Julie Tallard Johnson’s Blog

 Wisconsin offers a diverse bounty of spiritual and psychological resources for the taking. In one’s search for wholeness and well-being there are many potential pitfalls along with numerous green possibilities. 

Many of us go in search of spiritual and psychological services to either awaken our potential or to get personal freedom from what binds us, while others, hope to reach a state of enlightenment or nirvana. Interestingly, a literal translation of  ‘nirvana’ is ‘cessation.’ We reach nirvana when we cease the search for spiritual and psychological wellbeing because we have obtained it. Ultimately our search ends the great illusion that what we seek is elsewhere (outside of ourselves). This is the great “green” indicator of a given spiritual or psychological practice – the ones that (without much ado) lead you to yourself. They simply open inner doors. 

This passionate search for spiritual truth and psychological well-being makes us vulnerable to less-than-worthy practices but is also the fuel that moves us to a desired destination. If we are in spiritual or psychological pain or simply out of balance, we may need a teacher or guide to temporarily lead the way. Sometimes we search for a simple adjustment, other times we need to immerse ourselves in some practice to get through a dark night of the soul. Both make you willing and vulnerable.

Our culture puts out a lot of money for spiritual, emotional and physical wellbeing. Beyond this we also open our minds, hearts and souls for instruction, healing and direction. So, holding a template in our minds as to what a green practice would be can help hold a guidepost on our journey to Self. Given below are some pointers to what makes a spiritual or psychological practice green. 

A green practice offers an organic template of guidance free of dogma, rules or rigid assumptions. It may be rich with tradition and linked to historical practices (such as yoga, Tibetan Buddhism, Sufism, depth psychology, or mystical Christianity). But it will not forfeit present intentions and awareness for tradition. Therefore a dynamic practice evolves and is able to let go of traditions that no longer serve its practitioners. A green practice uses tradition as a means not a goal. One may practice a certain meditation to calm the mind but to practice in order to be the best meditator (or to please a given teacher) makes meditation a goal. A green spiritual or psychological service recognizes the need and intentions of the seeker rather than enforcing some formula. The greener the practice the more empowering it is likely to be for the seeker.

In a green practice the seeker’s experience is the guidepost, not the doctrine or practice. When doctrine supersedes a person’s intuition there is a divergence between what one truly experiences and what the doctrine insists one should experience. The moment you feel this divergence question the process, not yourself. Turn the questioning mind outward in this case.

A green practice is easily integrated into one’s life. This means it is compatible with an already good life. (Even in situations where a major life overhaul is needed like in the case of drug addiction, the process encourages you to enhance what you do have going for you).

A green practice does not require a long-term financial commitment or a big down payment to receive instruction. Recently a friend of mine attended a Friday night introductory workshop that promised the secrets of prosperity. The cost of the weekend was four thousand dollars. What’s a mere four thousand when you could manifest millions after this workshop? Most wrote checks on the spot. (Be careful if you are thinking, “fools.” There are many masterful and hidden techniques that are used to influence and control the minds of vulnerable people searching for help).

A green practice does not recruit followers. Instead it emphasizes personal responsibility and freedom. You are not encouraged to recruit others to this “way.” Success is clearly attributed to the seekers commitment and practice not to the healer, teacher, formula, or doctrine.

A green practice unifies rather than divides. It connects the client/seeker to their local community and to their own intuitive wisdom.

In a green practice the language is humane and not loaded. Loaded language is used as a source of directive control. Such vocabulary is meant to define various personal experiences and thoughts as the practitioner or group wants the client to see and respond to them. For example, you are told you are either in or out of “integrity.” Through such loaded language you are cut off from your intuition. A skillful, green therapist or teacher would frame a response in a question, directing you to ask and trust yourself.

The green practice relies on science and natural law. Much can be revealed through contact with nature and through the laws of science (such as cause and effect). During a difficult time, when all else failed my spiritual teacher suggested I go out into the country and watch the moonrise. This was back in 1990’s when I lived in the city of Minneapolis. The evening I witnessed the moonrise gave me what I needed. I acted on my awareness and soon moved to rural Wisconsin.

A green practice is transpersonal. It relies on a perspective that views the seeker as of part of the whole. A given personal issue is not pathologized where the focus is on only eliminating the negative condition. Rather, the approach is holistic, understanding the problem in context to one’s entire life.

And finally, the teacher or therapist is known to practice what they preach. The best teachers and healers do their most profound work by setting an example.

“The path to trust leads through inquiry, and we should never be complacent in our discernment.”  John Kain, taken from A Rare and Precious Thing: The Possibilities and Pitfalls of Working with a Spiritual Teacher.

