If We Could Talk Like the Animals…JUST IMAGINE IT!

Fifth Chakra – for workbook

Throat – VISHUDDA

Each chakra can be studied explored and experienced using a variety of techniques. Here at WillowCreek we use conceptual awareness combined with the presence and energy of horses to bring the awareness of these issues surrounding each chakra to you.

The Vishuddha – or throat chakra – is the area of the body we focus on when we are becoming aware of how we express ourselves, how we communicate our needs, our creativity and our personal boundaries.  For most people, the challenges of each chakra as they ascend the body become increasingly complex.  The horses will become more and more of a useful tool in identifying the issues you have surrounding this area as we go up in the chakras.

Communicating to a horse is a very specific thing. Being able to take this understanding out into your human relationships is the benefit working with conscious contact and engaged communication methods.

Horses, amongst themselves, have a constant an ancient exchange of language and expression that we are only partly aware of.  Each movement of a horse’s body is reactive, instinctive and meant to communicate a larger message to the herd it lives within. A horse is a prey animal, therefore can only survive if the herd is strong and communicating well together. There is strength in numbers and each horse has a role, assigned by the herd which benefits the protection and health of the group as a whole. Like a family.  Learning how to exist in groups and express our needs is an important lesson shown to us by the horse and emphasized by a focus on the throat chakra.

Miguel Ruiz in the Four Agreements says we should be “impeccable” with our words.  This doesn’t only mean not lying, it means being honest, which is an entirely different thing.  Being honest means that you are first aware of your own motivations in a communication.  Honest in this case is a harder proposal because we are rarely engaged enough with ourselves to know our own mind when we are reacting or making choices in our human relationships.

awareness, conscious interchange and emotional recognition…

Body Communication:

When you enter into an interchange at whatever level with a horse, you are compelled to be first aware of what you are intending to communicate.  What do you want form the horse? What is your intention?  What are you looking to experience?   Maybe you are going to brush the horse, and so when entering the horse’s space, you are first conscious of being respectful of its hind legs and its enormous size vis-a-vis the position of its body. You are aware of the horse’s ears and what they are telling you about her state of mind. We are forced into awareness with horses because of their daunting size and mysterious communication.  Often in a communication with a human, we tend to be less aware and less present of where the other person is at before we enter into an exchange – less mindful of the individual.  Observation of body language in horses, even just time spent sitting on a chair, observing behaviour of the herd in the paddock, can significantly increase your sensitivity to the body
communication of humans. Horses and humans communicate with their bodies mostly unintentionally and unconsciously. Horses are governed by the innate need to survive.

Responsibility:

With horses, we have a responsibility to be clear and present with our communications.  Sometimes, before people really understand the horse-human relationship, they may take a horse’s aloof or flight reaction personally.  If you make a demand on a horse, and the horse’s reaction is “negative”, then you must find another way to communicate the need to the horse. This is clear and uncomplicated.

But, with a human, if you are setting a boundary or asking something in a communication and not getting what you want maybe you walk away?  Maybe you place the responsibility for properly understanding the communication on the listener and not the communicator?

When I am teaching a student and they tell me that “my horse isn’t listening to me”, I always repeat the adage that was always told me to…

It’s never the horse – it’s always the rider.

I compel the student to reassess HOW they are asking their horse for whatever action they require.  I assure you, a horse will give you what you want, if it is reasonable and you are asking properly.

This is mostly true for the people in our lives.

There are three things we and horses communicate every day:

1-     Needs

2-     Boundaries

3-     Emotions

Sometimes we have difficult conversations with our humans and with our horses. Human find this more difficult than horses do. Horses have the conversation, settle the difference, and it is over.  Humans drag things out into the future, and resentments and anger occurs and it can go on and on, mostly because we aren’t expressing what we need without guilt or reservation, or maybe we are stuffing an emotion and letting it “come out sideways” later, marring our ability to communicate with awareness.

Horses live in the present moment. Maybe you need to ask something of your horse that he does not enjoy, and you know he doesn’t enjoy it but it has to be done, like hosing a sore leg in the case of a horse that is hose shy.  If something is good for someone, we are not so much concerned with the negative reaction as we are with their care and health.

