A Spiritually Enlightening Online Magazine. July's Theme: "Attitude"
Volume 7 Issue 5 ISSN# 1708-3265

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Illuminations Aleesha Stephenson About the Cover Danielle Sylvie Taylor The Abundance of the I AM Julie Hoyle What's Your Attitude? David Suzuki PhD A Swastika and a Donkey David Reber It's All About Perception Sunshine Boatright Master Yet Healer Alegria Imperial What's Your Attitude Altitude? Rev. Cheryl Jewett Attitude is Everything! Melissa Tierney Po and the Stones Phil Kotofskie Walk Your Talk Aleesha Stephenson Wiccan Voices Crystal Blanton, HPs Let's Talk Tarot Marcia McCord Pet-sense Jean Hofve DVM Life in the Raw Nicola Watt Lifetalks Dawn Baumann Brunke Meditate a Moment Featuring: Phil Kotofskie Cards & Curios Tarot Deck Reviews: with Dan Pelletier A Hundred Blessings Mirabai Ceiba Crystal Power Crystal Healing Michael Gienger Archived Reviews All of T.S.M.'s Reviews

Although our thoughts and feelings spin and swirl, and life goes on independent of our wishes, we can always change our attitude. The advantage I've found with attitude practice is that we can do it anywhere, even at work.

Find a stone or crystal you feel attracted to. Any stone will do. A friend of mine noticed a rock he liked in a pile his kids brought home. If you'd like, you can sit with "Be," the stone who sat with me. Be has an inclusion that looks like a bee, one of many variations of his name. (The stone feels masculine to me.) Stones manifest supreme stillness, which helps with meditation.

Sit on the floor, in a chair or however you feel comfortable. Hold your stone, set it near you, or if sitting with Be, ask him to sit with you across time and distance. Be and I sat in our outdoor stone circle late one afternoon. Our stone circle will bathe you in its energy at your request. (Anytime, the circle stones say.) You can dedicate the meditation and state your intentions if you'd like. Dedication directs the energy as a gift. Intention deepens and clarifies our actions. For example, "I dedicate this meditation with attitude for the benefit of all beings. The energy remains open so we may all share the experience."

Ask your stone partner to share its energy, to meditate with you. Do you feel its energy? If so, notice the energy flowing through your body. If not, that's okay. Enjoy your senses: Cool air caressing your face. Birds chirping. Dogs barking. Traffic. Sirens. The smell of flowers, moist earth, and you. Birds in flight. Your animals. A lizard eating bugs. A squirrel dropping nutshell trimmings.

Notice your thoughts and feelings about everything. They reflect your attitude. Do you have a feeling of general well-being? If not, allow your thoughts and feelings to flow. It's okay. That's what we are working with. Open to the possibility of underlying harmony. This is the meditation whether we walk, sit or sleep.

Does a fly come to irritate you? Does it bring a message? Do you need a bath? Until I stopped killing flies, I missed countless messages. I remember the last fly I killed nine or ten years ago, a pesky one that did its best to enter my ears and nose. My feeling was that this fly—an old friend in spirit—would not stop. After giving it time to reconsider: Whack! Now my old friend lives on as a fly in our sharing. My attitude changed as I came to know flies. Now we talk almost daily.

Does your body twitch without explanation? How do you feel about that? About aging? About illness? Do you recoil from the thought? My injured lower back was the first teacher whom I could not deny. The only thing I could change was my attitude. I could barely walk. With each step, I said or thought, "Thank you," gasping from pain. Each painful step advised heeding my body's requests.

How do you feel about your body? It probably wants to be healthy. Do your thoughts and feelings agree? Do your actions? If not, we can fake it by following bodily wisdom, though we may neither like it nor agree with it. Proven results gradually soften our attitude. One day we notice that we don't have to fake it anymore. That's how we feel.

If you feel pain or numbness sitting, adjust your position. Or don't. Notice how you feel about moving, about remaining still. Try sending blood to numb limbs with thoughts of opening constricted energetic pathways. Trust your bodily sensations and move rather than allowing injury.

Your stone may nudge you with more energetic sharing. Feel its solid, rooted presence. Even stones of highest vibration align with Sun and Earth, our home. Sun grounds our extra-terrestrial nature. Are you a stick-in-the-mud? (My old challenge.) Play with Sun and high vibration stones like apophyllite, mesolite or moldavite. Airheads—if you can remember—try hematite, black tourmaline or obsidian. But any stone can help us centre, a kind of omni-dimensional grounding. If you're curious, ask your stone to demonstrate.

Ding Dong! The doorbell.

My meditation ended with a window salesman who also hawked landscaping services. My reaction? That's life. I'm alive. Perfect.

Phil Kotofskie is a longtime student of life. His sharing is based on years of working with himself in diverse jobs and relationships ranging from Army Soldier to Overnight Grocery Stocker, from spouse to stranger. His specialty is everyday life as a spiritual path.

Phil is a Reiki Master who offers healing assistance and a musician who plays didgeridoo and West African drums. He is currently finishing a book with the Stones that guides the reader to answer the question "Who am I?"

Phil lives in Tucson, Arizona with Popurrie and the Stones and can be contacted via email.

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