A Different Approach to Success

There are so many approaches and methods that talk about success, on financial and business success especially. I feel that it is time to share a different approach. From John Randolph Price, a teacher that has affected the world tremendously over the past 35 years. His teachings are the basis of the methods taught by many teachers around the world. Although there are many books on success and positive thinking out, his books are the originals of many written.

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“To have the consciousness for that which is desired”: This approach to success makes us realize that without the consciousness, the physical effort will not give us the results we desire. And the people who have achieved do have this awareness to a great extent.

To create the base for the success that you desire:

1- Focus on what you desire. This is not easy if you are not clear you really want in your life, in your business, at home, in your social life or health.
2- Although we usually believe that the deliverence is the difficulty in a desire, accepting what life offers us is one of the bigger obstacles. Are you open to accepting your wishes if they appeared at your doorstep tomorrow morning?
3- For your wants to take on a physical form, the awareness of the desires in your mind is a definite must.
4- For you to be able to identif a true want for a desire, the awareness of that desire needs to be in you. The fact that you have the desire means that the possibility, or even certainty of that desire is in existence.
5- Add feelings to you mental desires. In addition to the mental conciousness of a desire actualizing, add the feelings of satisfaction of attaining it.
6- Do not be concerned to the way your desires are going to take place. Leave the way of fullfillment to the universe, to the divine system, or God, however you would like to name it.
7- Use the power of your imagination. If you can image as if your desire has actualized and that you are experiencing the joy of having achieved your wishes.
8- Be grateful. For this moment. The gratefulness for what is creates an energy that intives more things to be grateful about.
9- Use the power of action. Look for inspiration, and when that comes do not wait, take action.

This is a very general outline of the basic approach to attracting what we truly desire in life. However, this is just a beginning. John Randolph Price is famous for his 40 and 60 day programs that you can use on your own to achieve your desires. Most of these programs are ones that you can do on your own. I used them on myself and I also work with groups using these programs.

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There is a strong affirmation that Price recommends on using Faith as a strong tool. If you would like, here is the affirmation to use:

I believe there is Nothing God cannot do.
I believe there is nothing God cannot do Through me.
I believe there is nothing God cannot do As me.
God is myself; therefore, there is nothing that I cannot do.
Nothing is too good for God, and nothing is too good for me!

Simple is beautiful, and so are many of the tools offered by Price. He believes in empowerment, and believes in awakining the power of our soul.

May your path filled with love, gratitude and trust.
With love,
Z.

Old and New

This week I am re-reading some old books. Actually I have been doing this a lot in the last few months. A few days ago I went to the Remzi Bookstore in Akmerkez. This is something I usually do every few days when I am in Istanbul.

There are many new books out, fiction and non-fiction. I was tempted to buy many, but I kept my promise to read my old books. I am reading mostly Norman Vincent Peale. Also, Louise Hay and Esther and Jerry Hicks. I thought that I knew some of these books by heart. I seem to discover something new each time I read them again.

Also in the last few days I was not reading, but looking at some of the books by Paulo Coelho. This week I seem to have too much to say, which means I will not be able to. Not yet. This is a week I need to let someone else speak. And I love it when Coelho does that…

From Paulo Coelho:

- It is enthusiasm for your work that you will find the gate to Paradise, the love that transforms and the choice that leads us to God

- Happiness is sometimes a blessing, but usually it is a conquest. Each day’s magic moment helps us to change and sends us off in search of our dreams.

- Surrendering completely to love, be it human or divine, means giving up everything, including our own well-being or our ability to make decisions, it means loving in the deepest sense of the word.

- Love is an act of faith in another person and its face is wrapped in mystery. It must be experienced and enjoyed at every moment, but as soon as we try to understand it, the magic vanishes.

- We tend always to value those things that come from far away, never recognising the beauty around us.

- When we are on the right path, we follow the signs, and if occasionally we stumble, Divinity comes to our aid, preventing us from making a mistake.

- Have faith. Believe that it is possible and you will begin to change the reality around you.

- True devotion only appears when we have a desire and we will die if we do not achieve that desire.

- Faith: Before going into battle, you must believe in the reasons for the fight.

- True love can withstand separation.

- When a beginner knows what he needs, he proves more intelligent than an absent-minded sage.

- The only way to make the right decision is by knowing what is the wrong decision, by examining the other path fearlessly and boldly, and only then deciding.

- Love is a challenge, an invisible fire.

- We tend not to value the things we do every day, but they are what transform the world around us.

- A warrior knows that his best teachers are the people with whom he shares the battlefield.

- The Way involves respect for all small and subtle things. Learn to recognise the right moment to adopt the necessary attitudes.

- What does learning mean: accumulating knowledge or transforming your life?

- Every search is an act of faith.

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This week surround yourself with beautiful objects and images and be thankful for what life brings.

With love and light,

Zeynep


Angel of the Week: Delight

Affirmation of the Week:
“I centre myself in safety and accept the perfection of my life. All is well.”
By Louise L. Hay

Quote of the Week:
“As above, so below. As within, so without.”

Zeynep’s Book Recommendation:
“Creative Visualization” By Shakti Gawain
The Turkish translation of the book may be found under the name “Yaratıcı İmgeleme”.

Searching for True Colours

When I was in London this October, I had the chance to visit Tate Modern. I do love modern and abstract art. I prefer to work with abstract forms in my own art work as well. There was a Rothko Exhibition, which I believe is still on. I like Rothko’s work, yet in that exhibition, the pieces chosen were not my favourite. It could be my personal mood at the time, or even the weather. It made me think of my own choice of colours and shapes when I paint. What makes me choose a black over a yellow, or a dark red instead of a lighter shade?

When I paint, I try to follow my heart. And I believe that all who paint with that calling try to listen to that inner urge. … Yet, are we that transparent? Or do we ever hide from ourselves behind our own colours?

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There is a famous teacher in Istanbul, R. Şanal Günseli. I believe his books have not been translated into English yet. He is not the only teacher who talks about it, but his main concept in a treatment is the need to be reminded of our God-like self, our own true power. He believes that all our ailments and troubles are a result of rejection of our true self, our true spark which is unique as our fingerprint. Neal Walsch talks a lot about this as well. One way or another all teachers talk about this, about our grandness and uniqueness.

Still, we do manage to avoid even to think about the idea that we indeed might be perfect just as we are.

It is that time of the year when things are fresh and we want to be that person we always dreamed of being. And there is nothing wrong with that. Yet, why is it so difficult to accept that we might indeed be good enough, loveable enough, pretty or strong enough, to be happy and content with what we have in hand. That drive of course pushes us to try and reach our potentials. Yet, is it possible to be more content during this journey?

Affirmations come handy. They are not cure for all, but they do cure if we want to be and choose to be. For example, to be able to accept that life supplies all our need in great abundance, it helps to say the words. And unless we believe it, trust it and most of all accept it, it will not and cannot come into our own reality. The affirmations allow that path to open up. Of course, along the way it will be necessary to look at our hidden demons that make us believe why the contrary is utterly true. Where did the clouds come? And who decided that my sun is better than your cloud?

Walking in the rooms of the Rothko Exhibition, I realized that the colours that were being displayed that day were not pleasing me. Blacks, and dark and dirty reds and browns were almost making me suffocate. This was not the Rothko I was expecting to see. He did have yellows and light yellows and purples and oranges. Where were they?

And it was time to look at my own colours when I paint. What do I choose and why?
Is it not true that on some days I only have energy for a postcard size watercolour? And sometimes a watercolour brush of size 0 is too big and sometimes on a large canvas using a sponge instead of a brush is just too little.

It is all about what comes from the heart. To be true to that, is essential in art – to be true to what comes from within. But is it only about art? And, when it comes to decide what we choose to take in, isn’t there also a voice inside, sometimes loud sometimes far too quiet, that we question the need to listen to?

What would you like to bring into your world today?

What you choose will effect and determine a large portion of what you will bring out to the world from within.

...

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“Life supplies all my needs in great abundance. I trust life.”
Do you?

