Inner Peace of Richmond

Check Out Intenders Circle Four Agreements Wisdom Group

2012-02-02T09:22:00.000-05:00

Special Workshop Information: Art Journaling for the Soul

2012-01-23T11:22:00.001-05:00

Art Journaling for the Soul Workshop
Come experience the excitement of Art Journaling for the Soul 2-day workshop with sisters Donna Hollowell and Tracy Whichard. With their guidance, you will explore your own "inner layers" through the combination of your written words and creative "play" using mixed media (paint, images, stamps, glitter, pens, etc). No artistic ability necessary!

February 11 & 12, 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
Crossroads Arts Center
2016 Staples Mill Road
Richmond, VA

Cost: $225.00 (Journal, materials, and supplies included)
Advanced registration is required. Space is limited.
Contact Donna at donnahollowell@yahoo.com, or (252)-202-4669

www.theartisticonion.com

Amidst the Petals

2012-01-08T09:48:00.000-05:00

I am very fortunate in this life to have a best friend, Laura, who is more like a sister to me. We have known each other since we were 7 years old. Her dad used to refer to us as the Bobsey Twins ( most of you are probably too young to know who they were – but they were book characters), and many people do look at us and think we’re sisters. In our hearts, we definitely are. She is my biggest fan, no matter what I choose to do. And vice versa.

Today, I invited Laura to walk the labyrinth with me, her “virgin” journey. This has been an unusually warm, beautiful, January day – and so we also walked the track for a while following our experience in the labyrinth. Laura took it seriously – walked meditatively along with me – and deemed it “interesting”, which is how Laura processes things. In particular, she was intrigued with the petals and their meanings.

When we got to the middle, and stood in the petals, I explained to Laura where she was standing (abundance) and where I was standing (forgiveness). I told her that I like to contemplate why I find myself standing where I am, and what that means for me, and that I will then go from petal to petal and stand in its energy – and then in the center of Love – before I do the return walk. So, we did that. As I walked from petal to petal, I heard a phrase for each one, and I share that here:

I stand in faith – and I trust myself.

I stand in surrender – and I love myself.

I stand in abundance – and I know myself.

I stand in service – and I grace myself.

I stand in forgiveness – and I release myself.

I stand in overcoming – and I honor myself.

And then, I moved to the middle, Love, and heard:

I stand in Love – and I recognize myself.

I can tell you that I floated through the return walk. The sun shone brighter, the air felt sweeter, my energy was lighter, and I was happy. Every time I go in the labyrinth, I get another layer of understanding, and it is bringing me more and more in balance.

Again, I make the sincere offer that I would love to walk with anyone who is interested in having the experience of walking the labyrinth, or who would like to walk it again…. As an aside, I also walked the labyrinth this week at Richmond Hill – a beautiful stone labyrinth in the heart of Richmond, in the setting of what used to be a home for nuns, but now houses those clergy praying for Richmond (and that’s a very cursory explanation) – which feels very “old” and very sacred. We are so fortunate to have these meditative tools in our midst!

And So It Is!

The Path is Ever Changing

2011-12-30T00:15:00.000-05:00

Yes, once again walking the labyrinth experiences!

Interestingly enough, the path felt completely different as I walked last week. I actually thought I had mis-stepped somehow (don’t we ALL experience that??), and I was disconcerted for quite a few minutes, feeling somewhat disoriented; but since I have learned to “walk where my feet are”, I continued the path as it was. And guess what? It didn’t let me down, and led me where I wanted to go! Now is that a metaphor for life or what??!!

Yes, the path is ever-changing. It’s when we accept and flow with that change (as I chose to do in the labyrinth) that we can see the perfection in it. It may be that we go on faith and trust the flow of our path (yes, sometimes blindly!), as truly, we are never off of it! It may be that we are seeing that path with fresh eyes, and have a new awareness and appreciation for where we are on the path! Or, as has been going around in my mind, “everything old is new again” – and we make it so! Life has many twists and turns, and avoiding them is not the answer – being fully present in those moments is the key, gaining what we need to gain in order to function more presently in our lives. While we may feel that we stray off the path from time to time, we need to realize that no matter what, we are where we are. Period. No judgment, no regret, no wishing it were different, acknowledging the perfection. It can be so exciting!

