How do you like the “NEW LOOK” of my blog? Yay or nay, I appreciate your comments (easy way is right below this post).

I’m preparing to launch my first Book CAMPAIGN! How exciting! How Thrilling! And in many ways: How Exhausting! But … a good kind of exhaustion.

I’m sure you’ve all felt that well-deserved sense of having put a huge effort into something, and … finally coming up to the last final stretch, when you need the necessary push … when you’re right on the edge of exhaustion and would rather go to the beach, or take a sail, or go to a movie. BUT you have to keep pushing cuz …. you’re almost there! And if you stop now, the momentum might be tainted, or even lost, maybe forever.

Yes, I’m at that stage right this minute. This publishing-a-book business is mighty taxing. The writing of the book is one thing. In my case, I’m slow even though I type as fast as I think. Thank goddess for that talent, honed from my earliest teen years as an avid writer. Each of my books (I’ve completed more than you can imagine!) takes many years to finish. Sometimes there’s years in between when I finish one draft and when I pick up the manuscript again.

This upcoming book that will NOW BE PUBLISHED has been in the development, writing, polishing, read and commented upon by others, researched, more editing — for the last 15 years. I’m serious! That’s when the idea first came to me, to write about ….

My experience of teaching at-risk, hardcore repeat juvie offenders in high-security prison the techniques I myself use, of MindStilling — coincides with the imminent arrival of a major hurricane’s exact eye. The two stories weave together, presenting dramatic opportunity like nothing else, and guess what? This is what really happened.

As the storm inches slowly toward the girls’ isolated prison, the Yoga-girls learn to focus on the calm within themselves … this is their inner “I” … instead of being freaked out by the outer storm’s hurricane’s eye.

The ancient techniques of breath, focus, strengthening, and alignment with the Great Heart instead of being locked in fear: these are some of the benefits of a regular yoga and meditation practice. My yoga-girls-in-lockup got to experience their practice’s other benefits too: a stronger more supple body, better muscle coordination, balance, grace, and general all-over confidence in themselves. Right away, from the first lesson, their BODIES were revealed to them — for the very first time in their young lives — that they themselves, at their core, were the best teacher they could find if no other was around. The body’s ability to maintain a pose, breathe calmly, steady the mind, literally blew my yoga-girls away!

The class was called “Empowerment Techniques” by Ursula, the facility’s director, to allow for Medicaid funding. Just think! The US government paid for yoga classes to girls in lockup waaaaay back in the 90s. Eventually I was hired by another juvie lockup facility as well. Many at-risk girls got to explore their inner calm, the “I” within, through these classes we held for years in central Florida, where I live, where I raised my family.

My yoga-girls, as I call them, had their minds blown away when they took their very first deep breath! Such is the power of deep breathing. Most of them had never learned to breathe deeply, so their brains and muscles were oxygen-deficient. Imagine how great it feels to take in ONE BREATH and instantly feel “lights going off in my head!” That’s what every new girl in class exclaimed! That’s the power of breath, my friends. My yoga-girls experienced the magic of this ancient self-discipline of the union of body-mind-spirit from the moment they stepped into my area, a designated “spot” in a high security state-funded prison. Over our class of 12 girls who volunteered for class we had a guard on duty, as always, their constantly chattering walkie-talkie radio chirping at their fingertips. Sometimes the guard would join us, sometimes they only scowled. No matter!

Doing Yoga Doing Time. Those of us who practice yoga, consider ourselves blessed. I hope this book inspires many people who haven’t, to give the empowerment tools of a yoga practice, a chance. Change happens only when … change happens.

Being a writer (and a narrative-driven artist, always a story to paint or sculpt) makes me hyper-aware of the power of the fifth Chakra, today’s post and also the subject of LordFlea’s last post. Ever since I embraced my life’s destiny, a spiritual artist who writes, I have been focused on how to communicate the ideas that I explore in and through my work.

The throat area, the region of the 5th chakra, is exactly about — opening up, not being shy, not hiding, but speaking, communicating, spreading Truth, negating un-truth whenever possible.