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Before starting to write today, I had chosen an angel for Fethiye. And the Angel of Respect came. Joy Drake and Kathy Tyler share that this energy asks us to “cultivate deep listening and act in ways that acknowledge and esteem ourselves and others.” They continue their own description of what this angel brings by telling us: “Everyone and all life matters. Recognize, honour, and elicit the best.” May this energy help us all.

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And do get your hands on a book on affirmations. If you are looking for something in Turkish, go for the book “Kuantum Olumlama” (which translates as Quantum Affirmation) by R. Şanal, or go for a book by Louise Hay in Turkish or English. I love her book “I Can Do It, How to Use Affirmations to Change Your Life”.

Please do it.
And let your true life unfold. Give it a chance to be what it is indeed capable of being.
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I wish you all, as well as myself, the strength and courage to walk the talk.
Zeynep.
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Angel of the Week: Respect

Affirmation of the Week: “I am now willing to be open to the unlimited prosperity that exists everywhere.” By Louise L. Hay

Quote of the Week:
“Genuine beginnings begin within us, even when they are brought to our attention by external opportunities.” William Bridges

Zeynep’s Book Recommendation:
“Jonathan Livingston Seagull” By Richard Bach

Of JOY

Today I found a book in my office that I bought on June 22, 2004. I know because it turns I dated it the day I bought it, as well as writing the place I bought it from: Okuyanus, in Teşvikiye, İstanbul.

However I saw a note saying “With Love to Zeynep” on the same page with a signature by Hidayet Türkoğlu. A note from four and a half years ago. For those of you who are not acquainted with who Hidayet is, he is a very famous Turkish basketball player who is playing in the American NBA League for the last, well about 7-8 years.

When I saw the name, for a second it did not make sense. Then I remembered our chance encounter in a café, and we talked a little, and I wanted to do the typical and asked for an autograph. I had this book with me and it seemed very appropriate. The book was “A Book of Joy” by Thomas Kinkade. Now, for those of you who know Thomas Kinkade, yes he is a very famous contemporary American artist. Well, his paintings are quite different and magical, almost dreamlike. And he is widely known as the ‘Painter of Light”.



I learned about, well at least of Thomas Kinkade from my Reiki and Bioenergy Master Moshe Abudaram. He had given me a screensaver with his paintings for my computer. They were really nice, but still I did not know much about Kinkade, until my brother Yaman who was back in Turkey from San Francisco for his Christmas Break saw the screen saver and said: “Thomas Kinkade, isn’t he great? I just love his work. His paintings make me happy.” And interestingly, those paintings certainly did. I loved that screensaver. With each view of the paintings, I was carried into a very happy and joyful dream world. And I still use the same screensaver in my notebook computer at home. But this book of joy had been away from sight for almost five years.

This book is a combination of images from Kinkade’s paintings and quotes from different writers and teachers as well as Thomas Kinkade himself. A small book, which I am very happy to see.

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There is another significance to why I am very happy to find this book today. Because just before finding it, I chose an angelcard for myself, and the title of the card that I chose was ‘Joy’. Interesting synchronicity…

I pulled a card asking for some direction and information as to how to go about these days, since I seem to be very busy, and I find myself questioning if I am on the right track. Here is the answer that came:

JOY

Joy is the highest energy of all. It’s the magical sense that everything is possible. Joy springs from appreciating the gifts within each moment. Joy allows you to attract and create your present and future moments at their highest possible levels.

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There are many attitudes and emotions that we can choose from during the day. How about choosing Joy for a change?

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And surround yourself with beautiful images this week and enjoy the beauty…

With love and light,

Zeynep


Angel of the Week: Joy

Affirmation of the Week:
“My partner is the love of my life. We adore each other.”
By Louise L. Hay

Quote of the Week:
“True love does not consist of trying to correct others, but of feeling joy that things are better than we expected.”
Paulo Coelho

Zeynep’s Book Recommendation:“The Power Is Within You” By Louise L. Hay
The Turkish translation of the book may be found under the name “Pozitif Gücün Büyüsü”.

Power of Laughter

There is amazing power in laughter, and in humour. I am one of those who believe in the power of the smile, both to make me and those around me happier and stronger.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox said “Laugh and the world laughs with you.” Smile and the world smiles also, I can guarantee at least most of the time.



Peter Ustinov said “Laughter is the most civilized music in the world.”

Well, this week I would like to write about laughter and humour because unless we integrate them into our lives, maintaining health and happiness becomes quite difficult.

This week I worked with two clients who are dealing with life threatening conditions, and through our conservations both have admitted to the fact they do not even recall when they last laughed, a real laugh that came from their heart. We are not talking about the polite smiles at work, or the pressured laugh at friend’s birthday party.

When was the last time you laughed?

How frequently do you laugh in a day? In a week? In a month?

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Did you know that ‘a sense of humour’ is cited as the most sexually attractive trait in surveys? More seems to be involved in real attractions than our body parts. Many psychologists agree that laughter opens up our senses, as well as our mind.

Laughter also seems to affect our endocrine systems, and produce natural painkillers and increase our immune system.

I have believed that growing up and getting older meant being more serious. I could not totally manage it, but tired to be more reserved that what was natural to me. I do not anymore.

I do not watch the news in the evenings anymore. I do read the paper, but not first thing in the morning anymore. I save that for times during the day where my subconscious is more protected and aware of the negative input bombardment. What you see, read or hear does affect you, whether you believe, accept or even want to take it in. The second you are in contact, the input, the information is in your system.

The news say that the world is not a safe place, that the economy is crashing and life standards will fall. If you are listening to these news without awareness, like when you are just up in the morning, or about to sleep in the evening, or just dozing off on the couch on a Sunday afternoon, you are being sold to this information as true. Whether you know or accept it or not. Your subconscious cannot differentiate between what is really true and what is just being told as someone’s perspective on what seems to be taking place.

So somewhere in your being a part of you believes that the world is not safe, and act accordingly. And you will find yourself questioning why you are afraid to try even the smallest new things. A part of you is doing crisis management, and you are not even aware.

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There are so many different stories and battles that are taking place in our personalities, in our bodies that we are not aware. Yet, as soon as we open ourselves to this possibility, we can do something to stop creating useless and even dangerous new influences to our physical, emotional and mental health.

Affirmations are great tools to reprogram thoughts and beliefs that do not serve us anymore.

And also happiness, laughter, humour increase our energy levels to the highest of our potential. They indeed do. And in that state, all that seem to trouble us become apparent and surmountable.

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Exercises of the Week:

1- This week as you go out, or just while you are walking in the street, try to catch people’s eyes and smile at them. (They may or may not smile back at you, but the changes are most of them will.)
2- Watch at least one comedy film or show this week.
3- Buy yourself or borrow a comic book or a cartoon book and read it allowing yourself to smile or laugh as you feel.
4- Catch yourself when (and if) you are frowning and turn it into a smile. Whether you are alone or with others.
5- And finally an affirmation: “I am usually cheerful, and bring a sense of lightness to my life and the lives of others.”

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May you journey be filled with joy and happiness.

With love and light,
Zeynep

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Awareness of the Week: Cheerfulness

Affirmation of the Week:“I am in a joyous, intimate relationship with a person who truly loves me.”
By Louise L. Hay

Quote of the Week:
“Do not try to explain feelings. Live everything intensely and treasure what you feel as a gift from God.”
From “Brida” by Paulo Coelho

“The Road Less Travelled” By M. Scott Peck
The Turkish translation of the book may be found under the name “Az Seçilen Yol”.

Numerology Analysis with Zeynep Kocasinan

With your Numerology Analysis, learn about the energies that influence your life and the specific oppurtunities life provides for you. Also, each year in your life gives you specific strengths and information about the time period you are in. It is a valuable tool in discovering and fulfilling your true potential.

For appointments: Zeynep.Kocasinan@gmail.com

Quote of the Day

"All the arts we practice are apprenticeship. The big art is our life." M.C. Richards

From the Angels: You need a good laugh!

When I picked this card, I realized that maybe it was more than just for me.

"You've been so serious lately that you're feeling stressed. It's time to lighten up and see the humor in the situation. There's always something to laugh about. Think about it for a minute: What part of your life is like a movie? What parts are funny? Laughing with love is very healing.

