This first half of 2015 has been both difficult and richly rewarding. Most pain and suffering of any degree is often followed by a period of understanding and learning. In all of this one finds love, forgiveness through understanding and compassion, connection and new levels of self-awareness. I have learned and more fully experienced how everyone that comes into my life is a gift, an opportunity, a blessing, even though I may not see that for a while or immediately welcome this difficulty as Rumi asks us to do in his poem The Guesthouse. One of my recently discovered treasures is Tara Brach's book Radical Acceptance which has taught me so much. I have been working with an Internal Family Systems therapist and we have done some deep inner work. I have come to learn that our deepest core issues will continue to revisit us and require that we pay close attention and homage to their often unwelcome offerings which we may not recognize as such initially. "We take refuge in the Buddha (Real self), the dharma (our path), and the sangha (our connections)." The parallels in Buddhism, Shamanism, Internal Family Systems, The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, the teachings of BKS Iyengar and of course many more are striking, like bolts of lightening that illuminate our many pathways and demand our onward march with a powerful force that cannot be brushed aside. If we ignore our painful emotions we bypass richly rewarding opportunities. If we dig and explore, doors open and treasures are found.
"Teotihuacan can be translated, 'The Place Where Human Beings Discover God Within.' Every stone of this sacred ceremonial site has been infused with powerful transformational energies that begin to reawaken our capacity for greater life and happiness in our very cells, from the moment we arrive. Many people experience this transformation even before they arrive: old issues, unhealed wounds, and unnamed feelings begin to arise in our lives in the weeks leading up to the journey, so that we can bring our loving-kindness and healing attention to them. Some people even experience a physical detoxification. I encourage you to allow and trust this process without struggling too hard to analyze it, simply take loving care of yourself, and give yourself a little quiet time to journal, reflect, or enjoy supportive time with friends. Teotihuacan is a place of rebirth; like the mythical serpent Quetzalcoatl, we have the opportunity to shed the skin of our old stories about limitations and wounds, and grow new wings of self-love and vision. Set an intention for your own transformation and rebirth as you near the journey, and that intention will be the most valuable thing you can bring with you." Hunter Flournoy, owner Spirit Journeys, Shaman, psychotherapist, healer, leader and workshop/retreat facilitator and more...
I had a dream that I was pregnant. (Giving birth to a new aspect of myself, a beginning, a discovery or nurturing of Self, inner growth)....
In the yard I found a heart-shaped stone with a white line through the middle of it that has since mysteriously disappeared. Sometimes our hearts have to be ripped open or become inflamed with excruciating pain before we can allow ourselves to really feel our inner wounds and allow healing to begin and this process repeats itself over and over again as we journey ahead. In his book Mastery of Love, Don Miguel Ruiz discusses relationships and how each relationship we have in this world is unique and different from any other and the important lesson that we cannot change others, only ourselves. Love is nonobligatory, fear closes doors. Each relationship has two parts, yours and theirs. When we truly love ourselves, we do not allow others to take advantage of us. It is so easy to get ensnared, as Brach discusses, in the "trance of unworthiness" and get hypnotized by our own wounds and fears.
I swear the hummingbirds seek me out when the feeder has gone dry. I laughed until I had tears when I told Brendan that I saw a bee that had found his way into the sugar water and was drowning with no escape and how I not only rescued him, but also washed him off with filtered water so he wouldn't dry and be coated with a stickiness. Symbolically, I didn't want him stuck, just as I want to rescue myself when I am stuck and on the brink. An important lesson I learn over and over again is to Pause, Reflect, Focus on the body while very quiet, breathe with intention and discipline, feel where in the body there might be some manifestation. Listen, acknowledge, accept.
It is all the stuff of Dreams and we are all dreaming.
In one of our webinars Hunter has mentioned that some people want to be able to see auras and spirits which is not something I wish for, although I think I understand the longing. Why would one want to see a spirit when you can look out onto the landscape and see real clouds, trees, grasses, people, birds that you can hear, see, touch and feel. Why want to see someone's aura when you can explore your relationship with that person and learn if there is a extraordinary connection that transcends language? Of course I understand that seeing spirits and auras is a gift, and like grace, if it comes, welcome it; if you want it, ask for it, but then pause and wait and have no expectation. You never know what may arise, or as Hunter says, when you are carefully watching for something to come to you through the front door, it may very well have come in the back door and has been with you all the while.
