Carol Richardson
Q&A
Mornings with the
Masters
1)
What inspired you to write Mornings with the Masters? In the fall of 2013, I followed my
inner voice that told me to stop looking for a job, and I spent many of my mornings
in prayer and meditation. This led to having numerous experiences of connection
with the Ascended Masters who guided me, including Jesus Christ, Buddha, Mother
Mary, Paramahansa Yogananda, Mary Magdalene, Lady Kwan Yin, and High Priest
Melchizedek, and since then, Lao Tzu. I realized that the lessons were so
important, and that the Ascended Masters intended these messages to be heard by
everyone. I that I felt I needed to share these lessons, honestly, and
vulnerably. The miracle of the story is that the Ascended Masters reached down
to teach me even in the midst of my own struggles in life.
2)
You have more than 20 years of
experience helping people – as a life coach, spiritual leader, and healer. With all that you’ve encountered, what is the
one piece of advice that you have for someone looking to change his or her
life? Accept
responsibility for changing yourself. No
one else can change you or your life. Ask for help. God, angels, and Ascended
Masters are basically waiting for people to ask for help; not for help changing
the world, so much as help changing ourselves. Have faith that you will receive
the help you need. Un-prioritize everything else except for connecting with God
in order to be transformed into a better person for everyone’s sake.
3)
In the face of tough challenges, what
are a few key strategies to help someone press onward? What tactics can someone utilize to help them
remain strong? The
Divine is within you. Know that you are
worthy of success, and becoming who you are meant to be in this life, and in
this world; not in an egotistical sense, but in the sense of being the
beautiful person you are on the inside. Do not ignore that part of you that the
world seems to miss, to dismiss, and to stomp on. To give up on yourself and
your life is to deny that God is in you. To give up on yourself and life is to
give up on God. But, even in the act of giving up you are trying to save
yourself from pain. That too is the reality of love in you, that no matter what
you think you are doing, you are seeking to reconnect yourself with the love
you need. So, why not reconnect yourself with love in a happy way? Keep
believing that you will be guided to try something new, and eventually, something
will work out for you? Keep on believing in yourself, loving yourself, and
maybe do something different that you have not yet tried before.
4)
You discuss various techniques to
increase happiness and reduce stress, such as meditation, yoga, and
visualizations. What benefits have you
found personally and professionally from these methods? I use a short routine that I call
“The Power of Breath Routine” which I learned at a place called Power of Breath
Yoga, in Portage, Michigan (with their permission). It involves stretches,
cross-body movements, and breathing which de-stress both body and mind. I give
it to clients, who report that the method does reduce stress. I also lead the
spiritual community in guided meditation classes in order to help people become
tuned into Divine Presence. Raja Yoga meditation helps me get into a zone of
peace, which is like no other state I know of in our culture. Kriya Yoga meditation helps me sense
connection with higher states of consciousness and higher energies, as well as
Higher Beings. In the Inner Harmony (Light Worker) classes I teach, the
meditations and affirmations help people experience the benefits of group
meditation. This shifts and elevates the energy to a beautiful, loving,
peaceful, healing energy.
5)
Can you explain how visualizations
work and why they are useful?
Visualizations, when performed with faith in oneself, and a sense of connection
with the universe, and engage the mental powers of the Third Eye. Therefore,
they engage the power of the mind both to change oneself, and to extend the
energy of that possibility out into the world. Visualizations draw on our
creative mental capacities, transforming what we see into new possibilities
that we envision, setting in motion our conscious and subconscious minds to
align with the intention of that vision.
The power of intention is activated when we repeatedly envision
possibilities, truly believing they can occur, and enjoying the visualization
of these possibilities. This is not to say that they come from sheer desire
(lust, greed, etc.), but from a deep sense of purpose and of fulfillment of
that purpose.
6)
You have been meditating for about
two decades. What advice do you have for
someone interested in starting this practice? Create a space
in your home for meditation. Light candles, set-up a place to sit where your
spine can be straight, if possible sitting on cushions on the floor or a yoga
mat or meditation stool. Don’t worry about how long you do it, and do NOT beat
yourself up for your wandering mind. Just start with two clearing breaths – in
through the nose, and sighing out through the mouth, and then breathe naturally
in-and-out through the nose. Start by following your breath and becoming
mindful of how you feel- first your body, and then your emotions, and then
watching your thoughts come and go in your head. Choose a mantra if you do not
already have one. You may choose a word that is sacred to you, or a word such
as ‘peace’ or ‘love.’ Breathe gently and
be grateful.
7)
Mornings
with the Masters discusses spiritual leaders across
many faiths. What is the advantage of an
interfaith approach?
