5 minutes of rumi, safri duo, and deep soul peace (video)

June 18, 2019 by rachel

Do you have five minutes to invest in the deep nourishment of your soul? This video, uploaded by rahmama2, blends magnificent poetry by Jelaluddin Rumi (as translated by Coleman Barks) with uplifting music and stunning photographic images. (Though I cringe, even I can momentarily overlook the typo confusing “you’re” with “your.”) Note that we are just past the Full Moon, making the text even more potent and poignant for us all. The featured image on home page is from the […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, love, personal growth, poetry, spirituality, transformation, video • Tags: awakening, body mind & spirit, consciousness, divine union, ecstatic union, higher consciousness, inspiration, Islamic Arts, Islamic poetry, love, poetry, Rumi, Rumi poetry, Safri Duo, Sufi, Sufism, surrender, transformation, video

you are sovereign unto your own authority (audio 3:47)

June 9, 2019 by rachel

In whatever way you choose, through whatever forms or wisdom resonate with the beat of your fulsome heart, now is the best of all possible times to open the sluice gate you mistakenly believed was rusted shut The key glistens in your holy hand, poised to open new channels let run without impediment a new river of awareness align yourself east, then west, above, below, beyond gold awaits you on the riverbanks and too, there is sand, there is wheat, […]

Categories: audio, body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, planetary shifts, poetry, spirituality, transformation • Tags: change, consciousness, empowerment

arise and wage a revolution of your spirit (audio poetry 2:58)

April 26, 2019 by rachel

I wrote this piece in 2010; audio poetry is new as of today. Spread your arms wide and maintain your position, dear one, For though your spirit wearies, The skirmish continues. Amassed on the hillside your compatriots of the heart Surround and embrace you, Advancing in a fusillade of radiant awareness A more courageous company of courtly warriors the world ne’er has seen! You stand, embraced in a mantle of becoming, Armor peeled, fallen useless upon tremulous ground, Your family […]

Categories: audio, body mind & spirit, consciousness, higher consciousness, inspiration, personal growth, planetary shifts, poetry, spiritual poetry, spirituality, transformation • Tags: ascension, awakening, higher consciousness, mysticism, soul

what I’m learning now (audio poetry 3:46)

March 21, 2019 by rachel

i’m learning that i’m not learning anything new – only choosing to remember a vast universe that I heretofore chose to forget (whether it was some intergalactic battle of good vs. evil or the fact that my slightly agoraphobic father kept us home if there was any possible chance of a thunderstorm within a 200-mile radius, doesn’t really matter) i’m learning that in more than sixty years of existence i perhaps have learned nothing whatsoever about love, except that it carries the […]

Categories: audio, body mind & spirit, consciousness, higher consciousness, inspiration, poetry, spirituality, transformation, writing & creativity • Tags: ascension, wisdom

birthing bed confession (audio poetry 2:30)

February 23, 2019 by rachel

To you alone this confession I make, I did not come here to be entertained into slack-jawed obscurity – Even in the midst of a talkative crowd I seek to sink my line deeply into Divine waters, The jib-jabbery of distraction bludgeons the sanctity of a poised silence Yet more times than I care to count, I have wielded the weapon well Between you and me and no one else, I have time and again led myself into a corner of […]

Categories: audio, consciousness, higher consciousness, inspiration, planetary shifts, poetry, spirituality, transformation, writing & creativity • Tags: mysticism

7 Things I Love About You

February 14, 2019 by rachel

7 Things I Love About You I love your strength, your willingness to hold on or let go as is appropriate — and God, I love that indefatigable spirit of yours. I love that no matter how many times you have been knocked down or led astray by a cacophony of hollow promises and seductive allurements, you have always gotten back on track and up and into the saddle, no matter how long or arduous the climb. I love how […]

Categories: audio, body mind & spirit, higher consciousness, love, transformation • Tags: change, empowerment

Know How Beautiful You Are (classic audio poetry 2:52)

