Embracing Change

I have never been one to embrace change.  In fact, it would be more accurate to say that I have always resisted it with every ounce of strength I had.  But something has been compelling me to make changes for a while now, as I have had a growing sense that I needed to shake things up in my life.

At first I started with small changes . . . because that was all I was comfortable with.  I did things such as giving up the morning crossword puzzle and using that time to meditate and giving up certain foods in an effort to be healthier.  No matter how many of these small changes I made, it wasn't alleviating the pressure I felt inside to do something different.

For quite some time, I have felt I was being guided to move but it was guidance I wasn't really open to receiving.  I could come up with a million reasons why I shouldn't move and yet, something in the back of my head kept telling me it was what I truly needed to do if I was going to fulfill my purpose.

With some hesitation, I put my house on the market to see what happened and I asked the Universe to show me if it was the right thing to do.  Within two days, the first people to look at my house had submitted an offer.  I took that as a sign the Universe was saying "Yes."

The path to finding a new place to live wasn't quite as "easy."  I have always wanted to live by the ocean, so I figured I should follow my heart and find a place to rent for a little while.  Unfortunately, I am not the only person out there who wants to rent a house by the ocean so I have not been able to secure a place to live yet.  I've been experiencing an odd mixture of fear of the unknown and trust that it is all going to work out exactly as it is supposed to.

Two days ago, I closed escrow on my house and moved out.  Packing up and moving on from a place I have been for twenty years was not an easy task.  My house is filled with more memories than I can track. (It was also filled with an unimaginable amount of "stuff" that I managed to accumulate over the years).  Sorting through it all and letting go felt like the ultimate test from the Universe but I think I passed the test.

Every room in the house holds stories and as I walked through the house one final time, it was as if a movie was playing in my head . . . of all my relationships - the good ones and the not-so-good ones, parties and friends visiting from out of state, home improvement projects.  I could remember in vivid detail what it was like when Lucky first came to live with me, a vividly remember when she made her transition fourteen years later and everything in between.  As I was making my final walk through, Kino was right on my heels, as if he was paying his respects right along with me to the last twenty years of my life.

For as much sadness as I felt as I said goodbye to each room, I was equally sure this was the right thing to do.  Kino and I are setting out on a new adventure.  It's not as smooth of a transition as I would like (we're staying in a pet friendly motel at the moment) and yet, I trust that we will find our way and that soon we will get our belongings out of storage and set up a new home for ourselves.

I may not be as consistent with blog entries for the short term, as I don't know where I will be and how much internet access I will have but when the next part of our journey unfolds, I will be sure to get an update published.

Wishing you all a magical new year!  May you be showered with blessings and love, compassion and peace.

Forgiveness

In recent months, it seems like almost all my human Reiki sessions have included a visit from someone on the other side with a very important message for the person receiving the treatment.  Each time, the theme of the messages has been been around forgiveness . . . people in spirit asking for forgiveness for their transgressions while on earth, offering apologies for the things they did, etc.  I sense deeply that they know what is needed to move us into a better, happier place and time after time, my clients tearfully tell me the message they received was exactly what they needed to hear in order to heal.  I am so grateful that I am able to deliver these messages.

I have had the growing sense that forgiveness is what is needed right now to assist humanity in moving through the turmoil that we are currently slogging through on earth. When we forgive, we free ourselves to vibrate at a higher rate and attract more peace and more levity into our lives.  Forgiveness also enables us to feel more compassion for ourselves and for the journey we have been on.  It is truly one of the most wonderful things we can do for ourselves.  I suspect, it is also one of the greatest things we can do to shift things on a global scale as well.

When I saw that Louise Hay's newsletter this week focused on the subject of forgiveness, I wasn't surprised.  It seems that it is an important message for all of us right now.  I am sharing what Louise wrote on forgiveness below for those of you who are not on her mailing list.

Wishing everyone the happiest of holidays and hoping you will give yourself the gift of forgiveness this holiday season.

Dear Friend,

Not only does forgiveness open us up to self-love, it rids our minds of past pain and judgements of others. When we blame others, we are giving them power over our thoughts. If you give yourself permission to forgive, you are released of your sorrows. It’s a great step toward pure happiness. When we’re stuck in a state of always having to be right, we are never truly happy. You put yourself in a prison of self-righteous resentment. Remember, forgiveness is not acceptance. We are not accepting their behavior as OK, we are just releasing ourselves from the negative energy they exude. People act out based on their experiences and knowledge. Don’t let their pain control your thoughts too. The act of forgiveness comes from within your own mind.

