December

December is the month of Rumi for me.  The great Sufi master Mevlana Celaleddin-i Rumi passed away on December 17^th, 1273 in the city of Konya in Turkey.  He is known as a poet, a theologian, a sufi mystic.  He is the best selling poet in the US.   He is even better known abroad and I believe that his energy, his soul belongs to the highest truth and therefore is valuable to people of very different beliefs and traditions. 

December 17^th is celebrated in remembrance of his reunion with his Creator. 

And every December I like connecting with his writings a little more, in order to connect with his wisdom.  Kabbalistic teachings say that we are able to connect with the energy, the soul, the wisdom of a person on the yearly anniversary of their death.  Kabbalist say that to increase our awareness, we can connect to the energy of a Tzadik on their death anniversary, which in the Jewish tradition means a righteous person or spiritual master.   I would like to write more on Kabbalistic traditions in the future articles.

In the Turkish Islamic tradition it is also customary to pray for loved ones who have passed away on the anniversary of their passing.  It is considered important to make sure that we pray for them, for their soul on those dates.

I believe that it is possible to connect with those who have passed away.  That it is possible to communicate. The important thing is, why do you want to connect?  If there is a need, a real need, it is possible, it will happen.  It can happen anytime, anywhere. However, I have also seen that it is possible to connect with some souls on their death anniversary, and/or near their graves.  Sometimes it is easier and more possible to connect with hem in places that they like or find important, or used to find peaceful and serene. 

And sometimes out of nowhere, we will feel their presence.  We will hear their voice or just know that they have given us an answer or a message. 

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One of the personal development tools that I love is the Transformation Game of Joy Drake and Kathy Tyler.   This spiritual game is an amazing tool that helps us to connect with our inner wisdom as well as what we might call Universal Wisdom. 

The creators of the Transformation Game sent me an e-mail at the beginning of this December, they do at the beginning of every month, inviting me to connect with the Angel of Wisdom this December.  Wisdom really seemed like the perfect angel to connect to this month.  In the Transformation Game, concepts like Wisdom are defined as angels, or rather that some concepts are also strong energy frequencies that we might invite and experience and communicate with, that we might also call Angels.

As always, intention is the key.

The Universe provides us with information, with power to know, with strength, with power to heal ourselves and others. However, the ability to use or have any of these depends on our intentions.  Are we respectful to free will?  Are we respectful of others’ choices even if we do not agree with them?  Of course, we have the full right to protect ourselves if others violate our rights.  You know what I mean,  are we manipulating others to make our wishes, our ideas to come true, or are we working to allow what is meant to happen to come alive? The information is always there. The power is always there.  Whether we will be able to see it or use it depends on choices and intentions.

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And RUMI has said most of it so well so long before…

Two Kinds of Intelligence

There are two kinds of intelligence: One acquired,
as a child in school memorizes facts and concepts
from books and from what the teacher says,
collecting information from the traditional sciences
as well as from the new sciences.

With such intelligence you rise in the world.
You get ranked ahead or behind others
in regard to your competence in retaining
information. You stroll with this intelligence
in and out of fields of knowledge, getting always more
marks on your preserving tablets.

There is another kind of tablet, one
already completed and preserved inside you.
A spring overflowing its springbox. A freshness
in the center of the chest. This other intelligence
does not turn yellow or stagnate. It’s fluid,
and it doesn’t move from outside to inside
through the conduits of plumbing-learning.

This second knowing is a fountainhead
from within you, moving out.

*

With best wishes,

Zeynep

Change

I have been listening mainly to one song for the last two, three weeks.  I listen to the radio in my car in Istanbul and in Fethiye there is a CD that I have been listening to for the whole of last year.   However, in the last three weeks regardless of which city or town I was in, there was only one song for me.  Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.”

This happens to me sometimes. I seem to find comfort in the words, sounds or the frequencies of one particular song that I keep playing over and over again.  I listened to various versions of this song and Jeff Buckley’s is the one I keep listening to.

