Serenity Sunday

Embracing Your Divine Nature

Embracing God’s Will
and Your Divine Nature

Embrace Your Divine Nature Serenity Sunday article by Genevieve Gerard

 

What role in your life do you play vs. what role in your life does God play, and how do these work together in a cohesive and cooperative way?

Long ago philosopher
and spiritual teacher
Saint Augustine said,

Pray as though everything depended on God.
Work as though everything depended on you.

This duality of prayer and our individual efforts speak to the underlying confusion of the role that God plays in our lives and our responsibilities as a human being.

On one hand most feel perfectly comfortable taking an issue or a problem to the Lord in prayer and asking for divine intervention however most truly have a harder time surrendering to his divine guidance and will as called for in the famous words of Jesus when he prayed “not my Will but Thine be done.”

As old and wise as this concept is the concept of surrender is often touted but it seems is woefully misunderstood by those on the spiritual path. Surrender is just one of the many concepts where spiritual teachings and spiritual traditions seem to be in conflict. The conflict seems to arise from our misunderstanding of what we are as human beings, the nature of God or the Divine, and most importantly how these diverse influences work together.

On a deeper level of our misunderstanding is our failure to comprehend how spirit and matter work in the intricate dance of creation and co-creation. There seems a contradiction between a human being as a dual being who possesses the spark of Divine Light and the all too limited and struggling individual we too often consider ourselves to be. This dichotomy, this seeming contradiction has long plagued both thinkers and doers alike.

By clarifying these seemingly contradictory natures we can better understand what roles God and prayer play in our life. We then can open ourselves to a deeper comprehension of what it means to be a child of God and a co-creator of our life. This clarification is important because to recognize and appreciate the intricate inter-relationship of these forces in our lives is both encouraging and empowering.

As we explore this question of what role God and prayer plays in our life we are confronted with teachings that all seem to be true, but sadly seem to be very different from one another. This leads to very different conclusions about what we should do in any given moment of time with our life.

It is easy to embrace one truth to the exclusion or surrender of the other things we know to be true. But in so doing we deprive ourselves of the benefit and blessings of our dual nature as a human being as well as a Divine being… a son of man who is also a child of God.

Thought leaders, spiritual teachers, and the common mythos of society tell us that we are responsible for everything that happens in our life. And I believe that is true. Right alongside that truth is the concept that “energy follows thought.” And that I believe, and it has even been proven by science to be, also true. Woven alongside these truths is something that men and woman of faith have long known – prayer is a powerful force that can have a profound impact on life situations and events.

Ultimately, our desire to call upon the support of the Divine and invoke Divine Will and right action can give us a great peace and a great calmness when we call upon the higher wisdom of God and our Soul to direct the events and circumstances of our life.

Thankfully, we can both strive and surrender when we focus on our dual nature as a child of God and a co-creator with God, powerful beyond our imagining when we are aligned with our Soul purpose and Divine Will.

Amazingly both these truths manifest and are demonstrated over and over again despite our limited understanding of how they work together in the unity of our nature. Our life tends to lead an individual to embrace one element of truth and ignore the other. This is unfortunate because this limitation of our comprehension can deprive us of the power & influence we have over our life as a co-creator and the comfort & support that is available to us as a child of God. We can experience the sweet support of surrendering to the wisdom of our Soul and God and still use all of the powers of positive thought to manifest the life that we envision and desire.

The motivation, influence, and mastery that results when you take responsibility for your co-creator role in life is powerful, profound and inspiring. Likewise, the peace, joy, and comfort that you can experience when you surrender to the Divine (take it to the Lord in prayer and invoke or yield to Divine Will) is a blessing & solace that is also profoundly inspiring. The point that so often is missed as you may vacillate between your human nature and your Divine nature, is that it is not an either-or situation.

It is an answer that can only be really clear when you understand that your real power and ability to resolve these truths lies in your burgeoning awareness of your nature. This nature, as a Soul-integrated and ultimately Soul-infused personality, reveals a mystery, magic and a power that humanity is just beginning to understand and embrace.

This dual state of being is a consciousness advocated in the Ageless Wisdom that has been hinted at but is only now in the fullness of time coming to light in spiritual teachings as a part of an enlightened awareness. As beings of spirit, aligned with and surrendered to the Will of God, and as a physical being having a spiritual experience, you can span these states of co-creator and create.

It may well be a concept you have never previously considered, but, on deeper exploration provides the continuity that clarifies so many of the contradictions that you may have been exploring. When you reframe and reconsider the different roles of your Soul as a spark of Divine Light you may realize that an essential part of your being is that we are all One with Source (God.) You then can think about your personality as the unification & integration of the influences of your physical body, your emotions, and your mind, seeing your whole being as the miracle that your life truly is.

The amazing thing about being a human being is that you are both fully human, driven by your personality needs and desires and you are a beloved child of God, imbued with a spark of unity with God to become in your life co-creators of the life that manifests before you. Therefore, you dance between invoking and surrendering. You can pray and petition with faith. And, at times even bargain with God.

There is something very peaceful about surrendering to God and just having faith that God will guide your steps and direct your life. But God did not create a human being to be a passive being. God gave you the amazing power and potential to work in harmonious cooperation with his creation process. He gave you a mind, the power to love and free will so you could learn to live a life that bridges from animal man to Divine child of the son of God.

As we strive to demonstrate our faith in God, it is important to see how God has demonstrated His faith in us. He has granted us the position of co-creator of our life as a child of God. He has given us the powerful principles of “energy follows thought” to teach us the “Laws of Attraction.”
      – Genevieve Gerard

As you learn to live in harmony and understand the direction of your Soul and your Divine nature, you also must learn to direct the creative power of your thoughts, control the power and influence of your fears and direct and redefine your personality cravings while learning the meaning of love.

It is not an easy task you have been given to be a human being and a child of God. However, learning to be a co-creator and take advantage of the sweet support of surrender allows you to manifest this duality in your life and by learning to express this in your everyday life you are in for an exciting and great adventure that will open you to be and become all that you were meant to be, all that you truly are. This is the great quest for the new consciousness and new awareness for a new age.

It is in the integration of your Soul and infusion of your personality with your Soul that the full glory, potential and power of what it means to be a Son of God and a Son of Man here on planet earth, is realized.

Embrace God’s Will and Your Divine Nature!

Namaste,

   Genevieve

The Blessing of Love on All that you Do!

 

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Last updated 8-18-2019

 

Copyright © 2014-2019 Genevieve Gerard and Touch of the Soul LLC. All rights reserved.

 

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Finding Your Life’s Purpose

Finding your Life’s Purpose

Read Finding Your Life's Purpose by Genevieve Gerard

Each of us has a purpose for our life.

To fulfill this purpose brings us into harmony and alignment with our Higher Self, our Soul.

To engage in that purpose brings you more than happiness, but joy.

Knowing that in your daily work you are expressing your higher purpose gives a satisfaction that no paycheck or material reward can ever match.

Unfortunately, as you work for survival in the world the importance of manifesting your purpose in the world and finding “right work” can be lost. This is a sad reflection upon our society and demonstrates the ways we fail our children and more importantly, fail ourselves.

Years ago, Paul Goodman in his book “Growing Up Absurd” noted that

we work in jobs that are meaningless,
for which we get money, which is meaningless,
with which we buy things, which are meaningless
and wonder why we have a meaningless society.”

Right work, doing what you love in life, is a key to joy and often the best way for you to unlock abundance. So, as I ponder these things I wonder why more people don’t manifest their life purpose in their work.

As I question this and ponder this I find that there are multiple factors that influence this issue. As with so many things in life, we let ourselves be limited by our fears. We are afraid that if we hold out for the kind of work we love the kind of work we enjoy and what would bring us satisfaction and a sense of fulfillment that we will not make enough money for all the stuff we believe we need and desire. Perhaps what we should fear is living our whole life dissatisfied and burdened as we take on roles and responsibilities that are justified by society’s values that we cannot fulfill. This attitude is often summed up in the expression “that’s why they call it work.” Unfortunately, that expression and the values that it espouses are antitheses to living a full and fruitful life, living a life of joy.

Because we as a society do not value finding our Life’s Purpose, generation after generation is condemned to jobs that do not express or fulfill them as the materialistic values of our society encourage people to live lives of consumption and quiet desperation. This is despite the advice of various thought leaders to “Do what you love, and the money will follow.”

Working for survival can condemn you to a life where you may survive but it lacks a sense of meaning and purpose that will lead you to despair. The “stuff” you buy does not bring you satisfaction or joy. It becomes the clutter of a life of compromise and frustration.

We too often fail to believe in and trust ourselves, life, God or the very purpose of life itself to make fulfilling our life’s purpose work for us, even though it is in doing that is where the subtle energy of life aligns to help and support us. We buy into the limiting beliefs of our world that drudgery is fine if it is amply rewarded. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Perhaps, before you agree to let your fears and limiting beliefs condemn you to a life of sorrow and suffering as you commit to most of your life experience unhappy and unfulfilled, you might consider taking the time and attention to understand what actually brings you a sense of joy, what your real purpose in life is that will satisfy your hearts desire.

Ironically, that does not need to be a high-status job or a dramatic or glamorous one, but rather one that fulfills your sense of higher purpose. The most mundane and tedious jobs known in our society, as basic as a greeter at Wal-Mart, can be the fulfillment of one’s life purpose if as a worker greets customers, they express the intention to be a beacon of pure comfort and joy to other’s as they greet them. When you are doing this as an act of service, and you are aligned with your life’s purpose, yours is the most important job and you are important doing that job because what you are delivering and bringing to that job is more than can be imagined or rewarded. Joy and purpose can often be found in doing whatever you are doing with the fullness of your whole being infusing the task.

When you passion becomes your vocation you don’t need a vacation.”
      – Genevieve Gerard

Early in my work life, I was a waitress. Although it was hard work physically, and I was tired at the end of my shift, I left the job satisfied and fulfilled because of my goal, my purpose, was to make my customer’s experience of eating out as pleasant and relaxing as possible. This focus of service to those who crossed my life gave me a sense of satisfaction that filled each day. I approached the job by desiring to be the very best waitress I could be and anticipate and fulfilling the needs and desires of my customers made it a challenge and satisfying. Remembering them from time to time, and remembering what they liked and how they liked it, made the human interaction valuable. This was equally true whether it was a fancy dinner restaurant or a sit on a stool, coffee shop. Not surprisingly, I was always rewarded with more tips than my fellow waiters who approached their service as demeaning or drudgery.

Each day was a pleasure to serve others and bring a little joy into their life even though it may have been as simple a pleasure as a well brewed and warm cup of coffee.