Also this past week, I participated in a labyrinth walk with a group of people on the Solstice. The path was very full that evening, with everyone carrying a lit candle – and this is how I viewed it: many, many people will cross our path throughout our life. Some may be familiar, some may be walking the path closely beside us, some may be strangers, some may be in a hurry, while some may be very, very slow. But everyONE of them is the Light; as am I, as are you! We may move out of the way for some – some may stand to the side for us – we may come face-to-face with others, we may avoid some, some may cross our path for but a second…AND, we are all on the path together. We are ALL shining our light at the rate of vibration that is comfortable for us. At some level, we all recognize that, and know that the sea of humanity that we meet along the way all have the same basic desires: for peace, for love, for connection. If we can be cognizant of that, and just smile at everyone we meet, we create the Light as we go.

I have been so grateful for these walking meditations, and the enlightenment they’ve brought me. I feel it helping me to walk my path – the one outside of the labyrinth – in a more conscious, peaceful, purposeful way. We are called in this coming year to find those avenues to peace (inner and outer) to help us stay on an even keel as we navigate 2012. We are here to be examples of the Light - much needed in our world in this NOW!

Here’s to Being the Light on the ever-changing path of Life!

Surrendering into love

2011-12-03T20:38:00.000-05:00

Another labyrinth walk this morning.

My Science of Mind class/friends met me there, and we walked as a group. It was wonderful to share such sacred time with these amazing women. The insights that everyone left with were stunning and honoring of each individual path, and us as a unit. We are a very connected group, and it was so incredible for me to share this experience with them. My heart is full of gratitude.

I found myself in the petal of surrender this morning, and it was so appropriate to stand there and soak in that energy. It is absolutely what I intend to do as much as possible, but realize that actually getting there can be difficult for me, because I feel I need to be in control of my destiny. But what I’ve learned is, I’m not in control of anything! My life reflects that in many ways, AND I see that as good. Being “out of control” speaks to detachment, it speaks to allowing, it’s speaks – most of all – to trusting: something I don’t think I do very well, but that I am seeing I must do more than I give myself credit for. At the core of me, from the depths of my soul, I know all is well, and all is as it “should” be. For now. Understanding that all there is, is change: Opportunity to choose again; Opportunity to allow life to flow FOR me, as well as FROM me.

I walked out of the petal and stood in the area between the petals, which is Love. I heard, as I stood there, “ Surrender IN Love, surrender TO Love, surrender INTO Love.” Recently, there have been a couple of situations that I have had to surrender to – not giving away my power to them, but maintaining my power from that place of my own integrity, and letting it be what it is for now. That doesn’t take away the pain necessarily that I feel, or looking at my responsibility in calling these things into my experience; but it also allows me to realize that there is a bigger picture here, and opportunity for growth for all involved, especially me. Surrendering allows me to look at things as an observer – and as the observer, detaching from the “up close and personal”, I ask myself what the best way is to be the face of love, the face of compassion, the face of understanding in letting everyone be who they are, where they are, in the situation. I’m not saying I always achieve that, but it is my intent, and I get there easier these days, with much more love, compassion, and understanding for ME first, and then for everyone/thing involved.

It’s the holiday season. It brings out the light and shadow in all of us – the best and the worst, the joy and the sorrow/depression, depending on our particular circumstances. I recommend finding the things about the holidays that you DO enjoy – for me it would be the lights and the music – and immerse yourself in those. That’s the gift you give yourself – allowing you to be where you are. And then, surrender INTO the love of this time and beyond – it is palpable if you intend to feel it, as much or as little as you can handle. Be ok with what is for you. Instead of trying to control everything, allow yourself to be “out of control” and see how much more easily this time unfolds before you. This time, anytime, all time – it’s one and the same.

Always, in all ways, “to thine own self, be true”.

My wish for you, for me, for Gaia, and our global family, is to surrender into the love that we have the potential for on this planet, that we came here with, that we ALREADY are – and let it spread to all corners of the Universe… and experience the dissolving of anything less than that here and NOW! Will you join me in that vision? All it takes is to intend it, and see how YOUR world reflects that, which will outpicture to the greater whole! Imagine what our world could look like 1 minute from now, 1 hour from now…1 year from now…

And So It IS!

