Thursday, March 27, 2008

David Archuleta - You're the Voice

I am moved to write once more about 17-year old American Idol finalist David Archuleta. This week the remaining top ten contestants each described when and where they were born, shared a bit about their childhood, and sang a song from their birth year. David Archuleta sang a Johnny Farnham song called You're the Voice.

Johnny Farnham?
You're the Voice? Whaaa?

The judges reflected their bafflement at David's song choice. Only Simon Cowell seemed to remotely recognize the song, or really know of Australian singer Johnny Farnham. Obviously "You're the Voice" isn't familiar to mainstream America, and this lack of immediate connection was a detraction from David's American Idol performance. Even Paula Abdul, the queen of positive spin, teasingly questioned David, "You couldn't have chosen an American composer?" Further disappointing for David's American Idol chances was Simon's characterization of this upbeat, spirit-raising performance as reminiscent of a "theme park performance, one of those ghastly songs you sing when you've got animated creatures with you and everyone joins in together." Unfortunately, Simon had a point. Up With People comes to mind.

However, I believe Simon is dead wrong in his assessment that the song is "not you at all" and his further speculation that someone else must have chosen it. While Simon may be maddeningly discerning and painfully accurate with regard to vocal talent and performance abilities, sadly, he doesn't have a clue about what makes someone like David Archuleta tick. About soulful intentions and living a bigger purpose.

David's bigger purpose, which he can't seem to help staying true to, is to use his gifts to make a difference in the world. David lives from the heart and sings from the soul.
He is all about the message. Unlike Simon, I believe David Archuleta must have chosen the song himself. Listen to the lyrics! This is a song of vision and empowerment, encouraging every single individual to recognize and own the power of his or her unique voice and to use that power to stand up and make it count:

You're the voice try to understand it
Make a noise and make it clear
Oh-o-o-o, whoa-o-o-o
We're not gonna sit in silence
We're not gonna live with fear
Oh-o-o-o, whoa-o-o-o

This time, we know we all can stand together
With the power to be powerful
Believing, we can make it better
ooooh, We're all someone's daughter
We're all someone's son
How long can we look at each other
Down the barrel of a gun?...
Quite simply, David - purely, genuinely, radiantly, innocently - with every cell in his body and every ounce of his being, wants us all to join together to change the world. And he believes we can.

Okay, so the song may have been sketchy as an American Idol finalist choice. But there is no mistaking, again and always, the purity and power of David's voice, and the purity and power of David's spirit. To my ears, David Archuleta's voice is in a league of its own. I can't wait to buy his first album, and I hope he makes it exclusively focused on these songs of vision and empowerment that so move him and really do affect the reality we're collectively creating.

David Archuleta. "You're the Voice." What a perfect song choice, really.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Untethering

The universe speaks to me through books, and the books I'm reading usually mirror quite accurately where I am in my process of awakening. As much as I love books, I usually avoid bookstores because I feel easily overwhelmed - so many good books, so little time. Too much incoming.

But I braved the bookstore recently in search of a book recommended by a friend entitled The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer. This title so intrigued me that I wanted to get the book in my hands immediately - couldn't wait for Amazon by mail.

And I haven't been disappointed. I'm reading it now for the second time, taking it in on a deeper level, and I can't recommend it highly enough. My two favorite testimonials sum up what makes this book a must-read:

"In the book, The Untethered Soul, Michael Singer takes you step-by-step through the process of Gyana, the Yoga of the Intellect, to the Source. Moreover, he does it with elegant simplicity. Read this book carefully and you will get more than a glimpse of eternity."
~ Deepak Chopra, Author, Life After Death: The Burden of Proof

"In lucid, unadorned prose, Michael Singer delivers the essence of the great spiritual teachings of the ages. Each chapter of The Untethered Soul is an instructive meditation on the binds of the human condition and how each and every knot can be gracefully untied so that our souls may fly. The accuracy and simplicity of this work is a measure of its pure mastery."
~ James O'Dea, President of the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS)
Singer's exploration of the spiritual journey and his descriptions and metaphors are accessible and insightful. I love, for example, his characterization of the incessant inner voice that's always narrating your life as your "inner roommate." He proposes that the first step toward freedom is to become aware of this voice and think of it as someone else in the room with you. By doing this, it's easy to recognize that this voice is not you, and that until now you've been locked inside with a maniac. So refreshing to see it this way!

Singer suggests that to attain inner freedom, you must be able to objectively watch your problems instead of being lost in the energy of them, and to break the habit of thinking that the solution to problems is to rearrange things outside (new job, new spouse, whatever.) Rather he proposes dropping back and living from what he calls the seat of consciousness. He goes on to describe how energy flows through us and how we have all constructed elaborate walls of protection in the psyche around places where energy has gotten stuck in the past. He suggests that freedom lies just beyond these walls, and if we can but
untether from the triggers that have hooked us in the past, keep our hearts completely open, and learn to let energy flow freely through us, life will never be the same. Peace, joy and freedom will abound.