In the case of communication with humans, we often concern ourselves with the thing that is most out of our control  – their reaction.

You are not in charge of another person’s reaction to what you say.

However, you are in control of the meaning and intention and motivation behind what you say through a diligent attention paid to awareness and being honest inside yourself about why you say and do what you do.  This means be aware of how you use your words and the effect they have on the world around you. Understand the need you have for boundaries and respect. Even horses and dogs function in this simple paradigm.

The issue of communication and boundaries is a life long process.  I bet everyone can find some place in their lives where communication could be more healthy.  Horses are an excellent teacher for engaged communication and an impeccable exchange.

Namaste

My Soul’s Portraits

Just a quick follow up. Here is what i came up with following the directions from my previous entry on How to Create your Soul’s Portrait using some very ancient directions.

here they are…the first two. I will keep working this and try and lose my “preconceptions” of the shapes. I find I am working in few circles…too many angles. Not sure..

really enjoying it though!

 

peace and thanks for joining me on this journey!

 

 

My Potty Mouth

The next topic we will be looking at in the upcoming retreat at our farm is the fifth chakra – the throat or Vishuddha.  As usual, whenever we are coming up to a topic, issues in my life abound which keep this area active and challenging!  The throat chakra is all about personal expression. How you set your boundaries and limitations and how you express your needs and desires and how well you represent yourself in your words. Miguel Ruiz in the 4 agreements indicates that “being impeccable with your word” is paramount to balanced happy living.  Violent awords or the use of words which are there only to provide impression an dshock, like swearing, is not a healthy thing for this chakra. Miguel was right. when I swear allot in a day, my energy is lower, I feel more negative. I am discovering how important the words I use about myself and life in general are.

About the chakra:

The Vishuddha is associated with higher discrimination, with creativity and self-expression. When Vishuddha is closed, we undergo decay and death – resentment, anger etc…. When it is open, negative experiences are transformed into wisdom and learning. The success and failure in one’s life depends upon the state of this chakra (polluted/clean). Guilty feeling is the most prominent reason for this chakra to block the Kundalini Energy moving upwards. It is associated with the element Akasha, or Æther, and the sense of hearing, as well as the action of speaking.

This trip is not so easy!

This is one of those cases where I read something, and it makes perfect sense in my head…but my activities and behaviours don’t exactly represent what my head is thinking.  I swear like a trucker, and if you make me angry, I lash out like a serpent.  I re-act rather than act consciously. Focusing and simply being aware of this behavior has made me want to change things up and do better!

Every day I am faced with the challenge of my potty-mouth.  I even shock myself – now that I am paying attention.

Did you know that the F word is so flexible that it can be used probably more than any other word in the English language!

• F*** can be used as a verb both transitive (he f***’d her) and    intransitive (she was f***’d by him).
• a active verb (who really gives a f***?),
• a passive verb (I really don’t give a f***),
• an adverb (He is f***ing amazing with horses) and
• a noun (dumb f***).
• an adjective (this is f***ing beautiful).

Hmm…

If there is a way to swear I have found it.  But, it no longer represents me! It dumbs me down.  I use it mostly for shock value…but maybe my need for shock is gone?  It probably left around the same time as my desire for drama.

This chakra is very interesting to me.

My livelihood is earned as a singer.  There are some that would say I talk allot. It is apparent that this chakra is of predominant interest for me. When the chakra is blocked, that means, when there are thoughts and issues that prevent us from expressing ourselves honestly (which his th ecase for most people), the energy becomes halted in this space. We can experience throat issues – even cancers if the energy stays there stale and detrimental for too long. Awasreness is the key to freeing bound energy.

Even if you don’t understand chakras, or don’t even believe they exist, there can be nothing but positive that comes from a desire to be aware of how we use our words and express our needs.

In younger developmental years, I was not exactly the most diplomatic of people.  it was part of my “self image” that I have many opinions and I made SURE everyone know what those opinions were.  But, as I mature and become more and more aware of everything around me. I find my opinions dropping to the wayside like unnecessary baggage.  I don’t need to be right anymore

Then there is the case of an underused throat chakra. For many years I didn’t sing. This caused great illness inside of me.  I think that once you disciover your creative talent (everyone has one…yes even you!) and you choose not to use it for whatever reason, the area of your body which houses the energy for that talent become blocked and illness results.