An abundance of love

2011-11-22T21:29:00.000-05:00

I walked the labyrinth today. I was the only one walking it, and I took my time, my consideration, and my soul on that walk. In fact, my soul called me there, as it had a message for me.

While I have walked the labyrinth a number of times before, I did it without the information and awareness that I now have about the uniqueness of such a walk. I have learned most of this from Karrie Wallen – and have experienced it the most with Dr. Kathryn Leeman (both from Redlands, Ca.). For me now, being in the labyrinth is like being in the womb – very safe, very peaceful, very cocooned, yet very open.

In the center of the labyrinth, there are petals, and each petal has a meaning, with the center between the petals being designated as Love. I found myself walk right into the petal of Abundance, and as I stood there, the energy felt electric – I knew I was in the right spot. I also walked through each of the petals – faith, surrender, service, forgiveness, and overcoming – but the “charge” for me this walk was in abundance. So, I thought: “is this love of abundance?” And the answer was “no, it’s about an Abundance of Love” – my whole being resonated with that, and an excitement built within me. I had my message – and that’s what I contemplated on the rest of my walk through the labyrinth…

An abundance of Love – am I always aware of that? Am I always in the flow of that? Isn’t that true for ALL of us? Didn’t we come to the planet to experience ourselves as this Love so that we could shine it upon others in our lives? Isn’t that “shining” upon ourselves and others the abundance of the Universe? And if so, then how could there POSSIBLY be lack of any kind? Love is free, freely given, “what makes the world go ‘round”, the best part of us, and our soul speaking to and through us. Stop in this moment and feel the abundance of love in your life – and if you have difficulty with that, look at where you might be denying yourself that love. Look in the mirror, in your own eyes, and see your soul shining through, loving YOU! It is so unconditional, so unabashedly given, so pure in its intent…can you see it? Can you feel it? It’s your birthright!

At this time of year, it’s easy to get caught up in the holiday trappings and forget Who We Are! This year, remember that the best gift given, that carries the most gratitude with it, is that Abundance of Love! And you know what? As you open to that Love, watch how abundance fills the other areas of your life to overflowing as well! It’s guaranteed!

If you’d like to walk the labyrinth with me, at any time, please contact me at purplrev@gmail.com, or call the Inner Peace number: 804-350-6743.

Here’s wishing you and yours an Abundance of Love this holiday season, and all good things in your life in 2012!

Prevent Illness With Naturopathy

2011-11-08T12:53:00.000-05:00

We're posting a piece on naturopathy that local conscious entrepreneur and Inner Peace supporter Tanya Wineland wrote for the My Time Matters Blog.

Last November, CBSNews.com reported that “more than 59 million Americans had no health insurance for at least part of 2010, an increase of 4 million from the previous year”. As it turns out, half of America’s uninsured are actually over the poverty line. And in the current economic climate, many are living in survival mode. To insure or ensure health, is that really the question?

Well, that was my question as I looked into health insurance quotes recently. After reading over all the policy options on Anthem’s website, I became frustrated and thoroughly confused. I realized that what I wanted and needed are two different things. I want preventive health coverage and emergency care coverage, but not at the risk of shelling out every cent I make.

So I took a break. Mulling around the house a bit, I found myself fixated on the worn spine of a book I know all too well. A book that has gotten me through many a dis-ease, as its author would say. That book is none other than Louise Hay’s You Can Heal Your Life. A classic informational text exploring the power of thought and the ways it can manifest in our bodies.

You may have heard that as a nation and a global community we are entering a new paradigm; one that is rife with shifts in our personal and professional lives. I feel like both of mine are in the spin cycle (though it does makes for fantastic creative output, let me tell you.) Changes, challenges, transitions; call them what you will. The fact of the matter is that you are an evolving Soul attracting to you exactly what you must experience at any moment ever and always.

And what does insurance provide for the evolving Soul attracting to it exactly what it requires to experience at any moment ever and always? Nothing, of course.

Following naturopathy or a more holistic lifestyle, however, can bring boundless energy, pleasure, and greater joy to ones life. So here is my suggestion to the cost conscious: Honor your pocketbook by insuring your body to the best of your ability, but ensure the well-being of your body, mind, and spirit through naturopathic practices.

