Saturday, Aug 18th, 2018

Energy Musings. Here. Now.

The Weekend Report.

Your Authentic self shines behind the clouded sky.  A blanket of grey, like a dusty lens, covers the clarity you seek.  Its only a matter of cleaning a small place to see through, a before you can get a glimpse of the work of your soul.  But when we clear off just one small spot in the midst of  a large dusty surface, it can quickly become consumed again.

This weekend, find a moment to cleanse an area of  your awareness.  There are many ways to do this:  meditation, coaching, yoga, QiGong, art.  You might choose where you go and what you do to “clear your mind”.  From that “clear mind” place, pay attention to what you notice.  This is but a partial view what and who you really are.  And an important starting point.

The question is:  will you remember it the next day? And the day after?   or rather:  HOW will you remember it the next day?  And the day after?!

This is a place for you to be creative and playful.  Write it in a journal, compose a song, make a picture, call your best friend, put sticky notes on your computer.  Find something you do every day anyhow, and add a reminder to the activity.  For example:  I light a candle each evening before going to bed. If I put a beautiful note right next to my candle with my insights, I will see and read it every night.  Then remembering becomes part of my evening ritual.

Eventually, you will be ready to clear more of the lens, take a bigger look: see more, be more.    For now, start with a peek, and let it in.

Song of the Day:  Johnny Nash.  I Can See Clearly Now.

 

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Me & the Moon

Why Full Moon Offerrings? 

They are everywhere these days and have become a bit of a marketing hook to get people in the door.  But I have to tell you, from the bottom of my infinite heart, how deeply I resonate with the lunar energy and how my work came to be.  You see, it unfolded over time.  Years, maybe millennia, from a shared communal connection to the moon and her pull, her sway, to something much more specific and directional. She led me to uncloak information in the darkest of darks that came from many traditions over time and space and that required nothing less than to leap into her shadows to know the secrets that lie there.  My moon training is by no means traditional.  Although I have done my share of research and study through both Astronomy and Astrology to understand her waxing and waning and her continuous cycling.  I have also been trained to work with womens rhythms, their cycles and to understand the wisdom through reflection that the moon provides.  

But thats not even at the heart of my path, of my work.  I live in ceremony with the moon at all times and hear her whispers, and sometimes her desperate calls, as she directs me to work in specific ways through monthly patterns and flow.   It is absolutely not just about me showing up and “going with the flow” and being spontaneous.  I don’t work with the moon because its “cool” or “trendy” or even “fun”.  Its actually, an incredible service and an enormous amount of work to be fully present with her. Before each lunar event, I go deep into meditation to listen to and respect her guidance for that particular creation.  For this reason, no two moon events are ever identical AND it is almost impossible for me to script the details too far in advance. 

Her overall guiding message is to be gentle and nurturing for even as her work contains and embraces the shadow, we must remember that this life, that this being, is fragile and delicate and must be held with the utmost care and tenderness.  I use sound mostly now, but in the past I have used dance and movement and art and silence as my main tools.  The sound in collaboration with my Moon offerrings is very consciously crafted to move through cycles for connection, which, by my training and experience, requires the most reverential approach for establishing long lasting quality harmony within each person present.  This harmonizing requires an intimate knowledge of ceremony and discernment that cannot be learned quickly or superficially, but takes place over a long un-folding, over a lifetime, and many lifetimes.  

The moon, she is powerful.  And we would be best served by respecting and honoring her power with those who have dedicated themselves to guiding on her behalf. 

Blessings on this moon, and always.

Friday, January 26, 2018

Energy Musings.  Here. Now.

This Weekend and coming Week!

Unplug

In the next week leading up to a very potent full moon closing off January, its a great time to unplug and tune IN.  This could mean literally, stay off the devices and anything that connects you to the internet or set strong boundaries around this area and stick with them.

Your passions, particularly strong held ones that have been suppressed (perhaps necessarily) will be bubbling to the surface so watch your words carefully and keep email to a minimum.  Theres a danger here of your intention being easily misread.  Rather, take this burst of conviction to a creative outlet:  dance, draw, sing, play, write.  Allow it a creative voice rather than an argumentative one and you’ll be setting the right path forward.

As issues come up on your radar and those around you get triggered,  keep a light heart and an open mind.  And remember the powerful effect of the Full Moon as the time approaches.  The Super (appears larger than usual) Blue (2nd full moon in a month) Blood (lunar eclipse) Wolf (traditional name of Jan moon) Moon.  Phew.

Are you ready for it?

Song of the Day:  I am Woman by Helen Reddy

Wednesday, Aug 16, 2017

Energy Musings. Here. Now.

Today!