For many people, one of the main reasons this area of the body becomes blocked is because we don’t know how to express what we need when we need it. We allow things to build up until BLAM it all comes out sidesways in a liturgy of unhappiness.  Ruiz says we like to “share our poison” with others. When we have sadness or confusion or frustration, we explode outwards and try to dump all that thorat poison onto the nearest victim, usually our closest friends and family.

Many of us also weren’t exactly given the greatest role models for expression of self.  Then again, you can’t teach what you don’t know. My parents came from a time when women contained their needs and were in a  state of self sacrifice for their families – the definition of a “good mother”.  I would have loved my first mother to still be alive and see this new understanding that we are adopting that if we don’t have our own selves filled and taken care ofm, we certainly can’t take proper care of our families.  The old “fill your own cup” first – take the oxygen masks for yourself before putting it on your child. Yes…this is the right idea.

When I started to “Self center” myself, my family did not react very well.  It ws difficult for them to adapt to someone who was always leeching energy from them, to someone who was trying to find it within themselves.  Over time, we have communicated better and they have gained an understanding and appreciation for the work it takes to “be ok with yourself”.  I am a better example – especially for my girls today, who it seems have not in any way apopted this “subservient” silent women’s role that has plagued our cultures.  No, they have no problem expressing themselves at all…ever.

Guilt is a plaguing force. It is the most useless of all emotions. The most counterproductive.  It contains only false thoughts about you and about the world you live in.  It tells you are not enough. Makes you relive and relive the past – which by the way, can’t be changed.  Accepting the past, taking responsibility for your actions today and now, and making amends where you need to are the actions that heal guilt. In order to achieve this, you have to get very honest with yourself – and concurrently loose all judgment of you and your past actions.  All actions in the past are meant to bring you to where you are today.  Stand still – look at where you are. Whatever it is in the past that plagues you – was meant to help you become YOU! Guilt makes you look back over your should and get a sore neck…ways looking backwards, never forwards.

After my first marriage fell apart, mostly because of me, it took me years and years to understand this truly in my heart. It’s a tough thing to overcome!  But if you do – you will find yourself at a new level and potential for happiness.  Focusing on the throat and expressing what you need with conscious intention, is the healer.

If the devil had a voice, and if I believed in the devil, I would say it would sound like guilt.

So…f*** guilt.

And have a great day.

~Namaste~

CREATING A PORTRAIT OF YOUR SOUL

How to create your own Soul’s Mandala:

Different spiritual traditions through the ages have developed a variety of ways of describing the soul and its physical characteristics. Hindu tradition portrays the physical body as being governed by a series of seven rotating energetic centers called chakras which means “wheel” in Sanskrit.  Each chakra has an attributed colour, the wavelength of which is said to match the energetic wavelength of the body’s center. The chakras are said to be the connection between the ethereal and the physical realms of existence.

Other traditions such as those related to Buddhism, portray the soul as a Lotus flower.  In certain Buddhist and Tibetan traditions, spiritual followers create visual interpretations of this philosophy through the use of Mandalas.  A Mandala is a series of concentric circles or circular like shapes which portray the soul of the creator. Circles have been a source of power throughout history.  A circle drawn upon the ground in certain magical rituals serves as a protection against undesirable forces that are being invoked.  North American Indians speak of life as a circle flowing from one into another.

The act of creating a Mandala is a type of meditation in and of itself.  Visually focusing your mind can help to quiet the runaway train of thoughts that may be running on unconsciously.  Mandalas can help awaken your sense of personal consciousness.

This project is one I developed to create certain skills in the willing participant. That of following direction and intuition concurrently is the most important. The following directions for the creation of your own soul’s Mandala are loose and sometimes purposefully unspecific.  They are based on the description of the soul as described by Alice Bailey’s mentor and channeled teacher Djwal Khul.

Prep: Get yourself a pencil, colours if you have them, a comfortable spot.  Choose the colours you feel drawn to for each step of the creation.  Make tea. There are no rules.