Contributing medical doctors and writers to EverydayHealth.com report that Naturopathy is “an alternative medicine approach that uses your body’s own abilities to stay healthy. Rather than focusing on illness, naturopathy seeks to promote wellness.” Here are but a few of the ways I incorporate naturopathy into my daily regimen:

Exercise. Hello!
Meditation will always come before medication.
Detoxify the body with bacteria-free, reverse osmosis water.
Gratitude is the best attitude.
No food allergies? Better to ask the body.
Energy modalities like reiki or quantum touch work only when the mind and body are open and ready to receive healing.
Chiropractic changes lives. I adore my chiropractor! Many long-term chiropractic clients would agree that they go for relief and stay for wellness.
The healing power of touch soothes many aches.

No problems with gluten? Those without Celiac Disease can still be gluten sensitive or gluten intolerant. Try the finger test. Hold out either of your hands, fingers together. If the top of your pinky rests below the upper crease of your ring finger, then you are most likely gluten intolerant. Only medical tests can tell you for sure, but they are pricey.

Other examples of naturopathic treatment include nutrition, spirituality, coaching or counseling, and herbal supplements. Try one and see how you feel. It could just change your life. It continues to change mine everyday.

Tanya Wineland is an intuitive communicator and entrepreneur. She has been at the helm of many Richmond-based community initiatives over the years involving dialogue, holistic wellness, and entertainment.
A ministerial student with the University of Sedona, Tanya is currently working towards a masters degree in Transpersonal Counseling. She regularly volunteers her time and talents to a wide variety of organizations and also writes a personal blog called Uncover God.

Update on Dr. Leeman's Richmond Offerings

2011-10-11T12:02:00.000-04:00

The Healing Heart Retreat we posted about previously has been rescheduled for early next Spring. Dr. Kathryn Leeman will still offer Song of the Soul as scheduled. There are NO pre-requisites for the retreat. All you will need is the Carolyn Myss Sacred Contracts Archetypes Cards, a journal, some walking shoes, and the rest will be given to you upon your registration.

Dr. Kathryn Leeman Returns to Richmond

2011-10-01T17:35:00.001-04:00

Dr. Kathryn Leeman, an Inner Peace favorite, returns to Richmond in November with another Healing Heart Retreat and a new workshop! Dr. Leeman is a transpersonal psychologist who has led transformational workshops and journeys all over the world for over 25 years.

The Healing Heart Retreat allows you to communicate with your soul to discover what truly has heart and meaning to you NOW in your life. Do you often feel alone and have no one to relate to? Do you have a longing inside, yet cannot put it into words? Come find your passion, be with people of like-mind and heart, and watch your life take on a new direction. Release the pain and suffering of past incidents, have your heart cradled, experience unconditional love (perhaps for the first time), while expanding your awareness of who you really are.

Read more about The Healing Heart Retreat...http://ow.ly/6KBdU

During this time of unprecedented individual and planetary increase, many of us are wondering why we are here. The collective reality continues to fluctuate and rumble, as it releases old outdated structures and systems; while attempting to align with the new beliefs and structures of an increasingly conscious humanity.

Many of us feel we are experts when it comes to the experience of darkness, yet novices when it comes to living in the light. Let it be known that the time has come for us to move out of the shadow and into the light! One of the foci of this weekend workshop is to assist you in moving beyond your own criticism and judgment of yourself and into love and gratitude for the entirety of your Being.

Read more about Discovering the Song of Your Soul...http://ow.ly/6KBgp

Therapeutic Groups at Inner Peace

2011-09-26T17:24:00.001-04:00

Rev. Lisa C. Marks, M.Ed, an ordained minister of Religious Science, credentialed counselor, and working towards obtaining an LPC, is offering the following groups (dates and times to be scheduled based on interest):

Beyond Depression: For those who experience depression, it is often difficult to see what is on the other side of it, or that there can be “the other side” of it. This group will help participants to understand their depression, gain tools for overcoming it, and gain the courage to look ahead knowing that an individual can lead a productive life without depression.
Where Am I Not Being Me?: This group will focus on our relationship with ourselves, and how that major, main relationship is the basis for all other relationships in our lives. This group is meant to be uplifting, encouraging, and will incorporate elements of Louise Hay’s work, You Can Heal Your Life.
Life Transitions: Most often, we look at grief and loss as losing those close to us, be they family, pets, friends, etc. But issues of grief and loss incorporate so many more issues: loss of job, moving, divorce, etc. In today’s atmosphere and economic conditions, we feel this grief in other ways as well – loss of status, fear of loss of prosperity, and more. We will explore these issues in a safe, sacred space, and come away with tools to create the lives we most wish to live.