So, it seems to find right work not only has within it the element of finding the right job but also of finding within you that job that you can do to bring the energy from your Higher Self to make it align with your purpose in life.

Through meditation, by opening yourself to the guidance of your Higher Self, you can gain clarity on this issue. Because this is such an important factor in life that has such far reaching impact in not only your life but your relationship and opportunities for service with your fellow man, I recently conducted a group meditation on “Finding your Life Purpose.” This meditation is available as a MP3 download on my website on my New Group of World Servers meditations page.

It is not your purpose to be corralled by your fears into accepting compromises and be demeaned and limited by work but to find where in the world and how in the world you can be a fulfilled glorious expression of your real self.

Look into yourself and consider what you can do and what you can bring to each circumstance and each opportunity in life to align with your Higher Purpose which will bring you more and more opportunities and experiences compatible with that purpose.

Spend some time in meditation to consider what your true passion – your real purpose is, and then be brave and bold as you go forth to do it and live it to the very best of your abilities. Find your life purpose!

Namaste,

Genevieve Gerard

The Blessing of Love on All that you Do!

 

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Last Updated 3-14-2017

 

Copyright © 2014-2016 Genevieve Gerard and Touch of the Soul. All rights reserved.

 

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Soul Connections

Soul Connections – The Eternal Bond of Love

Read Soul Connections article by Genevieve Gerard

 

Have you ever had the experience of meeting someone new, be it a friend or lover with whom you feel an immediate bond and connection that defies logic or understanding?

Immediately with these people you may be able to build a deep bond that is somehow more profound and much deeper than most of your other relationships.

These relationships go quickly into a level of trust and intimacy that can be at times confusing.

How, you may question and ponder, can I feel closer to someone I just met than possibly even my own family or friends I have known my whole life?”

These relationships are so different from other relationships that they are noteworthy and recognized as the special events that they are, even if they are not understood.

To understand these relationships, and even more important to not misunderstand the nature of these relationships it is important to understand both the nature of love and the eternal bond of love that evolves when a Soul connection exists. To explore these Soul connection relationships we need to expand our consciousness and our awareness of possibilities beyond the ways we may believe or perceive life to be.

The commonly held beliefs in Soulmates are often examples of these Soul connection relationships. And, when these relationships are begun at a time in life when one is looking for a mate, these profound bonds can be ignited into a lifelong powerful supportive and sustaining relationship. But when these intense experiences occur outside of the time of mating and physical desires our lack of understanding of these special relationships can be the cause of pain and sorrow. We might feel that we missed the chance to bond with our Soul Mate and therefore deny ourselves the love, the support, and the joy that a Soul connection relationship can bring into our lives.

Limiting a Soul connection relationship to the confines of the modern mythos of a Soul Mate is sad because it often denies us some of the most powerful relationships we can experience.”
          ― Genevieve Gerard

By expanding our awareness of the nature of Love to a deeper understanding of life and the nature of the Soul, we open our life, our consciousness, and our experience potentiality to a full spectrum of joyful liaisons to enhance our life adventure.

On a deep almost pre-conscious level we know, not with our minds but deep in our hearts the truth of the words, love never ends. We know this, not as hollow words to comfort us when someone we have truly loved dies. It is through love that we become aware of and our eternal nature, our Soul. When we have forged the bond of Love with another, we have made a connection that is beyond time and space. We have expressed our Divine nature and created something that connects us that transcends the material world and is manifested energetically.

We know these things with the wisdom of our hearts no matter how much our logical mind and scientific explorations fail to make sense of them. We might even say that these truths are self-evident, Love is eternal, and the Soul is eternal. Therefore, we might then consider what is not eternal. We know the body is not eternal.

Each of us who walk the earth knows that we begin our walk to death at the moment of our birth. It may be a very long walk or a devastatingly short walk, but we know that life has a beginning and an end. We also know that along that adventure we are dual beings. We have the life of the body which focuses upon all of the obvious aspects of the matter, but we also have emotions that while at times are impacted and influenced by the body exist outside of the material world. We also have thoughts, which like the emotions are not limited by matter but exist in a way every bit as real as our physical nature. And to complete the full expression of our nature we also have a Soul.

In a sense we are not only dual beings of matter and spirit but amazing beings who have a body, but are more than our bodies; who have emotions but are more than our emotions; and who have a Soul. It is with our Soul that we truly can love. And when we Love we form a bond with that which is eternal in us and that which is eternal in the beloved. It is through that eternal bond, of Soul connection, that we are drawn together in a myriad of roles and relationships through the bond of Love.

When we make in our life these connections that are Soul connections we are given a great gift to explore our deepest nature and develop and grow to a greater fullness of our being. The friendships formed and the relationships that are forged through the bond of Soul connection and Soul Love come into our lives to support us, empower us and expand our consciousness, reminding us on a very deep level of who we are as eternal beings.

What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies.”
          ― Aristotle

These connections which are often recognized by an amazing ease of intimacy and understanding are usually accompanied by a feeling of having known someone your entire life, even if you just met. The depth of feeling that these relationships engender and the overwhelming joy that accompanies such connections is a part of the magic and mystery of life. In these relationships, you are invited to strengthen and temper love to new levels that have nothing to do with Eros or romantic Love but at times Philos, the Love of deep friendships and Agape, Soul Love which extends into the deepest core of your heart.

To expand your consciousness to incorporate these relationships into your life are a blessing that enables you to experience a joy and enables you to transcend the existential sense of loneliness and alienation that may have plagued other relationships in your life. Therefore you can populate your life with Soul Mates, Soul Friends, Soul companions on the path for the mutual achievement of your life work, your heart’s desire and your growth and evolutions in consciousness.

Celebrate and explore these unique relationships whenever and wherever they are offered to you in life. Neither age nor circumstances limit the potential of these Soul connection relationships to enhance your life in ways that can be both satisfying and empowering. These Soul connections offer new opportunities to embrace and express the fullness of your life.

Namaste,

Genevieve Gerard

The Blessing of Love on All that you Do!

 

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Last updated 7-8-2018

 

© 2014-2018 Genevieve Gerard and Touch of the Soul LLC, All Rights Reserved.

 

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The Essence of Being

Essence of Being

Read the Essence of Being, Serenity Sunday article by Genevieve Gerard

This post is part of my on-going series on Awareness & Being In The Now.

Years ago when I was going to a Zendo to learn meditation, which is called ZaZen or more literally sitting meditation, the Zen master and I were discussing, as we often did the differences between the teachings of our Western culture and what is advocated in Zen meditations.

Pressure To Do vs. Be

We considered, in particular, the differences between the messages of many Western society parents, certainly mine, who would say, “Don’t just sit there, do something.” I don’t remember how many times I heard that when I was growing up, but it was certainly a lot. The Zen Master pointed out that in learning meditation that now I had to learn to “don’t just do something”, “sit there.”

The pressure that we feel to be constantly doing and accomplishing is for many of us hard wired into us from our early childhood messages. The idea that we can just relax, just be still, just sit and ponder, or just be, can be very difficult for many of us. We may feel that since being is not doing that it has no value.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Now, with the vast body of scientific research showing the health benefits of mindfulness meditation that cultural message is gradually changing. However, our societal Type A achievement orientation all too often approaches meditation as just another thing to “do”, missing the important step of opening to the fullness of your being or essence.

The dictionary shows the meaning of essence as, “the intrinsic nature or indispensable quality of something, especially something abstract, that determines its character.” Which comes from the Latin essentia, from esse to ‘be’.

It is in the pause, in the silence, in the being, that you receive the essential benefits and the blessings of meditation. It is when you let your awareness expand that the impressions and direction of your essence, your Soul, can be heard in the silence, the silence that is within all sound. Ponder on this.

Reminder you’re a human being not a human doing.”
     – Mastin Kipp

Find The Experience Of Being

It is to help you find that experience of being that all of the meditation techniques taught across the various teachings strive. This includes the chanting of the ancient Vedic tradition, the mantra focus of Transcendental Meditation taught by the Maharishi, or guided meditations, even the activity based mindfulness awareness meditations that I teach, the essential element is about helping you to just be, in the now famous words of the teacher Ram Das to “Be Here Now”.

All of us who teach meditation, from the Masters of The Ancient Wisdom over the eons to the teachers of more modern times whether Hindi, Buddhist, Sufi or Christian Mystic, create ways to bring you into the consciousness of Being because it is in “Being” that revelation happens. That revelation comes from within your core, from your essence, from your Soul, from your connection to your Soul.

It is ironic that all of the paths of consciousness bring you to this same essential awareness, the essential state of being. It is why I have never been concerned about what path someone walks, only that they walk a path to enlightened awareness. The ultimate teacher is within you and that is your own Soul which always knows exactly what you need to help you move forward in your evolution of consciousness.

The various twists and turns you take along the path can be influenced by a vast array of beliefs, teachings, techniques and trials or errors, but the ultimate teacher, your own Soul, your own embedded spark of Divinity that is with you for all of your life, will reveal the truth to you. That truth will set you free from all of the glamors or illusions no matter how dearly or tightly held.

In the essence of being, truth is revealed. In the essence of being you are not limited to seeing through a mirror dimly. And what path you took to get to that essential experience of being pales in comparison to the bliss, the love, the peace, and the joy that “being” provides.

The Paths To Being

There are many steps upon the path. There are many things you need to learn or conquer along the way. But no step is in vain because each technique you try, each meditation you explore, are all the ways that your Soul is demonstrating to you what you need to experience with the essence of your being.

So, I teach, be gentle with yourself. Love yourself. Honor and respect yourself. Trust yourself to know the truth, for it seems to me when you open yourself to the awareness that resonates with the inner wisdom that this is true you have an inbreed compass you can use to guide your life. I encourage you to listen to that inner wisdom and ignore whatever voices of “you should” or “you ought” that is going on around you.

You and your Soul are the final arbiter of what is right for you, no matter who is teaching you or advising you.

It is to unveil the essence of your being that all of the techniques, all of the meditations, and all of the teachings exist, but it is not out there, it is Now and has always been an integral part of your Self, the touch of your own Soul.
     – Genevieve Gerard

The Light, the very essence of your being is your birthright and is available to you whether you are consciously aware of it in this moment of time or not.

Light A Candle Awareness Technique

There is a very simple very ancient technique that can be used to help you become more aware.

Light a candle and watch the flicker of the flame. Don’t do anything, just sit and watch it.

As much as you are able, calm your mind, open your heart and invite the Light while you just sit and observe the burning flame.

You can observe the candle for as long or as short a period as you desire. There is nothing to do, just be. There is no right way or wrong way to watch the flame, just watch.

 

I hope you enjoy this simple “being” awareness interlude.

Namaste,

   Genevieve

The Blessing of Love on all that you do.

