The Radiant Opportunity of Winter Solstice

For thousands of years cultures all over the world have celebrated Winter Solstice. It is an ancient celebration of Celebration of the Light , the shortest day and the longest night Of the year. It is the sacred transition as Fall ends and Winter begins. Embracing the powerful magic of the Solstice, our ancient ancestors knew it was the time the Moon gave birth to the Sun! It is the slowing down time in which our part of the world wears a loose garment of quiet energy. Take advantage of this opportunity to embrace the Light as it turns into transforming darkness.

I suggest placing lit candles in jars all over your home during the daytime. Drink in the radiance of the Light. As the sun begins to fade and darkness begins, extinguish the candles and turn off all lights. Try to sit for an hour in darkness, and engage in deep reflection of who you are, where your true spiritual home within you exists, and what your heart truly yearns for in all areas of your life. By entering the stillness in the dark, we are more able to access our deep inner wisdom.

Light a candle, sit with pen and paper, and begin reflecting on your proverbial bag of stale and false beliefs, fears, and resentments you have drug around with you that now you are ready to let go of. Since this Solstice is marked with the end of a decade, reflect on anything you have and are still hanging onto over the past ten years! Once you feel complete and confident it is all there on paper, take your paper to either a sacred fire outside or burn it in a safe space. The Fire Element creates an alchemical transmutation of energy of releasing and surrendering.This is a life altering ceremonial experience as you watch the burning Of what you willingly are surrendering being transformed in the fire as you are walking into your personal freedom . This is the gift of releasing that which no longer serves your Highest Good.

Next light all your candles once again and write by the candlelight your specific intentions for 2020, focusing on honoring the amazing re-creation of the best version of yourself that you desire to witness in manifestation in the New Year!

The Spiritual Awakening of the Winter Solstice is an ancient opportunity of reflection and re-creation of the Light and Darkness as we each prepare to step into the Powerful Pathway of 2020! Remember we chose to be here now to co-create an incredible new world together.

Honoring Ourselves By Creating Our Unique Holiday Traditions

     It is my heartfelt belief we each deserve to celebrate this time of year in the way that reflects who we are in the present. That means celebrating, choosing to be alone, celebrating with family or friends, celebrating with spiritual groups, or not celebrating.
     Being a creative spirit who marches to the beat of her own drum, several years ago it occurred to me that my true self did not require the past holiday traditions of my culture or family of origin. I decided it would be a self loving act to create my own unique holiday traditions. To determine what would work for me, I asked myself some questions.
– Were there any childhood holiday traditions memories that stood out as happy thoughts?
– What did I want to include in my new traditions?
– Did I want to include others or just include myself?
     It became crystal clear I no longer chose to be trapped emotionally in the stigma of the holiday traditions of others. After all, I do not live my current life based on the way others live theirs, so why would I choose to experience the holiday season with the traditions of anyone else? Of course, if I wanted to do what others were doing, that would be appropriate, too!
     So, here is what I created:
     1. Because I am so connected to nature, I went into the woods and requested the elementals and nature beings  to help me honor them. I was gifted with pine boughs and pine cones, holly and red berries, and a small log. I added candles around these treasures, creating an holiday altar on my hearth.
    2. Each morning during December I dedicate time, compassion, and food to the animals I co-exist with in my wooded residence.
    3. Each night I made a commitment to sit in front of the fireplace and write in my journal , honoring the Fire Element, by expressing the things and ideas that ignite me that I am passionate about. I also offered thanks to each aspect of what/who is present in my life , gathered all that love into my heart, and sent it out into the world to all beings.
    4. Lastly, I made a decision to take  myself to a Winter Solstice Celebration with like hearted people.
     Reclaiming our holiday by creating our original, unique traditions and rituals  can be a loving way to avoid stress of old memories that do not muster peace, and is a gift to both our inner children and adult presence.

 

Barefootin’

When I was a little girl it was my greatest pleasure to take off my shoes and socks and run through the grass,  mud, and ground. My Grandmother was forever telling me my feet were going to end up so wide that no one would find shoes to fit me! If that was meant to be a deterrent, it certainly did not work! 