Like I said, can't recommend this book highly enough. The chapters on "Contemplating Death" and "The Secret of the Middle Way" are my favorites. Peace, joy and freedom, here I come!


Saturday, March 8, 2008

Client Picks for 'Extreme Health' - Raw Foods, Chakra Music, TRX Bands

Last Friday I had the good fortune to work with a new massage client who somehow started telling me about a conference she had attended on Extreme Health. Instantly intrigued (my favorite subject!), I asked her what were the stand-out things she learned there. In the course of our session, she mentioned five things:

* David Wolfe's Raw Foods nutrition advice;
* Steve Halpern's music for brain and chakra balancing;
* TRX exercise bands, the latest in functional resistance training;
* Active Isolated Stretching,
Aaron Mattes' method for efficient stretching; and
* Yamuna body rolling, a fitness and therapy technique developed by a yoga instructor using specially designed balls.

Upon searching, I found that the seminar my client had attended was T. Harv Eker's Extreme Health Seminar. My client told me that the speaker who had the most impact for her by far was Raw Foods expert David Wolfe, and that much of his presentation was available on YouTube. I've just been watching these videos, and I see why this was her reaction. David Wolfe is a dynamic and believable speaker, whose life work, he says, has been to marry "you are what you eat" with "you are what you think." He is young, and his approach to what I've always considered a dry and dreadful subject - nutrition - is incredibly refreshing and uplifting. I love this guy, and am inspired by both his message and his delivery of it. David Wolfe's passion for what he does is compelling, and he makes the impossible seem not only possible but truly within reach. I find myself suddenly actually contemplating a paradigm shift in how I think and behave with regard to how I fuel my body. I second my client's recommendation to watch these videos!

I had heard of Steve Halpern's music and active isolated stretching in massage school, and both are worth knowing about {though I haven't delved into them any further at this point.} I am also familiar with Yamuna body rolling because my yoga teacher loved this specialty. I did, however, check out the TRX exercise bands, and they look fabulous. They are designed for "suspension training" and made by a company called Fitness Anywhere whose motto is "make your body your machine." The website is informative and user-friendly, with lots of FAQs and offerings. I recommend a look at it!


Saturday, March 1, 2008

Crystal Clear - David Archuleta's Transcendant Example

Last Tuesday night I happened to watch American Idol. The 10 male finalists were competing in the second week of the weeding out process. For the first nine contestants, the show was interesting in the usual way. The combination of incredible talent and the raw courage to perform and be vulnerable to searing criticism before the entire world is fascinating to witness. This endeavor certainly would stretch anyone's psychological and emotional comfort zones.

The
first nine performances this night supported the general consensus that this season's crop of American Idol finalists is exceptional. Each voice, personality, and style uniquely strong. A pleasure to watch. Great entertainment. Fun.

Then 17-year old David Archuleta sang John Lennon's Imagine. And
something profound happened. This young man sang with such purity of both voice and spirit as to send ripples of pure positive vibration into the universe. Something shifted in the fabric of creation. David wasn't singing to please the judges or the audience. He wasn't calculating or strategic, clever or theatrical. This young man was the embodiment of pure, unadulterated Light. He sang completely from the heart, allowing every cell of his body to resonate and express his powerful, powerful spirit. It was obvious that he was not just performing, but expressing, from the deepest, purest heart space, the message of the lyrics.

With only time for one verse, David chose to sing the third verse - his favorite because of its 'great message.' David not only sang the song, but made it his own, in what Paula Abdul described as "one of the most moving performances I've ever heard" of "one of the most beautiful songs ever written." It's as if David Archuleta picked up where John Lennon left off.
I don't know how anyone who saw/heard/felt this performance could help but be affected.

My reaction was to feel hope for - and get a glimpse of - a truly transcendant future. The newly dawning Aquarian Age. I can't stop watching the YouTube video of David's performance. When I do, I feel my heart expand and I am frequently moved to tears. I really do imagine a brotherhood of man, nothing to kill or die for, a world in which we really do live as one. And the more of us that imagine that, day after day, with open hearts and full-throttle passion, the sooner it will materialize.

I believe David Archuleta is one of the special ones, a quintessential Crystal Child. A being of Light born to help the species ascend to higher dimensional living.
He is a vivid and shining example for the rest of us, of what it looks and feels and sounds like to be fully in our bodies, to live from the heart, to resonate at the highest frequencies. And in the process make the world a better place by holding a vision for a glorious future, and unreservedly and joyfully doing what we are born to do.