1-      You will begin by creating a nine petalled lotus as the center of your soul. Use any colour(s) you want. You may find that the colours you choose tell you some things about how you portray and view yourself – so try not to follow any “chakra colour” rules.

2-      At the central point, create an electrical fire which emanates outwards into a further three petals which encompass and protect the 9 petalled lotus.  Each of the three outer petals encompasses three of the inner lotus.

1. The three outer petals extend outwards to the sphere of your life’s influence.
2. Represent this in any way you want.  You can consider the use of collage and magazine clippings if you want to represent your “sphere of influence” to yourself.
3. In other words, what does your life touch?

3-      The three petals encircling the lotus into groups of three pets each are named Knowledge, Love and Will. As you go through life, the sets of three of these are activated depending on your life path and place in your learning.

4-      As your incarnations in lives progress, the colours of your soul deepen and become more vibrant. The vibrancy arises from the root of all. Depict this concept in your Mandala. Where are you activated?

5-      As you evolve towards consciousness  of self – the three outer petals of each center are energized:

1. The three petals of Knowledge are activated, organized and vitalized first: This occurs in the “Hall of Ignorance” (Outer Court)– the phase of life where everything is experienced on the physical level.
2. The three petals of Love are activated in the “Hall of Learning” (Inner Court) – you seek to spiritualize your learning consciously.
3. Lastly – activation of the petals of Will (also called sacrifice) in the “Hall of Wisdom” – also called the Holy of Holies.

6-      These three things do not happen separately – but concurrently. In and out, over time. The completion of each is marked by one of three initiations in the three courts of the Temple.

7-      The fundamental colour of the petals is orange with iridescent green, violet blue, rose yellow and indigo.

 

 

I will publish my own interpretation of this after a few days, and will encourage you to do the same – share your soul with us!

 

~Namaste~

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HEADING INTO THE HEART

The heart is a funny organ. It is the center of the body, the place where all life comes forward from.  the heart is sustained by our lungs – and is the force behind the distribution of the oxygen and blood necessary for our and organs. The heart is the engine – the machine that keeps it all going.

We are starting to understand that it is important not only to take care of our physical heart – but our spiritual hearts a well; we know now that an uncared for heart can manifest into a thousand different problems. Physical problems like heart attacks and cancer can be directly related to the spiritual and emotional impact of our emotions and choices on the heart.

When I was young and was having problems making a decision my mother would always say “Follow your heart”.   I suppose this meant that she expected there was a great wisdom which resided inside of me, and that if I followed the direction my heart told me to, this would create the best outcome for me.  The thing is, we mostly don’t have any clue as to how to listen to the heart, because we are so busy listening to the mind. The mind tells us all sorts of things.  The problem is, the mind very rarely tells the truth.   It has opinions, judgement and makes decisions based in fear, avoidance and reaction.   The mind tells us we are not capable of a thing, or that we are not worthy of a certain positive outcome. The mind focuses in the past and future and is never ever in the current moment in which you stand.  The mind exists in a constant state of illusion. The world it brings to your awareness is also an illusion. realizing this is like waking up from a very long dream and realizing that in real life – you can fly.

The sound of the heart is silence.  It is emptiness which is in and of itself full.  The feeling of the heart is peace – relaxed and accepting.  Joy and serenity are the results of applying heart knowledge when making choices and interacting with your life. 

Someone with an OPEN HEART is said to be loving, giving, caring and approachable.  A closed heart is someone who is self-protecting, fears vulnerability and probably has allot of ego interference in his or her relationship. someone with a closed heart is difficult to communicate with because they take everything personally. The closed heart shuts out the world in self protection –  and an open heart invites it in fearlessly.

The WAY to open your heart? Act “as if” – from this moment on.  Don’t spend the whole day thinking about all the reasons things aren’t going your way. Don’t spend any time at all thinking about why people aren’t like you want them to be Spend LOTS of time just LOOKING…just observe. Watch…yourself and others.

If a chance to be of service presents itself – do it.  Be a good ear, be a hand, be the change you want to see in your community or family.

Some ideas:

* Love without reserve or requirement. Love everyone – but love YOU first.

* Keep energy giving people – let go of energy vampires: Invite people into your life who help your heart feel at ease, happy and accepted and loved unconditionally.  Deter people who are negative energy for you. The needy, the angry and the resentful.  They have their own issues to deal with. Love them – but don’t spend lots of time with them.