And I cannot help but think and wonder why I did not go to the concerts that Leonard Cohen gave in İstanbul in the last few years.  I knew about the concerts.  I knew his songs, but for some reason I had not listened to “Hallelujah” up until a month ago.  Then I heard three different versions of this song one after the other by coincidence.  “Hallelujah” changed Leonard Cohen for me.  That song made me feel what Cohen is all about. Especially through Jeff Buckley’s voice.

I remember that I had a similar but more intense experience about 8 years ago. I kept listening to one song over and over  for two or three weeks right after my Dad passed away.  I kept listening to the same song. Again over and over.  And I also painted. I painted with the same set of tones of blue, listening to the same song, until I could not anymore. Then first the colours, then my music changed.

There are many ways to heal ourselves. There are many techniques.  Sometimes all we need is the frequency of a song washing our body and soul.

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A friend of mine posed a question a few days ago. His question was “Why do we change if we ever do?” His follow up question was “Do we ever realize and admit that we are wrong, and how often do we do that?”  With these simple questions in a group discussion I found myself looking back.  Surely I did change my life of forty something years. Why did I change when I did? Not only where I live, what I do for a living changed, but also what I believe in, my inner world also changed quite dramatically.

What made me change the most? The main reason was probably pain.  The pain of the not so pleasant experiences of my life.  I changed because the way I was did not work for me. I also changed because of my regrets of the pain that I caused in other people’s lives.  It is not easy to accept that we could be the reason for the sadness and disappointment in other people’s lives.

And what made me change even more drastically was seeing people whom I have hurt - mostly unknowingly, but who did not seem to have any resentment or anger for me.  The people who let themselves be hurt by me until I discovered what I am doing. They taught me the most.

I am listening to “Hallelujah” again tonight. I realize that two days ago, as I was listening to the same song from my laptop computer in my living room in Arnavutköy in İstanbul, it was difficult to hear the music.  The sound of the traffic at the Bosphorus, the sounds of the boats, the sounds of the big city, the hum had made it difficult to hear, even with my windows closed.  And I had thought that the sound system of my computer was not good enough.  I had thought the recording was probably not good enough as well.  Two nights later in Fethiye, suddenly the same music from the same computer is almost too loud.  Hallelujah.

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Living in two cities simultaneously makes me continuously aware of differences. In the weather, in sounds and colours, in relationships, in friendships, in what is meaningful. The list goes on.  So much is different between Fethiye and İstanbul, and so much is different in my lives there.  I travel at least once a week; sometimes I find myself in airplanes five or six times in one week.  I am not exactly in the position of the famous CEO who gave his most permanent address as 3D, his favourite and most common spot in the plane.  But routines are almost non-existent in my life.  Something is always changing. But, when life is constantly changing, what happens to me?  Does this allow me to change, does this make me change or resist change?

I found some of the answers to those questions in NLP.  Not all, but surely some. Those of you who are familiar with NLP Neuro-Linguistic Programming and meta models/meta programs will remember who all of us have different sets of inherent inner rules or rather codes that we seem to use as we steer our lives. Some of feel safer and happier when things are continuously chancing and someone of would rather have the same dish at the same restaurant at the same time of every week.  There is no right or wrong way of being.  And once we discover the thinking and belief system that we use to operate, then we can start to use our mind to create new programs, to ways to respond and act.  Hopely to make our lives happier and more satisfying.

I would like to share about NLP in the coming weeks.  If used with proper caution and understanding, NLP can be very effective in discovering the true positive power of our minds.

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Finally I will end by sharing some quotes from a tiny yellow pocket book that I received as a gift.  “The Little Book of Confidence” by Susan Jeffers.  Some are more easy said then done; however, maybe the power of these words do make it easier. Here are some of her suggestions:

-          The Higher Self:  Inside you is a place filled with joy, creativity, intuition, peace, power, love and all good things.  I call it the Higher Self.  Whenever in this place, your confidence soars and all seems right with the world.