Zoom forward several decades and almost daily, regardless of the weather (rain, snow, sun, hot, cold) one of the first things I do in the morning no matter where I am is to run outside, getting rid of my shoes and socks and do earthing on the grass and ground. It is one of my spiritual disciplines that feeds my soul.

When I first started barefootin’ and earthing I had no idea it went way back to indigenous roots, and I had no idea that science would study the effects of what I loved as a child to present evidence of how beneficial it actually is on our mind, body, and spirit!

It has been reported that as  direct contact with our earth gradually faded out from the time our ancestors walked barefoot or in moccasins/sandals Feeling the earth , we began experiencing electromagnetic instability.

The Journals of Inflammation Research and Environmental-Public Health report free radicals are generated through inflammation, infections,stress, and our now toxic environments. These force our immune systems to respond . If we have an active immune system, more free radicals are produced. Add in the fact industries and all things technological have cast us into a vortex of electromagnetic fields, leading to the disruption of the cellular electrical balance! An oversupply of free radicals, unstable charges in electromagnetic fields, inflammation, and our immune systems activate to rescue us from this chaos are directly responsible for chronic conditions such as autoimmune diseases, chronic pain syndromes, cancers, and cardiovascular diseases!

Earthing is a free, easy way to fight these forces. We absorb negative electrons from our beloved earth when earthing which , according to Nobel Prize physicist, Richard Feynman,  equalizes the electronic potential between our body and our earth, creating a body as an extension of the magnetic field around us; thus, pushing and pulling the magnetic field away from us!

Earthing improves sleep, reduces stress, improves immunity and inflammation according to multiple studies. You may be interested to know leather, cotton, metal, and non-stained concrete are excellent conductors but pavement, wood, plastic, rubber, and synthetic materials every step block the the healing negative charges from Earth. You can do earthing in socks or in moccasin like footwear.

In addition earthing brings us back to the present now moment ! Just 20-30 minutes a day of barefootin’ starts the process of healing. Get out of those shoes and socks, get thyself to the grass, the dirt, the forest floor, the sand, or the wet ground and do what many of us as children knew intuitively works! Maybe my theory that the wisdom of the ancestors flows through our DNA is not so crazy after all! See you later..I am off to do some barefootin’. 

 

In Honor Of The Wind

As I continue to recover from an unexpected abdominal challenge, each day I improve. Recently one night it seemed a re-visitation of Feeling overall sickness for whatever reason was necessary.  Because I am so very connected to the Sacred Elements of Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water, often one or more of these help me heal. It comes from my intention to connect with the wisdom and teachings of the Ancient Ones in civilizations so many have forgotten . As I sat on my couch focusing on wellness and affirming only a feeling of wellness, the magnificent wind began speaking loudly outside my home.

I began to understand as in those times when the logical mind cannot explain away supernatural and spiritual experiences. To my beloved Wind, I paid tribute as my wellness returned:
“Oh Sister Wind, I honor you as you let your presence be known as a rustling shower of movement rushing through the Sacred Guardian of the Forest. As you kiss the dancing leaves I bow in reverence to the sweeping away of old residue of released energetic memories. Oh Sister Wind your breath adds fresh focus upon my changing heart! “

I  will include this tribute in my upcoming Meditation Book, “Messages From The Canyon” .Perhaps while waiting for the published version, my tribute may assist and inspire you.

 

 

The Importance of Listening And Cooperating With Our Inner Messages

For a few years I have known in my heart and mind that we hold all our own answers within. We receive continuous messages from our intuition, our cells, our organs, every part of us. The Ancient Ones in past civilizations and cultures knew this crucial fact, and taught this sacred knowledge to all. We have often forgotten.

I consider myself healthy in my diet, my exercise regiment, and my daily spiritual practices. Recently I became quite ill and could not tolerate much of anything solid in the form of food. I am a Reiki Master, Sound Healing Practitioner, Daily Meditator, and practice Ancient Shamanic modalities. Of course I offered my body,mind, and spirit my own practices and reached out to other healing facilitators I have trust in. I also received unsolicited  and unhelpful advice and suggestions as to why I was sick.