* Be of service – lend a hand.   Say a prayer or hold a positive thought for someone you don’t even know – but would like to see be ok.  Random acts of kindness are a big hit with your heart. Do a service for someone every day …but don’t let anyone know. It’s a secret – between you and your heart. Shhhh

* Understand that love doesn’t mean “people pleasing” – love means knowing yourself, setting your boundaries and filling your own cup before turning to fill others.

* Eat well. You already now what this means.  More green – less white.

* Don’t stay angry – use the anger to discover yourself. . Repressed energy will reveal itself in disease.  Talk things out. Find the REAL reason why you’re angry (Hint: anger is fear. Resentment is fear. Find out what you’re afraid of).

*Resentments will kill you. Don’t have them. Resentments are not natural, not healthy, counterproductive, exhausting, distracting and they are completely unnecessary.   Plus – you have a role in each one.  The second you are able to understand what YOUR part in the resentment is…it will POOF away like magic. OK…well maybe not magic but it won’t govern you, and that’s the goal.

* Silence – every single day, without exception, you need to stay still for a moment and just be QUIET.  Forget about meditating or any of that – just stay still. Stand there. Don’t move. Just breathe..and feel your heart beating.  Feel your pulse…be with your heart.

*Express yourself creatively – Your heart can be “quieted” through a centering and expression exercise every day. I like journalling. It is a steady foundation for me, a way which I communicate with God as I understand it, and allows me to see myself away from my interior emotions.  A good tool also for sorting out resentments anger and fear.

My next entry will be a real down an dirty look at resentment, anger and the aspects of our lives that cause us to close our hearts.

Until then – I hope you are filled with abundant joy and a sure knowledge of the divinity you are in this life.

It is an honour to share this with you.

~Namaste~

All My Mothers

I was 25 when I became a mother and my mother became a grandmother.  We were both caught by surprise by the whole thing.  I grew enormous in my first pregnancy, and while I waddled around managing a health club the owner plyed me with any food I wanted which mostly included escargot sautéed in tomatoes with garlic.   Many celebrations surrounded this pregnancy, and my partner and I at the time made the quick transition from youth to adulthood.

This pregnancy was a milestone for many people. It was certainly a first for both my mother and I – this entry into mothering children.  We were just beginning our own relationship – and now we would become a team and raise this child that was growing inside of me.  We have a unique story my mother and I. Most people don`t really understand it – but we do.

I was adopted at 4 days old by my first parents.  I had always felt “proud” of being adopted.  The story I was told was that I had been chosen because I was special. They found me in a  room amongst a hundred  other babies, fell in love with me, wrapped me in the pink blanket I was known to hail with me everywhere and took me home.  I had a lovely childhood, filled with an abundance of people, birthday presents and travel.   Everyone in my life loved me and I became the focus of attention for my large family which included 4 much older sisters and 2 much older brothers.

My siblings were mostly grown and had moved out of the family home. All except my two sisters, one a singer, the other an artist.  For most of my early years, they plied me with their inspiration, taking me with them everywhere. I remember being as young as five years old, when my parents would wake me and bundle me up to g and see my sister sing in beautiful dinner clubs with velvet cushions that felt nice under my cheek as I would curl up on the bench and fall back asleep to my sister’s strong melodic voice.  I was literally weaned on the live music scene.   I began to get on stage at 5, with her tambourine, playing easily and rhythmically to Chatanooga Choo choo.  Those were the days of live disco and excitement in the clubs ran high as I grew older and began to follow her to dance clubs where women wore flashy eye makeup and men wore white pants.  It was a great time to be growing up.

Back home my other sister, the artist, would be my “home ground”, and safe place.  She taught me visual self-expression, taking me to cool places like the YMCA Montreal where she ran an arts and crafts programs for kids,and we got to make masks out of papier-mache, all painted and freaky looking. She introduced me to Swensen`s Ice Cream in Montreal and sang me lullabies.  She taught me how to sing harmonies, always making doing the after dinner dishes fun. And when my parent;s marriage began to fall to pieces, she became my refuge and gave me a home.

