The Power of Awareness

The past couple of weeks I have been in a process of witnessing my mind. At times the awareness has been primarily the “I Am” of pure Awareness watching what is arising and passing away with a deep knowing that I am not the thoughts and/or emotions associated with the form known as Crystal Dawn. At times the witness is present and thoughts and feelings arise and while there is an awareness that I am not these thoughts and feelings there is still an identification with them. At times the identification with the thoughts and feelings is arising is stronger than the witnessing of them then the witnessing is noticed and I see where I have slipped into the belief of me as a separate self.

The beauty of this process is that I am appreciating all of it. In the past there would be a judgment when I get lost in the dream of separation. There would be elation when I am feeling the expansion into “I Am” Consciousness. Now, I am seeing it all as Awareness in a variety of forms playing in the Field of Existence and there is an underlying peace through all of it.

Choosing to Live from Love or Choosing to Live from Fear

Love is our natural state and true nature. As children we live in the "Field of Love," not as a concept, as our way of being. Slowly, we begin to receive the message that it is not OK for us to Be Love. We share our Love innocently and someone explores in anger. We don't understand what happened, we might even run away and cry, but in a few minutes we are back Being Love and loving life.

As we grow older people tells us the world is a dangerous place. There are bad people. It is not good to talk to strangers. We gradually begin to feel Fear more often than Love. Our heart becomes guarded. We begin to hide our true face and try to fit into the fear-based world. The separation begins and we loose our joy, our playfulness, our natural way of being. We begin living only as a small part of who we are. We put on a mask and try to fit in.

Then one day we meet someone and "fall in love." In that moment we remember who we are, we experience being whole, Being Love. The mistake we make is that we assume it is the other person's Love that made us feel whole again, instead of recognizing that that we are Love, we are whole, that is who we have always been. We don't realize that it is by giving Love unconditionally (i.e. without Fear), that we awaken and remember our true nature as Love.

For awhile we enjoy living in the "Field of Love" again. We enjoy having someone to share it Love with. We are once again like children in the garden. We are loving, joyful and innocent human beings. The mask comes off, we feel free to be who we truly are.

Gradually, people around us want us to define our feeling for the other. They want us to label our relationship, so they can put a check in a box by our name. With the labels come beliefs, ideas and responsibilities. Suddenly, expectations arise and with expectations come disappointments. We begin to notice things we want to change about our lover. We start to feel that they don't like us the way we are and they want us to change. We don't feel as happy as we used too. Due to the mistake at the beginning of the relationship that they had the power to create our happiness and make us feel loved, we now begin to blame them for our unhappiness and lack of feeling loved.

This is when the Fear begins to take over again. Can he/she make me happy? Am I making a mistake? Then the denial begins. "It is not really a problem that I want to go out on Saturday night to dance and he wants me to stay home and watch TV with him. I am sure I can change him." We then begin living a lie. We get lost in our wants and desires and start trying the control the other instead of loving who they are.

We are now doomed to a life of struggle because we are no longer giving unconditional Love, instead we are living out of Fear. The Fear comes from a belief that I am not enough, expectations that I will be loved only if I perform in a certain way and the need to control the other, so I can feel safe. This is most people's experience of romantic relationship. Until we are able to shift out of these patterns of Fear l we are going to keep repeating the same story.

In order to shift into a world based on Love we need to develop Self-Awareness and Self- Love. Self-Awareness is the ability to feel when the heart begins to close, to notice your need to control others so you feel safe, to be able to see when judgment arises, and to develop acceptance, compassion and equanimity. Self-Love comes from being able to see yourself, be honest with yourself and loving yourself, as you are, in each moment, even when you don't necessarily like how you are behaving. You can only love another unconditionally, when you know how to love yourself unconditionally.

Self-awareness and self-love are life-long practices. As you begin to gain mastery in them it becomes easier to notice and express in the moment what you are experiencing. This helps you to be present and take full responsibility for the choices you make and the life you are creating. There is no blame others. You are able to recognize you are Love and it becomes easier to give Love unconditionally without the expectation of getting something in return. Then you begin to live a life based on Love instead of Fear.

(C) Copyright 2010, Crystal Dawn Morris, all rights reserved.

If this article interests you I recommend reading The Mastery of Love by Don Miguel Ruiz

Tantra Tip of the Day - 8 Keys for Energizing the Chakras

Tantra sees the human body as a temple. The body is a laboratory for consciousness to play and explore the material world. In Tantra we use our sexual energy to expand awareness by moving it through the body's energy centers. These centers, located along the spine are called chakras, which means wheels of light. As consciousness expands through the chakras the energy body is refined and there is less identification with the ego and separation from Source is recognized as an illusion.

Tantra teaches you how to move your sexual energy from your root, up to your heart center and then up to your crown. Awareness grows as each chakra center is cleared and begins to flow with abundant energy. Sexual energy moves from the root towards the heart, connecting sex with love. Then it moves from the heart to the crown where you enter the mystical realms. Here you discover that you are not your thoughts, body, feelings or beliefs. You are the Divine celebrating life in human form, enjoying the ability to experience pleasure, bliss and Unity Consciousness. Some of the benefits of energizing the chakras are improved health, sexual vitality, mental clarity, expanded creativity and inner peace.

Here are 8 Keys for energizing the Chakras. Try this:

1) Stand with your knees hip width apart and slightly bent.

2) Breathe through your mouth and into the belly, allowing it to expand.

3) Increase the energy by breathing in as if you are sipping through straw.