I incorporate and welcome Western Medicine with Alternative  Medicine . My illness began two months ago and gradually progressed in a downward spiral. I went to my Integrative Medicine Doctor who suggested diagnostic tests, and , as always, he honored the fact I listen to my own body and intuition.

My body was telling me it was my time to come to a resting place, to receive instead of my usual M.O. of giving  help to others and holding Sacred Space for the Collective in our time of world chaos. As if I had a choice, and it became clear I did not, I stopped my activities. My body became weaker each day. I lived for close to a month on green juice, water, and broth. I did have a C-T scan, bloodwork, and an endoscopy. Most of the tests showed nothing was wrong with me. I listened without judgement but was weak. My body slept 10-11 hours a night. I experienced incredible Dreamtime each night, and even slept and dreamed during the day. I did finally receive a medical diagnosis of an abdominal, curable condition.

Through this experience I was not afraid, but at times was frustrated ; however, I continued listening to my dreams, my inner messages, and welcomed the support of my large tribe of friends and loved ones.

The messages of the Ancient Ones kept telling me to honor the change from Summer into Autumn, to be like the Wise trees that serve as my protection and guardians on the incredible property on which I live. I felt, just like the strong oaks, willows, and pines I was shifting in my beliefs, perceptions, and energies. When we allow ourselves to let go of trying to figure out logically what has no logical answers, and to trust the  Ancient Teachings ,Wisdom of Nature ,and Natural Laws to unfold, incredible events come to pass. Our world has changed and those who try to use prior ways to work through current situations just may discover those ways are now archaic, and no longer valid. Using the old ways will bring more fear, more anger, and more frustration. We must be willing to embrace a new paradigm if we are to live in peace and harmony today.

As I recently have begun able to eat food again, and returned to a gentle yoga practice, I see the necessity of this illness. I wonder maybe sometime img_3852 I asked for clarity, for inner answers to questions I did not consciously know to ask. I am grateful for the sickness that brought me to a screeching halt for it came with great gifts and blessings of surrender, of detoxification, of deeper trust and faith. I did release a couple of people I thought were supportive friends  during the short illness when I discovered they really were not supportive at all. My vibrational level has changed…theirs had stayed back in the past. I do not judge their path. Those relationships, too, have been part of my Autumn clearing and awakening.

Each experience I am blessed to witness continues to be an opportunity, a catalyst of ascension toward a new world, for we who have awakened, and to those gradually joining us. Sometimes we just have to stop and let natural cleansing lift us out of our old skins, and into a new sense of wonder. It does require mustering courage to be vulnerable enough to be transformed into a better version of ourselves. I often do not see the Warrior I was born to be for the purpose of sharing my experiences.. to lead another soul out of their own shadows..until I finally find the hidden doorknobs and walk into a brighter light. We are in this together, my friends. Let’s not give up just yet.

 

Embracing Connections

We, travelers, as spirits in human suits, know our connections with others have the potential to reduce stress ,live longer and happier lives, and increase our self confidence. However, even though we claim this truth, we often carry beliefs and self-sabotaging, self-defeating patterns blocking the vulnerability and intimacy necessary for the connection experiences we crave!

Our resistance in allowing others, and ourselves, to see who we really are is often the underlying source of broken, unfulfilled connections with others.

I can think of a few friends—-or now I call them acquaintances….who stated they were just too busy to connect with me. Each of these people I have known for 10+ years. I have changed..it’s true. I have evolved into a person who says what she needs and wants in relationships, states and exposes my real feelings, communicates what I think, and even listens in the present to others. I am not telling you about who I have become and transformed into so you will stroke my ego or glorify me. I want to share two aspects of the change within me that I take to the outer edges of the social world.

First, the friends I now see as acquaintances seemed unable or unwilling to connect with the vulnerable, intimate version, a more authentic version of myself. Perhaps, they each could not relate or interact anymore but did not have the ability to communicate this. I did not exactly end these relationships but I definitely backed off and minimized significantly my energy and time I previously freely gave to these old connections.

