or cannot act for their own self. Failure to choose the right path or to make enlightened decisions is simply another step on the journey. It is a means to experience and wisdom. Letting go of the need to influence others does not discount offering loving support and it does not mean that you need to stop caring. It does mean stepping back, dissolving judgment, and gracefully allowing others to live their own destinies. Giving others the freedom to blossom in their own journeys gives you the freedom to take more notice of your own. You may not condone the actions you see taking place, but your reactions will be more loving by letting them be. And you will be able to focus on just being yourself, confident that the path you take is as right, valid, and special as any other.

From the Daily OM


The Importance of Aligning the Chakras
By Samasathi Byron Bay, Australia

Who are we, but a line of energy, pulsating more or less in harmony according to the balance of our four planes (physical, emotional, mental, spiritual)Enveloping our physical body, the Etheric aura is the direct result of this pulsation and will be strong, smooth, firm provided that our life energy is harmonious, our Chakras, true vortexes of energy , turning on themselves without any blockages.
In Sanskrit, a Chakra is a “wheel of energy”, and, although the Tradition numbers 72,000 the seven (the wisdom number) main ones are located alongside a channel “Sushumna” following the backbone from the Root up to the Crown.
Symbolically represented as lotus flowers ranging from 4 petals for the Root and 1,024 for the Crown, the Chakras whirl faster and faster when aligned, similar to blooming flowers radiating energy.
In direct relation with the too often overlooked endocrinal glands, the Chakras impact on our four planes and aligning them is the very essence of a Reiki treatment:

I AM: the Root Chakra is the Centre of Survival; the newborn has first to survive. A baby lives in the present and the fragmentation of life has us loose this grace. We have to find again our Inner Child.

I FEEL: the Sacral Chakra is the Centre of Desire; here enters duality and the emotional law of attraction and repulsion. We wish to be approved and accepted, we are scared to be abandoned.

I WANT: the Solar plexus is our Inner Sun and the Centre of our Will; we want to conquer the world and, what is good, master our fears. There is no love here but all the pressures of our modern society: money, power ad our image.

I LOVE: the Heart Chakra is the Centre of Unconditional Love and truly the Bridge between our earthen energies and the higher spiritual ones. Here Love becomes stronger than primal fears, and we discover the virtue of giving.

I TRUST: the Throat Chakra is the Centre of Trust and governs our capacity of expression. We open ourselves to life, and every sentient being including Mother Earth and the Cosmos is the face of Oneness.

I SEE: the Third Eye is the Centre of Intuition. We accept to let come and let go, and we are not scared to look at the Sun. We are now aware of the limits and dangers of the ego and we privilege intuition over mind.

I KNOW: the Crown Chakra is the Centre of Wisdom (the number 7). We are One with the Universe. We started in Innocence and we end in Innocence. Beginning and end, life and death, positive and negative are one. This is the Circle of Truth.

We are all divine beings and Buddhas to become! From the very beginning, everything is present as well as each Chakra contains all seven chakras. Once all aligned, there is only One Energy radiating Light and Love. Only the direction of your attention has changed, for all the aspects of the Universe have always been in you.

Our relative existence is just a grain of sand in the Ocean with which we are ONE.


The contemplative quest

Linda Sabbath took her three sons and decided to go and live on a small farm in the interior of Canada, where she wanted to dedicate herself completely to spiritual contemplation. In less than a year she fell in love, got married again, studied the saints’ techniques of meditation, fought for a school for her children, made friends, make enemies, neglected her teeth, got herself an abscess, hitchhiked in snowstorms, learned to fix the car, thaw out frozen pipes, make her alimony stretch out at month’s end, survive on unemployment money, sleep without indoor heating, laugh for no reason, cry with despair, build a chapel, make repairs to the house, paint walls, and give courses on spiritual contemplation. “And I eventually realized that a life of prayer does not mean isolation,” she says. Love is so big it has to be shared.

Paulo Coelho