-          The Lower Self:  Inside you is also a place filled with self-doubt, fear, anger, helplessness, scarcity and all negative things.  This is the Lower Self.  Whenever in this place, your confidence disappears, and all seems wrong with the world.

-          Lower-Self Thinking is a Habit:  Yes, Lower-Self thinking is only a habit.  The good news is that habits can be broken. By practicing a Higher-Self way of thinking, your fear diminishes and your confidence rises.

-          Become a Higher-Self Thinker:  Your task is set before you... It is to take the steps necessary to become a Higher-Self thinker.  Many of these steps are embodied in this little book of confidence. (ZK: Of course I will not be sharing all of Susan Jeffers’ suggestions here, but doesn’t even just focusing on love, peace, love and our positive experiences make us enjoy life more? Isn’t self-acceptance is one of the measures of inner happiness?)

-          Say ‘Yes’ To It All:  Real positive thinking is saying YES even to the fear and pain – realizing you will always get to the other side. And when you reach the other side, you notice your confidence has grown enormously.

-          You Can Handle It All: As you continue pushing through fear and doing it anyway, you learn to trust your ability to handle whatever life may hand you. Trust me on this one!

...

Thank you Susan.

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I wish all you joyful days in March. Best wishes,

Zeynep

Quote of the Week:

“As you teach so will you learn. If that is true, and it is true indeed, do not forget that what you teach is teaching you.”               

                                                                                                              From Course in Miracles

Affirmation of the Week:

“Everything that happens in my life is for the best.”

The Inner Voice

I was in Bodrum for four days last week to attend Lions Clubs International Turkish Council meetings.  Before moving to Fethiye eight years ago, I used to go to Bodrum more often. Especially during the summer.  Before going to Bodrum last Wednesday evening I have been travelling in various cities in Eastern Turkey. Especially Malatya and Elazig. I have been going to Malatya since 1992.  And To Elazig since 1981.

I usually travel alone.  Travelling gives me time. To think, to question, to observe.  Mostly the thoughts in my mind. I like travelling.  Some call it waste of time. For me, travelling gives me the space to slow waiting there, being in the plane, at all these times, I am not able to do much.  Maybe I read or talk on the phone, or check my e-mails, but usually I have more time than these can fill up.  I use these times for Reiki and distant healing a lot.  I give Reiki to myself, check how my family is doing.  I check the energy of my clients.  I always remind my Reiki students to make the most of the idle times of waiting, in a taxi, at a doctor’s office or in a line in a bank.  These are idle times that can become precious through Reiki or other self-help and healing methods.

And I can catch myself in moments in which there are no thoughts in my mind.  My hand might be  on my chest or leg, I would be giving Reiki to myself and I would find myself looking into my thoughts and I would see an clean white page in front of me. I usually get this image or ideas that excite me start to come up and I realize that I was not thinking about anything prior to these new ideas. Unexpectedly, I would be coming up with solutions that were not that apparent with my regular mind.

Meditation is one of the methods that give us that space to hear our inner voice.  Meditation slows down our thoughts and allows the thoughts that we were not aware of to appear.  Allows a breathing space for them.

As I had more and more of these “aha” moments, I started to realize that my travelling times were my meditation times. While waiting at the airport, or sitting in a plane or a shuttle bus, out of nowhere I get clarification.  Maybe that why I am able to travel this much.  There are rewards to the continuous packing and unpacking.

In all that we do, there are rewards.  There is an intention behind most of all our thoughts and actions.  Not always.  Sometimes other people’s thoughts and intentions affect us, control us, manipulate us.  Maybe I’ll write about these effects in the coming weeks; however, there is a positive intention behind most of the good and bad that happens in our lives.

I fall an hurt my ankle.  I have to rest for weeks while work piles up.  Bad luck? Could be.  But also maybe I needed the compulsory rest.  Maybe I was not able to say not to the demands of my family or my boss.  If we are not able to say no to things that we really do not want to do, or that we cannot handle, usually we find other ways to say no.  And the other way is usually “making ourselves ill”.  We are not aware of it.  Our subconscious knows. Our soul, our energy knows.

