Review of INATS and Sharing Your Unique Gifts

By admin

The following article was originally published in my column, “Actualizing Your Yoga” in 2011. I hope you enjoy it. – FEN

Review of International New Age Tradeshow and Sharing Your Unique Gifts

In this month’s column, I’m going to stray off the traditional subject of Yoga and report on a memorable tradeshow and related topics that deal with today’s current issues. In the process, we’ll bring it back to “Actualizing Your Yoga”.

In late June, I attended the INATS (International New Age Tradeshow) in Denver where leading Metaphysical and New Age publishers, authors, entrepreneurs and other vendors gathered to advertise and sell their products to retail buyers and metaphysical bookstores. There were a wonderful array of jewelry vendors and a wide variety of everything you might need for meditation, calling in your angels or exploring other divination tools as well as books, calendars, statues and crystals.

What I found surprising was the amount of new quality products being marketed by the creators, authors and entrepreneurs themselves. Self-publishing seems to be the new route for many talented New Age authors and artisans. Although Hay House, Llewellyn, and other recognized publishers were justifiably profiled, it was the lesser known authors and artists that I found most impressive. For example, Roth Taylor who created The Circle and Robin and Frederico of Xterling who created the Mayan Oracle jewelry and cards had not just extraordinary products that were well designed, but they carried a signature message of hope, humility and transformation.

In this time of financial, ecological and global uncertainty, not only do we need the courage to market new products but we are also being called to create products that are actually going to help others through the present stresses, uncertainties and doubts that many are facing today. What some are heralding as the end of the Mayan calendar, others profess this time as a turning point in consciousness for all of humanity.

In this years INATS, it was the “unknowns” non-celebrities sharing their creativity and wisdom that stood out for me. It is not just the Entertainment or Sports industry that idolizes celebrities, but the Business world and what we call the New Age markets that tend to glamorize certain individuals. It feels timely to take the fame and fortune out of wisdom and emphasize the knowledge and practical applications that many are coming forward to share.

I remember when I was living in Southern California for the first three months of 2011, I heard Michael Beckwith share that we each are being called to not only be our ”best selves” but to share our unique gifts with the world. That might mean sharing with our neighbor, our family or to share our insights in a public way. I do believe something unique is happening globally. Part of it may be due to the access of technology, but I believe it is much more.

What are you being called to discover and share? What are the changes that you are feeling internally and how can you express those changes positively and dynamically? How can you contribute more of who you are in areas of your life you may never have imagined possible?

This month instead of just practicing the physical Asanas (poses) see how you can take the next steps to becoming more of who you are, to sharing that uniqueness and to contributing in new and more expansive ways. Let courage and commitment be part of your internal ”mantra “ and enjoy this path of “Actualizing Your Yoga”.

Namaste on this dynamic path,
Françoise

© 2011,  Françoise E. Netter, M.A.

Reflections on Sex And The City 2 as Actualizing Your Yoga

By Francoise Netter

After a much-anticipated wait, I finally saw Sex And The City 2 last night. I am a Sex And The City aficionado and follower. Although I did not start watching until after the show ended on HBO and was on my local channel as reruns, I saw every episode at least 5 times and loved the first movie. OK, for those of you following my blog and column, Actualizing Your Yoga, you may wonder what this article has to do with Yoga or spirituality. Let me explain.

For those of you unfamiliar with the story line of Sex And The City, it is about the lives of 4 thirty-fifty something women living in NYC and the very real and sometimes not so real dramas that these women go through. It started as a story line of 4 modern single women and then follows and documents how their lives transform over a 12-year period of time to the present.

In Sex And The City 2, we encounter these women at the peak of their lives. All of them, to a large part, are living their dream lives. Carrie is married to Mr. Big, the love of her life, is a successful author and is living in a dream apartment in NYC with all the amenities anyone could hope for. Charlotte has the husband and two children she has pined for all of her life. Miranda is a successful attorney and has a great home life and Samantha is as successful, beautiful, sexy and happily single as ever.

Although, Sex And The City 2, in my opinion, unlike its predecessors, was filled with unnecessary subterfuge and fillers, it nonetheless, addresses an ageless theme that we humans have been dealing with forever: the subject of “more”. The Yogis base much of this conundrum on their science and philosophy. Although all 4 ladies seemingly have everything they ever wanted, they are either unhappy, bored, frustrated or plainly defiant. Most of us still live under the assumption that if we are able to fulfill our deepest desires, we will be happy. Even New Age proselytizers coach us on how to manifest our desires and create our reality through focusing our thoughts and minds.

Yet, the Yogis remind us that our minds are constantly changing like monkeys jumping from limb to limb searching for the next best banana. Just like monkeys, no matter what we receive, achieve or accumulate we (our minds) always want “more”.  It does not seem to matter whether we are materialistic or spiritually focused; without attentiveness towards this tendency, we all can fall victim to the” more “ syndrome, thereby circumventing satisfaction and ultimate contentment.

The Yogis tell us chasing things external to ourselves will never fully satisfy us and that our human nature will always want “more”. So what are we to do besides to want nothing?

Interestingly, if not subtly, the girls in Sex And The City 2 personally begin to address this very issue. They speak truthfully, adjust their attitudes and embrace an attitude of gratitude. If we are aware of this tendency that we can never be fully satisfied with outer conditions, we can still create goals and take action while remembering to mind our tendency to want “more” and like anything unruly and repetitive in our lives, reign it in and readjust our attitudes.

So, as you embrace your next steps in life and goals to create your dreams and desires, remember to stay connected to the journey rather then the end result. There will always be “more” so as the Yogis say, enjoy the now.

In peaceful pursuit,
Françoise

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By Francoise Netter

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