Sometimes the best way to heal a situation is to step away from it. Can you read a funny book or watch a comedy on TV? Can you get together with friends and tell silly jokes? It feels so good to laugh hard, especially with loved ones.

This card asks you to see the humour within each situation, and take life so seriously. You can ease your own stress and that of others with humor and laughter. Learn to feel joy, no matter what's happenning around you. Laughter and joy are magical because they bring happy situations into your life."

With love,
Z.

Wish all of you a very happy new year ...

Affirmation of the Day:

Life supplies all my needs in great abundance. I trust life.

Mehmet Oz, M.D. - Oprah - Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor

Mehmet Oz, M.D., Oprah, Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor
and Three Brains on the Table

I do not watch a lot of TV, yet I do watch the Oprah Show whenever I can, especially her shows with the worldwide famous Turkish doctor Mehmet Öz, or Oz-Man as Oprah calls him. His last name Öz becomes Oz in the English spelling and reminds many people of the story of “The Wizard of Oz”.

Well in the last show that I watched, the Oz-man and Oprah had an interesting guest. I had heard about her and had watched another program about her. I am talking about Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, who wrote about her amazing experiences of a stroke and her recovery in her best selling book “My Stroke of Insight”. Dr. Taylor is a brain scientist and she lived through a stroke and over a period of about eight years was able to recover to tell us her story.

I definitely recommend reading about her and to watch her story through one of her speeches, you can check out http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.html. However, I will not write about her story here. I would like to share what she shared as to what she experienced as a patient while she was in the hospital.

When a patient is not able to speak, is not able to respond in the way we expect him or her to, when a person is mentally impaired, we tend to forget that there is a person living in that body.

One of the things that really touched me from what she shared was how people treat the mentally impaired as if they do not exist. Dr. Taylor talked about how people would not talk to her, because they assumed that she was not aware. But she was.

It is long story, but she made a few requests to people to are taking take of patients who have been through a stroke or are taking care of patients for any other ailment.

She requests that:
- Treat them like they will recover completely. (Make them know this is your intention and that you are not giving up on them)
- Talk to them directly (regardless of what you assume or believe they can and cannot understand)
- Allow them to sleep (to let them gather their energies)
- Make eye contact, touch them (and let the patients know that they are seen and that you are aware that they are alive. Dr. Taylor remembers the nurses who would touch her feet and talk to her while doing their medical work in her room. She heard, and saw and felt, even though she could not convey it at the time.)
Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor shared that although she could not understand what most of the nurses were talking about, she could tell from the energy of the person coming into the room what would be taking place and how. She could feel the energy; her right brain which was not hurt could sense that energy.

Dr. Mehmet Oz hearing Dr. Taylor’s comments admitted that many doctor and nurses know the importance of making a connection with a patient and the need to make a patient feel safe, but also told about how easy it is to forget because doctors and nurses need to take care of many such patients in a day, in a month, and over the years. I personally felt that Dr. Jill Taylor’s experience was a big reminder for many people in the health sector. And I would say even for myself. I did not have many experiences with people who have been through strokes. However, I have seen many people in Intensive Care Units, in ERs who are not able to give any information about the condition they are in, apart from their blood tests, their MR results, their blood pressure and pulse, and the level of oxygen in their blood. What is going in their mind? What are they feeling? Most of the time we have no idea. I will make a short note here that sometimes it is possible to feel, to sense, or even to hear what a person says even when they are unconscious. It does happen, but no one can really guarantee if and how.

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How to know if you are having a stroke?

During a part of the show they brought three real human brains into the room and showed the audience how a healthy brain looks and how brains from different intensity strokes. You might also want to check out oprah.com if you are interested. I will share some of the important points.

Dr. Oz gave a simple, but important tool to check if someone is having a stroke. You might want to keep this simple check in mind:
If you feel that someone might be having a stroke, do this check:
1- Make them smile. Are they able to?
2- Make them put their hands up in the air. Can they?
3- Make them repeat a simple sentence over and over again. Such as “(Make the person use their own name) is beautiful” (Zeynep is beautiful. Zeynep is beautiful. Zeynep is beautiful. Zeynep is beautiful. )

If there is a problem with any one or all of these exercises, it means that it is best to rush immediately to a hospital and let the personnel in the Emergency Room know what might be happening.

Please make sure that you always contact your doctor or a hospital when you feel that you are in need to medical advice, or in an emergency.

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For a Prosperous New Year

I receive a lot of questions about prosperity topics. A lot of people are concerned about their financial well-being as well as their health and happiness. Especially during these interesting and difficult times. Concentrating on lack and on the gloomy news do not really help us out. Therefore, this week I would like to share a few affirmations on Prosperity from Louise Hay that you might benefit for you well-being. Repeat them as often as you can, and every day.

Here is for prosperity. Cheers. … :

The more grateful I am for the wealth and abundance in my life, the more reasons I find to be grateful.
I pay my bills with love, and I rejoice as I make each payment. Abundance flows freely through me.
My good comes from everywhere and everyone.
I release all resistance to money, and I now allow it to flow joyously into my life.
I deserve the best, and I accept the best now.
Life supplies all my needs in great abundance. I trust life.

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With love and light to you all. I wish you a wonderful new year.
Zeynep.
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Angel of the Week: Creativity

Affirmation of the Week:
“The greatest gift I can give myself is unconditional love.”
By Louise L. Hay
Quote of the Week:
“The most potent muse of all is our own inner child.”
Stephen Nachmanovitch

Zeynep’s Book Recommendation of the Week:
“Healing from the Heart” By Mehmet Oz, M.D. with Ron Arias and Lisa Oz.

From Neal Donald Walsch

"God is in the sadness and in laughter. In the bitter and the sweet.

True Masters are those who have chosen to make a life, rather than a living.

The more you are, the more you can become, and the more you can become, the more you can yet be.

If you want to know what's true for you about something, look at how you're feeling about it. Feelings are sometimes difficult to discover - and often even more difficult to acknowledge. Yet hidden in your deepest feelings is your highest truth."

Happy Holidays and wish all of you lots of love in the year to come.
Z.

Affirmation of the Day:

"I love myself exactly as I am. I no longer wait to be perfect in order to love myself."

Angel of the Week: Kindness

Kindness

Joy Drake and Kathy Tyler say these for the Angel of Kindness:
"Be great-hearted, warm, and generous in your attitude and actions. Approach life softly. Sprinkle goodwill liberally and give gentle consideration to others."

With love,
Z.

From the Great Master RUMI

A Light Within His Light

I circled awhile with each of the intelligences,
the nine fathers that control the levels of spirit growth.

I revolved for years with the stars
through each astrological sign.

I disappeared into the kingdom of nearness.
I saw what I have seen, receiving nourishment
as a child lives in the womb.

Personalities are born once.
A mystic many times.

Wearing the body-robe, I have been busy
in the market, weighing and arguing prices.

Sometimes I have torn the robe off
with my own hands and thrown it away.

I have spent long nights in monasteries,
and I have slept with those who claim
to believe nothing on the porches of pagodas,
just traveling through.

When someone feels jealous,
I am inside the hurt and the need to possess.

When anyone is sick,
I feel feverish and dizzy.

I am cloud and rain being released,
then the meadow as it soaks in.

I wash the grains of mortality
from the cloth around a dervish.

I am the rose of eternity,
not made of water or fire,
not of the wandering wind
or even earth. I play with those.

I am not Shams of Tabriz,
but a light within his light.

If you see me, be careful.
Tell no one what you have seen.

Pure Silence

December 17th. Today is tbe death anniversary of Mevlana Celaleddin-i Rumi.

It feels right to share a poem of his, through Coleman Barks' translations.

Pure Silence

I have come this time
to burn my thorns,
to purıfy my life,
to take up service again
in the garden.

I come weeping to these waters
to rise free of passion and belief.

Look at my face. These tears
are traces of you.

I will shorten this poem,
because the rest of it
is being said in the world
within our eyes.

Do you know this silence?
It is not the same as in your room
when you have no one to talk to.