Secondly, by being and living as vulnerably as I can in the moment, new and more intimately alive relationships have walked into my circle of connections.

The key, I believe, in having more loving, authentic interpersonal connections is to embrace and maintain vulnerability. By doing this we each are able to recognize not only our value, but also increase the presence of our warrior within as we reveal who we really are. This fact can only strengthen our connections with each other.

I warn you…..this is an act of mustering COURAGE! Are you ready for deeper connections? I know some of you already are on an equal path for we have vibrated to each other. The rest of you are free to start the new journey when you feel ready.

The Adventure of Stillness

     I gave up watching television six years ago. I never dreamed I would . Having grown up in a home where our tv was continuously streaming into my senses, it was just one of the many distractions I had become familiar with.

     It seems forever I had to always stay busy either working, researching any topic that popped into my head, reading, learning new skills and information, or thinking how to fill my days and nights. I was definitely a workaholic even in my leisure time.

I have loved traveling as long as I can remember. Enjoying art, scenery, food, people exhilarated me. Even traveling I had to be busy doing..going..

I cannot pinpoint the date but sometime ago I began enjoying being absolutely quiet and still. I don’t mean meditating times, but I enjoy that,too. I just sat and did nothing….either in my home or outside. The more instilled with stillness I had, the more calmness came to my inner self. It became almost a sacred Spiritual Practice. My stillness had only two elements….doing nothing and breathing in the stillness.

It seems our world has evolved into one of chaotic creation to fill every waking moment with “doing”. Are we obsessed with doing to distract ourselves from our thoughts and feelings? Are we so afraid to be alone in our own mind, body, spirit that we never give ourselves a break from chaotic madness of busyness to the point of distraction?

I remember observing my elderly Father who  had become  legally blind sitting doing nothing, voicing to me how he worried he was useless because his ability to do, to create, to help others had been ripped from him. I tried to share with him how great I thought the opportunity was to only embrace stillness and quiet. He honored my choice for me but thought being forced into it was a cruel act of God!

Sometime after I had given up the need for social noise and Universal busyness I remembered being this little kid, swinging on my swing or sitting under a grove of pine trees doing nothing except enjoying stillness. There were no computers or smartphones back then. Even when I had my childhood struggles of dysfunction by those inflicting harm on me (and I did!) I could embrace stillness and sensory pleasures when I returned to my self time and doing nothing.

I doubt I need to persuade you that the act of stillness speaks to your soul but you may not know how to even begin. Here are some ideas:

– Put stillness time daily on your calendar. Do it before you do anything..before breakfast, newspaper reading, exercise,etc.

– Designate your stillness location. Go in your office and shut the door. Turn off the phone. Go sit in the backyard.

– Consider setting an alarm. Start with 5 or so minutes.

– Just relax and don’t be concerned. Just choose and make the intention to be present with yourself. Congratulate yourself for this crucial gift . Don’t beat yourself up if you forget everyday to be still. Practice makes progress.

Changing our mindset from it is important to be busy to I owe it to myself to be quiet and still just may be the greatest solution of your life.

S-h-h- h.  Did you hear that stillness?

 