Come as you are. Walk the  Thundering Cloud’s wild prairie spiral now in full bloom. Waiting for you, sunrise to dusk. Walk the ancient spiral and visit with the natural world. Open free to the public, 5:30 am to 7:00 pm,  August 8^th to August 15^th.

“You don’t need tickets

To listen to crickets.”  Douglas Florian, children’s author

Take your prayers and intentions into the spiral and open up to the wisdom that is everywhere. Or simply come and listen as you move through the wild flowers and grasses. 

“Listen to the voice of nature, for it holds treasures for you.”  –Huron Proverb

Located at Thundering Cloud’s Center for Creative Expression, LLC 6 miles west of Plain Wisconsin. Call or email ahead for directions, 608-588-3005. I will be available walking the spiral each sunrise till August 15^th, 2008. Sunrise walks will include a brief guided meditation.  Dawn and dusk are transformative times in the prairie.

“Attend me, hold me in your muscular flowering arms, protect me from throwing any part of myself away.”  – Audre Lorde, African-American Poet and Activist  

“For love is our true purpose, our true calling. Love is calling each of us home, to the vast reservoir of love within ourselves.”  –Lama Surya Das, Buddhist teacher and author

Dusk           by Shannon King 

At Dusk iridescence,

houses, trees, grass, flowers

begin to glow

giving up the stored light of day.

darkening of sky

opens to us, a glimpse

into the heart of matter,

as it lapses into night.  – Shannon King, poet, artist, friend

Emaho!

All through our lives we have been expected to function according to other people’s timing. You have to show up at work at a scheduled times, are expected to attend college, have children, get married and eat dinner all at given times in one’s life. There seems to be a “right” time for everything-when you should start dating, to when you should retire. Although there is a natural timing for everything in nature, human beings have lost touch with this natural timing. Our culture really interferes with our own natural and personal rhythms - advertisements, popular television shows and movies, music, social and religious organizations, and businesses all dictate what you should be doing and when.

We lose touch with the natural timing that is within our bodies and psyches.

Traditional cultures realized that each of us has his or her own natural rhythms, his or her own pace. Like fingerprints, each person’s timing is unique, even sacred. Not surprisingly, many people suffer because they are caught between what feels like the correct time to do something and when others expect them to do it. Some people live their entire lives according to timetables imposed by others and a belief they hold about what is right timing. If you know someone who is unhappy, you will probably discover that they have been denying their own sense of sacred timing. An example might be: “My grandfather wanted my dad to put off school and stay and help him on the farm, so he never did make it to college.” Or, often times feeling “lazy” or “rushed,” or “overwhelmed” are all signs that you are on someone else’s timing and not your own. 

Feeling out of sync with what society sees as the “ideal” timetable and pace for life can distort your self-image. Back in 1991 I was feeling upset with myself. All my life I had felt I was lazy. I liked those times I gave myself to just hang out at home and do nothing. But I always had some unfinished project hanging over my head. I often felt overwhelmed by the feeling that I was a lazy person. At the time, it was so much on my mind that I shared it with my spiritual advisor. 

She smiled at me and asked, “How many books have you written so far? Isn’t it true you have a successful business and own your own home, and you find time to play and relax?”  I laughed at myself. I realized that I was carrying my father’s timing (he was a workaholic). I discovered that I was beating myself over the head with other people’s notions of timing. For my father, there were no weekends off. I had thought my life should “look” a certain way but it wasn’t my way. I was carrying the BELIEF of laziness, work addiction, beliefs passed down from my father’s lineage.

What beliefs and assumptions around timing do you carry with you?

To manifest your own personal intentions and dreams, you need to honor your own timing. Tuning in to your own timing will help alleviated frustration at not doing things when other people are doing them, (or even in the way they do them), and will empower you to make choices based on when the time is correct for you. Nothing cramps a creative spirit like feeling pressured to do something when you aren’t ready or being held back from doing something when you do feel ready. 

We all must claim our timing, take back our timing, our internal rhythms from those who possess them (bosses, parents, friends, colleagues, institutions, beliefs). We don’t have to go through our lives plugged into the rhythms and intentions of others. We don’t have to agree to a belief that is not true for us.

Here are a few methods to claim back your timing:

                        1. Become aware of your own unique timing (which changes throughout                                                                                     our lives);                        

                        2. Become aware of whose timing you are fulfilling.

                        3. Practice not rushing yourselves or others. Rushing is a form of                                                                                                 violence.