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Last updated 7-6-2019

 

Genevieve - Soulful

 

About the author:
Genevieve Gerard teaches Transformational Consciousness – from first awakening to enlightened Soul awareness. She helps you experience the joy that results from the spontaneous “touch of your soul.”

Read more details…

Genevieve has a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy and Theology and a Master of Arts Degree in Counseling and for over thirty years has worked one-on-one with people who were recovering from devastating disabilities and chronic pain. Teaching the mastery of the mind-body relationship she was one of the early professionals trained in biofeedback, visualization, imagery, and meditation as essential techniques to help people heal their bodies, heal their emotions, heal their minds, and heal their lives.

Genevieve’s work demonstrates what she knows so well, “It is spiritual connectedness that triggers physical healing and emotional and mental well-being.”  Helping people, like you, tap into your higher-self is the power she wields to guide you to heal and transform your life.

Now, with this understanding, she combines the effective techniques she developed over decades teaching mind-body mastery along with her extensive experience in meditation and spiritual development to create a synthesis of mind-body-spirit that delivers complete healing and opens the door to unlimited personal growth and an encounter with your Soul.

In addition to her current life guidance coaching sessions, and workshops performed around the world, Genevieve has produced more than 20+ guided meditations in the last eight years that are available on iTunes, Amazon, CDBaby, and her website.

It is her vision that through your experience with the techniques of awareness, visualization, and meditation, the love of your Soul will touch and transform your life through her writings and products. It is her sincere desire that the potential of a life of joy and celebration that seems to elude so many people can become a reality for you, now and forever.

Browse her life story and read the Touch of the Soul that changed her world. To contact Genevieve, visit her keep in touch page.

 

Copyright © 2014-2019 Genevieve Gerard and Touch of the Soul LLC. All rights reserved.

 

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Calm Your Mind

Calm Your Mind

Read Calm Your Mind - Serenity Sunday Article by Genevieve Gerard

Calm your mind,
Open Your Heart,
Invite the Light

 

These are the instructions that I use at the start of every guided meditation that I create.

When I reflect upon what characteristics best exemplify a spiritual life, I realize that the qualities of patience, kindness and calmness are key virtues for us to strive to develop in our life.

I believe you can best manifest these qualities as a reflection of your experiences received in meditation. The practice of meditation and ultimately the discipline of meditation, focus you on calming your mind.

Quieting your mind is an ongoing challenge for those of us who practice meditation, no matter what form of meditation we practice.

It is only in the quiet mind that the full peace of the serenity of our Soul can be experienced.”
     – Genevieve Gerard

It is in the quiet mind that we can open ourselves to the wonder and the Oneness of the Universal Presence. It is in a quiet mind that the promptings of your spirit guides and guardian angels can be heard. It is in the quiet mind that intuition can be truly revealed.

The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is his success, his influence, his power for good. Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom.
     – James Allen

Releasing Anger

Calming your mind requires an active manifestation of the important principle of detachment, because to achieve that blessed state of calm you must disconnect from and release any anger you may be carrying, which will automatically bring you in touch with forgiveness. This forgiveness often needs to focus on those who have annoyed you, whether with petty acts or grand, but in order to extend the grace of forgiveness to another; you will find you must also extend that forgiveness to yourself first.

This contradiction of that by giving we receive has been revealing itself more and more clearly in my recent meditations. It seems to be an important principle. Ponder on this. It is very empowering.

This release and this resolution of whatever anger you have been experiencing combines with a spontaneous ripple effect of shifting your awareness away from the events that made you angry. This does much to bring calmness to your mind and quiet the chatter, by letting go of expectation, demands or desire.

This movement in your consciousness from expectation, desire, and demand, to letting go of your anger enables you to forgive both the other person and yourself. By this act of forgiveness, you will accomplish a great step forward in calming your mind.

All of this can occur in a nanosecond once you consciously turn your attention toward the content of your mind chatter and the emotions that are locked within it. You might find that this process is enhanced by taking a really deep breath and exhaling fully. The deep breath not only enhances the experience of the release but it also works with the physiology of the autonomic nervous system as the deep breath signals the body-mind-spirit connection that you are now safe to be calm.

Concurrently, your being is interwoven with the influences of your mind, your emotions, and your Soul. The release of the anger and the dual decision to forgive both yourself and the other person spontaneously opens your heart to experience more love.

Open Your Heart

This opening of the heart is the second instruction that I give each time I introduce a guided meditation.

When you open your heart with a quiet mind love rushes in.”
     – Genevieve Gerard

The initial focus to calm your mind has a cascading benefit that is like domino’s falling bringing greater benefit and blessing.

When you open your heart with a quiet mind you are able to both give and receive more love. The heart becomes an open receptacle for the love your Soul brings to you and the love that is available to you from God or Source that is your birthright as a child of God.

Your heart opened makes it possible for you to love without demands or conditions. In this state of openness the qualities of compassion and kindness are stimulated in your consciousness.

Compassion, like forgiveness, cannot really be given, without also being received. This interrelationship and interplay of energies do much to bring about the desired effect of calming your mind. The combined factors of letting go of desires and expectation, and the resulting release of anger, by stimulating forgiveness of both the other and yourself, all shift your awareness and render your heart open to receiving and expressing love.

The initially stated intention to enter into meditation by calming your mind has opened you to all of these blessings.

The second injunction that I give at the start of every guided meditation to open your heart began automatically as you let go of your anger in the process of quieting your mind; forgiving yourself and the other.

To consciously choose to open your heart in the approach and intention of meditating does much to expand and enhance your experience of meditating. By adding the power of intention to what you are experiencing and adding the wisdom of understanding, the power and influence that meditation can have in your life will be significant.

Invite The Light With Meditation

The last instruction I give with each guided meditation is to invite the Light.

Inviting the Light is a step to enlightened awareness. Enlightenment is expressed in the peace, the calm and the love and the joy which becomes a state of being offered to all who tread upon the path of meditation.

There are a myriad of benefits and blessings along the way. Among these are the now undisputed health benefits of meditation. Meditation has been proven to reduce physical stress. It can also give you a different perspective and a sense of Universal Oneness. In addition, the transformation available to your life as you learn to forgive both yourself and others can be very powerful, very profound and very freeing.

The integration of all of the talents and tools that you have as one who has a body (an amazing and complex source of delight and sensation), emotions (a rich and diverse portal to enjoyment and happiness) and a Soul (the gateway to joy and bliss) is a miracle. It is the miracle we call human life. It is a miracle with which you are blessed. And because we live each life of this miracle blessed by free will, it is a miracle that we are empowered to make of it what we will.

In my life meditation has provided the way to harness and to calm my mind as I receive the blessing and benefits of a calm mind. Meditation is the tool that has enabled me to forgive both others and myself. It is how I have conquered the stresses, the strains and the pains in life. It is how I have utilized universal laws such as the Law of Attraction and the dynamic opportunity to be a co-creator in my life through the principle that Energy Follows Thought.

There is no work I can do that I believe to be more important than teaching about and creating meditations. There is no gift or service that I can give that offers more opportunity to help you live your life in joy fulfilling your potential and promise, manifesting your Soul purpose.

In my adventure through the lessons of my life, meditation is the foundational pillar upon which I build. I am far from perfect. I often fall way short of whom and how I would like to be. I am a work in progress and will remain a work in progress all of the days of my life.

For me, meditation is the way I progress along the path. Mediation has become over the years a practice that has given me so much, taught me so much and exposed me to so much that my joy and my love overflow into so many aspects of my life that my gratitude for this great gift to all of my teachers and guides along the way is unlimited and ongoing.

I wish this great joy and this blessing for you:

Calm Your Mind, Open Your Heart, Invite The Light!

Namaste,

Genevieve

The Blessing of Love on All that you Do!

 

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Last updated 11-19-2017

 

Copyright © 2014-2017 Genevieve Gerard and Touch of the Soul LLC. All rights reserved.

 

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The Gift of Forgiveness

The Gift of Forgiveness for Father’s Day

The Gift of Forgiveness on Father's Day, a Serenity Sunday article by Genevieve Gerard

As Father’s Day arrives our thoughts turn to what gifts we can give. I suggest forgiveness.

Many of you may have had wonderful Fathers, who you love deeply, and who have loved you deeply. But no matter how wonderful they are, or were if they are no longer with you, odds are that there is in the life experiences you shared some slight, real or imagined, event, accidental or careless act that will benefit from being forgiven.

Such is the nature of life. We miscommunicate, misunderstand, and fall short of meeting one another needs. It is usually not intentional. It may stem from busyness or a clash of needs at a particular moment of time. It may be forgotten or harbored with justification and resentments.

Without forgiveness life is governed by…
an endless cycle of resentment and retaliation.
        – Roberto Assagioli

Whatever the situation or circumstance, I suggest Father’s Day as an opportunity to forgive it. Forgiveness is a gift you can give that requires no money. It is a gift that by giving to another, you also give to yourself.

You might upon reading these words say there is nothing to forgive. Or if as you read this you may begin to make justifications or excuses like “he did the best that he could” or “he didn’t mean to hurt me.” Or when remembering and realizing the hurt you still think that is too small or too petty to forgive.

All of that may be true, but the power of forgiveness is so broad and vast that I would recommend strongly to just forgive the hurt anyway. Forgiveness is a tool you can wield to bring you into the present moment, into the NOW. Forgiveness frees you from the past, and especially in relationships, opens you up to both give and receive love at a whole new level.

Forgiveness heals relationships of pain and hurt of which you may only be vaguely aware. The wonderful thing is it isn’t really hard to forgive once you have chosen to do so. Choosing to forgive can be the hard step and resisting forgiving harder still. Yet there is nothing I could suggest to you as families gather together and celebrate Father’s Day that could empower you more, bless you more or transform your life more than to use this opportunity to forgive.

To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of love. In return, you will receive untold peace and happiness.
        – Robert Muller

Forgiveness ends all the illusions of any conflict you may have had with your Father throughout your life. It does not matter if the slights are real or imagined. It does not matter if he even knows you were hurt or injured. He need never know you harbor anger or resentment. Forgiveness wipes all slates clean, opening your relationship to a new depth and a new understanding.

Heart of the Family Meditation by GG

 

 

 

To experience a transforming guided awareness meditation that unites families, download my 12-minute meditation: Heart of the Family.

 

 

One great advantage of taking this opportunity to forgive is that by forgiving you are bringing your relationship with your Father into present time which then enables you to relate to one another from the mutual understanding of two adults.

This will be incredibly freeing and empowering. This shift in perspective may well enable the two of you to express things that have never been said before. After choosing to forgive their Father, I have had clients frequently report that the entire relationship with their Father changed, although they may have never said a single word to their Father about forgiving them or even feeling that they had a need to forgive them.

