A Note From Anne

Dear ,

It's cold here in Texas. Have you ever noticed that when people are cold, they don't look relaxed? They pull in and cross their arms. I was very thin most of my adult life and had a strange relationship with the cold. The cold seemed to stop me in my tracks.

In the mid-eighties I went to Leonard Orr's hot springs retreat center in the Sierra Nevada Mountains – at this time of year. The snow was deep. It was an incredible sight to this southerner. I spent 9 hours in the snow, alone on the side of a mountain, hosted by a roaring fire. The fire was my friend and savior; it seemed to talk to me – not in words, but it offered a deep, comforting, wordless solitude. Snow fell and the white-covered world, with its profound stillness, was magic. I had never considered staying outside in a snow storm for nine hours. This was actually a fire initiation, but for me,  it was an initiation into the cold.

Later during my stay I attended a traditional sweat lodge. We all entered the lodge naked (no shoes either) and perched on frozen ground which was covered with small towels. It was warm in the lodge but in between rounds we went out in the cold. Rather than go into my normal dialogue about the cold, I decided to see what I had avoided all these years – the direct experience of cold. In the past, I let my aversion to the cold run me. Now I wanted to face it. It was amazing when I experienced the feel of the ice on my feet, and the cold on my skin. I was okay. It was not even unpleasant. It was a mystical experience to be fully present in the cold, directly experiencing it without out my mind dominating the experience. Wow – what freedom.

Even though it is wise to dress appropriately for cold weather, and the cold signals a time for more of an inner experience, it also offers a training. If you live in a cold climate, you may have to take the coldness training every day. My suggestion is that that you determine and define your relationship to the cold. We've all trained to complain about the cold and to avoid the cold, but if you find yourself in the cold, just try the direct experience of it. You can go into the warmth of your home. I'm not suggesting you hang around in the cold for fun, but you will be in the cold. For once, face it without your mind working on how to fix it, even for a few seconds. Everyone will find something different, but if you directly experience this physical discomfort, you will find something that you didn't know you had. And when you face the cold, rather than running from it, you will find that your life can be easier and easier.

Anne

  Living in Ease

As you move into the New Year you might want to embrace the following thoughts on ease. When we fill our minds with struggle and stress, we create a world of stress. And stress is a mess – a mess of unsubstantiated ideas that we make real to us. We can reverse the trend. Our minds and our bodies require ease. Would you like to retire from the culture of strain to the culture of ease? It's not just about the mind – it's about the body too. Try the following thoughts on for size.

Today I wake up, really wake up. I can see clearly – all the good in my life. I breathe in deeply and exhale deeply. I straighten my back and expand my chest and my heart is fully open – not protected by a slumping body or curled shoulders. I am fully capable of an easier life. I focus my attention on my breath as I breathe in ease and exhale drama and suffering. I inhale ease and exhale all decisions from my past, from my culture, from my family, and from my experiences that bring about emotional suffering.

My connection to ease is already more than adequate enough to bring ease into my life. I feel it in my body now. I let go of muscular holding patterns and tensions in my body so as to physically honor and welcome the presence of ease. I am at ease. My body is safe. It's wise to let go of habituated stress, struggle, strain, and suffering. I am willing to be strain free. Life is not hard for me today; life is easier for me today. I am a true embodiment of ease.

I realize how I create struggle by not letting things be the way they are. What is may change in the future, but what is right now is just what is.  When things already are, I have to let them be without intervening with drama.  I have to let things be exactly as they are.

Evaluating, judging, and criticizing people and events in life bring ongoing struggle, angry righteousness, and loneliness.

Today is a call for ease. I hear that call and give myself permission for an easier life. I no longer define myself by my struggles. It safe for me to exist and to have an easier life. I am willing to do my part by dropping the drama today. I go forth into this day with easy thoughts. Easy is the way to live and go about my day.

  Quotes

"The eye through which I see God is the same eye through which God sees me."
  – Meister Eckhardt

"The I through which I see is the same I by which God sees me”
  – Monte Zerger

“Don't offend the people you are trying to change."
  – Unknown

"According to the traditional scriptures, an enlightened being is one in whom the three poisons - desire, anger, and delusion - have been completely eradicated.”
  – John Cianciosi

  Houston Theosophical Society

Anne Sermons Gillis currently serves as the president of the Houston Lodge of the Theosophical Society.

Meetings are held on the first and third Saturdays at 10 AM Central Time in Houston, Texas.

