"Seeing" Is Believing - A Course In Miracles Lesson 52

So im trying to get better at this time management thing as part of my upcoming detox. Not only will it help with me posting more regularly but also it should help me get to bed earlier. (Which means more sleep and less reliance on coffee... yay!) I'm sure i will let you guys know how that goes...lol.

Speaking of time management, i finally got around to starting and completing my vision board yesterday!

As Claudia said yesterday, "there's a lot of yoga on there." Which makes sense to me since that's ultimately what i want to do in life (and why im saving up for teaching training next year). I also have pictures of meditating (which i want to make a habit), positive affirmations, and just plain overall relaxing. My new year intentions i made at the start of the year have been working out awesome so im hoping this vision board helps me as well.

Not to much to expand on since these next few days will just be reviews. Which i actually like that ACIM does that. I mean, after a few weeks you might not really remember what you did in the past lessons so its nice to have a little refresher every so often.

Well, im off to check on yet another batch of oven dried tomatoes (i think i've almost reached kale chip addiction proportions with these) and try to get some reading done in The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and Against the Stream. I hope everyone enjoyed Pancake Day (my made from scratch vegan pancakes were just short of amazing).

~Victoria

It's Off To Sleepy Land But Not Before A Course In Miracles Lessons 49, 50, 51

This is going to be short and sweet cause well, im tired. Since im giving up caffeine for the detox im doing with Claudia  i figured i could use all the sleep i can get. Besides all that i had a pretty productive day. Ran to the organic market so i could get more tomatoes to make oven dried tomatoes and i started and finished my vision board! (Will post later this week for you guys to see).

But on to the lesson notes...

(Was very tired by the time i got to this lesson, 

hence the lack of actually written notes). 

(Next few days are review days. When im not so tired

i'll actually expand on my notes. I'm doing my lessons

but sometime i just dont know how to translate them

in to written notes). 

Home Cooked Meatless Monday Tastiness

Good afternoon everyone! I hope everyone is having an enjoyable Presidents Day (for those of you that live in the US). I was lucky enough to not be scheduled for work today, and because of the holiday i have no classes so i actually have the full day off! And with having a full day off i was able to wake up and enjoy a delicious green juice (cucumber, green squash, apple, carrots, coconut water) as well as make a yummy meatless monday lunch!

It's a "salad" of sorts with quinoa, baked chickpeas (that i baked last night) and oven dried tomatoes (that i also baked... for four hours last night). Once in my bowl i also sprinkled a tablespoon of coarsely ground flax seed that i picked up from Whole Foods last night. Lets just say it was VERY tasty (in addition to being all sorts of good for me nutritionally wise).

"So Victoria, whats with the switch from the processed fake meats that you love so much to this organic whole food goodness" you might be asking?

Later this week, me and my (to steal a line from Gabby Bernstein) Spiritual Running Buddy Claudia are doing a 7 day detox (using the system from Arbonne since her roomie is a rep) so i figured i would get a little bit of a head start on eating cleaner and cutting out my caffeine. (You don't know how hard that is for someone that works at a coffee shop). Sure it's kind of making my grocery bill go up more so then normal but hey, my health it worth it right? (Plus while at Whole Foods i picked up lots of veggies for my juicer... wicked excited about that part especially).

So who knows where this cleaner eating (at least for a week) will take me. But i bet i can get some great meatless monday posts out of it!

Take A Look, It's In A Book, A Reading Rainbow... - A Course In Miracles Lessons 47 & 48

Raise your hand if this was one of your favorite PBS shows growing up in the 80's & 90's. (I can't be the only one. 3-2-1 Contact was also the shiznit). The main reason why i posted this video was because, thank you to my state tax refunds coming in, i was able to acquire these books over the last three days. (Amazon prime is a very, very, evil thing sometimes).

The book in the top left is actually on YogaDistricts reading list for teacher training. Since my goal is to start my teacher training next year i figured i would start acquiring and reading the books now. The three books around it are all by Noah Levine. I kind of equate him along the lines of the male Gabby Bernstein for for buddhist meditation. If i could become a mix of those two people one day that will be awesome! And of course on the right is my third different copy of A Course In Miracles.

Why three different copies?