The task of forgiveness can be spiritual work. It is so very powerful and expresses in so many deep and subtle levels that it provides a fast track to transformation. As it transports you from the past into the present it also corrects errors of perception bringing you from the unreal to the real.

Ultimately an act of forgiveness is an act of love. By giving forth the love that created you to the one who sparked your formation with an act and expression of their love you are activating deep magic in your life.

Forgiveness is also an act that can release profound healing. It is a way of demonstrating love and by so doing it automatically triggers grace and compassion. It can be one of the most powerful things you can do to transform your life and enhance your success and ultimately your happiness and joy.

Forgiving one’s Father can also be interwoven with issues of success because archetypically a Father’s love is less unconditional. Most children grow up feeling that they must earn a Father’s love and most feel the best way to do that is to be successful.

Likewise, for many the primary issues for which they need to forgive their Fathers are tied into a perception of unavailability or lack of attention because of the Father’s involvement with work and career. Therefore, the act of forgiving your Father can have far-reaching implications in your life.

One very effective forgiveness technique is Hoʻoponopono [ho-o-pono-pono] (an ancient Hawaiian practice of reconciliation and forgiveness.)

    The Key Phrases That You Can Repeat Are:

  1. Please forgive me
  2. Thank you
  3. I love you
  4. I forgive you
  5. I forgive myself

I wrote in more detail about this in my Holiday Forgiveness and Gratitude post.

Ultimately, forgiveness is the foundation to bring greater peace and serenity into your life. It is a cornerstone of all of the great spiritual teachings for thousands of years. But the most amazing part of forgiveness is the way that forgiving improves your life. What you intend as a gift and a blessing for the person you are forgiving ends up being a blessing and a gift in your life that impacts your life in ways that can be unimagined and empowering as you are freed and unburdened from wounds you may have forgotten and not even have realized you were still carrying.

The link between Love and Forgiveness is woven into the fabric of your life and whatever effort thought or energy it takes is returned to you with more benefits than you can measure as it ripples through your life releasing and freeing you from often unseen or unrecognized disruptions on your path as you journey through life.

So this Father’s Day just say I Forgive You and enjoy the gift of forgiveness in your life.

Namaste,

   Genevieve

The Blessing of Love on All that you Do!

 

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Last updated 6-21-2020

 

Genevieve - Soulful

 

About the author:
Genevieve Gerard teaches Transformational Consciousness – from first awakening to enlightened Soul awareness. She helps you experience the joy that results from the spontaneous “touch of your soul.”

Read more details…

Genevieve has a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy and Theology and a Master of Arts Degree in Counseling and for over thirty years has worked one-on-one with people who were recovering from devastating disabilities and chronic pain. Teaching the mastery of the mind-body relationship she was one of the early professionals trained in biofeedback, visualization, imagery, and meditation as essential techniques to help people heal their bodies, heal their emotions, heal their minds, and heal their lives.

Genevieve’s work demonstrates what she knows so well, “It is spiritual connectedness that triggers physical healing and emotional and mental well-being.”  Helping people, like you, tap into your higher-self is the power she wields to guide you to heal and transform your life.

Now, with this understanding, she combines the effective techniques she developed over decades teaching mind-body mastery along with her extensive experience in meditation and spiritual development to create a synthesis of mind-body-spirit that delivers complete healing and opens the door to unlimited personal growth and an encounter with your Soul.

In addition to her current life guidance coaching sessions, and workshops performed around the world, Genevieve has produced more than 20+ guided meditations in the last eight years that are available on iTunes, Amazon, CDBaby, and her website.

It is her vision that through your experience with the techniques of awareness, visualization, and meditation, the love of your Soul will touch and transform your life through her writings and products. It is her sincere desire that the potential of a life of joy and celebration that seems to elude so many people can become a reality for you, now and forever.

Browse her life story and read the Touch of the Soul that changed her world. To contact Genevieve, visit her keep in touch page.

 

Copyright © 2014-2020 Genevieve Gerard and Touch of the Soul LLC. All rights reserved.

 

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Writing to Gain the Wisdom of Your Soul

Writing to Gain the Wisdom of Your Soul

Read "Writing to Gain the Wisdom of Your Soul" Serenity Sunday by Genevieve Gerard

In the process of writing while tuned into and receptive to your Higher Consciousness, your deepest truth can be revealed through the wisdom of your Soul. Your comprehension can be clarified and integrated on a level of truly knowing.

This is a focus you can use to bring into your life more awareness of the presence of your Soul in your life. It is a way to experience the influence, the wisdom and the love that a relationship with your Soul brings into your life.

This experience is slightly different from journal writing, although it is similar. Writing in one’s journal tends to be personal or personality based. Tuning into and invoking the wisdom of your Soul when you write is a tool for expanding the awareness and influence of your Soul as you journey along the path of integrating the Soul and Personality.

Soul-Personality integration and fusion is an important step in the ever-unfolding evolution of our human consciousness and our expression of our Divine Nature. It is a way to develop your consciousness and expand your awareness of the fullness of your being.

To write as an exercise of meditation with consciousness is a way of clarifying both your awareness and your understanding of whom and what you truly are. It is a way to align yourself with your life purpose and perceive the deeper influences of your Soul. It is a way to begin to utilize the gifts that are available to you, that are there for you at any time, but only when you open yourself to gain the wisdom and invite these offerings into your life.

Free will is a very important universal law of consciousness requires of us that we choose to invoke and request the wisdom and guidance of our Souls. Until that request, until from our “personality” perspective, we summon forth this relationship, the Soul, while present and attentive all of your life for ways to guide you, remains outside of the notice of the mind and personality.

To unlock the profound wisdom of your Soul by writing, begin by sitting quietly and calmly, bringing your emotions to a place of deep and profound peace. As you do this, take the time to open your heart energy and be receptive to the Love that your Soul brings to you.

Quiet your mind and let the chatter fade away as you drop self-judgment and self-criticism. Assert your intention to have the wisdom of your Soul revealed to you in a way that is clear and provides insight and direction in your life.

The Light of the Soul Descends
Soul Light Descending

As you do this, invite the Light of your Soul to provide clarity and insight. As you invite your Soul into your life as a source of love, wisdom and guidance, it is also important to understand that your Soul is an integral part of the wholeness of your being. To do this you can visualize your Soul as a radiating point of golden Light about three feet above your head at the tips of your fingers if you raise your hands above your head.

From that point of radiating Light visualize the gentle descent of Soul energy into the top of your head (crown chakra), illuminating your mind, infusing and enlightening you.

To affirm and identify with this part of yourself, you may find the use of a mantra to be helpful. Affirm in your mind and say with intention the words of the Mantram of the Soul.

Mantram of the Soul

    I am the Soul
    I am Light Divine
    I am Love
    I am Will
    I am Fixed Design
    I am the Soul infusing the personality
    I am the personality Soul-infused
    As the unified Self, I invoke the One
    The One in Whom we live and move and have our Being”

You might now wish to send forth in your mind the silent sound of the OM.

Now, with your mind calm and your heart open continue to invite this Soul Light in as you begin to write, with the wisdom and perspective of your unified Soul-integrated personality revealed in your writing.

You can now write as a meditative experience, conscious of your body as it writes, while deeply aware of the thoughts and impressions you are having. I have written about this concept previously in a blog entitled How to Center You Energies Before you Begin to Write.

By capturing these ideas on paper, you often see solutions that you never imagined before. You may have flashes of insights that have eluded you about yourself or the motivations of others.

In my experience with this kind of writing I have received great understanding and wisdom and a perspective that has helped me transcend many of my fears and limitations, as well as granted a compassionate perspective upon the actions and behaviors of others. For this reason, I have found it very beneficial to record these thoughts and impressions so they can be re-read and re-considered as a way to gain greater understanding in your life.

As you write from this point of dual consciousness, with the awareness of your personality (your personal needs and your personal desires), and at the same time with a connection to your Higher Self, you are in a state of mind that is not meditation, but is certainly meditative.

I have also found keeping a journal to be very beneficial with this experience. I believe it is important to record the dates of your insights and guidance because they are often surrounded by significant life experiences and life lessons. This gives you the ability to look back on what you wrote in this connected state of mind, and state of being so that it can have real relevance in your life.

When you have finished writing, however long that takes, be sure to express your gratitude for the blessings you have received as you go forward in your day.

I know this technique will be a blessing to you to increase and enhance your joy and to bring clarity and wisdom to the challenges of your life. I share this with you to help you tune into and hear the wisdom of your own Soul.

Namaste,

Genevieve

The Blessing of Love on all that you do!

 

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Copyright © 2014-2015 Genevieve Gerard and Touch of the Soul LLC. All Rights Reserved

 

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The Greatest Love

The Greatest Love Is To Love Yourself

To Love Yourself Is The Greatest Love - Genevieve Gerard

It is one of the great mysteries of life that in order to love others, it is essential to love yourself.

I have often thought it was interesting that Jesus, in his role of Rabbi and teacher, considered self-love as a basic element in life when he taught that the most important law was to Love God with all of your heart, your mind, and your Soul, and to love your neighbor as yourself. This famous teaching assumes as self-evident that you love yourself.

Unfortunately, in my many years of counseling people and coaching them to live happier and more fulfilling lives, I observed that self-love is far from self-evident.

For many, the idea of loving yourself is challenging. It is not a basic part of self-evident consciousness as it may have been when Jesus walked the earth. It falls into the same category as forgiving yourself. For some reason many of us find it easier to give than to receive, loving yourself, forgiving yourself, being gentle and compassionate with yourself is something we need to learn.

Although this is logically counter-intuitive it is a result of societal training and pressures that get confused as we strive to be and become what we are told that we should be. Unfortunately, this is most often seen in woman who have been reinforced and rewarded by how self-effacing and self-sacrificing they can be. Many lessons that are passed through the traditions from Mother to daughter do not consider or understand how harmful and damaging they can be. These are often subtle and specific but when accumulated, result in a message that is toxic and damaging. It is not that there is the intention to harm or limit the full expression of success and joy in the life being molded, but rather, parents are teaching what they were taught without the conscious awareness or consideration of the consequences and the impact of the cumulative effect of these life instructions.

The result is often a belief on the part of the child as they emerge into adult life that to love oneself, to nurture oneself and to let oneself receive is in some way wrong. The wounding that this wrong teaching and wrong interpretation can result in is so pervasive and so deeply embedded in the myths and culture of our society that to break through to truth is often the most powerful transformation one can do to heal your life and embrace success. To understand, release and reframe all of the subtle destructive messages that it is wrong to love ourselves and wrong to receive not only love but the vast array of blessings that are available for us is a profound journey that leads to joy, success, and empowerment.

