Journeys into Joy
Volume 1 -August 2012

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In This Issue
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Announcements
You Are What You Eat
Cari-isms
 
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Resources

Downloadable Resources
Missing out on Friday Night Live? Want to know more about Dr. Cari's work? Craving a taste of some of the programs & services Center of Spiritual Light has to offer? Here are some samples of the types of programs we have to offer for individuals & organizations:  

                  

Justice from
the Inside Out  

Examines institutional structures, practices, and power dynamics within organizations that impede the full effectiveness of the organizational mission.
Click here for more 

  

Love Like You've Never Been Hurt   
 Offers strategies to release the impact of previous hurts and betrayals - parents, partners, friends, religious leaders -
on present
relationship choices.
Click here for more 
 
Dare to Self-Care

Offers practical self-care tools, especially for helping professionals, that can be used in daily living to enhance overall life satisfaction.
 Click here for more 
 
Taking Back My Life   
Provides tools for women survivors of sexual abuse/intimate violence to reclaim and reframe your lives.
Click here for more 

 

 

 


Announcements  
Conversations with Cari: Tuesday, July 31, 1 p.m. EST
Since many of you have asked to talk about the Cari-Isms, join in on a monthly lunchtime conversation with Dr. Cari on FaceBook. This will be an opportunity to ask questions and explore what the Cari-Ism of the month means to you. Join the Center of Spiritual Light's FaceBook group and participate in the conversation.

Friday Night Live:
No scheduled gatherings for the month of August.
FNL resumes on Friday, September 7 at 7 p.m. Details to come.

Spirituality & Sexuality Meetup w/ILERA:
August 17, 2012 7 p.m. at Center of Spiritual Light
930 Grand Concourse #9D Bronx, NY 10451
Please visit: ILERA for more information    
 
 

You Are What You Eat: Tuesday, August 7, 1 p.m. EST
Join Center of Spiritual Light as we try to empower you on another level. Interact with Guramrit Khalsa, health coach in training and have your health, fitness, wellness questions answered.  Please join the Center of Spiritual Light's FaceBook group to participate.   
  

Soul Ventures: Wednesday, Sept. 26, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. 
Explore ways to use your spirituality as a vital resource to enhance your effectiveness and your satisfaction in your professional work -- whether in a community service organization or business. This workshop is especially for leaders of new or transitioning organizations. Registration: $100 (includes lunch and materials). Mark your calendar and look out for details.    
 
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You Are What You Eat

A few of the most common questions I am asked is, "how can I eat healthier? How can I lose weight and fast?" It's as though there is a magic pill, diet or cure that can grant people their health and fitness goals. My answer is simple. Crash diets do not work and not one diet works for everyone. Dieting seems to come hand in hand with cutting out "bad foods." However, before true results show up, a lifestyle change must occur.  

   

If you are eating healthy just to lose a few pounds and go back to eating unhealthy then of course your body is going to react and those few pounds you've lost quickly increase to 5, 10 even 15 pounds gained. Your body needs consistency.    

 

You don't need to eliminate things from your life to feel good, healthy and well. Slowly introduce fresh vegetables, fruit, whole grains, nuts and healthy alternatives to your favorite snacks, meals. As you slowly introduce these things to your meals, your body will begin to feel better.   

 

Do you take the time to actually chew your food? What is your home environment like? How are your interpersonal relationships? Take the time to not only eat slowly and consciously, become aware of your environment. Each and every aspect of your life is connected to your health. Take a few moments to breathe, stretch, walk, chew and smile. A healthy lifestyle is much more than just dieting, it is a life focused on all aspects of your health (physical, emotional, mental, spiritual).  

 

I strongly believe that anyone can lead a healthy lifestyle. It just takes a little push along with some planning.   

 

 

-Guramrit Khalsa  

For Inspiration & More Visit: No Beef Here 

 
An Inspirational Thought

I ask not for a lighter burden, but for broader shoulders. 

 

Jewish Proverb  

Cari-isms

  Break-Open Leads to Break-Through

There are several significant breaks that happen in our lives that are all too familiar: break-up, break-down, break-in, break-off, break out, and just plain breaks. Most of these breaks we often associate with pain. Because of this pain association, most of us are not rushing toward any kind of breaking experience.

 

Well, I've got breaking news! There is a breaking experience that leads to breakthrough and greater life satisfaction and wholeness - that is, break open. Here are two metaphors about breaking open to illustrate my point.

 

First, as a child is being born, there are intense experiences of breaking open and expanding beyond what feels humanly possible. After much pain and pushing, there is the experience of crowning when the baby's head - the widest part of the baby - comes through first. Once the mother's body is broken open to make way for the baby's head, the rest of the body comes through easier. Like the pain associated with childbirth, break open leads to breakthrough.

 

Second, as a Christian minister, I have had the privilege of celebrating Holy Communion untold numbers of times. Included in this sacred ritual are the words, "This is my body broken for you." To understand Jesus' body as only broken was to miss a greater point. His body was broken open for the healing possibilities that were represented in his body to be shared with the world.

 

There is something new and wondrous is crowning and breaking through for you even now, waiting to bring new life. The Spirit of wholeness, of life, of love, of joy, of healing is within each of us. It is only when your body of limiting beliefs or your body of doubts and fears is broken open that you can fully access the healing and wholeness that is already inside you.

 

Some situations that you go through might feel break-downs from which you cannot recover, but know that you are on your way to a breakthrough that your soul has been longing. Don't lose hope. Don't give up. As you experience your breakthrough, share it in holy communion and connection with the world.     

Signature--Cari