The biggest gift we can give ourselves is to say no when we need to and want to.  We may refuse to do a thing and still have to do it.  Yet, this is different than seeming to agree and accept what we simply can’t.   This is one of the topics that we work on with most of my clients.   This is one of the most important healing points in my own life.  Saying yes to what we want to say no to kills our inner voice that we desperately need.

For the next few weeks, I would like to leave you with some more questions and observations:

1-      What traumas, injuries, negative events do you share with other people regularly?

2-      How often do you do this?  What is the intention behind sharing these?

3-      What would you most like to have happen in your life?  Be specific and describe in as much detail as you can.

4-      What is the most pleasurable and fulfilling thing you could to with your day tomorrow?

5-      What kind of people do you have the most trouble with? How do they make you feel?

6-      What are your common feelings?  Track and jot down your changing feelings for a day or longer to observe the changes.

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We will look into the answers of these and other questions in the future.  May you have many pleasant discoveries.

With love,

Zeynep

Quote of the Week:

“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”                                                                                                                                                                                                              Howard Thurman

Insights

I had been learning English since I was thirteen.  The times that I am abroad or in English speaking trainings or groups, my English improves fast and I feel very connected to the language. And then come times when I feel like I just did not learn enough.

Among all of the words that I have learned, ‘insight’ was a word I used or was even aware of until I read “The Celestine Prophecy” by James Redfield over ten years ago.  Since I was a kid, I had had experiences of synchronicity, feelings of déjà vu and amazement for the strange coincidences that show up in my life at unexpected times.  Then after reading James Redfield,  few years later, the word ‘insight’ would this time appear in game developed at the Findhorn Eco village in Scotland.  As a part of the amazing “The Transformation Game”.  In time ‘Insight’ became for me a word that meant a world of personal discoveries.

As I look back, I cannot pin point exactly when I started to be more aware of the surprising coincidences in my life.  That there is something to them, about them that needs to be discovered. It probably was after I went to the US for college.

Then books started to show up in my life.  The first book that I can definitely say was an eye-opener for me was “The Road Less Travelled” by M. Scott Peck.  That book stayed touched something in me and made me look for more. I went to Boston for my first Thanksgiving to visit the sister of one of my best friends.  And in Boston Renin gave me this book. “The Road Less Travelled” touched something in me and made me look for more.

Then Erich Fromm and Rollo May started to interest me.  For the first time I was reading about psychology.  In junior high and high school, I had read only novels.  At least one per week.  I loved reading. I loved fiction. In that fall of 1988 in Boston, something started to change.  My focus of attention was starting to change suddenly in my first few months in the US.  I had come to New York to study engineer.  I always thought I loved math and numbers were my calling. And now I was discovering that my real interests seemed to be very different from what I had chosen to learn for my future.  Away from home and in new territories of all kinds, I guess I was terrified to even consider that I was not on the right track.  And I ignored the signs, until I could not.

From that autumn in 1988 in Boston to 2013 naturally a lot has happened.  Looking back, my life seems to follow a path like what James Redfield is writing about in his books “The Celestine Prophecy”, “The Tenth Insight” and his other books. Following and discovering the insights he wrote about.

There are many signs in our lives.  Call them whatever you like corner stones, lighthouses, wake-up calls, warnings, dilemmas, coincidences, synchronicities or insight.  There are signs in our lives that seem to try to lead us to events, people or situations that will makes us happier, healthier and more satisfied.  Listening to them, seeing them, choosing to see them and accept them makes a difference.

And may be the coincidences in our lives are the answers to our prayers.

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Some questions from James Redfield to leave you with for the next few weeks:

1-      Were there any particular coincidences or signs connected with getting your current living space (significant house numbers, encounters with neighbours, delays in negotiations, mixed-up phone calls, special street names, or any other odd detail)?

2-      How did you get your past or present job? Think back to how you found out about it, to whom you talked and what messages you might have received?

3-      Describe how you met your most important relationship. What led up to your being in that place at that time?