One of the cornerstones of this transformation is learning to love yourself. Inherent in that concept is learning to receive and allowing yourself to receive. Loving yourself and opening yourself to receiving will change your life on so many levels and in so many ways that it may be beyond imagining. The success you can achieve, the joy and happiness you can experience will cascade through your life. As you dissolve the lies and illusions that keep you removed from the freedom of expressing you will enjoy being who you truly are.

There are inherent in this journey certain key elements and key experiences that have great significance and have the power to heal you on very deep and profound level. The first of these elements is to shed the illusion and reject the lies that you have been taught in favor of a realization of the truth. That truth is that you are an amazing being, a creature of love and joy and this is the natural expression of your being. In coming to the full realization of this truth, it is also an important step to forgive yourself for all the ways you have limited and denied your full power and potential to be all that you were meant to be and all that deep in your heart you knew you could be.

Along with the important act of self-forgiveness comes the act of forgiving those who perpetuated and propagated these untruths and wrong thinking. We can assume that they only taught what they believed or thought was right, handed down through generations. Illusion and lies become embedded in our society. It takes courage to see the truth and let the truth free you. Forgiveness and even compassion for those who cling to wrong thinking is a part of affirming and enhancing yourself in this new expression of life as someone who has learned to love themselves and open themselves to the opportunity to be a being of love. Forgiveness, both of yourself and those who taught and fostered mistakes and illusion unlocks grace and joy in your life. It is in these acts and affirmations of forgiveness that you begin to demonstrate what it means to not only love yourself but how that self-love results in love and compassion for others.

You are an amazing being. You deserve to be loved, not only by yourself but also by others. You are a spark of Divine Light. It is by loving yourself, honoring yourself that you manifest your true power and potential as a child of God.

Discover how to use affirmations effectively and attract abundance in your life when you
download our FREE MP3: How To Use Affirmations Effectively.

Here are some simple affirmations you can incorporate into your daily practice to allow this important principle of Self Love to manifest in your life. It is best if you can do these quick simple affirmations three times a day, perhaps in the morning as you do your morning rituals, once more during the day, then again as you cleanse and prepare yourself for sleep.

Look in the mirror and affirm the following:

  1. I Love myself
  2. I deserve to be loved exactly as I am
  3. I am worthy of being loved
  4. I give my love generously
  5. I accept the love of others appreciatively
  6. I delight in who I am becoming.
  7. I am a beautiful, successful joy filled being
  8. I open myself to the love that surrounds me and gather it into my heart to support and strengthen me.

[NOTE: Some people prefer typing these affirmations on a small piece of paper that they stick on the upper corner of their bathroom mirror.]

Affirmations are a powerful tool to healing and transforming your life. When I have had my coaching clients add these affirmations to their life practice, their life begins to change, especially their relationships with others.

To come into the present, freed and unfettered by the past is opening your life to unlimited possibility. This is available to you through the healing power of your Soul and the enlightened embrace of your will as you affirm and accept that you have the power, the promise and the intention to love yourself and open yourself to the many joys and blessings that are available to you for the taking.

The timeless dance of giving and receiving, loving and being loved is before you. Celebrate and enjoy all that comes to you. Your Soul knows the real truth; your heart knows the truth.

Ponder on this. You deserve it.

To Love Yourself is the Greatest Gift, begin right now to give that gift to yourself.

Namaste,

Genevieve

The Blessing of Love on All that you Do!

 

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Copyright © 2014 Genevieve Gerard and Touch of the Soul LLC. All Rights Reserved.

 

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The Art of Blessing

The Art of Blessing

Read The Art of Blessing by Genevieve Gerard

 

As I was looking at the sales numbers for a variety of affirmations and meditations that I have put out in the world to help people I was astonished by an observation that started me thinking about both the art and the science of blessing.

When I saw that one of the most popular individual downloads from my two affirmation collections was the track labeled “thank you blessing” I was amazed.

What amazed me the most is how hungry people are to have the energy of the Divine affirmed and expressed in their life.

In the past hundred years or so, as the world has become more and more secular, the concept of blessing has fallen by the wayside. Little traditions and rituals of incorporating God into our lives are no longer woven into the daily fabric of life. Subtle conventions of speech and thoughts have changed. This may seem insignificant unless we consider this from the perspective of the principle that “energy follows thought.” The change in popular thought about the subject and meaning of blessing has had an unintended consequence on our society and our world of disconnecting us from our experience of the Divine.

By changing our thinking and simple changes in our patterns of speech we can begin to restore the peace and serenity that blessing extends because the principle that energy follows thought is a real and underlying truth in the world. We can individually return to the concept of blessing one another and invite blessing back into our human experience by extending blessings to one another.

Let us consider some of the ways that humankind has engaged in blessing throughout time. In much of the world, particularly India and Asia, blessing was extended as people greeted one another with “Namaste”. The meaning of this Sanskrit word used to greet and acknowledge another is “The Divine spark in me recognizes and honors the Divine spark in you.”

I honor the place in you where Spirit lives
I honor the place in you which is
of Love, of Truth, of Light, of Peace,
when you are in that place in you,
and I am in that place in me,
then we are One.
        – Namaste Greeting

The powerful and wonderful part of this blessing, when used as a greeting from the perspective of the principle of energy following thought, is that in using this blessing you must first make a connection with your own Divine spark, your Higher Self or Soul. By affirming the truth that you are first affirming your alignment with the Divine, then recognizing and honoring or supporting that consciousness in the other. It is interesting to observe that the tradition extends to bringing your hands together and executing a slight bow as a physical expression of the blessing. The small bow remains in the interactions of most of the Asian cultures still today.

It is also interesting to note that in the cultures who have maintained these rituals the society is, in general, a little more respectful and mutually supportive than western societies where the thoughts and art of blessing have been left behind as archaic. As honoring and acknowledging God as a source and strength in our world, the benefits of blessing have waned and left us with a world where values such as truth and honor have become old-fashioned and are no longer pursued.

These subtle shifts in the consciousness of individuals and the consciousness of society has created an atmosphere of selfishness and self-involvement that are having a profound effect on the world. It is certainly easier to be greedy, depriving others of dignity if you do not consciously value them. It is certainly harder when, even on a very subtle level even with a habitual speech pattern, you honor them and acknowledge them as a part of the Divine, and identify yourself as such.

Consider that by not blessing and honoring another you may be in some way impacted. These subtle shifts we have seen in our society away from charity to greed, from honor to corruption may take root in our failure to honor and bless one another.

If we look at the residuals of traditional speech patterns we will see that blessing was once built in. From the simple tradition of saying “Bless you” when someone sneezes to the once very prevalent phrase of the American South “Bless his or her heart”, it is clear to see that the concept of blessing one another was woven into the fabric of right speech and right human relations, both values that have diminished as the traditions of blessing have been diminished in our society.

On a very subtle level, just the simple act of saying “God Bless You” when someone sneezes is an affirmation and statement of faith that God has power over evil. This is because this tradition emerged from the old belief that when someone sneezes they lose consciousness for a brief span of time and it was believed that in that loss of conscious thought evil could enter them while they were unconscious or unaware. Therefore invoking the blessing of God was a way to dispel evil to return the individual to control.

Likewise the traditional phrase of the American South of “Bless his heart” activated compassion for the individual and again very subtly acknowledged the power of God in right human relations. As the words are said, thoughts are engendered, again because of the principle that “energy follows thought.”

In most of Asia, the residual tradition of the slight bow, left over from the Namaste Blessing, shows respect and honor. It is certainly much harder to cheat, demean or ignore the principles of right human relationships when you are even on a ritualized basis acknowledging their humanity and equality with you, and you are affirming their unity with the Divine.

The greed and the selfishness that have become such a profound problem in the global society in which we live, feed upon this illusion of separation that the loss of blessing has engendered in the world. Certainly, it is much easier to cheat someone, take advantage of someone or in some way misuse someone if you see them as separate from you.

It is harder to treat someone abusively if you
acknowledge their unity with the Divine.
        – Genevieve Gerard

I am sure Jesus was aware of this when he issued the guidance for right action with the phrase “yeah though you have done it unto the least of my brethren, you have done it unto me.”

As I write these words and consider more and more the importance and value of our blessing one another I am grateful that my exercise of accessing the popularity of my closing blessing has clarified for me the importance of building back into our life the art of blessing. Therefore, I would like to recommend that each and every one of us consider a way we could create the power of blessing into our lives.

As William Shakespeare wrote in The Merchant of Venice, “it blesses him that gives and him that takes”, it is impossible to bless someone without also receiving a blessing yourself. As I wrote in one of my most popular affirmations in my affirmation CD ‘Soaring to Success’ “As I help others I help myself.” This is especially true when giving a blessing.

For me, I will practice what I am preaching (so to speak) or walk my talk as the expression goes, by continuing to add to the conclusion of each offering I put out in the world my blessing, which comes sincerely from my heart as I conclude with Namaste, The Blessing of Love on all that you do.

Perhaps the simple act of adding Namaste to your greetings to others, friends, family or associates will help to return the art of blessing to the world. That energy follows thought is a firm and irrevocable principle of universal laws so even if you do not say anything, but think when you greet someone “the Divinity in me recognizes and honors the Divinity in you”, you are affirming your own role of co-creator in your life and also affirming their alignment and empowerment with the Divine.

In doing this, in your thoughts and in your heart, you are strengthening your own connection with the Divine, and the connection with your Soul or Higher Self. Blessing is a powerful act that needs to be returned to our traditions and our interactions with one another. By adding the art of blessing to your relationships you are making a decision to consciously enter into right speech and right human relations.

This is a powerful choice that can have far-reaching benefits, both to you and to the world around you. Therefore I enjoin you to bless one another as an act of love, honor, and respect, full knowing that the energy that goes out into the world with each and every blessing you give helps to make the world a better place.

I invite you and encourage you to be a source of blessing in the world by extending thoughts of blessing to others as you move through your life. When you see someone in need, bless them. When you observe someone who is upset or sorrowful, bless them. Practice blessing others in little ways throughout the day. By doing this you will invite blessing into your own life and become a subtle force for good in the word.

Thank you.

Namaste,

Genevieve

The Blessing of Love on All That You Do!

 

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Last updated 2-4-2018

 

Copyright © 2014-2018 Genevieve Gerard and Touch of the Soul

 

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A Perfect Moment In Time

A Perfect Moment

Experience A Perfect Moment In Time by GG

This post is part of my on-going series on Awareness & Being In The Now.

Have you ever experienced a perfect moment in time?

In a perfect moment you are released from fear with the full faith and confidence that you are OK exactly as you are.