This is pure silence,
not the kind that happens
when living dogs are eating a dead one.

...

with love,
Z.

To Be Back...

It has been quite a number of weeks since I was able to write for Land of Lights. I have been travelling extensively and I did miss the opportunity to be able to share. I realize that it is really important for me to be able to…
Since September I have been in London about 4 times. I do love London. It is the first city I have been to when I was a kid. I do feel at home in London, I guess London has that quality of making foreigners feel at home. I always did. And after spending 3-4 weeks on different occasions I feel much more so these days.
I had to chance to meet a lot of friends who works with various complementary therapies. It is good to know that we are quite up to date in Turkey as to what is happening in the world. London is a centre in many ways. I was happy to be with like minded friends and new acquaintances, but also happy to confirm –especially to myself – that we are, that I am on track.

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Things to share did pile up, and I feel a little unsure as to where to start.
In the last few months, I had the chance to do training with Joy Drake. She is one of the creators of “The Transformation Game” developed in Findhorn. As some of you might know, I was in Scotland this summer, and became a facilitator for the Game. It is an amazing tool for self discovery. This fall I did a training on Frameworks Coaching Process, which is a coaching training derived from The Game. It is a much shorter application, but quite effective none the less.

What do I want to say…

I really find it hard to start. I remember the times when I had returned to Turkey from college almost 16 years ago. And summer vacations… I would be away for 8-9 months for the college school year, and then I would be in Istanbul for the summers. And the first few weeks at home and with friends used to be quite awkward. Of course, there was no internet then. And phone calls were quite expensive. That used to mean that we would be keeping in touch through letters. I remember writing letters to my parents as well as my friends. It is amazing to receive an envelope and wondering what might be written there – to go for the envelope and to look at the handwriting to figure out who might have sent it. To check the back or the left top corner for the sender. I realize that I have not written a proper letter in a very long time. … I do have such a feeling today. It is as if I have missed Fethiye and my friends in Fethiye, and I do not know where to start to share what has been happening with my life in the last few months.

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I had an amazing time attending many trainings, especially for life coaching. I did attend various life coaching workshops and trainings in the last year. Some were more spiritually oriented, and some were more on the analytical side approved by the ICF, International Coaching Federation. Coaching is a different approach than consulting or the healing work that I do. Coaching does complement personal growth and is an amazing supportive tool. Empowerment is the key element. I am happy to discover that my personal approach to personal growth and development to match with the underlying principles of coaching, especially of the approach of Erickson College of Vancouver, that people are complete, that everyone internally knows what is best for him or her. The important thing is to allow or rather support the person to reach to that inner knowledge.

You will hear a lot about coaching from me in the coming weeks. You do not have to be a trained coach, but the approach is something you can personally use to support your family, kids, friends and business associates.

*

I am not physically back in Fethiye yet; but I am happy to be in touch again. I will admit that there are times when we go through a lot of personal change, or during times of excessive work or training, it is tough to keep the connection. I realize that when I am going through times of intense learning, intense experiences, on some levels I turn inside. During these last few months I had amazing experiences in the classes that I attended as well as the classes I had the chance to give. I met many colleagues and many new students and clients. I have quite a number of stories that I would like to share over the winter.

This is as deep as I seem to be able to go into the iceberg tonight. It is as if I needed to detach myself from a lot of things or people that I love for a while, not consciously, but to be able to move forward, to be able to spend the time with work and with the new learnings and the experiences. Life still and always amazes me.

*

December 17th is the death anniversary of one of the most famous poets in the world. Well, he is known more as a poet around the world. Yet, I would rather call him a sage, a wise-one, or even an enlightened being. He is Mevlana Celaleddin-I Rumi, known as just Rumi in the western world.

I would like to close with some lines from Rumi, with love and gratitude for all the writings, the work and the love he left behind for us all.

From the book titled “RUMI Bridge to the Soul” by Coleman Barks:
And the lines are mainly about silence…

*
Now let silence speak
As that begins, we will start out

*
Now the kissing is over
Fold your love in.
Hide it like pastry filling.
Whisper within with
a shy girl’s tenderness

*
Music begins.
Your silence,
deepen that.
Were you to put words with this
We would not survive the song.

*
Be silent now.
Say fewer and fewer praise poems.
Let yourself become living poetry.

*
Be clear like a mirror
reflecting nothing.

Be clean of pictures and the worry
that comes with images.

Gaze into what is not ashamed
or afraid of any truth.

Contain all human faces in your own
without any judgment of them.

Be pure emptiness.
What is inside that? you ask.
Silence is all I can say.

Lovers have some secrets
that they keep.

*-*-*

With love to you all,
Zeynep.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Angel of the Week: Trust
Affirmation of the Week:
“There is ample time and opportunity for creative expression in whatever area I choose.”
By Louise L. Hay
Quote of the Week:
“Since you are like no other being ever created since the beginning of time, you are incomparable.”
Brenda Ueland

Zeynep’s Book Recommendation of the Week:
How about readling, re-reading a book by Neale Donald Walsch this week?
Almost all of his books are available in Turkish, and I really do find him sincere and true in what he shares.

With Love from London

It has been interesting couple of weeks for me. I was in London twice in September and met with friends from the London Centres of The Kaballah Center and the Japanese Organisation Shumei. I also got the chance to see friends who live in London. Although I attended a lot of spiritual groups and had the chance to do a lot of energy work, two of the highlights of my trips were to watch “Les Miserables” at West End (Thank you Tom and Rosie ) and to go to Arsenal Stadium to watch the Champions League soccer game of Arsenal and Porto.

I have a lot to share. However, I would like to start with a TV program I saw a few days ago after I came back to Turkey. It was the Oprah Show and the guests were the Turkish doctor, the famous heart surgeon, Dr. Mehmet Oz and the famous physiatrist Dr. Brian Weiss. Those of who have been following my column know that I really admire the work of Dr. Brian Weiss. Most of his books are also available in Turkish. On the show they were talking about the work Dr. Weiss has been doing on hypnosis. When Dr. Weiss was the head of the psychiatry department of the Mount Sinai hospital in the US, one of his patients regressed to what he calls a past-life in a hypnosis session. Since he did not believe in such things, he just went on with the sessions as a part of the treatment because the other treatment methods were just not working. His patient’s problems started to improve, however what made him believe was not the improvement in his patients, but the information the patient started giving about his child and his father who both had passed away. How can I explain his entire story and his books in a few paragraphs? I definitely recommend reading his books. It was quite amazing seeing him on the Oprah Show. Dr. Mehmet Oz said “Keep an open mind and observe what is happening.” I agree.

I also loved an example Dr. Brian Weiss gave about people. He said: “We are all like ice cubes. We have our definite shapes and corners and we are separate. To ice cubes, add heat energy and you get water. We think we are separate. Add energy, love energy and we become a sea. Love in the organising wisdom.”

*

I have written about my problems with my ankles and the relief I found with Reiki and healing methods. Well, my trust in my healing techniques was tested again in my first trip to London in September. On the evening of the 16th of September, as I was walking to return to my hotel, I fell in the street and I hurt my ankles. I was on my way back from the home of my cousin Reyhan. Her husband Mehmet just started London Business School for his MBA and he was walking me back to the Baker Tube Station. And I knew I was tired, but I was not aware that I was this tired. Suddenly my ankle turned, and I found myself falling face down in the street. I knew this was not going to be good. I tried to stand up, but it was not possible. Mehmet called a cab as I sat on the sidewalk waitinh and then I literally crawled into the taxi. On the way to the hotel I started giving Reiki to myself and applying my other visualization techniques. I was supposed to be flying back to Istanbul the next day. Was I going to be able to go to the Airport? How would I get there? How to get on the flight, how to go to my apartment in Istanbul? All these thoughts were racing in my mind. I was in quite a lot of pain. This was not a light injury. Well, that night Mehmet helped me walk to my room from the taxi and brought me ice. He had the class the next day and it was past midnight, so I sent him home.

