0526

Inner

Journeys

withAnne Marie

Bennett

Integratingthe Practice of SoulCollage® into Your Daily

Life

Journey Through the Chakras: Sixth Chakra

Idon't know about you, but when I started practicing SoulCollage, I knewvery little about the chakras. I stepped out into the Companions Suitsimply trusting Seena's voice on her Introduction to SoulCollage CD. Myfirst steps into the Chakras found me chatting with a Little Brown Birdin my Heart Chakra area. After that, I spent a little time in each ofthe chakras as I discovered the Animal Companion who lived in eachone. Please note that this journey did not happen in the course of aweek or a month, but more like two years!

This article is one in a series on eachof the seven chakras. If you missed the previous articles, you cancatch up by going to your Members Home Page and clicking on the" Soul Treasures Back Issues" icon.

Trusting My Intuition

The sixth chakra is also known as the Third Eye Chakra. According to Anodea Judith, author of The Sevenfold Journey: Reclaiming Mind, Body and Spirit Through the Chakras,this chakra is about the energy in your body that is focused between your eyes, in the center of your forehead. It is also about light, darkness, color, vision, memory, imagination, visualization, the color indigo, and intuition.

This is one of the first chakras that I understood, as intuition has played a big part in a large portion of my life. So I actually found focusing on my Third Eye chakra easy to do this month.

I have learned, throughout the years, to trust my inner promptings on a large-scale basis. For example, there was time I placed a singles ad in our local newspaper. Of course, this was 17 years ago, when such things were brand new (and before you could go online and do it). During that period of my life, I was hoping to increase my social life, and it felt to me like exactly the right, safe way to do it.

Notice I say that it felt like the right thing to do, as opposed to I thought it was the right thing to do. Actually, if I had relied on my thinking brain, I never would have done this at all. I had never done anything remotely like that (before or since), so it was a surprise when I felt myself inwardly nudged to do this. I had no intention of meeting a husband, but that is exactly what happened (I now jokingly refer to Jeff as "Bachelor #7.").

Throughout my life I have also (usually but not always) trusted my intuition to safely guide me through a myriad of relationships, family issues, and career changes. To me it looks like this: simply knowing on a deep level when it's time to leave a certain job, feeling at home with a particular person, being internally aware of the right time to talk about a certain issue, sensing inside that a workplace "feels right."

I intuitively "knew" that SoulCollage was perfect for me the first time I read a description of it online. And through the years, I've discovered that the practice itself has sharpened my intuitive skills in a visceral way. Because the more I turn off my thinking brain when I'm looking for images or making a card, the more space my intuition has to operate. And the more that I trust my intuition to choose the best images for me, to place them "this" way instead of "that" way on my card, the more I find myself trusting my intuition on a day-to-day basis instead of just for the "big things" in life.

It's a skill that I'm still just beginning to work on, but it's a powerful one. For example, I've been working on building exercise into my life as a given experience rather than a hit-or-miss, I'll-do-it-if-I-have-time kind of thing. It occurred to me recently that I can practice intuition in a matter as simple as this as well.

My tendency is to want to have it all planned out... on Mondays and Wednesdays I'll use the treadmill, on Tuesday and Saturday I'll swim...etc. But I've found that what works better for me is to wait until I've actually woken up, and then just wait until I "feel" which method of exercise feels best for me right now, in this moment. I find that I actually exercise more this way because I'm not forcing myself, I'm actually answering a current need. And yes, sometimes I'm led to not exercise at all, which I take as a signal from my body that it needs rest.

I'm also, to my delight, discovering that this works for me with food as well. It's a much slower process, because food has been such an emotional solution for me for so many years. But it does work, and I am sure that as I continue to practice deepening my intuition with SoulCollage, it will get easier and easier.

Reflection Activity: Take a few moments to breathe into the space between your eyes. What is this part of your body trying to tell you right now? How intuitive are you? Is there some way to give yourself more quiet time this week so that you can give this part of you time and space to grow? Pay attention to your intuition the next time you're looking for images for your SoulCollage practice. Consciously turn down the volume of your thinking self, and spend some time getting to know the part of you who simply "knows."