All groups are designed for 8 weeks, $15 per session. Groups are forming now. Please call us (804) 350-6743 to register, or send an e-mail to InnerPeaceRichmond@gmail.com.

Blog Talk Radio Interview with Rev. Lisa Marks

2011-09-06T16:11:00.001-04:00

Rev. Lisa Marks was recently featured on Blog Talk Radio's The Honoring Hour, discussing her work with Past Life Regression Therapy and Soul Sessions. Click on the player below to listen to Rev. Lisa and this insightful episode of The Houring Hour.

Weathering Life’s Storms

2011-09-05T16:30:00.009-04:00

Mother Nature certainly is communicating!! Up close and personal!

The east coast has been fairly slammed this past week with some interesting weather! First it was an earthquake – which rarely happens in our part of the country – and then Hurricane Irene. I’m one of those folks that really believes that the consciousness of an area affects the weather – but I also truly believe that there is a delicate (even though it certainly doesn’t feel that way) balance that the Earth is striving to achieve.

When I was just 4 years old, my family was caught in a flood. We had just been on our first family outing to Monticello since moving to Va., and coming home, our car got dumped into a sea that used to be a road, prior to the rain. My parents pulled us out of the car by our hair underwater, and we sat on top of the car calling for help until it sunk. We lost a brand new 1960 convertible and all our belongings that day – but we were all, thankfully, intact. We were literally hanging onto trees until lifeboats came to pull us out of the water. It is my most vivid memory – it could have happened yesterday – and I was afraid of storms most of my life after that. My sense of safety about being on the planet was taken away as a result of that experience, and sometimes I still have to remind myself that I am safe.

The biggest healing I’ve had with all that began, surprisingly enough, with Hurricane Isabel, some 10 years ago. I decided to embrace the storm and opened all my windows and let the energy of the storm come right into my house. It was very freeing! With Hurricane Irene, I not only opened the windows and embraced the storm, I went outside and stood in it! It was absolutely amazing – thrilling, even! And I was inspired to write the following:

Sitting within the music of the perfect storm,

Energetic melodies of wind and rain.

Devastatingly beautiful in its perfection,

Wreaking sweet havoc in its wake.

Surrendering to its rhythmic power,

Exhilarating in its authentic form.

Nothing to do – no thing to be –

Just true to its own soul.

For me, all of this brings up how we weather life’s storms. We all experience upheavals in our lives – be it that they feel like we’ve just erupted like a major earthquake, or the “hurricanes of the soul” that we experience. What is the wake that we leave for ourselves, and those in our path, in the aftermath of these storms? Is there some fracture in our structure that we can heal once and for all? Do we allow ourself to feel the quiet after the storm – the stillness of just Being and breathing?

Everything truly is energy – us, our weather, everything that is within our Universe…so, truly, we are One with all of it. Weather can be very metaphoric for our lives; and I believe vice versa, as well.

Vibrationally, I feel that we could be seeing more of this unsettling weather sooner than later – may I suggest blessing it, loving it, sending our own powerful energy to it, and helping it neutralize with gratitude for its awesomeness, its beauty, its intent to cleanse the earth, and its absolute perfection. AND may I suggest that we do these same things for ourselves in the aftermath of our own personal storms, expecting that the sun WILL come out as an end result!

And So It IS!!

Rev. Lisa Marks

Are You There for Your SELF?