February 4, 2019 by rachel

I had a feeling you needed to hear/read this again today. I want you to know how beautiful you are How the unending circle of existence pales without your radiance The song of creation falters to find its home key A crystalline web hangs jagged, incomplete A filament of light dances disconnected Angels await the return of one of their own I want to remind you of the singular gift that you are How a glorious, age-old story has written […]

Categories: audio, body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, poetry, spirituality, transformation • Tags: wisdom

the finest gift (new audio storypoem 6:13)

December 9, 2018 by rachel

I wrote this storypoem in the 20th century (!) and posted it in 2008 and 2011 under the title “the best gift.” Today, I added audio and amped it up to “the finest gift.” Lovely to share at seasonal holiday gatherings! The Finest Gift by Rachel Snyder I Dawn awakens, morning time When Lovers of Peace keep pace with the rhyme Of the heart’s own beating, the drumming within, The Life-Force eternal in Gaia’s constant spin Soul-healing rhythms, the dance […]

Categories: audio, inspiration, poetry, spirituality, transformation, writing & creativity • Tags: holiday poetry, winter solstice poetry

when only wings remain (audio poetry 3:35)

October 31, 2018 by rachel

This rhyming poem first appeared here December 2012, inspired by my backyard photo.  Audio was added October 30, 2018. Pray tell! What seer doth divine In soggy tea leaves, curdled wine These ancient rhythms pulse, now bore In loosening the golden cord ~ A harlot, a jackass, a tune unsounded The tale of the Grail, masked illusion unshrouded, Strewn about, whirling unfettered grace Upon center stage Love claims her place Unraveled life, unpeeled, exposed At once reveals the core of […]

Categories: audio, body mind & spirit, inspiration, love, personal growth, planetary shifts, poetry, spirituality, transformation, writing & creativity • Tags: consciousness, empowerment, mysticism

journey for the fearless (audio poetry 4:44)

October 24, 2018 by rachel

Upon this chalice your name is written, and when you are ready to hear the chord that sings your song the container will disappear into nothingness and everythingness and you will submerse yourself in colors no other can see You will feel an infinite spectrum illuminate you from untold directions you will not know their names, even though they know everything about you every thread you have woven, every stitch dropped each step gingerly stepped or faltered every word and […]

Categories: audio, consciousness, higher consciousness, inspiration, spirituality, transformation, writing & creativity

affirmations: go beyond old limitations|activate higher vibrations (video 15:01)

October 21, 2018 by rachel

I was thrilled when Alexander and Kenneth Soares of Power Thoughts Meditation Club (PTMC) selected me to be the first-ever female voice in their repertoire back in 2016. They elevated my words and voice with primal drumbeats, chanting, and evocative and alive scenery from around the globe. Watch and listen here — or head on over to youtube to join in the comment stream. You’ll quickly understand why PTMC has more than 961,000 subscribers as of this very Now. These […]

Categories: affirmations, body mind & spirit, higher consciousness, inspiration, personal growth, planetary shifts, spirituality, transformation, video • Tags: Power Thoughts Meditation Club

now there comes a time (classic audio poetry 3:06)

October 19, 2018 by rachel

For the last couple of years I have been bringing through images of angels. This one is “Grounding Angel.”                     There comes a time when you will meet your self in a new way You will not be who you were, and who you are right now may also be but a temporary situation What you once believed you can no longer embrace, Company you once enjoyed, may now feel scratchy […]

Categories: audio, body mind & spirit, higher consciousness, inspiration, poetry, spirituality, transformation • Tags: ascension, awakening, higher consciousness

a starseed confession redux (audio poetry 4:24)

August 22, 2018 by rachel

i confess that i do not feel native to this blue-green orb and i confess that nonetheless i have come to appreciate my earthly existence the gentle dance of rain upon my skin trembling fingers entwined in my own the splendor of ripened fruit fresh from the tree i confess that much of my life has been marked by alienation that i have been judged and misunderstood and seemingly set aside as i sought to bring my very essence to […]