You are freed from worrying, striving and stress, relaxing into what is and not trying to control life but letting life just unfold before you.

In a perfect moment, time seems to stand still. It is a moment when your heart is filled with feelings of love and your consciousness seems to expand to include a sense of Oneness with all of creation, with all of life. It is a moment of utter peace and complete joy.

Within a perfect moment are so many life lessons we can embrace and use to empower us when perfection seems out of our reach. In our experience of a perfect moment is a mind that is calm, not trying to do anything, not trying to change anything, but accepting with gratitude and appreciation what is available right here and right now.

In a perfect moment you are just being, and being is just perfect. If we ponder what is special and unique about that perfect moment we realize that it is free from the recriminations and judgments with which we so often burden our life. The flow of judgments in the form of “I should have, I could have, I ought to” as a part of our self-talk and mind chatter are ways we can deprive ourselves of joy. They are habits of thought that are a toxic poison. These self-judging thoughts take us out of the present into a consciousness of what never has been and never will be and is NOT real.

This illusionary standard of “could have”, “should have”, “ought to” holds us up to an imaginary standard of life and by so doing deprives us of the spontaneous joy and appreciation that is available to us when we let ourselves receive it instead of “shoulding” on ourselves.

We can free ourselves from this habit of killing our joy by becoming conscious of our thoughts and by making a conscious decision to focus our thoughts on editing and eliminating the often negative habitual thoughts that start with those illusionary phrases.

This technique of thought monitoring and thought editing is very powerful and can be life changing and life empowering. It is a way of harnessing the amazing power of our mind to bring into manifestation what we desire and claiming our role as a co-creator in our life. It is a way to become the director of your life rather than only an actor.

Whereas, statements such as “I should have” or “I could have” are dis-empowering and illusionary, statements in our self-talk of “I can” or “I will” are very empowering and start an automatic chain reaction to bring the plan into being.

Training your mind to empower your life requires your conscious intention to use the power of your mind for good in your life instead of letting your thoughts harm you by self-defeating, judgmental self-talk. Just this simple shift in your thought patterns and thought habits will create a very profound difference in your life. A difference you can feel and see quickly.

Love the moment and the energy of that moment
will spread beyond all boundaries.
          – Corita Kent

Observing your thought, just monitoring and accessing the content of your thoughts is a good place to begin. When you do this you might be surprised at how much of your “mind chatter” is filled with these toxic patterns. When you have observed the frequency of these damaging illusionary phrases, take a moment to consider how these thoughts make you feel. For most of us, it is tense, anxious and disheartened.

Then, as an experiment take just 1 minute and observe your thoughts and each time you catch yourself thinking the “coulda, shoulda” thoughts, consciously with intention, replace those thoughts with “I can and I will” thoughts.

Now how do you feel; excited, hopeful, powerful?

Thoughts have power. That truth can be used either for you or against you.

You can, by harnessing the power of your thoughts, unlock a powerful tool that both enhances your success and increases your joy. Since most of us do very little to consciously control our thoughts that power is left underutilized. By bringing your thoughts into consciousness and by choosing what you think, you are making a shift that will change your life in so many ways.

To take the reins of your mind and use its vast power in your life to create the life that you desire is the first step on a journey to success and joy. This you can realize, this you can do when you consider what you can learn when you have “a perfect moment in time”.

I invite you and encourage you to harness the amazing power of your mind and your thoughts to bring to you the life transformation that you desire.

There is a positive side and a negative side and
at each moment you decide.
          – Bernie Gunther (High Cards)

Now is the perfect moment to empower your life with joy.

Now is the time to experience and live in that perfect moment!

 

Namaste,

   Genevieve

The Blessing of Love on all that you do!

 

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Last updated 9-23-2018

 

Copyright © 2014-2018 Genevieve Gerard and Touch of the Soul LLC, All Rights Reserved.

 

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Holiday Forgiveness and Gratitude

Thank You, I Love You, Please Forgive Me

What is it that makes the difference and more importantly what can we do to make our experiences of family gatherings fun, joyful and a supportive experience?

Read Thank You, I Love You, Please Forgive Me article by Genevieve Gerard

For some people being together as a family is the joyous, celebratory part of a holiday. For others the events of holiday gatherings are stressful and challenging.

I am reminded of a story my sister-in-law told me several years ago. She was working in retail when a customer asked her what her plans for the holiday were, and she responded by saying the whole family was gathering at her sister-in-law’s home. Her customer began to offer her sympathy, and when she said how much she was looking forward to it, her customer was shocked. My sister-in-law commented that in her family were people she considered her dearest friends. Her customer was surprised and then went on to express the dread of being with her own family.

At the time I remember us being grateful that we had the family we did and the relationship of being both friends and family, not only in loving one another but also in the support and encouragement we shared not only with one another but within the family structure. Today I considered what makes the difference in these two very different experiences of families gathering for the holidays. It seems that these diverse experiences of family life and family gatherings are common. What is it that makes the difference and, more importantly, what can we do to make our experiences of family gatherings fun, joyful and a supportive experience?

When we look at the structure of the family two vital factors come to my mind. They are love and forgiveness. How the love is expressed or all too often not expressed is a significant part of family gatherings and whether or not we leave those events happy and fulfilled or disappointed and frustrated. By the time a family gathers together, there has been a lifetime of experiences. Expectations and what we desire and need from one another have colored our history of family gatherings and unless we consciously do something different the best predictor of what will happen is what has happened in the past.

However, we do not have to be tied to the past. We have the ability to change and transform the dynamic of these events by what we bring to the event in our thoughts and with our actions. We have the power to act rather than merely react. When we take that power, we change our experience and provide the opportunity to heal relationships in ways beyond our imaginings.

Forgiveness is the final form of love.
      ~ Reinhold Niebuhr

One essential key to facilitating transformation of family gatherings is forgiveness, and the other is love. Although there is a great deal that can be said (read my other forgiveness posts) in these two areas instead of thinking and theorizing on these. I suggest a dynamic experiment that you can do. It requires no agreement or participation from anyone else. It is very simple and yet both powerful and empowering. No one needs to know you are doing this.

To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.
      ~ Lewis B. Smedes

This exercise incorporates the very powerful forces of Love, Forgiveness and Gratitude. They involve saying in your mind specific repetitive phrases when observing the behaviors of those around you. You can shift freely and fluidly between these phrases. You can choose them at will. For as much of the time you are with your family as you find possible, repeat these phrases in your mind. You may find your own variations and expressions of the phrases. Keep repeating the phrases no matter what is happening or what anyone is doing. Beyond using the power of your mind, there is nothing you need to do or say. There is no reason to explain or belabor this, just repeat these phrases in your mind and heart.

The Phrases are:

    Please forgive me
    Thank you
    I love you
    I forgive you
    I forgive myself

You may find other similar thoughts flow through your mind. You may find yourself lured by specifics. Let yourself be freed from your entire past “story” and return to repeating these simple phrases in your mind. The past is over. The future is unwritten. At this moment, right now, just repeat these simple phrases.

The past is over. The future is unwritten.
      ~ Genevieve Gerard

You may observe dramatic changes in others from doing this experiment. You may only experience a change in yourself. You may not see any response or effect. That does not matter.

It is not important to explain or express anything to anyone. The transformation you are creating in this experiment happens on a subtle energetic level. Just return to repeating in your mind the phrases and carry on with what you are doing.

Please continue with this by continuing to repeat these phrases for the duration of your family gathering.

I would love to hear from you about your experience with this experiment. On my website I have a section called Transformation Stories. You are invited to share your experiences there.

Please note: The phrases included here are a minor modification of the teachings of Hoʻoponopono [ho-o-pono-pono] (an ancient Hawaiian practice of reconciliation and forgiveness.)

You can find more about this in a book by Dr. Joe Vitale and Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len, titled “Zero Limits”

Thank you,

The Blessing of Love on all that you do.

Namaste

Genevieve Gerard

 

P.S. Please feel free to pass this article on to others who may find it of interest (just click one of the buttons below and share it socially.)

 

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Copyright © 2013-2016 by Genevieve Gerard and Touch of the Soul. All rights reserved.

 

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The Omnipresent Sound of the OM

The Omnipresent Sound of the OM

Omnipresent expression of group love and unity by all religions on our planet

A number of years ago I traveled to India.

My decision to go to India was inspired first by intermittent but persistent guidance in my meditations when I seemed to receive an injunction to go to India.

At first, I dismissed this thought as a part of my mind chatter as I entered into meditation.

After all, I rationalized, meditation is universal and not limited by the constraints of time and place. Still, that quiet voice repeated time and again the direction, “Go to India”.

When a spiritual friend and fellow energy healer Dr. Steve Hinkey was giving a workshop in my home, he said he was going to India and had the opportunity to meet with some of the top Mahamandaleshwar leaders in the Hindi religion and did I wish to go? A “Mahamandaleshwar” means “Superior of great and/or numerous monasteries” or “Superior of a religious district or province” (maha = great, mandala = district, ishwara = head, sovereign), they hold a position similar to a Cardinal in the Chruch. Immediately my injunction was recalled to me and I realized that this is what I had been guided to do.

When I first arrived in India, from the moment that my feet touched Indian soil, I realized that something was different.

There was an energy that I could not find the words to name, that was unique to the land of India. This subtle and profound energy had a significant impact on me and upon my meditations immediately, despite the fact that my friend Steve said the hotel I had booked for us had landed us in the middle of one of the most impoverished ghettos of Asia. Still, we were safe, and it was clean despite the material lack of the people around us.

Immediately I noticed a significant shift in the quality, depth, and tenor of my meditations. At that time, I assumed that what I was feeling was a new development in my meditative life.

After all, my logical mind contended, how could a place impact my interior spiritual meditative life?

I observed the changes and transformations in my meditations from the role of a dispassionate observer. I enjoyed the graciousness and generosity of the people of India throughout my travels. I saw as one does with travel, many beautiful and amazing things. I engaged in new experiences and new relationships, bonding deeply with many with whom I felt deep and karmic bonds of love and energetic connections of love and spiritual community.

Shanti Mandir Ashram of Mahamandaleshwar Swami Nityananda near Magod India
Shanti Mandir Ashram near Magod India

My friend Steve and I spent a week at the ashram of Mahamandaleshwar Swami Nityananda called Shanti Mandar, providing, as our Sava (service), energetic healing for many of the Brahmin boys who were there to learn the Vedic tradition at the ashram, as well as for a variety of Australians who had come for a scheduled trip with Nityananda (a journey for spiritual awareness).