I learned about mothering fundamentals with her.  As she had her own children, I would spend many summers and weekends at her place, learning what it was like to have to pay constant attention to small people.  creatively gifted, she would initiate the most amazing projects with the kids and we would spend happy summers under the sprinkler, eating popsicle and watching the kids skip and play hop-scotch on the streets.  Long nights of backgammon, getting my butt kicked in Trivial Pursuit or learning difficult and addictive card games like canasta are all tucked neatly away in my happy memories.

Every life has turning points. One of the biggest ones for me came when at 13 I discovered that one of my four sisters was in fact my biological mother.  This is the part when most people take out a paper and pencil to try to make all the right connections:  My mother is my sister, my nephew and nieces are my cousins and my sister is my mother and my mother is my grandmother, my father is my grandfather and my brothers are my uncles and my sisters are my aunts.  Did you get all that? No? Well don’t feel bad – neither did I for a long time.    So, I just ignored it.

I guess that’s probably the best way to see it at the time.  I chose to continue to maintain the same relationships with people.  Certainly, I reasoned, you don’t have the same relationship with an aunt or uncle as you do a brother or sister? And with my sisters especially since I was so close to them, it was unimaginable for em to have to about     establish some sort of preemptive  distance from them now just because they were really just Aunts?  Aunt seemed less important than they were to me and I couldn’t seem to “downgrade” them.

Most of the people in the family, including my two sisters, did not know my biological history.  It only strikes me now in my adulthood that I had never considered their adjustment to the news and relationships in their own head.  Obviously, this whole “outing” of a big family secret caused some changes.

I was sent to Africa to live with my biological mother where I lived the happiest months in my memory.  My parents meanwhile made arrangements to separate.  My mother moved to Florida soon after I returned from Africa the following year. I was placed in private boarding school. Two years later she died of cancer in Florida.

I graduated and went to university at the young age of 16.  My father was dating again and I had 6 years to spend with an awesome woman what he took up with, She loved big family events and had enough money to spend to have a really great time with all of us, so we would have enormous family gatherings and celebrations for no other reason than just to be together. one year we all went to Florida.  About 10 of the kids (because together we were 12 kids), and my father and his girlfriend. She taught me how to make a chocolate mousse as she had learned at a cooking school in France.  We screwed it up about 5 times but had a terrific time eating the remnants We did art with clay with her girls and played football on the beach.  She made my father happy in a way I had never seen him. And when he refused to stop working because he was addicted to it, and she wanted to have a happy free life from work , she broke up with him and taught me about self-respect and putting yourself first in making choices for your life.

My father remarried another woman after her.  A nurse and caretaker, she helped him in his final years happy and peaceful and well cared for.  A quiter person and less inclined to spend time with the children, she probably gave him the time to himself that he needed after so many years of raising children and caring for other people.

At 25 my pregnancy hailed the real onset of my relationship with my biological mother.  After so many years of missing being my mother, she jumped into grand-parenthood with all of her heart and soul – loving and caring for my children as she would have her own.  We were a great team!  She always respected the views I had on motherhood, supported and cared for me during my divorce. She married and he became the my children’s most loving attentive grandfather imagineable. I couldnt imagine anyone else being their grandfather.   She taught me more in the example of her living than anyone could through the wisdom of their words.  The courage to give up a child and then stick around to support it throughout its life, putting your own wishes and desires aside for the best interest of the child – I can;t imagine how much strength she had.  I am at a loss as to what to say about my biological mother.  Right now she has cancer. We are all afraid for her health.  Long ago we decided together that we would “drop the labels”, that labels aren’t important when it comes to people’ relationships.   Our relationship is beyond label and description – it is sister-mother-friend-guide-partner….it goes on. I am so grateful.

How the story ends…or begins again?  Karma – I ended up with seven of my own children.  In the end no big daunting revelatory thought…just that Motherhood has taught me about love.  Perfect unending unconditional love.

Mothers come in many forms.  I believe we pick our mother – or in my case, team of mothers.  They all teach us different important things:

I picked a courageous woman to give birth to me.  I picked a woman who needed to love again to mother me.  I picked a woman whose eyes see the world beautifully to teach me.  I picked a woman who could help me find my voice to guide me. I picked a woman who would believe in me to help me succeed.  I picked a women who would teach me about forgiveness in the end.