The first copy i got was the edition put out by the Foundation For Inner Peace since thats what it seamed (at the time to me) everyone was reading. Then at my first DC area HerFuture meetup i saw one of the girls with a smaller travel version she got in the bargain section at Barnes & Noble. So i picked that up so i could do my lessons, if needed on the metro. As for the third copy... The more i do my lessons the more ideas my ~ing leads me to in regards to the Course and sharing it with others. Well, in order to do implement some of these ideas i needed a copy of the public domain version of ACIM so as to avoid legal problems. Lucky for us it is a) available on the web and b) if you want a hard copy the A Course In Miracles Society prints the public domain version. These ideas i have floating around in my head are still a ways off but i get all excited just thinking about them.

And of course my lessons for the past two days...

When i started this lesson the first thing i thought about was my baby blanket i had sitting beside me on my bed. God may be the strength in which i am learning to trust now, but my baby blanket is what got me through a lot of things when i was younger. So i of course kind of cuddled myself in it during the lesson.

In case you can't tell by all the bubbles and arrows, i really enjoyed todays lesson. Then again i've noticed, if any part of the lessons now deal with my lightbulb moment i had earlier this week i get all sorts of excited. Also, i finally have a new song to be stuck in my head during the lessons (lol).

In case you don't know, this is Saosin's "You're Not Alone" and this i think is very applicable to many aspects of A Course In Miracles. Plus, i met the entire band at Warped Tour during the summer of 2009 behind the stage they performed on. All of the guys were awesome and the lead singer was kind enough to take a pic with me and give me a guitar pick.

Tomorrows Shout Out Saturday post may be a little late or it may not happen at all. The HerFuture DC gals are getting together again, this time to drink wine and discus anything and everything related to A Course In Miracles and beyond. Hope you all have an enjoyable weekend!!!

Hugz From The Universe - A Course In Miracles Lessons 45 & 46

(Borrowed from DesiComments)

Awww. I want to thank everyone for their outpouring of love and support these past two days after i posted my "Quantum Shifting In A Major Way" post. I got so many supportive comments here on my blog, on twitter and even via text message from my IRL fellow Spirit Junkie Claudia. Knowing that you guys (and the Universe) have my back means more to me then i could really describe here in a blog post.  Since that post i attended an awesome yoga class (will be going to the same one every week, totally connect and click with the instructor) and started ordering books that Yoga District requires for their teacher training. (I want to start accumulating them over the next couple of months so i have that little bit of an edge when i do my actual teacher training). 

I of course have also been keeping up with my course lessons (in addition to ordering the Original Edition of ACIM, which will bring my copies of the course up to three).

Shhh... don't tell anyone. But i did this lesson after class. Right before that class i met up with Claudia for a few drinks. Maybe thats why i was surprised with myself with how free flowing i was with todays exercise. (Not that i advocate drinking to get through your lessons. But to each their own). 

Also in another awesome note. This Saturday the DC area HerFuture girls are having another meetup! So DC and beyond, prepare for lots of amazing, fun loving vibes going out into the universe!

Quantum Shifting In A Major Way! (Oh ya, and A Course in Miracles Lessons 43 and 44)

Ok, so i know i said in my tweet that i wasn't going to do lesson notes today because i wanted to blog about the quantum shift i had, but then i did my exercise for lesson 44 and it intertwined with my shift in a major way! So, lucky you for you guys, you get kind of a 2 for one post today!

Not gonna lie. Not to much to say here (other then what is already in my notes) because i want to get to the next part of todays post. Todays lesson was kind of like the earlier ones (this thought about ____ does not exist... etc) so im like "ok, im getting the hang of this," but then the second part came up and i was totally lost. So like with lesson 41i just kind of repeated the days lessons to myself while looking around myself and with my eyes closed.

And now to the amazingness that was this afternoon...

So i created this jar sometime before Christmas to put all of my change in:

My thought was, all, and i mean ALL of my change would be put into this jar and that one day i would get this overwhelming sense on what it would be far. Hence the "For a Dream Not Yet Realized" bit because it was going to be for a dream that at that time i did not realize. Two weeks ago my friend Claudia was over and i showed her my jar and she suggested that maybe i should use it for black diamond Be Well With Ariel iLoveMe ring that we were both saving for. I thought that that could be the "dream" but i just didn't have "that" feeling (if you understand what i mean).

Well today, i had THAT feeling.

I was talking to my boyfriend on skype on how much i disliked my current job but it pays for the bills while im in school. I also said how i really want to get my 200 hour yoga teacher certification before i graduate next May but that i didn't have the money. After we hung up it was like a freekin light bulb went off in my head and then exploded because of all the energy that was feeding into it.