Categories: audio, body mind & spirit, consciousness, higher consciousness, inspiration, planetary shifts, poetry, spirituality, transformation, writing & creativity

the world needs you now (audio poetry 3:43)

July 3, 2018 by rachel

I wrote this timeless message in the 20th century. Full text below the audio. The world needs you now. More than you know. More than you can imagine. The world needs your gifts. Your heart. Your compassion. Your understanding. Your ability to listen To speak To feel And to act. The gifts that only you can give, In the way that you and you alone can give them.  The time for holding back is over. The time for believing that […]

Categories: audio, body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, planetary shifts, poetry, prose poetry, spirituality, transformation • Tags: awakening, empowerment, higher consciousness, new paradigm, wisdom

sweetsoft sledge hammer redux (audio poetry 4:55)

June 16, 2018 by rachel

Another oldie but goodie, first written in 2011, with audio added 2014. this sweetsoft sledge hammer will not return to the shelf until every vestige of illusion has left the theater, every mask shattered every encrustation brittled into dust and a new order set into a holy and luminescent gridwork of existence freedom does not nibble at your neck in timid invitation your soul will not liberate itself in a delicate minuet, the purveyors of bliss and going gentle into […]

Categories: audio, body mind & spirit, consciousness, higher consciousness, inspiration, personal growth, planetary shifts, poetry, spirituality, transformation, writing & creativity • Tags: hero's journey

personal declaration of radical responsibility (audio poetry 4:29)

April 30, 2018 by rachel

First written and posted November 2012. Audio added today. for everything now fallen away i bear responsibility for every delicious return to the table of earthly delights every soul-numbing morsel of dispossession inhaled, imbibed, every dark and slithery corner into which i stumbled and every moonlit mesa i traveled in the company of the all-knowing sky, i tell you now that i held the key, i turned the lock and this i lay at the feet of no one save […]

Categories: audio, body mind & spirit, higher consciousness, inspiration, personal growth, poetry, spirituality, transformation, writing & creativity • Tags: empowerment

the naked truth redux (audio poetry 3:59)

April 28, 2018 by rachel

This post first appeared here on September 22, 2016. Perhaps this is more than you wish to hear That your origins began eons before you were assigned this body That people around you are holograms or laboratory-created hominoids, When you voiced questions there were no answers Until you stopped asking and simply accepted everything you were told It came at you from all directions Out of the mouths of those assigned to raise you up When, in fact, they wielded the […]

Categories: audio, body mind & spirit, consciousness, higher consciousness, inspiration, planetary shifts, poetry, spirituality, transformation • Tags: ascension

it is now time to defy the definable (audio poetry 5:20)

April 12, 2018 by rachel

transformationally speaking, you are no longer invited to limp along and strain to uphold that which by rights is crumbling there is no one for you to rescue or to heal – you have only yourself to save you are limitless, you travel beyond bounds that most cannot even wrap their minds around, the disintegration you see and feel is nothing less than infinite potential bursting its way out of too-small boxes whose usefulness is no more you have only […]

Categories: audio, body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, planetary shifts, poetry, spirituality, transformation, writing & creativity

classic post: prayer for radical courage (audio poetry 3:27)

April 10, 2018 by rachel

Anytime I feel that I have nothing left to write, I am reminded that most of what I do is timeless. This prayerpoem was posted most recently in late 2013. Joan of Arc’s famous words: “I am not afraid. I was born for this.” in all things, may i travel unarmored and unafraid, settled into a quiet cradle whose gentle sway bears the mark of the mother’s hand let my mind be emptied of false truths and accusations stripped free […]

Categories: audio, body mind & spirit, inspiration, poetry, spirituality, transformation • Tags: courage, empowerment, prayer

Know How Beautiful You Are (audio poetry 2:52)