2011-07-10T19:13:00.003-04:00

I had a moment of deep awareness today as I was sitting with a client in counseling. Hearing the words I spoke coming from me made me really sit up and take notice of what I was saying for myself. And that certain feeling that I get when I know I’ve spoken a truth (vs. “the” truth – as we all have our own truths) was very present, and I was tingling all over from hearing them. And this is what I wish to share with you:

This time on the planet is so much about our relationship with Self. The call of the Soul is to truly “know thyself” – to be straight with our Selves above anyone/anything else, so that we can be available to others from our own point of feeling powerful; from our own point of feeling Self-love. How can we give to others what we are NOT willing to give to our own Selfhood? In moments of what my mentor, Kathryn Leeman, refers to as “eek, squeak, freak” , we tend to abandon ourselves and go running to someone else or something else for validation. But you know what? If we are not there for Self, it won’t matter what anyone else says to us or does for us – it won’t fill the void that only WE can provide for and to our Self. It is in those moments to stop and have compassion for our own experience, to do something that “soothes the savage beast” that we can be to ourselves– be it music, or being out in nature, or cuddling with a pet…however we can best bring the Self back to center.

I believe that what is going on on the planet right now – the assent into 2012 (which I feel we’ve been in for the last couple of years) is why we are here NOW. We, who are awake and aware, are here to shine our Light and Love as far and as wide as we can imagine it going. But again, how can we do that for anyone else if we are not doing that for our Self? We are here NOW because – yes! – we chose to be. We are here NOW – yes – because we are the exact medicine (in Native American terms) that this planet needs. We are here NOW – yes! – to help Gaia survive and thrive for generations to come. Is there some big plan for all this? Perhaps in the Universal One there is – but for us, as individual Spirits having a human experience, it is as simple as “just” Being Who We Are: BEing that Light that shines, BEing that Love that flows from us. As we accept ourselves in this moment as the Divine Expressions that we are, we heal the planet. As we accept ourselves in this moment as that Divine Expression, we can claim all our relationships healed - the mirrors of how we view ourselves. This is the season of the Visionary – visioning our life dream (and our dream for life on planet Earth) – and we must be in alignment with our Self in order for that to occur as we would desire.

I love the words to this song: “Come on, people NOW, smile on your brother (and sister!!!). Everybody get it together, gotta love one another right NOW.” And realizing – and this is one of my favorite things ever said from the Conversations with God material – that there is truly “only one of us in the room” - loving Self IS loving All.

This is a favorite Louise Hay affirmation that is fitting for these thoughts: “I love and approve of myself EXACTLY as I Am!” When I do that for me, it out-pictures ten-fold in my relationships AND my world!

Blessings on your journey…

Rev. Lisa Marks

Soul Sessions

2011-06-06T11:52:00.002-04:00

I’ve been in a great state of anticipation and excitement this morning as I’ve prepared to start this blog. What would I want to impart to readers? How can this blog be of service to those who read it?

Always, in all of my work, it’s about self-empowerment, loving and appreciating Self, knowing ourselves at a deeper level – and allowing ourselves to “go there” with ourselves to have a richer experience of life on the planet. Truly, we are a soul having a human experience. We chose to – so why not make it the best experience we’ve ever had in our travels through the Universe?

I conduct Soul Sessions at my center, Inner Peace, in Richmond, Va. As a trained regressionist, I was guided after a couple of years to change what I do to these Soul Sessions, and allow the soul to guide the process. There are elements of past lives that generally come up, but more than that, the soul knows what experience is needed to heal what is standing in the way of being fully integrated in this life – and it happens swiftly and clearly. These have been some of the most awesome opportunities I’ve had – being with people through these experiences, guiding and observing, and feeling so honored to see people leave my office in such a different space. I can see it on their faces. I always hear “I feel so much lighter!” Indeed! Everyone gets what they came for – and more.

So, what is it to feel so much “lighter”? Yes, it’s a very visceral feeling, some have described it as being “blissed/blessed out”. But even deeper than that, it’s to be absolutely, completely infused with the Light that you already are! To release what you may have been carrying with you from other places and times, including your past in this lifetime, and to shine your Light far and wide - which is so crucial for the planet today. And along with that Light is the Love that you are and share in this world. There is no more power-FULL combination than that! YOU are a “Light-er” in your life, spreading light wherever you go!

That’s my encouragement for you this week – to be the Light ( a “Light-er”) and Love that you are – to yourself first: ALWAYS to yourself first – and then it will automatically carry out into your/the world. And your affirmation: “I Am the Light of the World. I am infused with the Universal Love that dwells within.”

And So You Are! And So It IS!

Rev. Lisa Marks