I immediately went to the Yoga District teacher training page to see how much they charged for their 200 hour certification. Because they are a very community based, no frills studio their training runs roughly $2,000 (which is a lot cheaper then a lot of other places i've seen). I mean, i love my first studio i ever went to, Tranquil Space, but with their training (they break it down into level 1 teacher training and level 2) it would cost over $3,500. So my mind immediately thought, "train at Yoga District, and take supplement workshops at Tranquil Space" (because they do have some awesome workshops).

While looking over the teacher training application one of the questions was:

"what do you hope to gain from the teacher training program at Yoga District, and what would you after being certified as a RYT-200?"


Then another lightbulb went off in my head. 


I took my first yoga class during my second tour to Iraq. (Oh ya, did i ever mention i was in the Marine Corps for 6 years?) When i came back to the states i found Tranquil Space and started taking yoga classes there. Everyone at the studio was extremely welcoming (to include their Director Kimberly Wilson. I absolutely adore her) and taking yoga right after i got back from my deployment really helped me deal with a lot of things from that second deployment. 


Then it got me thinking, what if i became a certified yoga instructor? I know a lot of military members, especially the guys, would be resistant to yoga. But, given my military background, i would be the perfect person to relate to! Plus i understand some of the issues they might be dealing with post deployment, and knowing how much yoga helped me i would want to give some of that help back! 


So in case none of that rambling made sense this is pretty much what my quantum shift amounted to (and the dream i didnt realize that finally became realized):


~Get 200 hr yoga certification through Yoga District
~Take workshops as needed through Tranquil Space
~When ready, get certified through WarriorsAtEase  so that i am better prepared to work with members of the military and their families.
~Kripalu also offers an awesome Trauma Sensitive certification that i am interested in. 


So all of that change in that dream jar will be going toward bullet point one! And after my trip to California this summer, the money i was putting aside every paycheck for that will then be saved for me taking my 200 hour training classes winter or spring of 2013. 


I can not even begin to explain or describe the feelings i was feeling when all of this just kind of came to me. It was like i finally found my true purpose. Yes, im in school for mortuary science and have no plans to abandon that. When i graduate college i will most likely work i a medical examiners office or a funeral home, but that wouldn't be my passion. My passion would be working with members of the military community in helping them find the peace and at easeness that yoga brought to me. 


It didn't just stop there. In between classes i worked on my lesson 44 exercise and all of this came up.

I don't even know where to begin other then there is no way that this was a coincidence. During the exercise i seriously felt like the area where the 4th chakra would be located was just radiating this insane amount of energy. Because i had never felt anything that intense ever i decided to do a little researching on the 4th chakra and was like "holy cr@p, this is exactly how i am feeling right now and what i am going through (referring to my revelation earlier today). It was just freekin nuts!


And thats it really (lol). This afternoon was just crazy intense in so many ways. Its just nuts how just one little innocent conversation with my boyfriend was all it took to turn this light switch on. I dare anyone to try and flip it off because it aint happening. I realized my dream, and im going after it big time!

Are You There God? It's Me Torri - A Course In Miracles Lessons 40, 41 and 42 AND Shout Out Saturday

Ok here they are! For those of you that visit my blog somewhat regularly and are disappointed when you don't see my daily lesson notes i apologize. (I know i sound like a broken record). But hey, at least they do get up here eventually... that has to count for something right?

Haha, as you could tell i had a little bit of difficulty with this one. At least it was a lesson 8, make me want to throw my book across the room kind of difficulty, i just couldn't think of how i am blessed as a "son of god." But that could be because i (right now) am having difficulty with the religious terminology that is becoming more prevalent in the lessons now. (Was not much of a church person growing up even though my parents forced me to go).

So Friday (when i did lesson 41) me and my roomie watched the movie "Girl Interrupted" and it inspired the note i made up above. Lesson 41 tells us that depression, anxiety, etc is inevitable because of our separation from god (the universe, or whatever you chose to use to help you get through the lessons). So were the girls in the movie "nutz" because of their separation or was there something else at play? Also for people now a days that develop/have mental illnesses. We have scientific explanations for why they happen so does this "separation" have any part in the illness? Kind of confused but its also something id like to research further when/if i can come up with the time.

I was actually having a mini 6teen (one of my favorite cartoons) marathon on netflix when i felt compelled to do todays lesson. So i paused my Wii to sit and do todays exercise.

"Begin these practice periods by repeating the idea for today slowly, with your eyes wide open, looking about you. Then close your eyes and repeat the idea again, even slower then before. After this, try to think of nothing except thoughts that occur to you in relation to the idea for the day." 