With the “Great American Eclipse” approaching soon, there is a lot of buzz in the air.  Some people are giddy with excitement over this coming event while others are already triggered into fear places and are on high alert.  Know that both these perspectives hold an element of ‘truth’.  For understanding your best course of action however, it always best to remain neutral.   Being neutral means coming into balance in your being, clearing yourself fully, grounding into your truth, and filling with your life force.  It is very easy in this day & age, particularly with our social media outlets, to become “swept away” by others excitement, worry or other impulses.  Being neutral does not mean being aloof or dismissive.  It means paying close close attention to what is really happening and how you need to respond.

Take a look at the eclipse, its meaning, its significance. Take a look at the hype, the pressure.  Take a look at this “once in a lifetime experience” and understand what that means to you. For some, it will mean intentionally traveling to be in the path of totality, for others it will mean staying closer to home to see what they see, for others still it might mean not seeing it at all.  In this seemingly obvious observation, there is actually a lot to consider and pay attention to.  Its interesting to note that through the lens of Astronomy this is a magical, fun, really cool thing to see.  But shift to the lens of Astrology and eclipses historically are not exactly seen as positive.  Energetically, they are portals that bring the darkness to the surface to be examined.  They temporarily block out all light so that you must face your deepest “blind spots”.  Imagine the entire US flocking to this path of totality for an awesome cosmic event but unaware of the energetic component to this same event.

Consider ALL lenses, know which perspective you hold, and balance that thoughtfully with other perspectives.  Through full understanding of what “it” is, you can let go of any extraneous attachments .  Look out for the following patterns:  Do you hate feeling “left out”?  Do you have a need to know what everyone else is doing?  Are you  addicted to curiosity? Are you worried you might “miss something”?       Do you tend to follow the crowd? Any way you answer these questions will give you insights into your motivations and impulses. Its best to clear these places before you ask yourself : where do I need to be?  what do I need to do?

Word of the Day: Perspective

Song of the Day: American Idiot by Green Day

 

Thursday, Sept 29, 2016

Energy Musings.  Here.  Now.

Today.

Discern.  Don’t just follow. Don’t just ‘go with the flow’.   Don’t just repeat what you heard. Pay closer attention.  And closer still.  Practice true discernment.

As you discern, you use all your faculties.  From the physical to the mental to the energetic.   Do not ignore any information.  Rather, take it all in. Take it ALL in.  And from your clear place, gently move whatever is not relevant or ‘true’ to the side.  Coaxing “Not here, not now.”

This place of discernment takes time, skill, work, effort and awareness to cultivate.  If you are feeling “out of it” today or you are just not sure how clear your discerning eye is seeing…. turn to a trusted friend, mentor, teacher, colleague, who you believe is impeccably discerning.  Ask for their guidance.  Remembering, we don’t have to figure this all out on our own.  We all sometimes stumble or have difficulty.  Reaching for each other is as natural as our breath in and out.

I don’t believe that any one person is ever “out ahead” of all the rest.  I see our process of E-volution as one hand reaching out to pull another person up above them and then that person in turn reaching back to pull up someone else.  In this way, we ‘share’ the leadership.  In this way, we inform each other and keep each other focussed, honest, real, true and evolving.  This is how we co-awaken.  We reach for each other when appropriate, We climb higher when appropriate.

Today, see where you are on this imaginary ladder.  If your discernment is clear, take a step up and then see who needs your hand.  If your discernment is murky, look for the hand that is available to you right now.  In all cases, we move forward together.

Word of the Day: Discernment

Song of the Day:  Moving Right Along

Wednesday, September 28th, 2016

Energy Musings.  Here. Now.

Today.

Adjust your Lens.  Remember that everything you look through is affected by the lens you choose.  We are ALWAYS looking through a lens.  Right now, this is reflected everywhere around us in our communities, the world, the news we read.  Lenses can be useful, giving us a platform to stand on and look from.  But if we begin to believe our current lens is the only one, it becomes an impediment to true understanding and positive change.  It becomes our blind spot.

Can you identify your lens and consciously choose another one in order to give you more perspective?   Removing your inherent bias or even what you might consider your “opinion”, for the sake of broader understanding?  This will keep you more adaptable in all situations, less likely to get triggered and more open to new solutions.

In cognitive terms, removing or shifting your lens offers you the opportunity to literally create new pathways in the brain to give you more options.  Its not that your current lens is necessarily “wrong”.  Its not about that at all.  Its simply about awareness …. TRUE awareness.  And connection to others.

So pick something small today, this week.  Notice when you are responding or reacting from a particular “lens”, a well worn familiar path of reaction. And stop.  Take a deep breath. Maybe close your eyes.  And imagine shifting your lens.  See what unfolds instead.