4-      Do you see a pattern in how things come to you? What was the similarity, if any, between meeting your significant relationship and getting a job or a place to live in?

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Wishing you many delightful coincidences and sought after insights.

With love,

Zeynep

A Time for the Body, Continued...

The night that I came to Istanbul from Fethiye was not a great night for Istanbul.  I had had a good and pleasant flight.  There were many familiar faces on the plane, most of who were going to Istanbul for the Emitt East Mediterranean Tourism & Travel Exhibition 2013, which took place in Istanbul from January 24^th to January 27^th at the TUYAP Exhibition Centre.

After I got off the plane, I called the shuttle service that I usually use to go home in Istanbul.  Shortly after I got in the minivan, I checked my Twitter account. That’s when I learned about the big fire that had started in one of the historical buildings of Galatasaray University at the Ortakoy Campus. 

Soon my phone began to ring.  Friends and relatives who knew I was coming to Istanbul that night were calling to warn me and tell me which roads were closed due to the fire on my regular way home.  I shared the news with the driver of the shuttle who interesting had not heard of the fire yet.

I live in Arnavutkoy in Istanbul.  As we arrived in Ortakoy that evening there was heavy smoke, even in th back streets.  I took a different route to Arnavutkoy.  When we were near my apartment building, I saw many police cars lined up by the waterfront near the Arnavutkoy Pier.  Twitter gave me news.  A boat had caught up fire and had recently been put out.  There were casualties. This had nothing to do with the big fire at the Galatasaray University. An unfortunate coincidence.

Istanbul felt unsafe.  Not dangerous per se.  However, just did not feel safe enough.  I had never felt that was about Istanbul.  Well, almost never.  May be the first time the city scared me was during the time of the Golcuk earthquake on August 17^th, 1999.  Apart from that Istanbul was my home and was good as it is.

As I spend more weeks, months and years in Fethiye, I am becoming more and more aware that my home is changing.  Istanbul is becoming a place that live in, that I go to, that I work in.  Although I still spend more time in Istanbul, Fethiye is really becoming home.

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In the hectic and beautiful city of Istanbul, it seems to be rather important to have a positive mindset. To succeed, to surmount, to survive.  There is always something around that overstrains the body, the mind and the soul.  Affirmations are some of best tools to keep me positive and motivated. 

As some of you might remember I started to share a body work by the famous author Louise L. Hay’s body awareness affirmations. I would like to continue with her affirmation program.

Previously I had shared seven affirmations. This time I would like to share seven more. You may use them over the next few weeks, using one affirmation a day.

Louise Hay is known for her work in mapping out the relationship between our though patterns and our health.

The recommended way to use this affirmations is as follows:

-          Use one affirmation a day in the first round of working with the affirmations.

-          Repeat each affirmation for at least ten times every morning and every evening.

-          Write each affirmation at least ten times every day.

You may also write the affirmation and place it where you can see during the day. The next week, either do another round of the seven affirmations or during the second week every morning look at the seven affirmations and choose that you feel will serve you the most.

For those who have missed the previous articles, the first seven affirmations:

Day 1 - Affirmation 1:  I Love My Mind

My mind enables me to recognize the beautiful Miracle of my Body.  I am glad to be alive.  I affirm with my mind that I have the power to heal myself.  My mind chooses the thoughts that create my future moment by moment.  My power comes through the use of my mind. I choose thoughts that make me feel good.  I love and appreciate my beautiful mind.

Day 2 - Affirmation 2:  I Love My Scalp

My scalp is relaxed and peaceful.  It is loose and easy. It provides a nourished bed for my hair. My hair is able to grow freely and luxuriously. I choose the thoughts that massage my scalp with love.  I love and appreciate my beautiful scalp.

Day 3 - Affirmation 3:  I Love My Hair

I trust the process of life to take care of my every need, and I grow strong and peaceful. I relax my scalp and give my beautiful hair room to grow luxuriously. I lovingly groom my hair and choose the thoughts that support its growth and strength. I love and appreciate my beautiful hair.