Those Monkeys In My Tribal Monkey Mind Inner Community

    I spent most of my adult life being a driven workaholic until I was forced into early retirement at age 62. Because I was blessed with a “brain opportunity” in my 62nd year of living I was granted the opportunity to see how I owned and claimed a series of distracting activities. Before this opportunity that brought my mind and body to a screeching halt my ego even congratulated itself for all the amazing activities I could accomplish in a day..not just spread out in a day but things I could accomplish simultaneously. I could listen to podcasts, read, write, and talk all at the same time while thinking numerous innovative plans to participate as an environmental and social activist. My ego proudly embraced my mental talents. Then a brain opportunity showed up. This opportunity was in the form of a major brain bleed over three lobes of my brain with no symptoms resulting in a hematoma. I did have amazing, miraculous healing and did not have to go to rehab. I did have to limit my time reading, on the computer, going to my daily gym workout, and even had to stop my bi-weekly yoga practice. Included in my recovery was the end of working full time in a career I had enjoyed for 37 years. All my adult and many of my teen years were spent relishing mental feats and studying to learn an array of new knowledge based skills.
When I was forced to go from 150 rpm way down to 5 rpm daily I began seeing how all this time I had been distracting myself. Some of my distractions were good. I meditated. I did yoga and qi gong. I journaled. I volunteered . I believed with all my heart and soul I was participating with like hearted kindred spirits making the world a better place to exist. It was not until I could do less than the minimum that I awakened to see my workaholism overlapped into daily hours of keeping myself busy.
My tribal community of monkey minds that had probably always lived inside my head , in my now quiet and still life , gathered in circles of inner meetings often. Without my distractions of the greatest kind those monkeys gathered in their tribal circle several times a day and night. The noise they generated was out of control.
I decided with nothing else to occupy my great mental abilities I would inventory my monkey tribe. Initially it was not a simple task for as soon as one monkey thought entered my headspace that one would grab a nearby vine swinging into a tree as two more appeared inside my rapid firing thoughts!
Here are some of the monkeys: What if even though I have not been diagnosed with a language disorder due to my brain opportunity..one shows up later? What if I run out of money since I have no idea when or if I will return to work? I wonder if my long distance lover will disappear because he may not be getting his needs met. How will my muscles change since I am not working out daily? What if our country continues going into the downward spiral because of the division in opinions and beliefs? Will I be able to resolve issues with my siblings and accept them totally as they are before we all die? Did my co-workers really think I was a team player last month? When do I need to get new brakes on my car? Am I learning fast enough how to speak and understand Spanish?
Oh these monkeys and their constant chatter were wearing me out! No wonder I could not go to sleep easily or was it because my brain was working out solutions and what had happened to my calm spiritual demeanor?
I had to find a way to stop the tribe. Then I realized I could not force them to stop. I would have to find a way to co-exist with these chatty beasts!
Breathing slowly and mindfully helped much! I had meditated off and on for years. Perhaps daily or twice daily mindfulness techniques would help. After all it seemed to help those Zen monks sitting in caves and on mountain tops.So I began thirty minutes of attention to my slow breathing. Then discovered if I listened to solfeggio tones of various hz levels along with my mindfulness practices the monkey tribe seemed to relax. OOOOH it occurred to me that before I was so greatly aware of all those monkeys and busy all the time it was different. Another element of solution appeared: awareness comes before acceptance! I forgot I knew that!! Now that I was aware of the monkey tribe I might be able to deal with them!
As my brain began returning to its state of equilibrium following its trauma, and I returned to reading, writing, researching , and the gym, I was grateful I had learned to never again ignore my monkey tribe who still lives in my mind. I now had ways to cope and my little monkeys had morphed into slower moving turtles.