I remember years back hearing one of my teachers say:

“All you artists, dancers, musicians, writers, and any other kind of creatively expressing person, business people, scientist, all creative sorts — you’re only half an artist unless you get your work OUT so the rest of the world can SEE and FEEL and be affected by your creative, new-idea endeavors. Don’t stop just because after creating something. Go all the way and make that work available to anyone who wants to participate in the energy you’ve created. The world needs all the help from you creative souls as it can get!”‘

I took this message to heart. For years I’ve been preparing to publish books. Regular readers of LordFlea know this already. And yes, I have made serious attempts to get the work seen by “conventional channels.” I even had, at two different times, years apart, seriously influential, top notch New York literary agents represent my work. But in both instances (the latest one just this past year) the result was disappointing. For whatever reason the commercial publishers who reviewed my work always declined to take me on. So after a few tears I always did the same dance to the same tune — “pick yourself up, dust yourself off … and start all over again.” That’s what I’ve been doing for … well, you don’t want to know how long. Let’s just say, my own yoga practice has taught me patience and perseverance like I never had before. Today, I am an extremely patient person. Before a regular practice, I was all about gotta get it here-and-now, or more like, yesterday for pete’s sake!

Now I’m doing for myself what I would have had to do anyway IF a “regular” publisher had taken on this book I’m presenting soon. All authors have to do their own marketing these days. Artists of all sorts know what I’m talking about. These days, i you want your work to be SEEN, HEARD and FELT by others, we must design and “milk” our “platform.” (That’s funny, milking a platform, hmmmm)

That’s why you’ll be seeing a lot more of me, hearing more from mel. Maybe you’ve been wondering what the heck has gotten into LordFlea/teZa? This is 5th chakra energy I’m generating now, folks. I am super-charging my 5th chakra reserves … getting public, and speaking my Truth like never before. This is the “I speak NOW” part of the uprising of one’s energy, one’s consciousness, that we’ve been exploring these past weeks, exploring the chakras in these LordFlea posts. (And no, this is not a subject I’ve written a book about — yet!)

Maybe it’s a matter of the universe being in tune with an individual, what makes some of us more able to PUT OUR WORK OUT than others. For me, it was a major step to start this blog, nearly 10 years ago. Getting public is … scary in many ways. Writing my posts have made it easier for me, because this blog IS public. LordFlea has helped me to get over being rejected by the “big guys” in the publishing world. Today, I don’t give a hoot about them, because I happen to be a big guy, a wonder woman-version myself. Seriously. It’s taken me this long to let-go of all the holding-backs, doing my spiritual work, and of course writing and arting my ass off for decades! to get here, right now, right here. Ready to publish my books. (subjects range from true gritty stories … to magical realism … to inspiring … from nonfiction to fiction, you name it, I’d written it!)

Today, I feel my throat chakra is wide open. I’m able to feel my work IS good (proven by the 2 lit agents who wouldn’t have wasted their time if they felt otherwise). And most importantly, I realize that the world NEEDS the work I’ve so assiduously been doing and my time is NOW to get it out to the public.

Our stressed-out world needs to know that right within every person’s own being, just as the yoga-girls in lockup found out in our class, every person has the power to change themselves. Just by wanting to. Being aware of needing to change is all it takes — for change to start happening. Of course, having someone demonstrate, or share books like I’m doing, about how change can be done, helps enormously. That’s why I call myself a spiritual activist. It’s my job … to spiritually help others who are interested in uplifting their perspective on things.

I’m not sharing the title of my upcoming book, not quite yet. First, I’m readying to send out my first author’s campaign. That’s a series of emails sent to people who have asked to be included on my email list. I hope you will be one of these. You can either send me your email right below (and comment how you like LordFlea’s “new LOOK” if you like) or you can find the email form on my blog’s sidebar (somewhere to right on your computer screen, and mobiles, sorry, i dunno where?). I’m still a little dizzy/lost in this new “look” of LordFlea myself, and I’m the one who created it! (yesterday, duhhh) But I think it’s way more fun than the old “look” so thanks for coming to my blog!

Remember, the throat chakra is about speaking Truth. Once your Big Heart (not the “organ” heart) has been opened, you have no other choice but to speak, and spread Truth.  Today I’m more AWARE of operating from this opened 5th-chakra energy center. The throat chakra’s mantra is Ham … its color is pure sky blue.

Come back real soon (or sign up for email notification, also on my sidebar) because next we’ll explore the 6th chakra, the Third Eye, the “eye of God.” Wow. How awesome is that!

Love all ways, LordFlea aka teza

(leave me your comments here, and your email for my info-list, thanks!)

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Filed under: chakra, chakra healing, open heart, open throat, Uncategorized, yoga and meditation Tagged: at-risk juvies, Magical thinking, no fear, spiritual healing, yoga meditation