What new directions, what new options, what new opinions are here for you?

 

Word of the Day:  Lens

Song of the Day:  Jack Garratt “Surprise Yourself”

Thursday, Sept 22nd, 2016

Equinox.

a story.

10:21 am. Thursday, Sept 22. I knew the time and I had a vision for how to celebrate the Fall Equinox.  The plan:  get out to the mountains, to the farm to be more exact, by 10 am with kids and dog in tow and find a breathtakingly gorgeous view (there are many out there) from which to stand in Tree Pose and Greet the exact moment of the Equinox.  Check.

Except it didn’t quite go as planned.  Of course.

I should have known when my son was vacillating between cranky, ornery and demanding for most of the morning that something was going on.  But, I reasoned, after a good healthy breakfast and the lure of a farm trip, he’d be in great spirits.  Well…. not really.  Everything bothered him.  From the way his cream cheese was spread on the bagel, to the way the bandaid on his toe felt, to how his socks were making him itch, to a barely visible bump on his forehead that was “in his way”, I chalked it up to “one of those days”.  So I gently shifted my plan.  Clearly, we were not making it 1.5 hours out to the Farm by 10:21am. ‘That’s OK’, I thought, ‘we’ll get as far as we can and then at 10:20 am, where ever we are, I will pull the car over to the side of the road/highway, strike a tree pose, and still get to acknowledge the Equinox’.  Great.  Plan B was initiated.

Yeah.  But by the time we got the loaner car from the dealership (did I mention we had to drop off our regular car first?) and I managed to put out all the mini fires being created by Rilke’s annoyance with Everything, it was approaching 10 am.  OK, no problem.  Plan B still in action, only we won’t get as far as I thought. So what if we are on the Beltway at 10:20am? It will be easy to pull over a strike a Tree pose there. Right?!

Finally we settled in the car and rolled out the driveway and I was still sticking to my plan. As I was enthusiastically telling my kids “the Plan”,  I looked in the backseat and saw that Rilke was in full blown meltdown.  Tears streaming down his face, he was trying to shove his entire body into a backpack, feet first.  Uh Oh.  I pulled over to the side of the road. We were about 3 blocks from our house.  I double parked, put the hazards on, and went to him, opening his car door.

“What’s wrong?” I asked with concern.

“I don’t know!!!”  he sobbed loudly.

 “Are you tired?  hungry?  Are you hurt?  Are you upset ?”

A long series of “no, no, no, no”.  No matter what I asked him, he said “no”.

“I told you!  I don’t know whats wrong!” he repeated.

Right.  I got that.  So I started to clear him, wiped down his field, fanned him, re-set his perimeter, held has hands…. Still, he sobbed.  I asked my daughter, sitting next to him, what she thought was wrong.

 “He’s out there.” she said, pointing a finger towards the sky in a particular direction.  To which Rilke chimed in “I am NOT climbing that Tree!”

Haiku continued, “You have to get him back into his body”.

“OK,”  I asked her, “what would you suggest?”  curious to what she would offer.

“Have him close his eyes first” she directed.

And so I did, and I tried to use my words to help him come back to the present moment, coaxing him by asking him to come back to his “bubble” and “put on his protective suit”, but it was clearly not working.  So I took his hands, still in mine, and started to move them in figure 8’s and circles, in front of his body.  I became acutely present, responding to the moment without an agenda or a particular instruction manual.  Suddenly, he stopped crying.

“What are you doing mommy?”  he asked.  I paused before answering, thinking quickly how to respond.

“Well Rilke,” I explained  “Feel your hands?  They are Jet planes”  I closed his fingers and made his palms straight.  “And the Jet planes are circling through the air”  I moved his arms in loops  “and now they are flying RIGHT towards each other!!!”  I brought has hands in “And they look like they are about to CRASH!  But NO!  at the last instant they fly, side by side, straight up into the air!”  I brought his hands to prayer pose, fingers touching, and moved his arms up his body.

At this point I stopped, as he was totally engaged.

“Keep doing it mom! Don’t stop”  he said “Its helping.”

So I continued, telling a story about airplanes flying and moving his arms in different ways around his body.  I was using QiGong.  Moving his energy, creating space, and bringing him back in.  I ended with the airplanes circling ALL around him and then coming in to land on his body.  As I placed his hands on his heart, I asked him to use his breath to Fill.  Only I realized immediately, it wasn’t enough.  He was so so empty.  So I put my hand on top of his on his heart.  Then Haiku reached over suddenly and put her hand on top of mine.  Then Rilke put his other hand on top of hers, I put my other hand on top of his and Haiku closed our pile of hands with hers on top.

