Steve Kramer

You are what you eat, right One way we offer the guests at our meditative retreat center an enlightening experience is by serving them food that has been grown with awareness, care, and amazing intention. Another way is... we simply send them outside Nature has a way of delivering goodness straight to the soul.This week's show will reveal many of nature's intimate secrets We'll be chatting with two of the happiest... and hardest working people we know. We're celebrating some more Living Awareness with Laura Timmerman and Rob Creamer of Sweet Morning Farm. They supply our retreat center with fresh organic vegetables every Thursday... and for the following three days we supply our guests with delicious meals and delightful smilesHow do they do it What is a CSA What does mother nature tell them and what do they tell her They've promised to reveal a few secrets and share their experience as two individuals who spend the greater part of their day in the great outdoors and the great part of their year making others extremely happy and healthy

Living Awareness can also be translated as Living Love or Living Gratitude. Awareness comes about when we understand the interconnectedness of all things. When we connect from the inner-heart, appreciation surfaces and engages the mind and transforms the energy of heart/mind into awareness. When we are nurtured by love and guided by gratitude, our world comes alive... this is Living Awareness.This week we will celebrate Step 14 of The Practice of Living Awareness which is called, you guessed it... Living Awareness. How do we take this awareness off of the meditation cushion and into our lives It has much to do with our ability to embody , feel, and express love.Our guests this week, Nat Couropmitree and Matt O'Grady, have designed a program called Nurtured By Love."So many desperately want to have profound experiences with love but many 'stiff-arm' it because it takes vulnerability. You've been hurt before. It's been painful. You haven't been able to trust it growing up. And so, you haven't felt safe to open yourself to love.The result, unfortunately, is that you end up feeling unfulfilled and unhappy. You might think that if you just give more of yourself, do more, achieve and accomplish more, or sacrifice your needs for the benefit of others, you'll have that experience of feeling deeply loved.But, it doesn't work that way.To feel profoundly loved and receive it fully, you need to open up to it within and embody it. It takes such courage and strength to do this. And most of us need a little guidance to let love in in a different way than we normally do.This is why we've created this program to support you in being'Nurtured by Love'."We look forward to discuss all things Love amp Awareness this Wednesday, join us

Einstein got it right... everything is energy. If we could only leave it at that The dynamic energy system that is YOU resembles atorus. What is a torus It is a dynamic energy mover whichconsists of a central axis with a vortex at both ends and a surrounding coherent field. Energy flows in one vortex, through the central axis, out the other vortex, and then wraps around itself to return to the first incoming vortex. Wow, what We call this movement of energy atoroidal flow.We see this displayed throughout our natural world... the heart has a toroidal flow tornados are toruses the earth is a torus, even our solar systemThis week's step of The Practice of Living Awareness is the Central Channel. This is the energetic core of our charka system it connects, informs, and coordinates our entire subtle energy system. As we align with the breath in meditation, we are aligning the chakras to the Central Channel and allowing the fullness of our being to express out and report this experience back to us... this is consciousness in action... living awarenessOn this week's show we've invited Bonnie Designer to discuss chakras... the ultimate torus systems of energy distribution Our awareness, our evolution, our energetic experience amp participation in the world is the result of the toroidal flow of your chakra system. We've got five chakras along the spine and two in the head. They are all connected by the Central Channel, which would be the "central axis" component of the torus which was mentioned in the description above.

The torus is a mechanism that reports back to us the effect of that which we express. Here are a few words about toroidal flow from the meditation pages of our website:Toroidal flow is experienced in step 12. This is related to the spiral flow of everything from the water going down a drain, to the exchange of blood to and from our heart, to to the spiral arms of a galaxy. The truth is that we are a mini-galaxy with similar internal properties. Our energy centers are toruses, ensuring the constant, dynamic exchange of awareness and experience that is a human being.Meditation allows for finer vibrations of spiritual energy to enter and move through the body. The toroidal flow nature of our subtle energy system moves those energies into the world in the form of our actions, creations, and expressions. We attract new experiences as a result of those expressions which in turn inform our consciousness. Higher consciousness raises our vibration to allow even finer vibrations to enter our system and, in turn, these express outward. This is evolution in action.Pulsing and rhythmic, we experience life, and even time, as the flow energies through fields, constantly creating experience which forms the very fiber of our being. Meditation reinforces this flow and elicits it's expansion.We will be joined this week by Donna Mitchell-Moniak, Spirit Fire's founder and the heart-mind behind the creation of The Practice of Living Awareness. Having just returned from a conference where she presented on topics including the Buddhist practice of Diety Yoga, Donna agreed to share with us some highlights from the event and discuss the many ways that we can emulate the lighted qualities of supreme beings... qualities that are inherent to us and eager to be expressed. Join us

"The allowing and full acceptance of your breath equals the allowing and full acceptance of your life, " reads the back cover of Carol Martin's delightful, insightful, and wonderfully practical book, Breathe. We couldn't say it better ourselves, though we might add several exclamation points The text goes on, "Becoming more conscious of your breath and learning to allow it to deepen naturally is a surrender to your life and your being. It is a powerful and loving act of acceptance that speaks to every cell in your body. It is the key to the door of your own he evolution." Amen Breath is a world unto itself and it is the exploration of breath in meditation, yoga, exercise, conversation, alignment... the list could go on endlessly. Awareness of breath changes everything. It's that simple. We cannot wait to discuss Carol's book, which is now available as an eBook