                        4. Begin or reestablish a meditation and journaling practice;

                        5. Do something out of sync with the general publics, or work’s timing;

                        6. Take regular time in Nature, to help you reconnect with that natural                                                                                     timing;

                        7. Break a simple habit this week, and then another next week.

                        9. Read A Hidden Wholeness by Parker Palmer

                        8. Read Spiritual Journaling by Julie Tallard Johnson

                        9. Include in your holiday celebrations acknowledgment of the seasonal                                                             holiday (Winter Solstice, Embalc, Spring Equinox).

Across the wall of the world,

A River sings a beautiful song. It says,

Come, rest here by my side.

Lift up your eyes

Upon this day breaking for you.

Give birth again

To the dream.  - Maya Angelou, poet

Spiritual Journaling Exercises –

Write about “being in sync’ using the following words:  fool, wind, native, earth, green, arrow.

Rise up with the sun and journal about what needs regeneration in your life.

Start writing your life story in your journal.

Write about the impossible being possible.

 Write about the color blue.

Stress, in all the flavors it arises in our lives, causes us to respond to events habitually and to overeat. We cannot always remove the stressors but here are some simple means to reduce the stress in our lives.Simple breath meditation: Take 5 to 10 minutes to sit upright in a straight back chair. Have your feet on the ground and uncrossed with your hands comfortably resting on your lap. Take three deep breaths, imagining letting go of stress and worries as you exhale. Then close your eyes, remind yourself for right now, there is nothing to do, figure out or achieve. Just sit and breath. Then begin to rest your attention on your breath as you naturally breath in and out. Feel the body sitting in the chair as you breath. Just let the breath come and go as you bring your attention to it. Then after 5 to 10 minutes, take another nice deep breath, rub your hands together and open your eyes.Simple morning journal writing: At the start of the day write a flow chart, a list of all that you want to get done today. As you write imagine the day going perfectly for you and how easy it will be to accomplish all these tasks. Imagine getting the help you may want. When you are done with your list, circle three that you are going to give over to your Higher Power to take care of. Then put the list away and go about your day.Simple evening journal writing (or contemplation): Write about what you appreciated about the day – the encounters, the weather, or the letter from a friend. Include as much as possible (this too can be a list). Or, if you like, you can focus on one particular event and write about how it uplifted you. What are you grateful for that occurred today?Simply getting what you want: When we are stressed obviously we have some things to complain about. Research has shown that complaints actually add to our stress. This is because the brain is going over the difficulty again. You can write this out or simply practice this when you are complaining (to yourself or others): Ask yourself what it is you want? Behind every complaint is a request – something you want. Instead of complaining, reframe it in a request. This also helps decrease stress because you are more likely to get what you want when you ask for it. If you seem unsure of what it is you want, when you find yourself complaining, take a breath (take a breather!) and ask yourself, “What do I want?” Then, if it is too big to get it right away (you would like the water out of your basement), what is the next step (want) that would get you closer to this? Having awareness of what we want and reframing our complaints into wants gives us a lot more energy to actually then get what we want.Simple time in nature: Give yourself some quiet time in nature where you can listen to the songs of the birds or sit under a favorite tree. Give yourself time in nature where you are not “getting anything done,” but simply enjoying a some free time, Again, remind yourself that for these 10 minutes or so, there is nothing to figure out, do or achieve, just enjoy the natural world.When we can relax the mind, let go of trying to achieve something more solutions come to us. This is how the brain works! It can better help us when we are relaxed and at ease.September Women’s Retreat at Thundering Cloud’s Center for Creative Expression, LLCFriday September 12th from 10 am to 8 pm.Experience Personal Initiation with an intention through spiritual journaling Bindu Breathwork, personal ritual and a shared purification ceremony (sweat lodge).Initiate your intention, and create needed movement in your life. Retreat begins at 10:00 am and ends after the sweat lodge ceremony. Sweat lodge will be around 6pm. A deposit of $50.00 to hold your space is requested. The cost of the full retreat is $50.00 to $125.00. Includes lunch, snacks, beverages, and guaranteed movement.. Limited to 14 women. One partial scholarship is available.Thundering Clouds Center is 8 miles Northwest of Spring Green.“Spiritual power is really a distinctive kind of knowledge that is like the key that opens the door or the switch that starts the energy moving. It is that special insight that we need to break up a log jam of knowledge.” –Fools Crow, taken from Fools Crow; Wisdom and Power, by Thomas E. MailsJulie Tallard Johnson, MSW, LCSWThundering Clouds ConsultingHealing Services Overlooking the Riverhttp://www.julietallardjohnson.com608-963-0724