For more information visit The Houston Lodge or visit our national organization at http://www.Theosophical.org.

We encourage our members to live a life in service to humanity, in stillness through mediation, and in study of ancient wisdom.

  Anne's Books

Standing in The Dark

EZosophy Book

Offbeat Prayers

Click here to see all three of Anne's books

What people are saying about Standing in the Dark:

"Standing in the Dark, by Anne Sermons Gillis, isn't just another positive thinking book. It's a book about the difficult times in life and what we can do to make it through them. It does, however, give us positive ways to make life easier. It's a short book, but it's one that may just turn your thinking on its head, which will probably be the best thing that's happened to your thinking in a long time. It's about how to bring more ease into a life that isn't easy all of the time. Anne discusses six main areas of life: Ease, Mission, Health, Relationships, Money, and Loss."
  – Charles David Heineke, TX

What people are saying about EZosophy: The Art and Wisdom of Easy or at Least Easier Living:

"Although most conscious people understand that life doesn't have to a struggle, the "how to" has been missing... until now. Anne's book makes it "easy."
  – T. Harv Eker - Bestselling author and Founder of Peak Potentials Training

What people are saying about Offbeat Prayers for the Modern Mystic:

"I love your book. It is filled with much wisdom, humor and heart. Really beautiful."
  – Alan Cohen author, Enough Already, mentions Anne and EZosophy on page 99

  What is EZosophy?

Click the graphic above to find out.

NOTE: If you are viewing this on a cell phone, be sure to scroll to the right to see the other column.

  Anne's Services

  Schedule Anne

You may reach Anne by phone at 281-419-1775 or click the button below to contact Anne by email. Anne is also available to officiate at weddings and funerals.

---

  Anne's Schedule

January 8, 2014
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM (Noon)
Anne speaks on "Awareness"
Houston Lodge of the
Theosophical Society
1525 Heights Blvd.
Houston, TX 77008
281-561-7013
Open to the public.
$5 suggested donation

January 20, 2014
Mon., 7:00 - 9:00 PM
Purpose and Meaning Group.
Anne speaks on the Ego and EZosophy.
The group meets at the Unity Church
25250 Borough Park
Woodlands, TX 77380
No charge
J. D. Messinger is the facilitator.

January 28, 2014
Tues., 3:00 – 4:00 PM
Life Changing Insights with Dr. Alan Simberg
Listen to Dr. Alan Simberg interview Anne Sermons Gillis. The show starts at 3 PM and Anne will come on at 3:30 PM. Click here to listen online.

February 6 and 13, 2014
Thur., 1:00 – 3:00 PM
"EZosophy"
Lone Star College ALL Program
Kingwood Campus
20000 Kingwood Drive
Kingwood, TX 77339-3801
281-312-1600

February 9, 2014
Sun., 11:00 AM
"Strength"
Unity Church of Practical Christianity
15920 Piper’s View Dr.
Meadow Community Association
Webster, TX 77598-2550
281-520-4047

February 19 and 26, 2014
Thur., 10:00 – 11:50 AM
"EZosophy"
Lone Star College ALL Program
Montgomery Campus
3200 College Park Drive
Conroe, TX 77384-4500
936-273-7000

March 4 and 7, 2014
Tue. & Fri., 10:00 – 11:50 AM
"Alive, Awake, Aware"
Lone Star College ALL Program
Montgomery Campus
3200 College Park Drive
Conroe, TX 77384-4500
936-273-7000

  Healthy Living

Cinnamon Toast

Did you eat cinnamon toast when you were young? It was made using white bread, sugar, cinnamon, margarine, and sugar. Yum, yum, but it was junk.

For a taste of nostalgia that delivers a nutritional punch, try this version.

Toast a piece of sprouted grain raisin bread. Spread desired amount of organic Earth Balance or flax oil on toast. Top with two tablespoons of organic apple sauce (or 1/2 fresh chopped apple), add a hand full of raw cashews or other raw nuts, and sprinkle with cinnamon.

  Anne Talks

"Celebrate Life Meditation" (3:43)

"Anne Sermons Gillis - Buddha at the Gas Pump Interview" with Rick Archer (1:48:45)

Remember, if someone forwarded this email to you, you can click this link to have a copy delivered every Tuesday morning to your own email inbox.

If you're currently subscribed and no longer wish to receive this newsletter, click this link to UNsubscribe.

Editor/Publisher: Charles David Heineke of TheDoorway.org.