As we move into the so-called New Age, individuals are finding themselves attracted to a more conscious way of life and modern living has seen us connected globally, offering insight into a world humanity like never before both of these tendencies reinforce the group nature of the impending Aquarian Age. We are beginning to understand the connections between body, mind, and spirit. Science is beginning to support age old claims that meditation, appreciation, and mindfulness are not only good for the physical heart, but the heart of humanity as well. Quantum physics is beginning to unravel the largest question of all, " who are we and why are we here" These are exciting, albeit complex, times. Meditation offers clarity within the complexity. The first half of Spirit Fires online meditation practice delivers the tools necessary to establish shamatha, or peaceful abiding. The second half leads one to a greater understanding of vipassyana, or penetrating insight. When these two methods or states of being are effectively combined, a Living Awareness unfolds and the illumined potential of the mind is unleashed. Our guest this week is Dinah Lawson. She has practiced and taught in the field of energy healing for over 35 years in England, North America, Germany, Poland, and Holland. In England, in the 1980s, she helped form the group that would become The International Network of Energy Healing. This group specifically uses a method of treatment called Esoteric Healing. This method is a hands-off technique and employs clairsentience, or using senses beyond the basic five senses. Study, meditation, and service are requirements of practitioners of Esoteric Healing as each one of these endeavors highlight the illumined potential and sensate qualities of the mind. We will talk with Dinah about the intriguing discovery of this Tibetan healing modality and its westward journey, as well as the role that meditation and group consciousness play in the dawning of the Age of Aquarius.

Step 8 of The Practice of Living Awareness is Asana. We may think that this step solely relates to our physical posture, or our Asana, but it can have wider implications as we take it off of the meditation cushion. Are you posturing And if so, what does your posture express, what does it attract We can also think of asana in terms of alignment... what or who are you aligned with This week we will talk with Dorothy Stone about Animal Spirit Guides. Aligning with Elk medicine can bring stamina aligning with otter medicine brings playfulness. Are you always in a hurry Ant energy aligns you with the quality patience. Shamanic traditions have tapped into the energies of the plant, mineral, and animal kingdoms to release fixed patterns within the body, mind, and spirit, or to inspire alignment with qualities intended to inspire. Dorothy Stone is a native Vermonter and has grown up with a keen appreciation for the natural world. Her connection with nature fostered, at an early age, an interest in the great mysteries in life and how energy effects all of life and our healing processes. She has studied to expand her awareness in the areas of meditation, energy healing modalities, and therapeutic sound. She leads study groups and sound healing circles, participates in Earth energy work in sacred sites around the world, and is dedicated to elevation of human consciousness. Dorothy uses her artistic talents in the areas of botanical photography and the painting of Native American medicine drums. With her partner Zacciah Blackburn, she assists with the work at The Center of Light in Ascutney,Vermont, which brings forward teachings in the areas of Sound Healing and Shamanic studies.

Have you ever been pulled to the news stand in a trance... captivated by the beauties that grace the covers of each and every magazine They are glamorous, and we all want some of what they've got Or do we Is it even real Glamours are tricky business and we can all fall prey to them without even noticing.We have reached Step 7 of Practice of Living Awareness, Interlude. This is the halfway mark within the practice's 14 steps. By now you may have noticed that you've become comfortable using the tools that you've learned the far to achieve a state of being that we call shamata.Stephanie Urdang is a writer and an esoteric healer. She is sought out the world over as a master in her field. She integrates diverse techniques into one transformative practice. Here, she shares her wisdom about how you can achieve the natural beauty of wellness, from the inside out.

This is a play on words during our rather tumultuous election season... or is it We're actually talking about states of mind and emotional states, and the battleground is often created by an overzealous personality. Who or what is the personality battling with Well, anything and everything until it comes into alignment with the soul. Anytime a decision, motivation, or intention is selfish at its core, there will be a contraction, repulse, or reaction surrounding it when it is altruistic in nature, then goodness and creativity follow. These battlegrounds are purposeful... we learn lessons, we grow, we become wiser. Wisdom is of the heart, intellect is of the mind. This week the Practice of Living Awareness meditates on Heart-Mind. Most of us think first, then we feel. Tapping into our feeling nature as we make choices or as we respond to situations can add a whole new dimension to daily life. Heart-Mind states help us to assess whether a choice or response includes the greater good, or not. Living from the heart provides a certain freedom - freedom from a life on the battlefield

We have done several shows in which the topic of children comes to the forefront. Why They are constant reminders that we are here to experience wonder and joy We have also done several shows on yoga as it is fast becoming a doorway for the masses to enter into a more spiritual daily existence. Check Antifonario knows both of these topics well... she trains folks in the beautiful practice of Radiant Child Yoga. Here's tidbit about this program: "Children are inherently wise, radiant, and joyful. Through yoga, awareness, and love, we help them maintain or recover their innate connection to who they truly are. Radiant Child empowers adults to share the magical and practical benefits of yoga with children." We're inChecka has traveled to some of the most sacred spots of the planet to deepen her yoga practice through a connection to nature and she's traveled to some of the most sacred spots within the heart through a connection to kids... we want to hear about it all. Checka E-RYT, RCYT is deeply committed to maintaining a welcoming and inclusive space for practice and community. She offers mindful and safe sequencing along with compassionate and skilled assists in her Vinyasa flow classes. She equally enjoys the quiet and healing element of more reflective, restorative yoga, and offers the loving-kindness of Reiki energy work to enrich these classes. Checka is also invested in sharing yoga with children of all ages and leads Radiant Child Yoga teacher trainings throughout the country.