I spent the whole night resting and giving myself energy. My hotel was in Swiss Cottage and very close to the London Centre of the Japanese Shumei Organisation. They use the energy healing technique called Jyorei. In London they start their morning activities at 7 am. So I woke up at around 6:30: My ankle was still a little swollen on the inner side, but I was able to walk. Not totally comfortable, but I was able to walk without any bandages or support. Well, I did not have any anyway. The pain was not completely gone, but was nothing like the night before. So I got up, got dressed and walked to the Centre. When we injure ourselves, sometimes rest is needed. I did not have that time. Also, it is usually harder to work on ourselves in an injury. Anyway, that morning Sensei Joe Amanai and Hiro-San gave me Jyorei. Hiro is from the Paris Centre of Shumei and he was in London for Shumei’s 11th European Anniversary Ceremony. I thank them both from my heart.

Well, that noon I got on the Tube to Paddington, took the Heathrow Express Train and flew to Istanbul. All on my own and carrying my own suitcase.  I have written about my injures that took weeks and weeks to heal many times. I do not want to keep on repeating. However, I was reminded again that energy healing works and works wonderfully. I do wonder though why I needed the reminding.

With lots of love and light,
Zeynep


Angel of the Week: Beauty

Affirmation of the Week:“The joy I find in my career is reflected in my overall happiness.”
By Louise L. Hay

Quote of the Week:
“Genuine beginnings begin within us, even when they are brought to our attention by external opportunities.”
William Bridges

Zeynep’s Book Recommendation of the Week:“Many Lives Many Masters” By Dr. Brian Weiss
The Turkish translation of the book may be found under the name “Birçok Yaşam Birçok Üstat”.

All In a Minute or Less

I met Ken Blanchard when I was at Cornell University in the US. I took his “One-Minute-Manager” course when his book by the same name was really hot on the best-sellers list. I believe that was in 1992. Since then more than 18 million copies of this book has been sold. Ken Blanchard had many other books out since then, and many of them have been translated to Turkish.

Recently I have been reading one of his books that have been out in Turkish last October. “Leading At a Higher Level” is the title. Since I do life coaching and consulting, I read and follow the new books and methods by various teachers and consultants around the world. Tom Peters is also one of my idols. His books changed the way I thought when I was in college. Being an engineer and operations research specialist, his approach to production and business seemed so different, I believe to the whole world as well as me.

I am not going to write about business or management techniques today. Maybe I will in the coming weeks. Through mentioning these teachers, I would like to say that a few days spent with a good teacher in 1992 still continues to create a positive influence in my life, 16 years later. Ken Blanchard is not the only one. I cannot forget the day I met Steve Jobs. That was in 1989. I was a freshman in engineering and the Macintosh seemed even more amazing in those pre-Windows years. Steve Jobs was cool, ultra smart and so casual. As I kept on meeting these knowledgeable, hard working and smart and accomplished people through life, I believe my expectations from life and from myself radically changed. I lived what we call the importance of role models. My father and my mother were great mode models; however having met some of the teachers that I did made a big difference.

I like going to the theatre. There is something beautiful and strong in being in the same atmosphere with talented artists. I love going to concerts. For the last couple of years Istanbul has been welcoming great performers around the world. I hope that one day we will be able to watch them in Fethiye as well. There is a different magic in watching excellence performed. This alone teaches more than we can image. Seeing a living example of someone of doing something has effects beyond most understanding. We can teach a kid or an adult that something is possible and even teach them the techniques of mastery. Even though they may learn it all perfectly, unless and until they believe that they can do it, it will not happen. That is what role models are especially for – to show that it is indeed possible. Efforts of years may then give fruit in a second...

*

Messages of the Week from Susan Jeffers:

+ Awareness let’s you know it’s time for action:
Once you are aware of the Chatterbox, at last you can do something about it (even if it is driving you crazy!). When you are unaware of this mischievous little voice, you are at its mercy.

+ The paradox of genuine giving:
When we give genuinely, with thought only for others, we often find that more comes back to us that we could ever have imagined.

+ Giving diminished fear:
When you focus on giving, you lose your neediness and you fell “full-filled”. As you give, your sense of power and love gets greater and greater and greater.

+ Give away praise:
Often the people we find most difficult to praise are those closest to us. Yet praise is a wonderful way of releasing anger and resentment. Praise can take down the barriers to love and connection.

+ Are you a complainer?
Complaining is a very common activity of everyone’s Lower Self. Complaining is also a big clue that you are not taking responsibility for your experience of life.

+ Positive affirmations: a wonderful tool.
An affirmation is a strong, positive statement telling you that ‘all is well’. With constant repetition, affirmations help you drown out the negative messages of the Chatterbox. Confidence restored!

*

I wish you love, luck and confidence...
Zeynep
____________________________________________

Angel of the Week: Openness

Affirmation of the Week:
“Everything is how it needs to be right now. I look past the illusion, and see the underlying order.”
By Doreen Virtue

Quote of the Week:
“May you live in interesting times.”
Chinese saying


Zeynep’s Book Recommendation of the Week:“Leading At A Higher Level” By Ken Blanchard
This book is available in Turkish under the title: “Liderlikte Çıtayı Yükseltmek”.

A Magical Word: Empowerment

Empowerment is a word that I like a lot. I have been writing a lot about empowerment lately. As long as the urge is there, I trust that there is a reason for it.

I believe empowerment to be like a mission in my life – empowering myself and others. That is what my father taught me in the years that we worked together. He taught me to share the knowledge and to share the accomplishments. He was a wonderful teacher.

There is a very good by titled “Empowerment” by John Randolph Price. There is another book by him called “The Angels within Us” that I also love. His approach is always reminding us of our infinite potential.

Do we empower our family, our children, our employees? Or do we go on to create dependent beings with low self confidence and motivation? Do we serve our ego or a higher purpose?

There was a conference in Fethiye a couple months ago by the famous child psychiatrist Prof. Yankı Yazgan. He is a professor at the Medical School in Marmara University in Istanbul and he is also the author of about 10 books on brain development and child and adolescent development. He also writes for the national Akşam Newspaper weekly.

I had met him a couple years ago in a training and we were among the 12-13 people who were to watch the test run of a new program. We had spent about 2 days together and had invited him to give a conference in Fethiye. He accepted. Although it took over a year for it to actualize, he did keep his promise and gave a two hour conference to parents and teachers on April 24th, 2008. The title of the conference was: “Being a Parent and an Educator in the Times of Change”.

Of all the things that Prof. Yazgan said, what I stood out for the most was - the importance of letting a child experience and learn through experience.
We are not here to do for them; we are here to allow them and create the space for them to learn and accomplish for themselves. No matter how we describe it , or which words we use – the real word is Empowerment.

Michell Cassou says “We live in a time in which most people believe there is not much inside them, only what teachers, parents, and others have out there.” They are all here to uncover the potentials that are waiting to be expressed and used.

Empowerment, for whom?

Empowerment is a key word for me. I had the chance to work with teachers who believed in empowerment. I was told to aid people who wanted to discover their true self and true path. My teachers told me to be aware that I can only share possibilities and options, and I can encourage if they want to be encouraged. I can support, if there is anyone who wants to be supported. I may answer if I am asked. However, I was also told that I should be wise enough to discover that I am no wiser than anyone I know. Empowerment was the key word I was lucky enough to learn through experience. I was empowered and learned to accept that it is the only way.

Now, I cannot be one of those who know it all, even if I do know some. I cannot be one of those of who preach a lot, I can only share.

In my early years when I would see a healer or teacher who would go on to share how wonderful or great he or she was, I would go back to my own teachers and ask why they did not do the same since they knew a lot too, and why was I not to share openly what I knew. I wanted to show that I knew too. Almost in union they would reply “Be yourself, then they will know.”

I need to keep in mind that I do not heal anyone. I can only show the options.

Maybe I can do first aid and clean up the wounds. But where did the wounds came from? Why are they there? And who wants them there and for what?

And you know what, I may have the answers to all of these questions, but again this is not what matters. It is not important that I discover the answers.

It is important that I am able to create the desire in a person to want to discover their own answers.

And once the desire is there, they will find their answers - no matter what. At that point, I may be a part of their journey in discovering better ways to find out and deal with what they discover. If they want it; if they choose it; if they accept it.