April 7, 2018 by rachel

These words first appeared at Be Whole Now in May 2014, and tugged at me to re-record and repost them today. I want you to know how beautiful you are How the unending circle of existence pales without your radiance The song of creation falters to find its home key A crystalline web hangs jagged, incomplete A filament of light dances disconnected Angels await the return of one of their own I want to remind you of the singular gift […]

Categories: audio, body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, poetry, spirituality, transformation • Tags: wisdom

7 Things I Love About You

June 24, 2017 by rachel

7 Things I Love About You I love your strength, your willingness to hold on or let go as is appropriate — and God, I love that indefatigable spirit of yours. I love that no matter how many times you have been knocked down or led astray by a cacophony of hollow promises and seductive allurements, you have always gotten back on track and up and into the saddle, no matter how long or arduous the climb. I love how […]

Categories: affirmations, audio, body mind & spirit, inspiration, love, personal growth, spirituality, transformation • Tags: change, empowerment

be transformed 26/26 (audio 2:13)

May 14, 2017 by rachel

This is the twenty-sixth (and final) installment from “Be Ready for the Wonderful: Words of Well-Being to Ease Your Way Through Change,” which I wrote in 2009. Be Transformed Every change and transition that you weather brings you to where you are today and immediately transforms you into someone different than you were yesterday or even five minutes ago. Whether you are changed personally, professionally, financially, emotionally, psychologically, or spiritually, the person who walks out the door is decidedly different […]

Categories: audio, body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, spirituality, transformation, writing & creativity • Tags: awakening, change, personal growth, personal metamorphosis

be in touch with your feelings 25/26 (audio 2:16)

May 13, 2017 by rachel

This is the twenty-fifth installment of “Be Ready for the Wonderful: Words of Well-Being to Ease Your Way Through Change.” Be in Touch with Your Feelings Feeling nervous? More than a tad afraid? A bit angry, even? Allow yourself to feel your feelings. Questioning your own sanity? Giddy and exhilarated? Connect deeply with your feelings and feel grateful that you are able to feel them. Strides in personal development can bring up an entire spectrum of feelings, and often all […]

Categories: audio, body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, spirituality, transformation • Tags: awakening, change, feelings, personal growth

be a conqueror 24/26 (audio 2:08)

May 12, 2017 by rachel

This is the twenty-fourth installment from “Be Ready for the Wonderful: Words of Well-Being to Ease Your Way Through Change.” Be a Conqueror You can rise above it all. No matter what change throws your way, you can conquer your fears with a strong spirit and deeply held values. Yes,  you can, and yes, you will. You will triumph over lingering doubts and uncertainty by filling up your reservoir of self-esteem with self-care and nurturance. You will rise above petty […]

Categories: audio, body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, spirituality, transformation, writing & creativity • Tags: awakening, change, life wisdom

be audacious 23/26 (audio 1:57)

May 11, 2017 by rachel

This is the twenty-third installment from “Be Ready for the Wonderful: Words of Well-Being to Ease Your Way Through Change.” Be Audacious Once your moorings are untied, you can steer yourself into open and uncharted waters. Out of the boxes and pigeonholes that have defined you, you are free to go boldly where you perhaps have never ventured before. Cowering in the face of approaching change is for cowards. Busting out with exhilarated glee is for warriors of the heart […]

Categories: audio, body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, spirituality, transformation • Tags: awakening, change, personal growth

be expressive 22/26 (audio 1:40)

May 10, 2017 by rachel

This is the twenty-second installment of “Be Ready for the Wonderful: Words of Well-Being to Ease Your Way Through Change.” Be Expressive Some people invite change in and then let it rattle around endlessly with no place to go. Perhaps they develop buyer’s remorse or find themselves overtaken by a case of cold feet. When energy wishes to move — and change is, after all, nothing more than energy in transit — it needs an outlet. It’s up to you […]

Categories: audio, body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, transformation, writing & creativity • Tags: awakening, change, creative expression

be grounded 21/26 (audio 1:48)