Soul

Friends

TheVoice of a Different Kindred Spirit Each

Week

Kathleen Starrett
Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia

Hello everyone, my name is Kathleen Starrett from NewcastleNSW, Australia and I have been creating SoulCollages since April 2007.

Until a year ago I did not know that the"SoulCollage" process existed! I had been making collages since June 2001 as part of amonthly ritual to honour menstruation (and to tap into the incredible powerthat we as women possess during this time). I had accumulated nearly 100 cards and I felt that I needed a way to turn them into a "readable"deck for guidance.

I felt strongly guided to search for "Soul" and"Collage" on the internet and hence discovered Seena's SoulCollage website and Iinstantly knew that I had "found" what I was looking for and immediatelybooked myself into a day workshop to learn more!

What I love best about SoulCollage is the freedom that Ihave to discover "who" I am in a safe, fun, creative way and themore SoulCollages I make, the more I come to "know myself" ... it's almostas if I am "giving birth to myself" and this gives me a sense of wholeness andsatisfaction.

I also love making Community Cards ... to capture the energyof loved ones is something that I treasure most.

I love sharing the SoulCollage process with others and I amblessed to host a small monthly group of Soul Sisters at a local spiritualcommunity centre named Rose Cottage.

The next step in my journey is becoming a SoulCollageFacilitator with Karen Mann inMelbourneduring the weekend of May 30 - June 1 ... which I am looking forward to!

My advice for others who are practicing SoulCollage is toallow the images to come together, "trust the process", welcomeyourself into being and most of all have fun.

I have a SoulCollage Blog called Soularium where I regularlyshare my new cards and dialogues; it also contains links to my other blogs,creative interests and online shops.

2 of my favorite SoulCollage cards are:

The Good Father
Suit: Council

I am the one who ... mentors and teaches you how to be acitizen of the world, to know your place amongst all others as equals. I am the "Good Father", the one who shows leadership, assertiveness,logical reasoning, and of working hard. I ampowerful and wise and my wisdom is valued. I am the one who strengthens your courage and knows you are more thanyou say you are, I know of your potential and hidden skill/talents. I provide good safe strong boundaries, I respect myself and others. I work hard for those I love. I am the onewho "Fathers" you in a good way."

This is such an important card for me ... as I had a rathertoxic relationship with my own father growing up. This card letsme know that fathers can be loving and provide good, safe boundaries.

Gypsy Wanderer
Suit: Committee

I am the one who ...is following my star wherever it leads. I am free to dance my dance andweave my way around/over the country-side. I know no limitation as mySpirit guides me to unknown places.

SoulCollage

Expressions

Idea of the Week

As I collect images, I start to see themes that I want to work with. "Oh this is a perfect image for that other image...that I put...where is it?" That is when the digging starts... Pile after pile and file after file...

Well, I thought of a way to stop, or at least slow that madness. I took a three ring binder and added a bunch of the clear, plastic page protectors. Now when I find an image I really want to work with, I place it in one of the plastic pouches and label the pouch with a small sticker.

Now I have collections of themed images, each collection in a clear container, easy to see and retrieve when I am ready to work with them. It works so well in fact, I need a larger binder now. ---Sandra inTexas

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Upcoming Tele-Classes

This week!

The Fool Archetype
presented by Suzie Wolfer,
SoulCollage Facilitator in Oregon

Wehave chosen this as the topic of our next tele-class because Seenasuggests that everyone have a "Fool" card in their deck. It seems tobe one of the lesser understood archetypes.

Carl Jungbelieved that our minds come coded with patterns, which lead usto perceive the world in a particular way. He called thesepredispositions archetypes. They are like the DNA of the personality.

The Fool Archetype has some interesting
characteristics:Itcontains all aspects of "foolishness" that are possible. For example inthe Fool archetype you find the Sacred Clown,the Comedian, the MysticFool, the Healer Clown like the character Patch Adams. They each containan element of Divine Innocence.

The word Fool comes from theLatin word follis, which means a pair of bellows, which provide theoxygen needed for combustion. The Fool "fires us up" with the impetusfor action when something is finished or goes stale. The Fool persistson the journey, when others might turn back and head for the familiar, orgive up on a relationship instead of continuing to love,because theyjust don't know better . . .
and opportunities unfold.