Let’s let our ill-will toward people go as we close out this year. You always have a choice. You can stay in a world of bitterness or you can let go and live a fulfilling, blissful life. Other people’s behavior may have you feeling irritated or uncomfortable, but they are not making you hold on to those negative feelings. You have the freedom to let go by taking responsibility of your own feelings. Free yourself from pain. Let go of those judgements and release yourself from the burdens and limitations these judgements set for you. Letting go can not only help you, but create love within the other person as well. Forgiveness is a gift to yourself and the Universe.

All of our thoughts and feelings are created within our minds. When we learn to forgive ourselves and others, we set ourselves free. We find inner peace and ultimate happiness. When you refuse to forgive, you hold on to the past; you’re not able to live in the endearing present moments. Remember, your future is created when you are in the present. You do not deserve to feel pain and suffering. Once you are willing to forgive, the Universe will take care of the rest. The energy you put out there is what’s returned. Forgive yourself, love yourself, and forgive others. Move forward from bitterness. Put yourself in a space of love and joy. Put yourself around people who fill your heart with love and joy. You are free my dear ones.

Let’s affirm together: “I move beyond forgiveness to understanding, and I have compassion for all.”

All is well.

Treat Yourself As Well

Over the years, I have been asked to relay a heartwarming message from my animal clients to their guardians and each time I pass the message along, I am touched by it's beauty.  That message is:  Please take as good of care of yourself as you have always taken care of me.

Often this message is relayed close to the animals transition, as one of their parting words of wisdom but I don't think we have to wait until our animals are ready to leave us to start embracing these wise words.

Most people don't even realize they are taking better care of their animals than they are of themselves.  We can be driven by love to focus on their needs and yet not look at ourselves through those same loving eyes.  We prioritize their needs above ours because "they need us" yet the truth is, we need us just as much.

I remember one client years ago who was searching for help for her dog's anxiety.  She was seeking all sorts of alternative treatment options, determined to bring her dog some peace when in reality, she had anxiety issues herself that may have even been worse than her dog's anxiety.  Once we had brought some peace to her dog, I asked her gently if she thought some of the same things she was doing for her dog might help her as well.  She stared at me for a few minutes as she tried to process what I was saying . . . then as she picked up her dog to hug him, she slowly nodded her head and said, "I guess I could give it a try."

I had another client who mentioned that she was having dizzy spells and mental confusion because she often forgot to eat.  I asked her if she ever forgot to feed her dogs and she looked almost offended and said, "No, of course not!"  I smiled and said, "Aren't you just as important?" She laughed and said maybe she'd make herself something to eat each time she prepared food for her dogs.

Time and again, I have seen clients go out of their way to meet the emotional and physical needs of their animals, while ignoring those same needs in themselves, so it doesn't surprise me when animals ask me to pass along this important message to their guardians.

Is there anything you are doing for your animal that you could be doing for yourself?  Are you making sure they get exercise every day but neglecting your own exercise needs?  Are you setting boundaries for them, i.e. not letting them be around other dogs that may play too rough, yet allowing people in your life that don't treat you very well?   There's a chance your life could be even sweeter if you gave yourself the same level of care that you give your pet.  Something to think about . . .

A Flight Delay

This touched me deeply, so I am sharing this from berlin-artparasite's page . . . what a world it would be if we could turn a frustrating inconvenience (a flight delay) into an opportunity to create a sense of community.   I hope you all enjoy Naomi's story as much as I did.


After learning my flight was detained 4 hours, I heard the announcement: If anyone in the vicinity of gate 4-A understands any Arabic, please come to the gate immediately.

Well—one pauses these days. Gate 4-A was my own gate. I went there.

An older woman in full traditional Palestinian dress, just like my grandma wore, was crumpled to the floor, wailing loudly.
Help, said the flight service person. Talk to her. What is her problem? We told her the flight was going to be four hours late and she did this.

I put my arm around her and spoke to her haltingly.
Shu dow-a, shu- biduck habibti, stani stani schway, min fadlick, sho bit se-wee?

The minute she heard any words she knew—however poorly used—
she stopped crying.

She thought our flight had been canceled entirely.
She needed to be in El Paso for some major medical treatment the
following day. I said no, no, we’re fine, you’ll get there, just late,

Who is picking you up? Let’s call him and tell him.
We called her son and I spoke with him in English.
I told him I would stay with his mother till we got on the plane and would ride next to her—Southwest.