Day 4 - Affirmation 4:  I Love My Eyes

I have perfect vision.  I see clearly in every direction.  I see with love my past, my present and my future.  My mind chooses the way I look at life.  I see with new eyes. I see good in everyone and everywhere. I now lovingly create the life I love to look at.  I love and appreciate my beautiful eyes.

Day 5 - Affirmation 5:  I Love My Ears

I am balanced and poised and one with all of life. I choose the thoughts that create harmony around me.  I listen with love to the good and the pleasant.  I hear the cry for love that is hidden in everyone’s message. I am willing to understand others, and I have compassion for them.  I rejoice in my ability to hear life. I have a receptive capacity of mind.  I am willing to hear.  I love and appreciate my beautiful ears.

Day 6 - Affirmation 6:  I Love My Nose

I am at peace with everyone around me. No person, place, or thing has any power over me.  I am the power and authority in my world.  I choose the thoughts that recognize my own true worth.  I recognize my own intuitive ability.  I trust my intuition, for I am always in contact with Universal Wisdom and Truth.  I always go in the right direction for me.  I love and appreciate my beautiful nose.

Day 7 - Affirmation 7:  I Love My Mouth

I nourish myself by taking in new ideas.  I prepare new concepts for digestion and assimilation.  I make decisions with ease based upon the principles of Truth. I have a good taste for life. I choose the thoughts that enable me to speak with love. I speak up for myself, secure in my own true worth.  I love and appreciate my beautiful mouth.

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The new seven affirmations:

Day 1 – Affirmation 8:  I Love My Teeth

My teeth are strong and healthy I bite into life with joy. I thoughtfully and completely chew all my experiences.  I am a decisive person. I make decisions with ease, and I stick to them. I choose the thoughts that create a solid inner foundation.  I trust my inner Wisdom, knowing that I will always choose what is best for me at any given moment.  I love and appreciate my beautiful teeth.

Day 2 - Affirmation 9:  I Love My Gums

My gums are the picture of health. They support and protect my teeth with love. It is easier for me to stick to my decisions. I back up my decisions with spiritual convictions. I am strongly centred in Wisdom and Truth. I choose the thoughts that create only right action in my life. I love and appreciate my beautiful gums.

Day 3 - Affirmation 10:  I Love My Voice

I voice my opinions. I speak up for myself.  I sing the praises of love and joy.  My words are the music of life.   I choose the thoughts that express beauty and gratitude.  I proclaim my oneness with all of life.  I love and appreciate my beautiful voice.

Day 4 - Affirmation 11:  I Love My Neck

I willingly and turn to acknowledge other viewpoints and other ways of doing things.  I am free to acknowledge it all. I am willing to change.  I choose the thoughts that keep me flexible in my ideas and in my creative expression. I express myself freely and joyously. I am safe. I love and appreciate my beautiful neck.

Day 5 - Affirmation 12:  I Love My Throat

My throat is my avenue of expression and creativity.  I keep it open and free. I sing with great joy.  I choose the thought that allow me to express my creativity. I lovingly declare to the world my self-worth and my self-esteem.  I love and appreciate my beautiful throat.

Day 6 - Affirmation 13:  I Love My Shoulders

I shoulder my responsibilities with ease.  My burdens are light – like feathers in the wind. I stand tall and free, and I joyfully carry my experiences.  My shoulders are beautiful and straight and strong.  I choose the thoughts that make my way easy and free. Love releases and relaxes.  I love and appreciate my beautiful shoulders.

Day 7 - Affirmation 14:  I Love My Breasts

My breasts are the perfect size and shape for my body.  They are healthy and will always be healthy. I always nourish and take care of myself before I take care of others.  I choose the thoughts that nurture me in every way.  I love and appreciate my beautiful breasts.

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I have many friends and clients who struggle with various health problems.  Using affirmations seem to lighten the load.

May the year 2013 bring you lots of love and blessings. 

Zeynep

Quote of the Week:

“I always say that incurable means ‘curable from within.”

                                                                                              Dr. John Demartini