 

Mahamandaleshwar Swami Nityananda, Genevieve Gerard, Dr Steve Hinkey
Mahamandaleshwar Swami Nityananda and Genevieve Gerard (center) and Dr Steve Hinkey
Genevieve Gerard and Dr. Steve Hinkey performing healing sessions at Shanti Mandir India Ashram
Dr. Hinkey & Genevieve Gerard Performing Healing Sessions at India Ashram
Dr. Steve Hinkey and Genevieve Gerard One to One Healing Mahamandaleshwar Swami Nityananda students
Healing Mahamandaleshwar Swami Nityananda Students

We must dive deeper within ourselves,
we must become established in the knowledge of the Truth.
                – Mahamandaleshwar Swami Nityananda

We chanted, meditated and enjoyed the energy of India, a place where the eons of spiritual striving and practice seem to have imbued the very earth itself with spiritual energy.

Throughout this time, no matter where we traveled and no matter what we did, I became aware of something I had never felt before, something I had been unable to access back in my home in America, until my experience in India.

It is that of which I write today: The Omnipresent Presence of the OM.

Beyond the Sound of the OM

illustrated sound of the Om

According to legend, the sound of the OM is the sound created when all sounds are combined. Spiritually sounding of the OM is an often-taught tradition that crosses many lines of diverse disciplines. The OM is sounded to clear energy from one’s chakras, to send forth the energies contacted in both group and individual meditations, and to help meditators achieve various desired states of meditation.

All of this I have done and used throughout my 50-plus years of the practice of meditation, but what I am describing today is beyond that or an expansion of the regular use of the sounding of the OM.

It is an awareness of energy which can be accessed and utilized when engaging in the physical sounding of the OM, whether sounded firmly and clearly, or whispered, or sounded silent. It is the sound of the Omnipresence of the OM.

This Omnipresence of the OM embraces and includes everyone and everything as celestial music of the spheres. It resounds within the silence, the silence that is within all sound. It links us to the power of the Word and connects us with Universal Source.

This Omnipresent Presence of the OM holds within it the power to create.

It is both mystical and magical. It is both Universal and the thrumming of all of life force on earth.

When you use the sound of the OM in your meditation you are choosing to consciously open and align your life force with energies that are beyond what is physical and material, but resides in what is Spiritual, transcendent and eternal.  The OM calls that to you.
             – Genevieve Gerard

I invite you now to calm your mind, open your heart and invite the Light, to bring to you this resounding sound that connects you with your Soul, with all that you are and all you will ever be and all that you have ever been, in this sound.

Relax into it. Tune in to it. Let yourself enjoy it and receive it and stay with this experience for as long as feels right for you to do so.

Then take some time in quiet and reflection to feel what this experience brings, to become aware of the world beyond your physical hearing and enter into the joy of Oneness with the Universal Presence and pervading Love that travels on the waves of the Omnipresent OM.

It is available to you in the Eternal Now for your healing, for your joy, and for your empowerment. You are a beloved child of the Universe and this Omnipresence of the Om is your portal.

Many schools and systems of meditation use the sacred sound of the Om to ground the energies and insights that are accessed and received in meditation.

As the sound of the OM is explained as the sound created by the unity of all sound, so it is also a symbol of Unity in general.

Utilizing the sound of the OM in meditation brings your consciousness the awareness of the Oneness of all sentient consciousness. Sentient consciousness is more Universal than simply human consciousness.  Focusing on the Universal sound of the OM opens awareness and residence with a sense of connection and unity that aligns you with Light, Love, and power that resides just beyond your usual perception.

The gift of the omnipresent sound of the OM is that through the simple act of you sounding the OM, you can align your consciousness to this thrumming that lies in the heart of all sound.

How to Use the OM In Your Meditations

The OM can be used as a sounding and entry point for meditation by using it as a way to center your energies as you “Calm Your Mind, Open Your Heart and Invite the Light.”  This is the instruction and intention that I suggest that you use to open your awareness to receive the Presence of your enlightened awareness, your Higher Self, (your Soul).

To use the sacred sound of the OM as an entry point to your meditation, you simply sound it.  Many schools of meditation suggest sounding it 3 times.  Other schools of meditation suggest sounding it repeatedly until you have noticed your consciousness opening.

Whether you use it before simply sitting calmly, quietly and receptively, or choose to combine it with a guided meditation is a choice you can make.

The sound of the OM begins at your diaphragm and then let the sound rise through your whole body.  Groups who use the repetitive sound of the OM in group meditation create a sound that aligns with what is known as “the Music of the spheres.”

Some suggest that the sound of the OM is the sound of the Soul, although I experience as an underlying thrum of Creative force that brings us into alignment and awareness of the Creator, Universal Soul, and Universal Love.

The OM can also be used to ground and complete your meditation.  For many meditators, it is the final sound that acts as an Amen, or So Be It invocation to the energies that have been accessed in the meditation experience.

I suggest that you use and experiment with the Omnipresent sound of the OM with a spirit of joyful playfulness and open receptivity to your Soul.

 

Namaste,

   Genevieve Gerard

The Blessing of Love on All That You Do!

 

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Genevieve - Soulful

 

About the author:
Genevieve Gerard teaches Transformational Consciousness – from first awakening to enlightened Soul awareness. She helps you experience the joy that results from the spontaneous “touch of your soul.”

Read more details…

Genevieve has a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy and Theology and a Master of Arts Degree in Counseling and for over thirty years has worked one-on-one with people who were recovering from devastating disabilities and chronic pain. Teaching the mastery of the mind-body relationship she was one of the early professionals trained in biofeedback, visualization, imagery, and meditation as essential techniques to help people heal their bodies, heal their emotions, heal their minds, and heal their lives.

Genevieve’s work demonstrates what she knows so well, “It is spiritual connectedness that triggers physical healing and emotional and mental well-being.”  Helping people, like you, tap into your higher-self is the power she wields to guide you to heal and transform your life.

Now, with this understanding, she combines the effective techniques she developed over decades teaching mind-body mastery along with her extensive experience in meditation and spiritual development to create a synthesis of mind-body-spirit that delivers complete healing and opens the door to unlimited personal growth and an encounter with your Soul.

In addition to her current life guidance coaching sessions, and workshops performed around the world, Genevieve has produced more than 20+ guided meditations in the last eight years that are available on iTunes, Amazon, CDBaby, and her website.

It is her vision that through your experience with the techniques of awareness, visualization, and meditation, the love of your Soul will touch and transform your life through her writings and products. It is her sincere desire that the potential of a life of joy and celebration that seems to elude so many people can become a reality for you, now and forever.

Browse her life story and read the Touch of the Soul that changed her world. To contact Genevieve, visit her keep in touch page.

 

Copyright © 2013-2019 Genevieve Gerard and Touch of the Soul LLC. All rights reserved.

 

The Omnipresent Sound of the OM Read More »

Father’s Day Prayer

A Father’s Day Prayer for Prosperity

Fathers Day Prayer

When Jesus walked the earth, slightly more than 2000 years ago his teaching and preaching transformed humanity’s understanding about God, and more importantly about our relationship with God by using the analogy that right relationship with God was as with a loving Father.

In so doing, he taught us that the nature of God is love.  He described God not as a distant cruel and uninvolved Divine entity as God had been understood since the time of Abraham but rather as a loving and caring God, a God whose blessing upon his creation was generous and available.

In the age that has passed since this teaching was imparted, the recognition of the nature of God as Love has permeated worship and prayer when we turn to God for help in our life we turn to God as our Father.  God, the Father is the cornerstone of the Trinity and as demonstrated in the petition of the Lord’s Prayer, the giver of prosperity as well as grace and forgiveness.  God as Father and God as the one who bestows our many blessings are now ingrained in the consciousness of most people as they seek right relationship with God.

This being said, Father’s Day 2019 is a fitting time to express our gratitude to both our worldly Father but also our heavenly Father.  As we consider what Erik Fromm described in his famous book The Art of Loving, “a Father’s love is integrally focused to supporting success and prosperity.”

Therefore, as a day to express our gratitude to our earthly Father is celebrated in the United States it seems appropriate and fitting to turn our thoughts to material success and the principle of abundance by sharing this prayer for Father’s Day.

Prayer for Prosperity

My Father/God, I place all my dependence in You,
affirming that You are the giver of every good and perfect gift.

You are the source of my being and
You are the source of all of my supply.

ALL that I shall ever need now and throughout my life
is in your Divine mind for me and has been
prepared for me from the beginning. 

Omnipresent substance,
the garment with which you clothe your entire universe and
with which you nourish all of Your creation, is also
mine to have and to use for my every desire and
for the blessing of others of your children.

I open myself fully through my faith in You,
through my vision of Your abundance,
through my expectation if its manifestation for me.

I open my hands, my pocketbook, my wardrobe, my business,
my bank account, and from Your rich storehouse,
You fill every vessel that I hold out to You full to
overflowing with Your own omnipresent good and
in Your own good measure, pressed down,
shaken together, running over.

I thank You my Father that through the Christ in me,
I can touch Your omnipresent substance and
my entire world be clothed with Your opulence. 

I praise and give thanks that now and throughout eternity,
I am ONE with You and in that union,
all Yours is mine and all mine is Yours, forever and ever.

So Be it, It shall be so.

Amen

 

     – Genevieve Gerard

This prayer was freely adapted from an old prayer of the Unity Church.  The original prayer can be found in Robert Colliers Book Riches Within My Reach published by Robert Collier Publications Inc., 1984.

 

As we celebrate Father’s Day this prayer is offered to help and support prosperity as Father’s work and strive to provide a life for their families and children filled with abundance.

Namaste,

   Genevieve Gerard

The Blessing of Love on All That You Do!

 

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Last updated 6/16/2019

 

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About the author:
Genevieve Gerard teaches Transformational Consciousness – from first awakening to enlightened Soul awareness. She helps you experience the joy that results from the spontaneous “touch of the soul.”

 

Genevieve has a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy and Theology and a Master of Arts Degree in Counseling and for over thirty years has worked one-on-one with people who were recovering from devastating disabilities and chronic pain. Teaching the mastery of the mind-body relationship she was one of the early professionals trained in biofeedback, visualization, imagery, and meditation as essential techniques to help people heal their bodies, heal their emotions, heal their minds, and heal their lives.

Genevieve’s work demonstrates what she knows so well, “It is spiritual connectedness that triggers physical healing and emotional and mental well-being.”  Helping people, like you, tap into your higher-self is the power she wields to guide you to heal and transform your life.

Now, with this understanding, she combines the effective techniques she developed over decades teaching mind-body mastery along with her extensive experience in meditation and spiritual development to create a synthesis of mind-body-spirit that delivers complete healing and opens the door to unlimited personal growth and an encounter with your Soul.