This is not how I had thought how healing would work, but this is where I am right now.

I thank my teachers and masters of all different traditions and cultures. You give me hope and taught me to trust what is in our core.

I did say a lot today.
Where did it come from?
Hopefully from my heart.

One final quote from Louise Hay:
“Ask for help. Tell Life what you want, and allow it to happen.”

*-*-*

With love and light...
Z.

____________________________________________________________

Affirmation of the Week:
“I am well structured and balanced.”
Louise L. Hay

Quote of the Week:
“Life is not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be lived.”
Thomas Merton


Suggested Reading:
“The Life You Were Born To Live” By Dan Millman
The Turkish translation of the book may be found under the name “Hayatınızın Amacı”.

Imagine Being Lucky

Courage to Walk the Talk

My friends, people who consult me and those of you who have been reading my articles over the years know that I really like Louise Hay and her work. She has changed the world through her courage to look at and live life totally differently. She also has the courage to walk the talk.

“You Can Heal Your Life”, “The Power is Within You”, especially “Heal Your Body” are amazing books. Louise Hay was one of the pioneers in acknowledging the power our thoughts and words have on our well being. Don Miguel Ruiz does it with his book “The Four Agreements”. Norman Vincent Peale and Napoleon Hill did it with their books. They were the pioneers. “The Secret” came much later.

Can You Imagine?

Even though I teach or write about the importance and the power of our words, I sometimes find it hard to give up complaining completely. If I am too tired, or sleepless or in too much hurry, once in a while I catch myself complaining. If I am, or you are complaining, that means that something in our system is not in balance, especially energetically

I have learned a few lessons over the years. When do I catch myself complaining (even if it is to myself), I know that I am tired, that my energy level is low, that I have in touch with people and events that have charged my energy field with other vibrations. Or that I slipped into negative thinking and unsupportive thoughts. Therefore I am not taking the responsibility for my decisions, actions and conditions.

Then, usually I immediately take a shower. If it is in the evening, I go to bed early. If it is during the day and I am not able to shower, I wash my hands and keep them under running water for a while. I also visualize my whole body and energy field cleansed with the help of the water. I close my eyes and release all energies and influences that do not belong to me, but I have accumulated.

When our energy level is low, we cannot carry the load. And one thing we also lose sight of is that we have energy to carry the load of that day on any given day. We cannot carry yesterday or tomorrow if the energy of today.

Many master and teachers of energy techniques clearly note that we are given our energy day by day, and only for the coming 24 hours. This was one of the first lessons I learned from my bio-energy teacher Moshe Abudaram. That is one of the reasons worrying about the future will not help us out. If the energy we are given includes energy to plan and program for tomorrow, then we will. However, it may also not. That is why I believe that sometimes we just have to let go. Let go of expectations, worry, anger or restlessness. Can you image yourself letting go?

Letting go of unnecessary expectations?
Letting go of loads and duties that were not yours to start with?

Can you image being lifted and carried to where you want without strain?
Without too much effort?

Can you image being lucky?
Being totally taken care of?

Being totally and unconditionally loved?

Can you image … what is it that you truly desire?

Words Make A Difference

The words that we utter make a difference. They do. So this week I would like to offer you some phrases to incorporate into your speech, your writing, your life. And see how the outer picture of your life responds.

+ I love being me.
+ It’s only a thought and a thought can be changed.
+ All my changes are easy to make.
+ I deserve good in my life.
+ I deserve joy.
+ I follow the path of right action.
+ Everything I need comes to me in the perfect time and space sequence.
+ I express my true being.
+ I can do what I want.
+ Every hand that touches me is a healing hand.
+ I have unlimited potential.
+ I am good enough.
+ I am now willing to see only my magnificence.

Maybe, maybe everything we need is in the words.

So let us let it be….

*

With love and light. May your power always shine with truth and honesty.
Zeynep
_______________________________
Angel of the Week: Truth

Affirmation of the Week:
“Everything I need comes to me in the perfect time and space sequence.”
Louise L. Hay

Quote of the Week:
“Everywhere I go, I find a poet has been there before me.”
Sigmund Freud

Zeynep’s Book Recommendation of the Week:
“Welcome Home” By Steve Rother & the Group
This book is available in Turkish under the title: “Yuvaya Hoşgeldiniz”.

Soulmates

Feng-Shui of Love

I have been interested in Feng-Shui since the year 2000. I met some experts who knew what they were talking about, and some were just reciting what they gathered. Yet, when I started applying some of the principles I learned in 2000 in my home, my own true life path started opening up.

I teach and use energy methods. We are all made up of energy, us and the whole universe. And when we are aware of this fact and use this awareness to understand the dynamics of our lives, our paths unravel just naturally.

*

Feng-Shui principles are used to improve the flow of energy in our physical environments, our homes, offices, apartment buildings, gardens, road paths, ponds, etc. As the energy flow and quality of energy improves in these spaces, so does the quality of our lives. I have seen it happen and that is why I would like to suggest you to be aware of it as well. Your life might change, for the better. 
Feng-Shui is not only about spaces. The power of the mind, positive thinking and increasing your personal energy level is an important aspect as well. We are an important part of our environment.

From Feng-Shui expert Lillian Too:
“Music will change the vibrations that surround you. Happy songs lift the spirits like nothing can! Control your moods with music. Make it happy music. In fact it is an excellent idea to make it a rule never to listen to melancholic music. And if you enjoy love songs go for those with a happy ending. Singing the blues is like chanting a negative mantra.”

How about giving uplifting music a try for a week? Who knows what ripple effects this may bring?

Story of Soul Mates

I do not write about soulmates a lot. A lot of people ask me to, however, when the desire to know comes from our ego, we do not benefit much from the information. The intention behind the desire to learn is very important.

Yet, once a year, when a special time comes, I do write about soulmate energy. Around this time of the year, if I feel the need, I share what seems appropriate.
Richard Bach’s “Bridge Across Forever” and Dr. Brian Weiss’s “Only Love Is Real” are two books you can also find in Turkish on the theme of soulmates. Being aware that there is an energy with exactly the same quality as ours with the opposite polarity creates an awareness for the dynamics of living on this earth and life.
For centuries, in literature there are hundreds of famous love stories of probable soulmates. Well, in the teachings of bioenergy, the same concept also exits.

According to Kabbalists, in August, in the month of Av, there is an opportunity to connect with our soulmate energy. And on a special day which can be determined by the moon calendar, it is easiest to make that connection. It is believed to be the day when we are able to connect with the other half of our soul, our unique half, which it is believed of which we got separated at creation.

This year it is the 16th of August in 2008. It is from sunset of August 15th until sunset on August 16th. To set the intention that you are open to unite with your soulmate, energetically and physical if your soulmate is alive.

Most people assume that their soulmate would be of the appropriate gender of their dream partner, or around their age or eligible for a relationship. None of this may be true. You might be a young graduate from college and your soulmate might be the elderly lady who owns a shop in the town you visited for business. You might be living in Inverness in Scotland, and yes your soulmate might be living in a small village in Fethiye. And as likely, you might be born and your soulmate energy might not have.

Are these all for real? There is no way to know for sure. These are what I find to be true from my studies, my personal sessions with various teachers and clients around the world. When these experiences seem to match and also ring true in my heart, I go with that information. As I am studying the topic of soulmates more over the years, I am becoming aware of the knowledge passed on by the ancient traditions.

What to do on that day?

Be your true self. Connecting with the energy of our soul mate does not necessarily mean finding or meeting a new or better partner. It could mean that. However, it also means connecting with an energy that will make us feel complete, content, happy and healthy. This union does not necessarily have to happen on the physical plane. It could, but doesn’t have to.

Will you get to meet your soulmate? Well, maybe you already did. And maybe you will never get the meet him or her in person. However, if you are open to that energy, and you intend to connect on a continuous basis with no strings attached, both you and that person-that energy will feel complete and in union with life, with the world, with the universe.

