Marian Buck Murray

Release, Relax, Tap into Your Brilliance. EFT Tapping to help you unleash your creative genius.

Butterfly Wings

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I came across this butterfly the other day as I walked in the wildflower garden in my local Reservation.  She was on the ground, flapping her wings, not going very far.  Above her, beckoning, were the wildflowers she had come for.  But there she was, stuck in the dirt.  At first glance I thought she was dying.  At second glance I realized she was showing me exactly what I needed to know.

We are all butterflies in some stage of development.

While some of us are soaring high, many of us are cocooning, or struggling to fly.  Like the butterfly in the garden, we often struggle on the ground, moving in circles, never enjoying full flight.  Our wings, heavy with judgement, feel unable to lift us into the garden where we belong.  Sometimes we’re so burdened with self-doubt that we can’t even budge our wings. 

So, to that beautiful butterfly, I sent my love and deep appreciation for her being on my path that day.  And though she continued to struggle, I held my vision of her well-deserved flight. 

Within moments, just as I was about to move on along my path, the butterfly fluttered up into the garden, alighting on a nourishing blossom.  Satisfied, and happy, I continued my walk and I immersed myself in the fragrant flowers, and the sounds of bees and crickets. 

A while later I found myself back in the spot where I had seen the butterfly.  She was gone.  Though I looked for her in the flowers, on the ground, in the grasses at the edge of the path – I couldn’t find her anywhere. I began to wonder if she had fallen to the ground and staggered off to die. 

So, in that moment, I asked for my higher power to show me the butterfly, or show me it was time to leave.  I looked one more time,  didn’t see her, and  I turned to go. 

And there, right as I turned to go, was the butterfly — flying high amongst the flowers.

Its when we surrender to the power of love, grace, and invisible sources of assistance, that we’re able to embody the power of our wings.  Lifting off of the ground, we fly, reaching higher and higher, until we’re able to see that the garden was here all along.

Peace,

Marian

If you need help lifting your butterfly wings, contact me.

 

 

Stay With Yourself — Be Here Now

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I just got back from a beautiful week at the Omega Institute, assisting Dawson Church with the EFT Practitioner Training program.  Throughout the week, we helped participants transform limiting feelings and beliefs with both EFT Tapping and meditation.  It was a transformative, and in many ways miraculous, week for us all.

What became so clear to me (once again), is the importance of accepting all feelings, no matter how uncomfortable.  It’s in the acceptance of these feelings, that we are able to transform our experience.

In this world of ours, so often it’s the striving that takes front seat. How, for example, will we succeed if we don’t strive for more?  And more? And more? And so often, once we get ‘more’, we don’t feel the success we imagined.

The problem with striving is that we’re frequently propelled by a feeling that we’re not enough, or complete, without whatever it is we’re striving for.  You know the refrain:  I’ll be happy when___________. 

The underlying feeling of inadequacy will follow us, until we find a way to stay with it long enough to transform it.

To stay with yourself, to be here now, means to be present with whatever is going on.  Not off in the future, hoping for something better.  Not back in the past, wishing things were different.  Here now, whether it’s comfortable, or not.

It’s when we avoid the now-moment that we lose power.  That we abandon ourselves.  Unfortunately, by avoiding our feelings with substances and experiences, we will never feel better about ourselves.

True transformation happens when we accept ourselves exactly as we are, exactly where we are, right now.

Easy to say, and usually, not so easy to do.  Yet, it gets easier once you begin to realize how truly powerful you are.

Next time you find yourself avoiding, whether it’s with food, internet, tv, shopping, alcohol, or any other type of escape, ask yourself what you’re avoiding. Be gentle with yourself.  Pause and notice what you’re feeling.  If you can, stay with yourself.

Stay with yourself, through thick and thin.  Stay at the time when you need yourself the most.  Stay to reveal the truth of who you are.

Ideas to help you stay:

  1. Sit, close your eyes, and notice what you feel.  Don’t push anything away.  Just sit.  Don’t worry if you don’t feel peaceful or enlightened.  Just sit and notice.  Stay with any discomfort.

  2. Breathe deeply, from your belly, and notice the flow of your breath. Notice the beat of your heart. Notice this power within you. Know that this power is always with you.

  3. Send love and compassion to any discomfort you feel. Any and all discomfort is worthy of your love and compassion.  If you can’t summon feelings of love and compassion, that’s okay too.  Stay with what you are feeling. Notice any insights that arise.

  4. Use EFT Tapping to tap on your feelings. Accept them, and if they’re ready, allow them to release. For information on how to use EFT Tapping, click here.

  5. Connect with your higher consciousness.  Use meditation to tune into your higher consciousness. Ask it to help you during challenging times.  This added assistance will help you tune into solutions, and relief,  you didn’t see before.

For most of us, it’s not possible to stay present at all times.  Escapes can be pleasurable and sometimes necessary.  And, we can choose to stay present with any escape.  However, when escapes turn into chronic avoidance, we will always experience more pain.  We can’t maintain the bliss of the escape, so we fall into a funk, or look for new ways to escape.

