Beloved Readers!

Be-Loved readers, get it? Be loved. Because you are, by me! I’ve got something so major to share: The Four Desires, by Rod Stryker has changed my life.

You know how I am. I find lots of things inspiring, but this book has literally changed everything for me. I’m undoing unhealthy patterns, I’m getting braver and more courageous by the day (even as scared or anxious as I get over some of my decisions) and I’m feeling a level of contentment which I’ve never felt in my life.

Full disclosure: it took me six months to read the first eight chapters. I had started a new job and was still (and still am) going through lots of transitions of creating a life here. I was fascinated by what was in the pages, but I could only read a chapter on Saturdays, every couple of weeks. (It won’t take you that long.) Then, something clicked in me. And there were more clicks and a-ha’s. Also, I went on a vacation to a dear friend’s house and had been diving into the book more during the previous weeks and brought it with me so that every morning I could read it. Then BOOM. Everything shifted.

Why?

I explain some of the amazing insights and steps in the book in the video below. It can be accessed by clicking here too:

If you don’t have time to watch the video now, here’s the gist: The Four Desires come from the ancient Indian spiritual texts called the Vedas:

Dharma: the desire to uncover your unique purpose, that longing to thrive. Sometimes your dharma is quite simply what’s in front of you.

Artha: the desire for the means such as money, security and health to help you fulfill your dharma.

Kama: the longing for pleasure in any and all forms–friendship, sensuality and more.

Moksha: the desire for spiritual realization and ultimate freedom.

The book is filled with stories about ordinary people just like us. Only you know, I believe that there is always something extraordinary and magical underneath the ordinary. Rod Stryker walks you through steps to uncover your dharma and create a Sankalpa–which is basically an intention for the next 6-18 months with a ton of clarity. He helps you break patterns which impede you from living your life purpose. There’s more, but I can’t do it justice in a blog post.  Even if you don’t read or get the book soon, I’m sharing some of the meditations which I use to move through the steps in the book. Stryker encourages his readers to record them to help progress through the book or you can purchase his CDs of the recordings. He also has a workbook, but I used blank notebooks, day planners and whatever I had handy. For more information about the author, visit his site: https://www.parayoga.com/rod-stryker/

Here are the meditations** developed by Rod Stryker from the book I recorded which you can use too!

1. The Bliss Meditation gets you into a state of clarity so that you can turn to the list of the four desires above and pick one, then mind map it. I found a link here explaining the process. I talk about this in the video, but this is what you use to uncover your sankalpa or intention for the next 6-18 months.  I actually did this BEFORE I followed the steps to uncover my Dharma earlier in the book. It’s just the way it worked out for me and so you can try it that way or follow the book’s order–which is what’s recommended by the author.
2. The Meditation to Increase Shakti is helpful when confronted with stress, fear, anxiety or worry. I just like doing it daily because it keeps me centered.
3. The Healing the Heart Meditation releases sadness, emotional pain and suffering and helps you reestablish your connection to joy. I just recorded this today while sitting against one of my favorite trees in town! I can’t wait to start practicing this regularly.

I also mention at the front end of the video that August 8 is the 1 year anniversary of the publication of my novel, The Amazing Adventures of Selma Calderón: A Globetrotting Magical Mystery of Courage, Food and Friendship! Hop on over to my website rebeccavillarreal.com and sign up to be the first to receive access to the documentary about my time on Orcas Island writing book 2!

Okay, it’s time to go swimming! I hope this post brings lots of light into your life!

xo

me

**One cool thing about the meditations being on Soundcloud is that you can download them onto a playlist on your phone so you always have them.