To Regress

I do astrological & numerology analysis for my clients. People do benefit a lot from learning about the main energies and influences that they are under during their lives and during various parts of their lives. I also do regressions especially through Inverse Wave Therapy if need arises. I do not choose to do regressions for people who just want to wonder around in their past. Maybe the past is available for us to look, yet we are born in a body in this lifetime on this earth. That is what we chose and we are here. I am for improving the quality of our lives here. However, in case of illnesses of various sorts, regressions create a lot of relief and cure.

*

A Key, for Life:

Doing what is difficult for us to do.

This gets us out of the box.

For some this might mean keeping quiet, and for some this means talking in front of crowds. This may mean starting singing or simply stopping. Anything and everything you can think of. Doing what is beyond our safe limits brings growth and expansion. Do it. Try it. I do it and I love it. Not to repeat what Mark Twain said, I definitely regretted the things that I have done much less that what I haven’t.

*

May your lives always be joyful and in union… and filled with wonderful adventures…

With lots of love,
Zeynep
_________________________________________________
Angel of the Week: Harmony
Affirmation of the Week:
“It is important not only to bring about my own transformation but also to assist others.”
From The Kabbalah Centre

Quote of the Week:
“Art doesn’t transform. It just plain forms.”
Roy Lichtenstein

Zeynep’s Book Recommendation of the Week:
“Indigo Child-The New Kids Have Arrived” By Lee Carroll & Jan Tober
This book is available in Turkish under the title: “İndigo Çocuklar – Yeni Çocuklar Geldiler!”.

Childhood Dreams

Some of you might have heard of Professor Randy Pausch’s story and his last lecture at Carnegie Mellon University last September. Randy Pausch passed away on July 25th, 2008, but the ripple effects of his lecture, his book “The Last Lecture”, his story will most probably continue to touch many lives.

I am not here to tell about his life, just how he used these circumstances to create a more positive outcome for others and especially for his kids. I am moved by this courageous man.

Randy Pausch, when he learned that he had pancreatic cancer gave a final speech at the university he was working in, Carnegie Mellon University in the US. And he also wrote a book with the aid of Jeffrey Zaslow and managed to complete and publish it before he passed away. His book became a best seller and it has been available in Turkish for about a few months.

One of my teachers, Moshe Abudaram had shown me the record of the lecture at Carnegie Mellon months ago. The title of his lecture was “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams“. Then I watched him on the Oprah Show when he gave an abridged version of his speech. He used the time he had to share and to tell what was closest to his heart. And he made a difference.

…Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams…

Are we aware that once we really did have dreams?

Do we remember how it felt to be a kid?

How would it feel to be like a kid?

Do we allow ourselves to dream?

What do we allow ourselves to think of?

To imagine?

To want?

*-*-*

When I was a kid, there were a few things that I really wanted. I wanted to write and I wanted to dance. I have been writing since I was 13 or 14. I used to write for our Turkish and English newspapers and magazines when I was in high school. I wrote a lot of poems over the years. And since 2006 I have been writing for a couple of national magazines in Turkey, and of course for the Land of Lights newspaper for the last few years.

I just love writing. Today is a wonderful sunny summer Sunday in Istanbul. As I am writing today, I look out the window and it is wonderful to watch the sea, shining, and the boats that are going up and down the Bosphorous. Yet, I choose to stay, to stay inside and to write. To share what really excites me and what I believe will make or can make your life better.

What really makes me stay inside and on my own in front of the computer?
As for dancing, I never got the chance to learn or even to find much the time to dance. As a kid I remember that I would put a tape that I loved and dance. I would look for times when there was no one home, so that I could do this more freely. When I was at Cornell University, I remember that Friday and Saturday nights, there would be parties and there would be real dancing. I remember that we would dance till the early hours of the morning. It was such a wonderful feeling.

The last such experience I had was in a training called “The Butterfly Effect.” Our trainers Adi, Adir and Yair had created a wonderful atmosphere where all participants had free space to express their feeling with their bodies in the form of a dance. The music kept changing, and so did the dances. There was such joy, freedom and happiness that we all felt and shared.

Since then when I feel like it, I put on a CD that I like, or I turn the radio to a station that I like and I dance. And I each time I feel born anew…

*-*-*

This is one of the weeks that I believe less is more, and I would like to request one thing from you:
To remember your childhood dreams and to see what you can do to get a taste of what you really wanted then.

Could you give it a try?
…

Wish you lots of love and luck.
Zeynep
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Angel of the Week: Power

Affirmation of the Week:“Our soul gives us power to accomplish more that we can imagine.”
From The Kabbalah Centre

Quote of the Week:“I welcome all creatures of the world with grace.”
Hildegard of Bingen

Zeynep’s Book Recommendation of the Week:
“The Last Lecture” by Randy Pausch
This book is available in Turkish under the title: “Son Konuşma”.

To Have a Story to Tell

I chose an angel card for myself today and the card that came out was “Play”. I find myself with than quality that we call childlike many times. We indeed do forget to play – yes even during a vacation. When did we forget to play? And how?

*

I have been playing and watch others playing a different kind of game – The Transformation Game lately. This game is an amazing tool to discover how we act, how we behave and respond to life. I fell in love with this game as a player and then wanted to learn how to facilitate it. That is how my trip to Findhorn got started.

I have been hearing of the Findhorn Foundation and Community in the last couple of years. I have been hearing about it with respect to Spirituality and Ecological Living and Ecological Footprints. I have been attending workshops on Sustainability and we also organized seminars to high school kids in Fethiye on Ecological Foot Prints. However, I learned about the Transformation Game, which was developed in Findhorn, for the first time last year in October. A few months later, the Turkish translation of the game was available in bookstores around the country under the name “Donusum Oyunu.”

Personal development and healing are topics very dear to my heart. I am a life coach and I am aware that we all have our unique ways of learning and digesting information. Some of us like to read, some of us would like to hear the words from a teacher. Some learn better under pressure. And some of us do learn while playing. The Transformation Game is an excellent tool to learn, about ourselves, while playing.

*

What would you consider “playing”?
Do you play in life?
Did you play today?

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I have an art studio in Istanbul. For me painting is playing. I lose track of space and time when I paint and I love that feeling. I get a similar feeling when I am reading. The other day I was trying to figure out how and when I started to like reading. I couldn’t. Maybe I should ask my Mom. But I do. I do love reading.

*

There is a famous Turkish author who had passed away in 1950s, Sait Faik. He surely is one of my heroes. And I discovered him when I was 13, when I saw my British math teacher reading Sait Faik in Turkish, a book called “Semaver Sarnıç”. First of all, in class he never gave us a clue that he knew Turkish and, now he was reading a book in Turkish. I was to discover this wonderful and very famous story teller in the most unusual way. One of the first things I did after started to live in Fethiye was to order a complete sets of Sait Faik’s books for my library here.

Do you ever get that feeling, the feeling of wanting to read a story again, a section of a book again, and to feel a restlessness that is hard to explain when you cannot seem to find it? I feel like that quite a lot. For that reason, I have a library in all my homes and my offices for the books that I love. And yes I do have various copies of the same books, maybe not of all, but of quite a lot of them. Why do I need to have their presence? Maybe it is to be closer with the energy of the words or of the energy of the authors. I realize that in some of my libraries I have more books on certain topics or more books of certain authors. And they are not related with the location of the library. Makes me wonder about the energy interactions we usually do not think about, but that exit.

Ah, one final note. In Sait Faik’s biography it is written: “Since Sait Faik considered writing his work, he decided to do nothing else.” Quite courageous for the 1930s in Turkey and I am so thankful and grateful to him for just doing that...

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I send you lots of love and may the books that will touch your heart appear on your journey.

Zeynep
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Angel of the Week: Patience

Affirmation of the Week:“My creative powers of imagination and my connection to all-encompassing consciousness show me the way to realize my ideas.”
Gerd Ziegler

Quote of the Week:
“Energy moves in waves. Waves move in patterns. Patterns move in rhythms. The rhythms gave me a way to map the movements of my own psyches as well as the ever-changing state of the universe.”
Gabrielle Roth

Zeynep’s Book Recommendation of the Week:
This week I have different book recommendations in English and Turkish.
In English: “Six Degrees, Our Future on a Hotter Planet” by Mark Lynas
In Turkish: “Semaver Sarnıç” by Sait Faik, with my deepest respect to the memory of this great Turkish story teller. He is one the reasons that I am writing today. May he rest in peace.