Date: Thursday, May 29, 2008 (that's this Thursday!)

Time:
9:00 pm Eastern, 8:00 pm Central, 7:00 pm Mountain,
6:00 pm Pacific, 3:00 pm Hawaiian,
Friday 2 a.m.. in London,
Friday 3 a.m. in Rome, Friday 11 a.m. in Melbourne Australia
and Friday 1 pm in New Zealand

Phone Number to Call: 1-218-936-1600
Access Code: 705321

Save the date now. All of our tele-classes are FR*EE for members, always! And remember, don't worry if you can't attend... we'll be recordingthem and you can listen to them anytime in your
Member's Only Audio Library.

Upcoming SoulCollage Retreats & Trainings
with Anne Marie Bennett

New England SoulCollage Facilitator Training- August 8-10, 2008 in western
Massachusetts. Thistraining is now full. But you can still check out the pagefor information or to sign up for the waiting list or to be put on the list for the next New England Training.

Stay tuned... in just a few weeks we'll be opening registration for our next New England SoulCollage Facilitator Training...

SoulNourishment

Resourcesto support your inner work
as you dive deeper

into your beautiful soul

Books:

Trust Your Vibes, by Sonia Choquette. Excellent resource for understanding and developing your own intuition.

Advancing YourSpirit, Dr. Wayne Dyer and Marianne Williamson. 4-CD set. These two brilliant authors and teachers address vital questions onfinding the meaning in your life's journey. You'll be able to transform your challenges and concerns into spiritualtriumphs. Learn the keys to empoweringyourself in the midst of change, chaos and complexity, plus see your life as ablueprint for growth and personal evolution.

The UnfoldingSelf, by Ralph Metzner. Describesthe unfolding of the self from the symbolic to the real. Myths, legends, and magic sparkle in thiscoherent work that describes the various avenues of the heroic journey toawareness.

Stand Up For YourLife, by Cheryl Richardson. Subtitle: Develop the Courage, Confidence, and Character to Fulfill YourGreatest Potential. Richardson helps you transform innerobstacles such as fear, self-doubt and worry about what others think... into anew foundation of confidence and improved self-esteem. This wonderful, wise book offers some new"inner life skills" to those who are ready to stop hiding their power and startliving according to their Divine assignment. Uses many real-life examples and stories (including her own).

Improv Wisdom:Don't Prepare, Just Show Up, by Patricia Ryan Madson. In an irresistible invitation to lighten up,look around, and live an unscripted life, a master of the art of improvisationexplains how to adopt the attitudes and techniques used by generations ofactors and musicians. Based on thepremise that life is something we have to continually make up as we go along,no matter how carefully we formulate a "script." This wise and witty little book shows us howto apply the form of improvisational theatre to real-life challenges, whetherit's dealing with a demanding boss, a tired child, or one of life'snever-ending surprises.

Movies:

City ofJoy, featuring Patrick Swayze, Pauline Collins. Based on Dominique Lapierre'sbook set in the slums ofCalcutta,this film tells the emotionally affecting stories of an American doctor and anIndian rickshaw driver. It explores howcompassionate service brings us face to face with our limitations and our needto work in community. ---from Spiritual Rx, Prescriptions forLiving a Meaningful Life, by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

Websites:

Sacred Destinations- Explore sacred sites, ancient wonders and religious sites around the world. Use your imagination to visit these places, or get your suitcases out and really go. Why not?

Lee's SoulCollage Cards- Blog from SoulCollager Lee Ambrose in Tennessee.

Lila- Visionary art, Shamanism, and the transpersonal vision. Hit your mouse on any of the images on this page and you'll be led to see more images by the same artist. Inspiration anyone?

AllBooks For Less- Are you a book lover? Then you will have fun with this amazing website. They have thousands of books on any topic you can think of, all at greatlyreduced prices. It's not like Amazon or Half.com where you are buyingfrom individual sellers. This is a reputable dealer and most of the booksare available in quantity, which is great for book clubs as well as giftgiving. Search for your favorite author or topic and see how muchsavings you can gather this spring.