Sedona Meditation Newsletter

February 2011

Hello!

Thank you for your interest in self-awareness and creating personal peace. I hope you enjoy this newsletter and feel free to forward it to your friends using the link on the right.

Leading with Heart

A couple of years ago I received a Service Leadership Award from Sustainable Arizona, an educational non-profit organization that I co-founded. Sustainable Arizona was formed to teach Arizonan's how to live and build with conservation and the environment in mind, and I wrote the newsletter which reached thousands of 'green pioneers' across Arizona for more than a year.

I hadn't really considered myself a leader. I thought leadership conferences and books on leadership didn't apply to me, after all, I wasn't an elected leader, or leading a big team of pe ople. I had to broaden my definition of leader... A leader is a man or woman who rules or guides or inspires others.

If that is the case, we are all leaders, in some way. I thought, I lead my life, I lead my students, I lead retreats, I lead my volunteers and my contractors, sometimes I lead my friends by example. So, I guess I am a leader. But what kind of leader was I? What kind of style did I use? And what was Service Leadership? I looked into it.

I found out that the idea of being of service as a leader is as old as the 4th century BCE. Chanakkya, a man considered a pioneer in economics and political science, wrote: "The king [leader] shall consider as good, not what pleases himself, but what pleases his subjects [followers]"

I discovered many terms for this type of leadership: enlightened leadership, values-based leadership, and leading with heart. "Servant Leadership" is the term coined in 1970 by Robert Greenleaf. Servant Leadership "begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first," says Greenleaf. It's a lifelong journey that includes discovery of one's self, a desire to serve others, and a commitment to lead.

"We are the leaders we've been waiting for," says Martha Mayhood Mertz, author of Becoming Athena: Eight Principles of Enlightened Leadership. She founded ATHENA International, an organization which mentors and trains emerging leaders in more than 500 U.S. cities and six countries. She's been researching successful leaders worldwide and has identified eight principles at the heart of effective, enlightened leadership. I'll tell you about those later.

Amidst the change and uncertainty and the great challenges we are facing in the world today, there's a wonderful opportunity for transformative leaders to emerge.

These great leaders will not be the same as the ones that led us to this moment; instead, these great leaders will have a different way of leading, a way that's needed to navigate these rough waters.

Many books and seminars address style, process, and technical and strategic issues of leadership, but the leaders emerging today are using a new leadership style - one beyond all techniques and advice. It's a style that encourages cooperation and collaboration rather than competition, time lines rather than deadlines, and responsiveness rather than reactivity.

This new paradigm in leadership will be one of vision, courage, and creative responses rather than one of conformity and status quo. Read on....

Learn to Meditate

Want to reduce stress, feel better, find your inner peace, or feel more connected to everyone and everything? You can with meditation. Even if you've never tried it before, you'll find meditation is easy to learn and to do if you are taught correctly. Once you take a class with the Sedona Meditation Training Company you'll have everything you need to meditate on your own. Here are upcoming meditation programs in Sedona and Phoenix.

Everyday Meditation Class:Learn how to meditate in as little as 2 hours. Instruction with Sarah McLean. $145 per person. Reduced rates for seniors, students and veterans. Or, set up a private class at a convenient time and place for you. Find out more here. To register for the Everyday Meditation class or for more information contact (928)204-0067. Or click here.

Offered in Sedona, Saturday, February 26th, 10:00 am - 12:30 pm. Held in a private meditation studio in the Broken Arrow area. Also offered April 17th. Click here for more info.

Offered in Phoenix, Sunday, February 27th, 2:00 - 4:30 pm. Class at Storm Wisdom in Phoenix. Also offered April 30th.

Community Meditations at the Sedona Creative Life Center, Sunday, March 13, 5:00 - 6:00 pm. $10. Everyone is invited. No experience necessary! Also offered April 17. Register for March 13 via PayPal.

Primordial Sound Meditation in Sedona, Arizona, Sunday, April 16th, 9:30 - 4:30 pm. Get your own personal mantra as recommended by Deepak Chopra. Taught by Chopra recommended and certified instructor, Sarah McLean (who served as the Chopra Center education director.) Find out more about Primordial Sound Meditation here.