The key to all of this is to stay.  Stay with the discomfort, with love and acceptance, so that it can begin to transform. By being here now, we find the true bliss of a clear mind and soul, as we open to the gifts of the universe.

Peace,

Marian

Do you need help transforming your discomfort? contact me.

10 Ways to Raise Your Vibration

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What does it mean to raise your vibration? It means, simply, to improve the way you feel.  To shift from a negative state to something that feels more positive. To change your thoughts from weakening worry to empowering gratitude. To express love and kindness instead of anger or judgement.  When we feel good, we radiate goodness.  And right now we need a whole lotta goodness in this world!

Here are some suggestions.  Find what works for you. Practice daily. 

And remember, any time you feel even a little happier, better, lighter, or more peaceful, you are raising your vibration.

  1.  Smile. Smile in the mirror.  Smile at people.  Smile at animals. Smile at people in the store. Smile as you read something inspiring.  Smile because you’re you.  Smile right now. Smiling tells your brain to release feel-good neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine.

  2. Journal. Journaling will help you release whatever is nagging at your mind.  Release it and let it go.  No need to re-read.

  3. Commit Acts of Kindness. Practice kindness. Open doors for people.  Let people go ahead of you in traffic.  Do something nice for an elderly neighbor.  Call or text a friend to tell them how much you appreciate them.  Acts of kindness don’t have to be enormous.  When done spontaneously they bring joy to both you and to your recipient.

  4. Clear and Cleanse. Use tools such as dry brushing, shower, salt bath, sauna, and sound bath to help you detoxify.  By releasing toxic stagnancy, you will naturally raise your vibration.

  5. Chant. Chanting a yogic, or Sanskrit mantra, repetitively, will help boost brain function, and reduce stress and anxiety. These mantras are designed tune your system to a higher vibration. Choose a mantra that appeals to you, and chant it for 108 times daily for maximum benefit.

  6. Move. Movement moves stagnant energy.  Exercise. Dance.  Do yoga. Take a walk in Nature, where you’ll get bonus points from all the high-vibe negative ions.  Any time we release stagnant energy, we feel better.  The better you feel, the higher your vibration.

  7. Meditate. Meditation helps you tune into Divinity within you. It can also assist you in receiving guidance from invisible (or visible) sources.  Meditation helps you tune into the higher vibrations of love, peace, and gratitude.

  8. Use EFT Tapping. EFT Tapping will help release unwanted ‘negative’ emotions that pull down your vibration. Sometimes we’re not even aware that we have underlying low feelings such as shame, anger, or self-doubt.  EFT can help us pinpoint and release these feelings, so we can raise our vibration.  To learn how to use EFT Tapping, click here.

  9. Practice the Heart Breath. The Heart Breath is a beautiful way to bring yourself into heart energy, the energy of unconditional love. Unconditional Love radiates at a very high vibration.  To learn how to use the Heart Breath, click here.

  10. Express Gratitude. Gratitude is a powerful way to help us shift from a place of lack and scarcity.  By appreciating even the smallest things in our lives, we fill ourselves with sweet gratitude, and a feeling that all is well.

Best Wishes for Your Highest Vibes Ever!

Marian

Contact me for a complimentary 30-minute call where I’ll help you pinpoint the best ways to embrace, care for, and celebrate your sensitivity.

 

Your True Value

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Recently I went to the store to buy a large pad of paper.  My collage teacher had told me that I needed larger paper to allow for ample white space for my ongoing collage work.  She says the white space will give my collages the value, and respect, they deserve.

So, thinking I knew exactly what I needed, I eagerly went off to my favorite art store.  Once there, however, I realized I hadn’t checked the dimensions of the paper I had been using.  I couldn’t seem to find a pad which looked like the next size larger.  So, I purchased a pad which was obviously larger, even though it seemed too big.

Once home, I immediately realized the paper was far too big.  Knowing I needed the dimensions of the original pad, I peeked inside the bag where I store my collage materials.  And, there, in plain sight, were the dimensions printed on the lower corner of pad’s cover.

If only I had taken one extra second to check in ….

So, feeling eager, dimensions in hand,  I set out the next day to purchase the ‘right’ pad of paper.  This time I found a pad which seemed to be the proper size. Strangely, though, something didn’t seem quite right.  I couldn’t put my finger on it.  So, I purchased the pad, and went home, excited to finally have what I needed.  Or so I thought…

You guessed it.  Once home, to my great chagrin, and embarrassment, I realized I had AGAIN purchased the wrong paper.

This time, though, as I pulled the original pad from its storage bag, I realized my mistake. Instead of 140-pound paper (which I had purchased the first time around) I had twice purchased paper that was only 98 pounds.  I purchased Mixed Media paper instead of Watercolor.  The wrong value, wrong quality, for the work I was creating.

UGH!!!