And we sat there, in the backseat of the loaner car, with all our hands piled in a heap on top of Rilke’s chest, breathing in love and filling together.  Connected. Present.  Clearing, Grounding and Filling all at once.

I glanced at the clock in the dashboard of the car.  10:21.  Of course.  I closed my eyes, we all did, and we filled with the love from the Universe. Right there, on the side of the road, with the hazards blinking wildly.  As we lifted our hands away, we got silly, started laughing, and took turns with different hands on the bottom of the pile as the pile moved down to Rilkes belly, then his pelvis, then off his body. And we laughed and shared in the Joy of this wondrous and spontaneous roadside ceremony we co-created.  At the exact moment of the Equinox.  The sacred moment we celebrated together, from a place of paying attention, being where we most needed to be and doing exactly what needed to be done.

 In that moment, I felt deep appreciation for this boy.  For this girl too.  Keeping everything real.  I swear, he was guiding us each and every step of the way.  Only in the beginning I saw his guidance as distraction and difficulty, something that was getting in the way of my “plan”.  And my lesson, our lesson, of equanimity on the Equinox, came in the most unexpected of packages, in the most unexpected place, in the most unexpected way.

It’s never what you think it is.

Wednesday, Sept 21, 2016

Energy Musings.  Here.  Now.

Today!

What a week so far!!  I could write a book for you this week with all that is happening! The opening created by the alignment of the Full Moon leading into the Fall Equinox, has brought up the past, the past and the past.  Call “it” what you will, many have been experiencing this as pressure, pain, sickness, tiredness, etc.  This is happening on every level, from the personal to the planetary.  Focus today on the personal.

Movement is the key.  In particular, circular movement.  As in Bellydance or QiGong, circular patterns are UP.  And it is taking a LOT of movement to keep the body from seizing, gripping or going into old patterns.  This could be on a subtle internal level or very literal.  Its important to not get discouraged or judgemental if you do find yourself in one of these “stuck” places.  Perhaps you are there because you need to pay deeper attention to what it actually is or where you are actually stuck?  In all cases, remain vigilant, clear minded, and accepting.  And keep moving!!!!

The more you can clear today, the cleaner your transition through the rest of the week will be.  As the last “official” day of Summer, dance, sing, move, play and celebrate all that you have experienced and appreciated from the past season. Give thanks to what you have created, what you left behind and what is coming.  Dance your prayer, alone or in a group, maybe even outside to the moonlight!  And let it go.

Word of the day:  Clear!  (using circles!)

Song of the day:   Circles by Atlantic Star.

Monday, Sept 19, 2016

 

Energy Musings. Here. Now.

Today.

Let the rain fall. Soft and steady.  Cool and refreshing.  Let it wash the plants.  Let it feed the rivers.  Let it connect the Heavens and the Earth.

From above, to below.

Let the music of the gentle rain be your soundtrack today.  Let its undulating steadiness bring you life-force.  Let it cleanse and restore you.  Let it nourish and caress you.

Dance to the rain.   Sing to the rain.  Cry to the rain.  Paint to the rain.

Drink in the rain. Give in to the rain. Make your Love to the rain.  And be ready to receive from the rain.

From above, to below.

This rain is for you.  Watch it.  Feel it.  Accept it.  And then, with a breath, let it go.  Let go of the rain.

and see what falls from the sky for you.

Monday, Sept 12, 2016

Energy Musings.  Here. Now.

Today! 

Take Care of You today.  With the work of the season, of this beginning period, it is all too easy to have self care slip through cracks slowly or fall to the bottom of the chasm in an instant!  When you take the time out to notice JUST WHAT YOU NEED, you can put a stop to that slippery slope and reclaim your health and well being fairly quickly.

Notice where you might be off today.  Tired?  Achy?  Sore throat?  And then sit with those sensations to see what it is you need.  Maybe this is a long known pattern attributed to allergies and you know exactly the remedy that will work but just haven’t bothered to take it or purchase it yet?  Maybe its something new that you are feel too tired to deal with? Whatever the case, some fresh air and sunshine, a moment or two of silence, and a quick check in with your breath, will help guide you in the right direction for healing.

Areas that are under a lot of pressure today and this week include the middle back (particularly left side) and deep in the pelvis.  This is also manifesting in the throat with dryness and hoarsness.

Movement that rotates or gently twists the body in yoga or dance (or Tai Chi~) helps release the middle blockage.  Allowing that movement its natural access up the spine through the throat and down the body through the pelvis will help release the upper and lower blockages.

Access your own healing knowledge and take care of yourself today for a wonderful week ahead!

Word of the Day:  Self-Care

Song of the Day:  Loco Motion covered by Grand Funk Railroad.