Outside of Sedona or Phoenix? Listen anytime to guided meditations here. Or receive instruction and 3 powerful meditations on the popular CD Meditate. Read more about it here.

Check the calendar for more programs including meditation retreats and special events. Or call 928.204.0067.

What is Ayurveda Anyway?

You might have first heard about it in Deepak Chopra's book, Perfect Health. Ayurveda is a natural approach for creating balance and strengthening the body's healing abilities using natural methods such as herbs, meditation, massage, aromatherapy, music and sound, nutrition, daily and seasonal routines, breathing, yoga, and purification therapies.

Pronounced eye-yur-vay-dah, Ayurveda is often translated as the "science of life", and was founded in India over 5000 years ago. Ayurveda is one of my first loves. According to Ayurveda, a person is healthy when their appetite and digestion are strong, organs and tissues are properly functioning, elimination is regular, the senses are acute, and they are blissful - health isn't just about being disease-free, it's a sense of complete well-being in all areas of life.

According to Ayurveda, disease is primarily the result of imbalances and impurities that accumulate in the mind and body over time. The specialty of Ayurveda is in identifying imbalances at an early stage - before symptoms of disease arise, and eliminating them from the body.

Find out all about it! Come to a one-day Discovering Ayurveda workshop at the Tohono Ballroom at El Pedregal at the Boulders in North Scottsdale, Saturday, March 5th from 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Early bird price, $65 by February 10th includes an Ayurvedic vegetarian lunch.Find out more here. You can also call 928.204.0067 oremail us.

At this event, you'll meet me and four mind/body health experts:Avani Sudkhadia of Sedona's Authentic Ayurveda, Dr. Meghana Thanki of Ayurzona of Scottsdale, Anita Rangaswami of PranaGyana in Tempe and Alisa Gray of Santosha in Scottsdale.

You'll learn to identify your mind/body type -your dosha, and imbalances, and find out how to use natural approaches including specific aromas, tastes, sounds, colors, tastes, and herbs to bring about balance. It is a day not to be missed!

Read more or sign up here.

A Retreat to Open Your Heart

Imagine establishing a sense of unshakable peace and comfort and feeling open, loving, and free. This is how the participants describe their experience of the previous Heart Opening Retreat in Lake Tahoe.

You too can take this journey back into your own enchanting heart center at the H eart Opening Retreat May 5 - 8 that I co-lead with a very inspiring woman, Kathy Zavada from Mount Shasta. Not only is she a phenomenal singer and songwriter (listen to her music here), she's also an insightful and gifted retreat leader.

You'll be led gently in meditation and song - you'll enjoy it, even if you've never done it before. Bathe in deeply uplifting music, guided and silent meditations, call and response chanting, gentle self-discovery exercises, and nourishing time in nature. You'll rest into the blissful stillness of your own being. It's a totally affordable retreat in one of the most beautiful spots in nature. The Heart Opening Retreat is held at a conference center lakeside in South Lake Tahoe. Read more or sign up here.

Spiritual Cinema Circle presents Byron Katie.

Love. It's as essential to life as air, water and food. To give love, receive love and sometimes even to sacrifice our own wishes for the higher good of those we do love... these are the topics of films from our friends at Spiritual Cinema Circle. Spiritual Cinema Circle, a community of conscious filmmakers and film lovers who appreciate inspiring films, is offering you your first month of movies FREE (just pay shipping).

Sign up by February 12 and get inspired to bring lasting love and compassion to your life with this month's feature film, Beautiful Dreamer, a captivating feature film about devotion and selfless love, starring James Denton of Desperate Housewives. Two additional award-winning short films are also included in the love collection.

This is the best part....with your Free DVD, you'll also receive an exclusive and transformative master class from Byron Katie (one of my favorite teachers). Acclaimed by both Eckhart Tolle and Oprah, she has helped millions of people through her inquiry process called, The Work®. Bryon Katie teaches how the beliefs you hold can change the reality you see. Her teachings lead to greater joy and self-love.

As Valentine's Day approaches, you can give yourself a gift and receive these four films on DVD for just the cost of shipping ($4.95 in the US). Order by February 12th.