4) Allow your pelvis to rotate freely, keeping the knees bent. As you inhale rock the hips back, creating an arch in the back. As you exhale, tuck the tail bone under, flattening the back.

5) Add the PC pump. As you inhale squeeze the pelvic floor muscles pulling them upwards and as you exhale let them relax.

6) Put all the steps together. As you inhale imagine you are breathing the energy up from your root to your heart. Practice this until you feel the energy pulsing from your root to your heart. You can play with speeding up and slowing down your respiratory rate.

7) Once you have mastered connecting root and heart try moving the energy to the crown. Practice until you can feel the energy flowing easily from your root to your crown. See yourself as a rainbow bridge of light connecting Earth and Sky.

8) This is a great daily practice. It is also a great practice to do prior to making love and can also be incorporated it into your love making.

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(C) Copyright 2009, Crystal Dawn Morris, all rights reserved.
(C) Art by Skydancer

Tantra Tip of the Day – Leaping into the Void, Part 3

Stop, be still and allow awareness of Awareness. When all thoughts stop, even for a moment, you awaken and discover that Truth as your essential nature. (This is paraphrased from a teaching by Gangaji.)

I have been very still the past few days. I have not been on the computer or doing much of anything. I have been meditating on Awareness and allowing myself to stay connected to it. My consciousness has shifted away from concerns and thoughts, towards being present with what is arising. I notice my ego is very uncomfortable with not doing and has been badgering me to stop being still. I know I am entering a new stage of awareness. I see my ego reacting as I approach a leap in consciousness.

Thoughts come and go but Awareness always is. I have contemplated this before but now I am exploring it at a deeper level and seeing how temporary thoughts are and yet how years of believing in them makes it challenging to just watch them without reacting. My ego has been filling my mind with thoughts and fears about the future. I have been dancing the razor’s edge switching my attention from Awareness to thoughts and back to Awareness.

Because of years of conditioning it is easy to be seduced by the thoughts and fears. Money issues are up and some big changes are in order. I am allowing myself to be in the stillness even as the turbulent thoughts flow through me. I have never been this present in watching my thoughts before. I am allowing the unfolding and being as still as I can while moving through my life. More to be revealed…

Today notice your thoughts arise and pass away. Be aware of that they are temporary. Become aware of the Awareness that always is. If fear arises see if you can watch it without getting caught in believing in it.
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C) Copyright 2009, Crystal Dawn Morris, all rights reserved.

Photo by Andy Goldsworthy

Tantra Tip of the Day – The Art of Awakening

Tantra is the path of awakening and recognizing your true nature as conscious Awareness. Here are 4 steps to help you awaken:

1) Recognize that you living in a dream and choose to wake up.

2) Activate the Witness - watch the dream unfold and recognize you are more than the dream and the dreamer.

3) Discover you are Awareness, the spaciousness consciousness in which everything arises, beyond time, space and form.

4) Practice both/and consciousness; you are both a person, living out your unique life experiences and eternal Awareness.

As you practice these steps notice what arises. How easy is it for you to recognize you are dreaming? When do you get lost in the dream? Are you able to activate the Witness in times of drama? Are you able to move beyond identification with the self and experience the Self, as Awareness?

Tantra Tip of the Day - Three Steps to Inner Peace

Does your life feel like it is going faster and faster? Does it feel like you are being dragged into an undertow of drama; your drama, your kid’s drama, or the economic drama in Washington? How can you be at peace in the midst of chaos?

First, shift your attention from what is going on in the world around you to the space in which these things arise. Can you sense this spaciousness? If not, close your eyes and exhale with a deep sigh, relax and state your intention for inner peace.

Second, imagine a cord of light at the base of your spine; send this cord down through your legs and feet deep into the center of the earth. Imagine there is a tree, rock, crystal or whatever it is for you and tie your grounding cord on to this object; give it a tug to make sure it feels secure. Now, release anything that is preventing you from being fully present in this moment down this grounding cord. Notice how it feels to let go of past and future and arrive in this moment.

Third, allow yourself to become conscious of Awareness. Awareness is spacious, still and peaceful, it is always present and is the emptiness in which life happens. Experience this spaciousness. What do you notice about it? Even if you only feel it for brief moments throughout your day, these moments of peace, when brought into conscious awareness can gradually be extended. Eventually you discover that inner peace is possible when you follow these 3 steps; 1) relax and state your intention for inner peace, 2) ground your energy and release past and future, and 3) allow yourself to experience spacious Awareness.

(C)Copyright 2009, Crystal Dawn Morris, all rights reserved.
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Tantra is Our Natural State of Awareness

Recently, I did a coaching session with someone new to Tantra. I was reminded that many people have the idea that Tantra is a philosophy or something you practice to have better sex or become more spiritual. I was under this impression myself at one time. What I know now and what I stress to my students, is that Tantra is not something we learn, it is simply, a remembering our true nature. Our true nature is the awareness that everything is woven together, connected, one field of consciousness and we are not separate from this consciousness, we are it. http://www.tantraforawakening.com/coaching.html

Tantra is an awareness that I am one with all that is. No matter that my thoughts want to convince me that I am alone and separate. I know this is an illusion. This is why I call my website Tantra For Awakening because each moment is an opportunity to awaken to the awareness that we are consciousness, in form, becoming aware of our true nature, not these separate egos, who think they are here to prove something.

In my SkyDancing Tantra workshops and coaching sessions I teach tools that allow you to easily tap into this awareness and make it apart of your daily life. Then Tantra is not a doing but a being. You are awareness living life, apparently separate and always connected. You are consciousness in form, having a human adventure. Living in this way is liberating and fun.