May 9, 2017 by rachel

This is the twenty-first installment from “Be Ready for the Wonderful: Words of Well-Being to Ease Your Way Through Change.” Be Grounded Don’t get carried away! Creating a refreshingly different life can be intoxicating and jolt you out of your ho-hum existence, making it hard to keep both feet on the ground. You might suddenly be overwhelmed by new ideas and possibilities and wonder how you will ever narrow the list down to a manageable size. Remember to breathe, and […]

Categories: audio, body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, spirituality, transformation • Tags: awakening, change, personal growth

be willing to redefine what is perfect 20/26 (audio 1:45)

May 8, 2017 by rachel

This is the twentieth installment of “Be Ready for the Wonderful: Words of Well-Being to Ease Your Way through Change.” Be Willing to Redefine What Is Perfect There are no guarantees that change will lead you down the road to a glossy, picture-perfect version of success or great achievement. More often than not, the best and highest value that change offers is in the way you choose to experience it. Perfection is in the eye of the beholder, and your […]

Categories: audio, body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, spirituality, transformation • Tags: awakening, change, personal growth

be steadfast 19/26 (audio 1:55)

May 7, 2017 by rachel

This is the nineteenth installment of “Be Ready for the Wonderful: Words of Well-Being to Ease Your Way Through Change.” Be Steadfast Only a true survivor can weather the turbulence that often accompanies change. There will be times you feel downtrodden, as though no matter how far you trudge on, you remain exactly where you began. Change can proceed so slowly that you barely notice. It begins deep below the surface and makes its way outward at the pace of […]

Categories: audio, body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, spirituality, transformation • Tags: awakening, change, faith

be aligned with your own truth 18/26 (audio 2:04)

May 6, 2017 by rachel

This is the eighteenth installment of “Be Ready for the Wonderful: Words of Well-Being to Ease Your Way Through Change.” Be Aligned with Your Own Truth The terrain you travel is a universe unto itself, and to its original design you must hold true. Someone close to you may find great joy in going to college and then settling into a steady professional groove. You, on the other hand, may be happiest with a life centered around your family, studio, […]

Categories: audio, body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, spirituality, transformation • Tags: awakening, change, personal growth

be a dancer 17/26 (audio 1:50)

May 5, 2017 by rachel

This is the seventeenth installment in “Be Ready for the Wonderful: Words of Well-Being to Ease Your Way Through Change.” Be a Dancer Change invites you to participate in the dance of your own unfolding. Can you say “Yes” without knowing the precise steps you will take? Are you willing to heed the changing rhythms of metamorphosis and be flexible? When you surrender control, change will deftly lead the way. Other times you will take the initiative, guiding your steps […]

Categories: audio, body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, spirituality, transformation • Tags: awakening, change, personal growth

be introspective 16/26 (audio 1:44)

May 2, 2017 by rachel

This is the sixteenth installment from “Be Ready for the Wonderful: Words of Well-Being to Ease Your Way Through Change.” Be Introspective It is insincere to believe that you are a helpless victim of powerful forces beyond your control. Can you detach from external circumstances and travel to new territory within? Can you allow yourself to imagine that in the larger scheme of things, what comes across as a master stroke of bad luck is, in fact, a decision you […]

Categories: audio, body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, spirituality, transformation • Tags: awakening, change, personal growth, wisdom

be prepared for gifts and goodness 15/26 (audio 2:01)

May 2, 2017 by rachel

This is the fifteenth installment of “Be Ready for the Wonderful: Words of Well-Being to Ease Your Way Through Change.” Be Pepared for Gifts and Goodness When winds of change blow, it’s all too easy to bemoan what is carried away in the process. Why not choose to notice the gifts and goodness flying in to fill the void? You need not expect change to be all disordered chaos; clouds are indeed often lined with silver. Look! Good fortune peeks […]

Categories: audio, body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, spirituality, transformation • Tags: awakening, change, personal growth