My problem was when i was doing this, nothing actually came to mind at first. So i followed the suggestion the book gave:

"... spend the practice period alternating between slow repetitions of the idea with eyes open, then with eyes closed..."


So thats what i did. And what happened to come to my mind?

Yup! This song again. More so just the refrain and right before the refrain when she is saying "I'm alive." Is there a meaning behind this? I'm sure there is something and its another one of those things i want to contemplate during meditation hopefully tomorrow (if i get home at a decent time).

Also, since i kind of skipped my regular "Shout Out Saturday" because of my lack of ACIM posting...

ShineSister is hosting a call February 23 with Gabby Bernstein! (Click here for more detailed info). For those of you that can't afford her group coaching (like me) the $27 (ish... the price is given in canadian dollars but paypall will convert it for you) for the hour long call is a steal! Plus, if you sign up for the call you get:

• 1 hour live call with Gabby with 15 minute interactive Q&A session
• The recording of the call and notes to refer back to
• The full Medidating Album (Brand New Meditation Album from Gabby!)
• 30 Minute Follow up coaching with Christa! 

In my opinion a total worth while investment (and no im not getting any kind of perks for "plugging" this. I just want to share this opportunity with everyone). I was worried because the call falls during the one day a week i have work and class (all other work/class days fall independently of each other) but the call happens the hour before class. (Thank you universe!) So can't wait for this event!

My Holiness Is All Shades of Awesome... Just Saying - A Course In Miracles Lessons 37, 38, and 39

Hey guys!

So sorry that it seems i've deviated from my normal blogging pattern that i started out with. But now with school in full swing and work and kickball, i sometimes wonder if i even have time to breath (which obviously i do). But even if im not blogging every day i'm still doing my lessons that i eventually will get up to share with you.

This lesson kind of felt like the lessons in the beginning only that they seem a little more personable since it is dealing with your (my) holiness. Doing the bottom exercise kind of made me think of Oprah except instead of giving my audience members a new car i'm giving the people i interact with some of my awesome manifest inducing holiness.

Ignore the two random marks on the top. Not sure how i got those there. The white outs on the bottom though were very intentional. To protect the privacy of my friends and others i whited out their names or info that could be linked back to them (though you would have to do a lot of internet sleuthing if you really wanted to connect everything together). I don't think that detracts you guys though from seeing where i was going with lesson 38 though. Because their are no limits to our holiness (trying to get more comfortable with that word... im sure it will come in time) other then the artificial limits we place on it ourselves, there is nothing it cant do. We just have to be willing to ask our ~ing for guidance along the way.

When this lesson talks about our unloving thoughts keeping us in hell, i (personally) dont think that it is talking about hell as being in a physical space. I think its just referencing hell as being in a place not of love and away from god/the universe/the person upstairs (still feel a little funny typing that but im slowly getting better and ok with it). My mind takes it as heaven = love and hell = fear (or something to that effect). So its not that my unloving thoughts keep me in hell, they just keep me in fear and away from love.

I hope everyone's week is going well. If you find yourself like i was on tuesday and your ego is making you have an anxiety induced breakdown, just take a step outside in the cold crisp air, take a few deep breaths, and then tell it to f#ck off...

On Meatless Monday First It Was Kale Chips And Then It Was...

Baked Garbanzo Beans!

These have become my second addiction right behind baked garbanzo beans. While garbanzo beans are cheaper then kale it takes about 45 minutes to make a batch of baked garbanzo beans where as kale chips can be made in 15-17 (im not including prep time). Either way they are very delicious. Plus they are an awesome source of fiber and protein. (And they are an easy to travel snack).

I use the recipe i found off of Allrecipes.com ...

2 tablespoons olive oil (I found this to be to much. 1 tablespoon is good enough. I also like using coconut oil from time to time).
1 tablespoon ground cumin (I didn't have any... but im sure its good). 
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 pinch sea salt
1 pinch ground black pepper
1 dash crushed red pepper (Didn't have any of this either)
1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained


Directions
Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Whisk the oil, cumin, garlic powder, chili powder, sea salt, black pepper, and red pepper together in a small bowl; add the chickpeas and toss to coat. Spread into a single layer on a baking sheet.
Roast in the preheated oven, stirring occasionally, until nicely browned and slightly crispy, about 45 minutes.

They're not quite as crunchy as i would like but they are still extremely tasty. 

Also, i keep seeing recipes online for quinoa cakes. Don't know if i will be able to get to them by next week but sometime this month i want to make them. (Does anyone have any experience making quinoa cakes and have an awesome recipe for them?)