What Butterflies Have Taught Me

     Clouds, trees, animals, dandelions, and lightening bugs are memories of my childhood that made me feel alive and made me forget many uncomfortable experiences as I was growing up. Living my childhood in the age before computers being outside was a complete and utter luxury. I loved hanging outside until dusk playing games, running through fields, and lying on my back mesmerized by images the big puffy white clouds made framing a beautiful blue sky. But nothing excited me more and made my heart smile bigger than seeing butterflies!
I can think of no other creation on earth that endures such a complete transformation from a caterpillar who awakens into a gorgeous butterfly! As I have watched the stages of every butterfly I have been blessed to know I have been amazed at all the changes from the small egg to the larva growing until it splits its skin to the chrysalis hidden in leaves and underground and finally emerging as beautiful variety of colors of butterflies.
Never having had a conversation with the stages of a butterfly, I cannot bear witness to any evidence, but I do not think any of the individual stages ever complained about the stage each found itself.
Reflecting on the many transformations of my life, I can honestly tell you at many stages I did complain about the turns and shifts I found myself. There were multiple times I begged the Universe to let me disappear and hide in a dark cave until what felt like a doomed crisis passed. Had I been given an instruction booklet to see that as I wiggled and squirmed through each metamorphic stage I would have realized it is always the journey, not the destination, where the learning is revealed.
I remember a boyfriend in the sixth grade who gave me his sweater as a young love commitment , and I was so proud to wear it all day, take it home, only to be told by my Mother I had to return it the next day! I was learning the lesson of impermanence. Impermanence was a stage that proved to me that nothing lasts forever. It was not very long after I returned his sweater that the boy I was so enthralled with moved away, and I thought my heart would not stop breaking. It was a stage of my transformation in learning that throughout my life at all ages people would come and go, and that I would not die though it sure felt like I would.
Another stage of my transformation came when I tried out to be a Junior Varsity cheerleader, and did not get chosen. I was devastated. Even though I was clumsy and uncoordinated in my younger years, I thought I could get out there and scream cheers and do gymnastic moves and the pain of rejection hurt my young heart and ego tremendously. That transformation stage was called acceptance. It took some time for my transition into acceptance to work through shame which was born from the rejection. Growing up is not always easy, but the transformation of who I was into who I am today was so worth it. I just did not know I would one day become a butterfly!
Many other stages characterized my transformations. One of the most challenging was when my vibrations kept changing and expanding, and people’s vibrational levels that no longer resonated with mine, or I with theirs, resulted in many of us going separate ways. I thought I was doing something wrong in relationships. I did not know I was only changing and transforming . Looking back, I am grateful for the changes, for the growth, and for the ones who were teachers of powerful lessons along the way..although at first I thought they were abandoning me.
I thank each of those butterflies who through their beautiful stages have taught me to honor, love, and respect each stage of my own life as I, like those caterpillars, kept stretching out of my familiar skin and seemingly without my permission, transformed me into the unique person I am today. Accepting and loving the who I am has taken time, but boy-oh-boy has it been worth it! I understand now that the journey, each part of it, has helped me even more than the final metamorphosis. I am not saying I am not thrilled to be on the other side of the changing stages because I am. However, as I continue to transform in different areas of my life, I am able to practice levels of gratitude for each part of all the journeys and opportunities that come along. Grateful still, as I know more transformations are coming. I look forward to the unfolding. Butterflies are great teachers in my world.

 

 

Why We Continue To Avoid Self Love

Instead of reaching for the stars, we pick up the closest two-by-four to use in beating ourselves for not achieving our goals. We cannot seem to move out of our own way.

Numerous  life-show stoppers prevent us from loving ourself. Have you actually ever stopped to consider the one person you have a life time relationship with that never ends in a breakup? It’s the person staring back from the mirror. It’s you!

Instead of embracing ourselves with loving kindness we continue to participate in interpersonal conflict drama, overeat and self medicate with mind altering substances to alleviate our stresses, and we put our inner peace and happiness on hold. Why after all the articles, workshops, self help books, and conversations with friends are we still avoiding self love?

We choose familiarity over being comfortable in our own skin. We have bought hook, line, and sinker that we are used to being manipulated, taken for granted, not being seen, and not feeling we are good enough. Underlying all this is the illusion and false belief that we are broken and unlovable. We continue attracting partners, bosses, and situations that prove this lie .

The solution, though simple, does require practice. Only when we choose to awaken to embrace our special authentic self and give self love will we stop  our lifetime of self sabotage.

By being present in the moment with quiet self quality time instead of filling the day with busy time consuming distractions that we claim proves our self worth we start to slow down long enough to breathe, meditate, and calm. You may realize you are not a squirrel running around only to chase its tail. Begin asking yourself before engaging in dysfunctional , power play conversations and negative self talk, is this an act of self- love? Recalibrate your body by getting enough sleep and exercise. Set small intentions daily to nurture yourself mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually in self loving, gentle ways.

Learning to love ourself is a journey of cherished devotion. You are the person most deserving and in need of your own attention and love.What did you do today to give yourself love and dedication? Isn’t it time now?