What Would Love Do Now?

I have been away from Fethiye almost since December. I came for a few days on and off, but I really missed it and missed my friends here. Still, I have a lot of catching up to do. By the way, currently I am back in Istanbul for a project on Life Coaching. Actually, I came back to Istanbul today with a morning flight. I flew with Pegasus Airlines for the first time. And also I used the Sabiha Gökçen Airport in Istanbul for the first time as well. I am amazed to see that London now has four airports, and having a second one was definitely needed in Istanbul. However, I have a feeling this second airport will turn out to be too small for the city’s growing needs for air travel.

*

Well, back to Fethiye. I was talking with some friends about my trip to Japan this year in May. That trip has been like a Tibetian bowl in my life. I can still feel its influence, its vibration in my life. I am also trying to understand why I feel this connected to this country…

What makes us connected to a place?

What makes us feel close to, to like, to love a place, a country, a person?

It is about culture, language, or appearances?

Is it about being similar or different?

What are the underlying factors?

What are the reasons, if any?
…

*
Fethiye is a place that I am really drawn to. There are other cities and towns that I have been to tens of times and I do not feel a similar connection with those places.
I also feel a very close connection with Japan, more than many of the countries that I have been to so many times.

Why?

Well, there are different answers:
My bio-energy teacher Moshe Abudaram says that sometimes the land, the energy of the physical land may call a person, to complete what is taking place there. Maybe that is why although distant healing works beautifully in many cases, sometimes healer needs to be physically close to the person in need of the healing.
What does this really mean

This can mean several things. First of all, those of you who might have read “The Celestine Prophecy” by James Redfield know that energies of groups of people come together at certain times at certain places to create a higher energy field. A person’s presence might be needed for the formation of such a circle. A circle of two or many. Second, either the person might need the energy of the land or the land might need the energy of that person. And this could be needed for many different reasons.

Of course, there is also the topic of previous life times. One of my friends is going to the US to attend a workshop by the famous psychiatrist Brian Weiss. I also wanted to go; yet I have been travelling so much in the last few months that I felt I needed stay this time. Brian Weiss is a must read for those who are interested in regressions and hypnotherapy.

There is a lot more happening energetically than we seem to be aware of. Also, to be aware of the energy exchanges that take place between people everyday have a look at James Redfield’s books. Also, the movie of the book “The Celestine Prophecy” is out, by the same name. I really do recommend watching it.

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Neale Donald Walsch in his book “Conversations with God” writes:
“Do what you love to do and nothing else. Make a life. Otherwise that is a dying.”
And there is also a powerful question that he uses and that I also use when things get difficult. And with that question I would like to leave you this week.
The question is: “What would love do now?”
*

I wish all of you the best.
With love,
Zeynep

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Angel of the Week: Intention

Affirmation of the Week:
“As I become the right person, I find the right person.”
From The Kabbalah Centre

Quote of the Week:
“It is necessary to write, if the days are not to slip emptily by.”
Vita Sackville-West

Zeynep’s Book Recommendation of the Week:
“Ask and It Is Given” by Esther and Jerry Hicks
This book is available in Turkish under the title: “Yeter ki İsteyin!”

Freedom, Is It Just a Boat?

I was on my brother’s boat Freedom a few days ago. It was our first time out in Fethiye in his boat. Cruising to the Şövalye Island from Ece Marina in Fethiye, I found myself thinking about what freedom really is. What was freedom for me? And what is freedom for me now?

For my brother Yaman, his boat brings him the feelings of freedom.

What makes you feel free?
What is really freedom for you?


...

Being in Fethiye is freedom for me. Most of the time. Being on an airplane is both freedom and confinement. Being single is both freedom and not. Being rich is both freedom and confinement and so is being poor.
Life is so relative, and so simple and so difficult if we choose to make it so ...

Emotional Freedom Technique - EFT
Some of you might have heard of the Emotional Freedom Technique. It is one of the healing modalities that I am trained in. This system has been developed by an engineer like me, Gary Craig. There certainly is an aspect of freedom related to our emotions. Our experiences, our memories, the meanings that we attach to what we experience constrict us or expand us. During my trainings and in the cases I have worked on, I have seen so many emotional chains lifted that I have respect for this simple, but very effective method. Simple is beautiful. I have seen traumas of near-death experiences, phobias, child abuse, and many more lifted in less than 20 to 30 minutes. Of course, for each person and for each case, the time and effort needed may vary. However, to know that sometimes it can happen so quickly gives me hope.

One of my cousins is a doctor at the Med-American Clinic in Istanbul. He sometimes shares how difficult it is to find ways to help the elderly, especially in the terminal states. They have so much pain, so many health problems, so many issues and most of the time so little hope. Also, use of medications becomes more difficult as they get more fragile with age. I cannot help, but think that complementary therapies can be of help in providing pain relief as well as emotional support. It is comforting that in some hospitals in Istanbul heart yoga is taught to patients with heart surgeries. I know that in most of the cancer hospitals in the US, Reiki and many other complementary techniques are offered to patients if they choose to have such treatments. I have seen such great improvements in the health conditions and the quality of life in the elderly as well as the young that I would like to encourage all of you to learn and use complementary healing techniques to improve your lives.

Is it really possible to heal, to be more healthy, to be more energetic or to have a more positive – a truly positive approach to life? Health is a very delicate subject. It is very difficult to suggest or recommend a certain technique or approach when a person’s life is at stake for example. I believe that is why it is very important to use these techniques as preventive medicine, to keep the immune system up and running. They work. I use them for myself, for my family, for people who consult me. Reiki works. EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) works, Jyorei works. Affirmations work. Foot Reflexology works. Flower Remedies work. Bio-energy and IPEC Work. Kinesiology works. I use them and through my own experiences I can say that they work and they work beautifully.

Time may be needed for the results to be scientifically documented and approved. I am happy to see that doctors in Turkey and abroad are trying to provide scientific documentation. The world wide famous Turkish heart surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz (Dr. Oz is the author of the award-winning book, Healing from the Heart) says that they are working with bio-energy healers on various microbes in petridishes to be able to document the effectiveness of these treatments scientifically. However, he also mentions in his books and programs that, even though not scientifically proven in the conventional sense, he believes in the support of complementary treatments. I would also like to mention that Dr. Mehmet Oz’s wife Lisa Oz is a Reiki Master.

Gorse and other Flower Remedies...

There were a lot of gorse flowers when I had arrived in Findhorn this June. I knew of Gorse as a Bach Flower Remedy which is very effective in removing depression. Seeing the yellow flowers made me realize how this flower can bring us life energy. In one of his books Japanese Masaru Emoto displays the pictures of water crystals of the Findhorn Flower Essences and one of the pictures of the crystals was of water with the gorse flower. It is quite a beautiful water crystal.

I really do recommend Bach Flower Remedies. They offer excellent support for emotional states. There are Findhorn Flower Remedies as well and the Australian Bush Remedies of Ian White. Currently I am trying some of the Findhorn Flower Remedies. They seem quite good. Flower Remedies work with the energy quality of the flower and there are no known side effects. Only, those with alcohol intake problems and allergies need to check with their doctors to see if and how they can take these remedies, since most of the flower remedies are preserved with a small amount of brandy. In such cases one suggestion is to take these in hot liquids so that the alcohol evaporates. I do recommend you to keep a bottle of the Rescue Remedy of Bach Flower Remedies at hand in your travels. It is very effective and supportive in case of emergencies.

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May your days bring you love, joy and true freedom...
Zeynep
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Affirmation of the Week:“As I accept my fears, they are transformed into love.”
Gerd Ziegler

Quote of the Week:“Magic has often been thought of as the art of making dreams come true; the art of realizing visions. Yet before we can bring birth to the vision … we have to see it.”
Starhawk

Zeynep’s Book Recommendation of the Week:
“Energy Medicine” by Donna Eden
This book is available in Turkish under the title: “Enerjilerle Pratik Şifa”