Also, major thanks to my fellow Spirt Junkie Claudia for the picture. Last week i told her how i was making baked garbanzo beans and then she decided she want to make them as well!

Warm and Fuzzy... With Extra Fuzz - A Course In Miracles Lesson 36

And in case its not still stuck in your head like it is in mine, here you go...

I'm seriously thinking about making it my ACIM theme song as its been popping up in my head during every lesson the past week or so. But you didn't come here to read about me complaining about songs getting stuck in my head... (or did you?)

I don't know what but i just felt really good while doing this exercise today. Maybe its a combo of hanging with my fellow Spirit Junkie multiple times this weekend (and yes, we did huddle and sent the Giants loving thoughts during the Super Bowl), the fact that i was given a thing for a free shampoo - blow-dry - and style by a stylist at the Red Door Spa by the Starbucks i work at, or that i had an awesome skype date with my deployed boyfriend yesterday. I don't know, but i just kind of got the warm and fuzzys during this lesson so im not going to complain.

So in a sense, im rad, your rad, lets hug.

^--- Stolen from a hat i stole from my younger sister years ago...

Its an A Course In Miracles Smorgasbord - ACIM Lessons 32, 33, 34, 35

Good Evening everyone! Hope you all are having an awesome weekend. I just spent the better part of my evening hanging with a fellow HerFuture Spirit Junkie. We ate tasty deli sandwiches, baked chick peas, drank almost an entire bottle of wine, watched daria, and she further backed up my bf's explanation of a chicago hot dog. (Haha, long story). So all in all today is good.

But all that set aside i do have work in the a.m. and am wicked tired. It's been a few days since i've put up my lesson notes (so sorry by the way) so even though there wont be much "talk" to go with these lessons today i at least wanted to get them up for those of you that are also studying the course. Maybe after hmwk tomorrow i will come back and update with a few more explanations about each particular day.

Don't mind all the squiggles here on lesson 34. My pen did not want to work plus i was doing my lesson notes while taking the train out to visit a very good college buddy of mine. (It was so nice to get out of the city and realize that green grass does in fact exist).

What was kind of awesome about todays lesson is while in the back of my head (home to the ego) i was like "ya, about that..." it caused absolutely no distress to me at all. I think it was because i was in such a chillaxed mood from hanging out with my fellow Spirit Junkie that things just kind of flowed. (Power of positive thinking eh?)

But goodnight everyone and i hope the rest of your weekend goes well. I will be back to my normal blogging schedule tomorrow (not that i really have a normal blogging schedule) after i do my hmwk and studying. (And no, i will not be watching the Super Bowl cause its not really my thing).

Toodles!

Shout Out Saturday

Good afternoon everyone! I literally just walked in the door, put the kale i bought in the fridge and opened up my laptop so that i could get my 1st of 2 posts for today up. So who am i giving a shout out to this weekend?

My first shout out goes to the wonderful and oh so inspiring Gabrielle Bernstein. On February 8th she is having her launch for her MediDating meditation album. You can attend the launch in person if you live in NY or you can attend it online. (Click the link for more info).

You can thank my boyfriend for the next shout out, because it is going to the youtube series My Drunk Kitchen. It is freekin hysterical! I've heard of them before but never watched any of their videos till he sent me the link for their Raw Vegan Cheesecake video (he said it made him think of me... awww).

And last but not least, my final shout out of the weekend goes to the A Course In Miracles study group on HerFuture. Every wednesday from 8:30-9:30pm there is a free conference call style study group. We're currently going through the manual for teachers so if you are an ACIM student i would highly recommend joining us for the calls!

Because I Think My Ego Is Trying To Get A Rise Out Of Me

So sorry for not having a post last night. I did my lesson in-between classes while camped out at Au Bon Pain but by the time i got home i just wanted to eat dinner and then pass out (which is what i did). So i get back from my late evening classes tonight and try to take pictures of my lesson notes from yesterday and today and my camera on my phone doesn't work.

Nice try ego, but im not going to freak out over this...

So What does this mean? Well it means there won't be a blog post tonight. There won't be a blog post tomorrow night because im staying over at a friends house. (Haha, don't worry. I've already packed my travel version of ACIM in my overnight bag). So that means saturday you are going to get two posts! One in the early afternoon (after i get home) for my "Saturday Shout Out" and then one later in the evening with Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday's ACIM lesson notes. So be prepared for lots of my crazy squiggly arrows on Saturday because you will have 4 days of awesome lesson notes to sift through.

Photo found at GayBlade