The second half of 2015 begins with a journey to the ancient pyramids of Teotihuacan near Mexico City with Spirit Journeys, a trip I will be making without Dale, mid-July. In November, with Overseas Adventure Travel, Dale and I will be staying in small inns (paradores and pousadas) throughout the countryside of Spain and Portugal for several weeks.
The beautiful heart shaped stone with a line dividing it into halves speaks to me and I just found it.
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"Teotihuacan can be translated, 'The Place Where Human Beings Discover God Within.' Every stone of this sacred ceremonial site has been infused with powerful transformational energies that begin to reawaken our capacity for greater life and happiness in our very cells, from the moment we arrive. Many people experience this transformation even before they arrive: old issues, unhealed wounds, and unnamed feelings begin to arise in our lives in the weeks leading up to the journey, so that we can bring our loving-kindness and healing attention to them. Some people even experience a physical detoxification. I encourage you to allow and trust this process without struggling too hard to analyze it, simply take loving care of yourself, and give yourself a little quiet time to journal, reflect, or enjoy supportive time with friends. Teotihuacan is a place of rebirth; like the mythical serpent Quetzalcoatl, we have the opportunity to shed the skin of our old stories about limitations and wounds, and grow new wings of self-love and vision. Set an intention for your own transformation and rebirth as you near the journey, and that intention will be the most valuable thing you can bring with you." Hunter Flournoy, owner Spirit Journeys, Shaman, psychotherapist, healer, leader and workshop/retreat facilitator and more...
I had a dream that I was pregnant. (Giving birth to a new aspect of myself, a beginning, a discovery or nurturing of Self, inner growth)....
In the yard I found a heart-shaped stone with a white line through the middle of it that has since mysteriously disappeared. Sometimes our hearts have to be ripped open or become inflamed with excruciating pain before we can allow ourselves to really feel our inner wounds and allow healing to begin and this process repeats itself over and over again as we journey ahead. In his book Mastery of Love, Don Miguel Ruiz discusses relationships and how each relationship we have in this world is unique and different from any other and the important lesson that we cannot change others, only ourselves. Love is nonobligatory, fear closes doors. Each relationship has two parts, yours and theirs. When we truly love ourselves, we do not allow others to take advantage of us. It is so easy to get ensnared, as Brach discusses, in the "trance of unworthiness" and get hypnotized by our own wounds and fears.
I swear the hummingbirds seek me out when the feeder has gone dry. I laughed until I had tears when I told Brendan that I saw a bee that had found his way into the sugar water and was drowning with no escape and how I not only rescued him, but also washed him off with filtered water so he wouldn't dry and be coated with a stickiness. Symbolically, I didn't want him stuck, just as I want to rescue myself when I am stuck and on the brink. An important lesson I learn over and over again is to Pause, Reflect, Focus on the body while very quiet, breathe with intention and discipline, feel where in the body there might be some manifestation. Listen, acknowledge, accept.
It is all the stuff of Dreams and we are all dreaming.
In one of our webinars Hunter has mentioned that some people want to be able to see auras and spirits which is not something I wish for, although I think I understand the longing. Why would one want to see a spirit when you can look out onto the landscape and see real clouds, trees, grasses, people, birds that you can hear, see, touch and feel. Why want to see someone's aura when you can explore your relationship with that person and learn if there is a extraordinary connection that transcends language? Of course I understand that seeing spirits and auras is a gift, and like grace, if it comes, welcome it; if you want it, ask for it, but then pause and wait and have no expectation. You never know what may arise, or as Hunter says, when you are carefully watching for something to come to you through the front door, it may very well have come in the back door and has been with you all the while.
The second half of 2015 begins with a journey to the ancient pyramids of Teotihuacan near Mexico City with Spirit Journeys, a trip I will be making without Dale, mid-July. In November, with Overseas Adventure Travel, Dale and I will be staying in small inns (paradores and pousadas) throughout the countryside of Spain and Portugal for several weeks.
The beautiful heart shaped stone with a line dividing it into halves speaks to me and I just found it.