She talked to him. Then we called her other sons just for the fun of it.

Then we called my dad and he and she spoke for a while in Arabic and found out of course they had ten shared friends.

Then I thought just for the heck of it why not call some Palestinian
poets I know and let them chat with her. This all took up about 2 hours.

She was laughing a lot by then. Telling about her life. Answering
Questions.

She had pulled a sack of homemade mamool cookies—little powdered sugar crumbly mounds stuffed with dates and nuts—out of her bag—and was offering them to all the women at the gate.

To my amazement, not a single woman declined one. It was like a
sacrament. The traveler from Argentina, the traveler from California,
the lovely woman from Laredo—we were all covered with the same
powdered sugar. And smiling. There are no better cookies.

And then the airline broke out the free beverages from huge coolers—non-alcoholic—and the two little girls for our flight, one African
American, one Mexican American—ran around serving us all apple juice and lemonade and they were covered with powdered sugar too.

And I noticed my new best friend—by now we were holding hands—
had a potted plant poking out of her bag, some medicinal thing,

With green furry leaves. Such an old country traveling tradition. Always carry a plant. Always stay rooted to somewhere.

And I looked around that gate of late and weary ones and thought,
this is the world I want to live in. The shared world.

Not a single person in this gate—once the crying of confusion stopped—has seemed apprehensive about any other person.

They took the cookies. I wanted to hug all those other women too.
This can still happen anywhere.

Not everything is lost.
- Naomi Shihab Nye

Photo by Manon Clavelier

Energy Shifts

How have you been feeling so far this month?  Have you felt a little off and you aren't sure why?  When we think of things that affect our energy, we often think of people or situations that may throw us off balance or cause our moods to shift.  Sometimes however, the reason for these energy shifts are caused by something outside our normal areas of focus.

Emmanual Daugher shared some information recently about what is going on energetically on the planet this month and I thought I'd share it in the hopes that it will help shed some light on things you may have been experiencing yourself.

Are you noticing how intense the energy is right now?

The Sun is active again, and has emitted powerful M CLASS Solar Flares. These flares entered Earth's atmosphere, and they have been felt for the past few days.

Are you finding that your thoughts are all over the place? Do you feel a bit more emotional and tired than usual? Are you snapping a bit more quickly at those around you? These are just results of what happens when so much solar energy enters our energy field until we integrate with it all.

In addition to the flares, Jupiter and Mars are the closest they have been to our planet, and that is also contributing to the intensity happening right now.

As mentioned earlier, you may have noticed that your emotions are all over the place. In one moment you're probably feeling in your zone, and joyful, while in other moments you're feeling frustrated, disconnected and upset. If you are finding yourself more on the frustrated spectrum, it's the minds way of protecting itself from the energetic shifts taking place.

The mind has a tendency to fear change, and so it will try to convince you and itself in every way possible that to remain safe, it must go into the energy of fear, lack, judgement and worry. If the mind remains in this space for a while, it then begins to generate dramatic behavior, that have it projecting blame, anger, and frustration on to others in our experience.

These pattern often leaves someone feeling drained and exhausted, so if you're experiencing this now, know that you're probably at the tail end of allowing the mind to continue to be in its highly emotional and reactive state. Soon, when you begin feeling settled and neutral, you can work with energies like gratitude and compassion to reconnect you with your joyful self again.

Some things you can also do to help you glide through this intense period are:

Take a peaceful walk in nature.
Sit under a tree, while placing your feet in the grass/soil.
Listen to music that makes you feel good.
Dance
Sing.
Write/Journal your feelings and thoughts.
Sit by a river, lake or the ocean.
Meditation.
Performing random acts of kindness in your community.
Take a dead sea salt bath with calming lavender essential oils.
Laugh!
Be mindful of your words, acts and how you're treating people.
Take time to pause throughout your day, and take a few dozen deep breaths.
Express gratitude.
Work with a holistic or energy healing practitioner.
Receive a therapeutic massage.
Make sure you are well hydrated.

Above all, remember that you are never alone. and that We are all in this together.

If you know anyone who may benefit from reading this post, please pass it on.