Truth. Truth is often disguised
underneath the dogmas of various religious traditions. The path to truth is a
mystical path, because no one else can truly teach us truth unless we are ready
to learn. Truth can be discovered within
each tradition, but only when we let go of dogma and practice spiritual
disciplines to seek, and find the truth within ourselves by connecting with God
in our own hearts, minds, and souls. An interfaith approach can also open us up
to guidance from more spiritual teachers who have truly experienced the truth
within themselves, and not just read about
the “truth” in a book.
8)
Your book draws on teachings from
eight of the greatest spiritual leaders of all time. What similarities do you find across their
insights and wisdoms?
Just Be. All is well, and the path to that state of being in which we
experience “all is well” is the path of peace – inner and outer peace. Knowing
the truth of who we are. Trusting that the Divine is within us, in everyone,
and in the entire Universe, for we are One. Love yourself and love others, for
without love there is no wisdom, and there is no peace. Give that which we
should receive. Let go of how your ego may see the world. Trust that we will be
provided for and get busy providing for others, loving others, seeking to
understand others, and serving others. All will be well. Or, as I’ve apparently trained my future
son-in-law to remind me, “Buddha says, everything’s going to be okay!”
9)
Stress, pain, and overworking are
rampant in today’s distraction-driven environment. How has the cyber reality made us lose touch
with ourselves? Cyber
reality has changed our values, and our sense of what is important. We connect
superficially most of the time, unless we get bold enough to say, “Do you want
to meet for coffee or tea/lunch/dinner?” Cyber reality makes it more difficult,
and potentially easier to get together to create community. The busyness of our
lives separates us and therefore fragments our sense of self. We are souls in
animal bodies having a human experience within families and communities in a
natural world that is our home. Given the distractions of cyber realities we
often forget, or never get the message, that we are souls on a journey. We
minimize the idea that our bodies are of the earth, we forget that the earth is
our home, and we lose the ability to create community in a holistic, and
integrated sense. The internet actually gives us a beautiful analogy for the
reality that the Universe is all connected and that consciousness in one place
can be connected with consciousness in another place instantly. But, while the
internet connects us and allows us to learn many “things” about the world, it
does not lead us to the soul food we need any given day, and it does not help
us learn to look into the eyes of other people, and bask in the beauty of one
another’s souls. That is soul food for which we may be starving, and just do
not know it.
10) How
can we regain that inner focus that might have been lost through such
distractions? Set
aside even just five minutes twice a day for meditation. Practice a form of exercise, without music,
that enables your mind to be set free to wander, to imagine, and to feel what’s
truly important to you. Connect with nature. Nature is our home, and if we are
willing to observe nature closely we can learn a lot of wisdom. By observing
nature, pets, animals, babies, children, we can open our hearts and learn
compassion. Take time to do something that is not about struggling to survive,
and is not about material well-being. Whether it is art, music, or dance that gets
you out of your focus on surviving, competing, striving, acquiring, getting,
having, or taking, and instead gets you into a state of just being and
enjoying; please do it.
11) You
talk a lot about healing. Most people
understand healing from a physical perspective.
If someone breaks their leg, they wear a cast and until the bone
repairs. But what does healing mean from
an emotional and spiritual perspective? All true healing brings in the energy of love, the
energy of life. Deep healing heals not only the physical self, but old
emotional wounds as well as emotional traumas. True healing reconnects us with
who we really are, and empowers us to fulfill our life purposes. True healing
also empowers us to believe in ourselves, and to overcome all the negative
tapes we may have stored in our heads of the hurtful things people have said to
us over the years. True healing eliminates our limiting beliefs, and connects
us with the energy of love and of infinite possibility. An experience of energy
healing brings us the energy of peace, relaxation, love, and a sense of
well-being that medicine just cannot give.
12) For
someone looking to find their sense of self and purpose, what is one step they
can take to begin that journey?
Love yourself, and accept yourself as you are. Let life be your teacher. If
something is working; great. If something is not working; make a change. Reflect
deeply on all the way you want to help people, and the world become a better
place. For your true life purpose is never about getting something for you, but
about doing something for others. Reflect deeply on what you enjoy doing,
especially what you experience as meaningful and brings you joy when you are
engaged with others. If you feel that you have not had a strongly, positive
impact on others, then try different ways of helping people, or the planet
until you find one you love. Life becomes your oyster when you believe that
oysters have the ability to create pearls. So, please ask yourself, what are
the pearls you would like to help others create in life? And who has an amazing
ability to create those ‘pearls’ if you would only work with them to do so?
Please note, Carol is promoted by the PR firm that I work for,
2016 Book Marketing & Book Publicity Toolkit
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.