Feeling so disappointed in myself, I knew I needed to shift out of my foul mood.  I also knew that my inner critic was running wild and needed some loving attention.

So I meditated.  And during my meditation,  I hugged my inner critic with love and compassion.

I saw that in my eagerness, my playful glee, I had gone to the store without taking time to see what I truly needed.  In other words, I had forgotten to check in.  A common error, and one I could forgive.

What I saw next was even more important.  In forgiving myself, I saw what I had truly missed. I had missed the original value, or weight, of the paper. 

So, I went for the bigger, cheaper versions,  neither of which worked.

And, isn’t that what we’re always doing?  Forgetting our value, and looking outside of ourselves for bigger, cheaper versions of ourselves? Versions that will never align with who we truly are?

The facades we wear.  The secrets we keep to avoid exposure.  The criticisms we take to heart.  After a while, we forget who we are.  We forget how valuable we are.  And the more we forget, the farther away we go.

Two pads of paper.  Both wrong, because I failed to check in to see what was right for me.  Wrong because I hadn’t appreciated the value of the original pad.

The white space surrounding my collage helps me see it’s true value.  Stepping out of our busy minds, checking in with ourselves, helps us create the space to see our own.

If you need to  get in touch with your true value, contact me.  I can help.

Peaceful Blessings,

Marian

 

 

 

Tap Into Your Creative Flow

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I recently signed up for a collage class at my local adult school. The first thing my teacher told us was to stop thinking, and allow our subconscious minds to take over.  I knew right then and there that this was the right class for me.

In essence, it’s exactly what I tell my clients, my students, my husband, and myself, again and again.  Drop out of your mind and let your creative flow do the job.

Simple, profound, and sometimes quite difficult.

The mind has a way of convincing us that it knows best.  It’s also damn good at reminding us of all the ways in which we’re screwing up.  It promises us solutions, if we stay just a little bit longer. And that’s when we get stuck, there in the discomfort of our minds, scouring every nook and cranny in search of the right answers. It’s at that moment that our creative flow comes to a screeching halt.

It is easy to get stuck, and it’s easy to stay stuck.  That’s why it’s important to continually tap into,  nourish, and encourage your creative flow.

Here are some ways to tap into creative flow:

Free flow writing – Free-flow writing means writing without censoring.  Julia Cameron, author of the Artist’s Way, recommends writing 3 handwritten pages, first thing each morning.  Another technique is to choose a word prompt, and write whatever comes to the page. Free-flow writing will allow you to come up with ideas you never could have thought up.

Free flow art – Again, like free-flow writing, free-flow art such as sketching, or collage, will help you to tap into your creative flow.  Allow your art to come from this deeper place within you.  By regularly practicing, you will become more and more familiar with the power of your subconscious creative flow.  And, you will come up with creations you never could have planned.

Prepare and Let Go – Of course, sometimes it is best to prepare.  For information- or skill-based projects, preparation is key.  Once you’ve substantially prepared yourself, though, it’s time to let go and allow your subconscious to guide you.  I frequently practice this technique, when I speak publicly, or teach a class.  I prepare my talk, and let go.  My preparation allows me to speak confidently without notes, my creative flow provides me with on-point spontaneity.   

Brainstorming – Good old brainstorming.  How often do we allow ourselves to brainstorm.  The key to brainstorming is to let go of the censor, and allow anything to come up, no matter how ‘impractical’.  It’s these ideas that sometimes hold the magic gems we desire,  but can’t ‘figure out’ with our everyday brains.

Walk in New Surroundings — Shake things up. Take a new way to work, explore an unfamiliar part of town, hike a hidden wooded trail, travel to a different locale.  Take yourself out of familiar surroundings,  and use adventure to  revive your creative flow!

Heart Breath—Negative mind chatter is one of the biggest deterrents of creative flow.  The Heart Breath is one of the fastest ways to drop out of negative mind, into a deeper, more creative, alpha brainwave state.  It’s easy to do, learn more here.

EFT Tapping – EFT Tapping is another powerful technique to help you drop into your creative flow. EFT is one of the most effective techniques for reducing cortisol, which gets triggered when we’re under stress.  Reducing cortisol, will help you relax, and drop into a deeper alpha brain state.  Contact me to learn more about using EFT Tapping to enrich your creative flow.

Listen to Music Infused with Binaural Beats – This type of music will help your brain shift into a deeper brainwave state.  Especially helpful for times when you’re working on creative projects.  Insight Timer, my favorite meditation app, has a number of free Binaural Beat meditations.  Hemisync  and  Silencio Music are two other sources I use.

Show Up and Stay a While — Most importantly — show up! Show up to the page, the easel, the screen, the mat, the place where you create.  Show up and stay.  Stay with your discomfort.  Stay with your unknowing. Stay a little longer.  And a little longer after that. Show up and trust the creative flow that’s here, right now.

Each one of us is gifted with our own unique, creative flow.  Use whatever techniques work best to tap into yours, and let it ROLL!

Happy Creating!

Marian