Love always,

Emmanuel

E.D.I.N.A. Medicine and the Ascension Process

With the changes that are happening vibrationally on the planet right now, I have felt inspired to expand my tool kit in order to utilize the energies and assistance that are now becoming available to us. I have been studying a new form of energy healing, the method is called E.D.I.N.A. energy medicine.  It is used as an overlay to Reiki, so think of it as "super-charged" Reiki.  It works not only with the physical body but also with the auric field and can provide a smoother transition during the ascension process.  

If you aren't sure what the ascension process is, there is a plethora of information on the internet that is easy to access.  There are also many sources of information about the symptoms of ascension. (When you look at the list, you may be shocked to see how many of the symptoms you have).

If you're interested in learning a little more about E.D.I.N.A., here's a link to some information:  
http://www.lightworkersworld.com/2010/03/edina-energy-medicine-from-the-stars/

This is a tremendous time for humanity, as we have been given the opportunity to transform our planet by transforming our consciousness.  The shifts and changes that have been occurring on an energetic / vibrational level are supporting us through this process of ascension and we have the opportunity to create a world that we may have never dreamed possible.  No one knows exactly how quickly it will occur but there are things we can do to speed up the process.

We can be more loving and more kind, we can forgive ourselves and others and we can look for ways to be in service to others.  It seems like a simple list and yet, these things can often be a challenge for us.  If you are looking for a role model on how to be more loving, kind and forgiving, you need not look any further than your own pet.  I think they have been modeling this behavior all along, hoping that we'll notice and begin to do it ourselves.

Even if you aren't sure you believe in the ascension process, you might find that life is a little sweeter if you focus on being kind, loving, forgiving and looking for ways to be in service of others.

Leo's Miracle

Last month I received a call from an old client of mine asking if I could come and do a healing and communication session with her dog Leo.  I had worked with Leo about 7 years ago, when we did Reiki treatments to assist his body in healing from surgery.  Now unfortunately, Leo's mom suspected his time here was coming to an end and she wanted to schedule a session to find out what she could do to help Leo be as comfortable as possible during this last phase of his life.

We schedule something for the following week, but a few days later, Leo's mom called and said he had taken a turn for the worse and she was afraid he wouldn't make it through the night.  He had stopped eating, he was too weak to stand up and when he went to the bathroom, there was a lot of blood in his stool.  I rushed over there that afternoon to do what I could to help.

When I arrived, Leo was laying under a tree in the yard.  It was so wonderful to see him again and I was touched that he was able to lift his head to greet me.  When I put my hands on him, I could feel how badly he felt.  His whole abdomen hurt and he was so tired he could barely keep his eyes open.  He told me that he didn't think he could get better and thought we needed to prepare for the end.  He had some important messages for his mom, which I could tell were things she really needed to hear.  His other request was that they focus on how wonderful his life was and not on the sadness of his transition.  As I continued to do Reiki on him, I got to enjoy hearing stories of Leo's life and could feel his happiness as his former escapades were recounted, especially the time he ate twelve freshly grilled hamburgers off the platter while the family was momentarily distracted.

When I leaned down to kiss him goodbye, my eyes welled with tears.  Even though I knew he would be just fine on the other side, there is still some sadness knowing you won't see them again in the physical world.  I told his mom to keep me posted, as Leo wanted to pass on his own without assistance and she was fine with that, as long as he wasn't in distress.

Over the course of the next week, each update from Leo's mom was curiously positive.  She sent text messages such as "Leo's doing a lot better today" or "Leo was interested in eating this morning" . . . each time she sent an update, it sounded like Leo wasn't going to transition after all.

After a few weeks, Leo seemed to be back to his old self, eating, drinking, exploring the yard and there was no more blood in his stools.  The only issue he was having was some weakness in his back leg so his mom asked me to come over and do another Reiki treatment on him.

When I arrived, this time Leo greeted me at the door, tail wagging.  The first thing he said to me was "Can you believe how good I'm doing?"  It was nothing short of a miracle given the condition he was in when I had last seen him.  His mom and I talked about how wild it was that all the signs we had seen a few weeks before that he was close to transitioning were all gone now.  Leo told me he was just as surprised as we were that he was able to improve.

This time when I was getting ready to leave, Leo walked me outside.  When I reminded him that he should drink a lot of water after a Reiki treatment, he laid down next to his bowl and lapped up a lot of water.

I know we can never predict what the energy will be able to do, that we must trust that it will always do what is in the highest good for the person or the animal.  I have always said that I go into each Reiki treatment hoping for a miracle and this time, I got to witness one.  :-)  It looks like Leo still has some important work to do here.