In addition to her current life guidance coaching sessions, and workshops performed around the world, Genevieve has produced more than 20+ guided meditations in the last eight years that are available on iTunes, Amazon, CDBaby, and her website.

It is her vision that through your experience with the techniques of awareness, visualization, and meditation, the love of your Soul will touch and transform your life through her writings and products. It is her sincere desire that the potential of a life of joy and celebration that seems to elude so many people can become a reality for you, now and forever.

Browse her life story and read the Touch of the Soul that changed her world. To contact Genevieve, visit her keep in touch page.

 

Copyright © 2013-2019 Genevieve Gerard and Touch of the Soul LLC. All Rights Reserved.

 

Father’s Day Prayer Read More »

Body and Soul

Body and Soul

-Your Soul as your Teacher

Read Body & Soul article by Genevieve Gerard

This article is part of my ongoing series on the Soul.

Within each of us lies wisdom, an awareness of truth and more important knowledge of what direction we need to travel in our life to grow, to learn and to develop into who we truly are and what we can become, that is our Soul.

Our Soul is an integral part of our Self, but it is not usually that which most readily springs to our conscious mind when we ponder on and reflect upon ourselves. It remains the most profound and in many ways useful part of what for better words we may call our Spiritual Anatomy.

Our Spiritual Anatomy is usually not a part of our everyday consciousness because when we think of ourselves we most often think of our personality. Indeed, our personality is the vehicle that does the bulk of the “heavy lifting” as we move and function in the world of men. Indeed, our personality is usually a most significant part of our being as we live and move and have our being in any given incarnation.

When I admire the wonders of a sunset or the beauty of the moon, my soul expands in the worship of the creator.
            – Mahatma Gandhi

The ancient wisdom tells us that our being is composed of a variety of vehicles that come together to form the fullness of life. These parts of ourselves are often referred to as bodies, and it is in the interplay and integration of these diverse parts of ourselves that we learn to live and express the fullness of our human nature. It is through this interplay, this integration that we learn that we grow, that we come into our full awareness and learn to express the fullness of what it means to be a human being.

It is through the integration of our physical body, our emotional body and our mental body that our personality fully develops and grows. But the adventure of becoming does not stop there. As we increase our awareness and our integration of Self the process of integration grows and expands as we begin to incorporate the fullness of our nature, that of our spiritual nature or our Soul.

It is through the emerging awareness of our Soul that we begin to understand and come to the joy of what it means to be a human being. It is through the “Touch of the Soul” that we begin to understand what a myriad of spiritual paths have taught throughout the ages, that as human beings we are a spark of the Divine. It is through becoming aware of our Soul that we can begin to manifest the fullness of this miracle we call life.

To start to understand your Soul as an integral part of yourself and begin to connect with your Soul as a part of your full being and your true nature, is the beginning of wisdom and the portal to real joy.”
            – Genevieve Gerard

This part of your Self, your Soul, contains within you a jewel of the greatest value we can find in life. The ancients have long referred to it as “the jewel of the lotus.”

What is wonderful and glorious is that this jewel of great value is within you and available to you. It is yours to use and come to know. It is yours to call upon for the wisdom it possesses. It is yours to enjoy and express. It is yours as a teacher, as a guide and as a source of love, joy, and peace, the “peace that passes all understanding.”

It is through meditation that this part of your being becomes accessible to your mind, to your heart and your personality. This quest to learn to touch your Soul and to incorporate the fullness of your Soul ultimately into the fullness of your being is a journey that has been undertaken by wise men and sages throughout time and is available to reach by everyone.

I invite you to embark upon this journey of meditation to awareness, to wisdom to joy through meditation. As the ancient Chinese saying expresses “every great journey begins with a single step.” As you embark upon this step be assured that your Soul awaits your intention to know yourself to the fullness of your being with such a deep and abiding joy, and such a powerful and profound love, that the best in life is yet to come.

 

Namaste,

   Genevieve Gerard

The Blessing of Love on All that you Do!

 

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About the author:
Genevieve Gerard teaches Transformational Consciousness – from first awakening to enlightened Soul awareness. She helps you experience the joy that results from the spontaneous “touch of your soul.”

Read more details…

Genevieve has a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy and Theology and a Master of Arts Degree in Counseling and for over thirty years has worked one-on-one with people who were recovering from devastating disabilities and chronic pain. Teaching the mastery of the mind-body relationship she was one of the early professionals trained in biofeedback, visualization, imagery, and meditation as essential techniques to help people heal their bodies, heal their emotions, heal their minds, and heal their lives.

Genevieve’s work demonstrates what she knows so well, “It is spiritual connectedness that triggers physical healing and emotional and mental well-being.”  Helping people, like you, tap into your higher-self is the power she wields to guide you to heal and transform your life.

Now, with this understanding, she combines the effective techniques she developed over decades teaching mind-body mastery along with her extensive experience in meditation and spiritual development to create a synthesis of mind-body-spirit that delivers complete healing and opens the door to unlimited personal growth and an encounter with your Soul.

In addition to her current life guidance coaching sessions, and workshops performed around the world, Genevieve has produced more than 20+ guided meditations in the last eight years that are available on iTunes, Amazon, CDBaby, and her website.

It is her vision that through your experience with the techniques of awareness, visualization, and meditation, the love of your Soul will touch and transform your life through her writings and products. It is her sincere desire that the potential of a life of joy and celebration that seems to elude so many people can become a reality for you, now and forever.

Browse her life story and read the Touch of the Soul that changed her world. To contact Genevieve, visit her keep in touch page.

 

Copyright © 2012-2019 Genevieve Gerard and Touch of the Soul LLC. All rights reserved.

 

Body and Soul Read More »

Difference Between Prayer and Meditation

The Difference Between Prayer and Meditation

Read the Difference Between Prayer and Meditation, Serenity Sunday article by Genevieve Gerard

This article is part of my on-going series on Prayer & Faith and Meditation.

The spiritual journey, no matter the name of the path or the structure of the belief has always contained the techniques of both prayer and meditation.

Some paths include both prayer and meditation, comfortably vacillating from one to the other depending upon the purpose or needs of the moment.

In many ways prayer and meditation are twins, but they are not identical twins. They differ in subtle but significant ways.

When I was first taught to meditate by a Maharishi Yogi; as I was leaving the instruction called an “initiation” back in the 1960s, I recall pondering about the experience I had just had. I remarked to myself that I had previously known the state of consciousness that I had just experienced at the conclusion of a time of deep prayer; a state I had referred to as “prayer beyond words.” Ponder on this!

Even at that young age the universality of the path we take to connect to our Soul struck me. Beyond the connection to our Soul, which I have come to believe is the hearts desire of everyone, exists the desire to connect with a higher source (God), however, you define God.

Each one of us needs time and space for recollection, meditation and calmness…. Thanks be to God that this is so!”
        – Pope Benedict XVI

It is to reach the Soul and connect to God that people along all spiritual paths engage in the practice of both prayer and meditation. And although both prayer and meditation serve a similar function there are differences in both the purpose, method, and outcome of the two practices.

Prayer is you speaking to God & meditation is allowing the spirit to speak to you.”
        – Deepak Chopra

Oprah Winfrey and Deepak Chopra on prayer vs. meditation

Prayer has always seemed to be best suited to times when praise or petition is the need. In times of great need, prayer seems to spring naturally from the human heart as we reach out for help and healing in times of danger, distress, and pain, be it physical or emotional.

In times of trouble we reach automatically for the help and intervention of the Divine, even if we have no sustaining belief in the Divine. It is archetypal in the human experience to reach out, indeed cry out for that which is beyond our human limitations for help and comfort.

Likewise, in times of transcendent joy praise rises spontaneously in our heart. Even if we do not conceptualize what we are praising that welling feeling, praise accompanies the experience of great joy and great love.

I deepen my experience of God through prayer, meditation, and forgiveness.”
        – Marianne Williamson

Meditation is best suited for contemplation, deepening our understanding or quieting the chattering mind and engaging the power of our higher source (Soul) to bring about the desired result. One would meditate for deep relaxation, healing and to invoke the power of our intention using techniques such as visualization.

Meditation is more a conscious approach than prayer and as such garners the best result when entered into with conscious intent and regularity. The continuity of consciousness that disciplined practice of meditation grants makes meditation the technique of choice when one desires a specific outcome, which is why visualization is a technique incorporated into most meditations.

There exists a myriad of techniques of meditation designed by spiritual leaders and masters throughout time to bring the student of meditation to the desired state of consciousness, being or understanding.

In understanding the subtle differences that exist between prayer and meditation, we are empowered to draw from these two ways to connect with our Soul and connect with our Source using whatever method is best suited to our desired outcome.”
        – Genevieve Gerard

Fortunately, we can choose and use whatever technique best meets our needs at the moment, freely guided by the wisdom of our inner nature and our Soul in any moment of time to receive what we need.

I encourage you to explore prayer and/or meditation and see which resonates with you.

Namaste,

   Genevieve

The Blessing of Love on All That You Do!

 

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Last Updated 11-03-2019

 

Genevieve - Soulful

 

About the author:
Genevieve Gerard teaches Transformational Consciousness – from first awakening to enlightened Soul awareness. She helps you experience the joy that results from the spontaneous “touch of your soul.”

Read more details…

Genevieve has a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy and Theology and a Master of Arts Degree in Counseling and for over thirty years has worked one-on-one with people who were recovering from devastating disabilities and chronic pain. Teaching the mastery of the mind-body relationship she was one of the early professionals trained in biofeedback, visualization, imagery, and meditation as essential techniques to help people heal their bodies, heal their emotions, heal their minds, and heal their lives.

Genevieve’s work demonstrates what she knows so well, “It is spiritual connectedness that triggers physical healing and emotional and mental well-being.”  Helping people, like you, tap into your higher-self is the power she wields to guide you to heal and transform your life.

Now, with this understanding, she combines the effective techniques she developed over decades teaching mind-body mastery along with her extensive experience in meditation and spiritual development to create a synthesis of mind-body-spirit that delivers complete healing and opens the door to unlimited personal growth and an encounter with your Soul.

In addition to her current life guidance coaching sessions, and workshops performed around the world, Genevieve has produced more than 20+ guided meditations in the last eight years that are available on iTunes, Amazon, CDBaby, and her website.

It is her vision that through your experience with the techniques of awareness, visualization, and meditation, the love of your Soul will touch and transform your life through her writings and products. It is her sincere desire that the potential of a life of joy and celebration that seems to elude so many people can become a reality for you, now and forever.

Browse her life story and read the Touch of the Soul that changed her world. To contact Genevieve, visit her keep in touch page.

 

Copyright © 2012-2019 Genevieve Gerard and Touch of the Soul LLC. All rights reserved.

 

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