See here`s to all of our mothers – the women who have taught us to be the men or women we are: The women who put band aids on our cuts, made our lunches and told us to go to bed.  The women who listened to our stories of teenage angst and tried to stay out of our way as we were finding our own identity.  Here`s to the women who stuck with us when we made choices they could see would cause us pain and misery – and then still listened to us at 2:00 in the morning as we whined about consequences.

Here`s to the mother`s who have helped you find your soulshine.

Happy Mother`s Day.

Namaste

Matters of the Heart –

Lately we have begun to do energetic retreats on my farm where each month we focus on a specific Chakra and work with horses and in nature to reconnect our awareness and understanding to that specific chakra.  Some say that there are seven of these energetic centers in a human body. Other schools of thought have identified many more – but we keep it to the basic seven. We use our understanding of these energetic centers and our more extensive knowledge of equine behaviour, to help people connect back to themselves through horses.  Our horses are pretty special, and each on seems to have its own specific talent with people.

What seems to happen for me is that as I study a particular center,  my life events revolves around the issues that the chakra we are studying brings up. The fourth (current) chakra addresses matters of the heart – the issues of love – and I find myself challenged and riding the wave of events and activities around me.

To bring you up to date – we have explored the first three Chakras.

The first dealing with the basic necessities of life – companionship, food shelter, clothing, a job – this Chakra is very “earth bound” and tends to deal with the most early memories a person has. The ones that teach us about how the world functions.  The memories explored in this Chakra have to do with our parents and the family group we were raised in.

The second Chakra has to do with you creative nature – again an “earthbound” physical chakra.  Here we observed how we work in groups, what our creative styles were and how we could go about in our lives expressing our creativity.  This chakra also deals with out relationship with sex and creation as a sexual process.  Many women in the retreat had never considered their sexual experiences in a way that contributes to their understanding of who they really are. This one lasted the longest – talking around  fire into the wee hours.

The third Chakra dealt with emotions.  I suppose the spiritual goal is to, as they say, become “master” of our emotions, but I am not sure it is possible to be a human and really do that. Even Jesus was supposed to have lost his temper with all of the merchants doing business in a church.  The Buddha was overcome with grief when we saw all the poverty around him.  These are human emotions.  It’s what we do with these emotions that lays within our power. It is not within out power whether or not we have them.  The study of this chakra in nature in encouraged through quiet presence and awareness.  Horses encouraged us to be present with emotion and realizing that emotions can’t kill you but is simply present to allow you to understand yourself in any situation.

And now we have come to the fourth chakra – and issues of the heart and the energy of love. 

Historically we are confounded by love. we have complicated it in a way that is amazing to me.  We have different “applications” for love – romance, children, family, friends – we seem to believe there are different forms of it for tailor made for each relationship. Each form of this love is more or less open and vulnerable and giving than the next.  We love conditionally.  This is human nature. We love with expectations, and requirement and need. We love because it is good for us, or because it makes us happy and we feel good.

We pull back our love and close our heart when things don’t go the way we think they should. We withhold love when we fear being emotionally damaged by our vulnerability. We use the idea of love as a weapon to get what we want from others.  We say “I love you” with autonomic regularity, rarely giving consideration to the real meaning of the words.

The fourth Chakra – the energetic center of our “heart” as well as the physical center of our body. It is the bridge between the earth bound and ethereal chakras. The heart is the jumping off place – faith is it progenitor. is where we are coming up to in the next retreat.  It is an issue of love – compassion, empathy. The heart Chakra is the  first portal to the “other-world” – the spiritual eternity every human questions and ponder.  Buddhists and Hindus will tell you that you have access to this paradise of gentle living, here in this lifetime – if only you could give up all of your preconceived notions of right and wrong, and accept the present moment.

The heart has everything to do with the current state of affairs you find yourself in.   The energy of the heart is most present when EGO is sleeping.  HEART and EGO don’t speak the same language, so they don’t really hang out together much.  EGO finds that when HEART speaks, he goes to sleep, quickly bored of the sweet drone of her voice. When HEART is open, SOUL loves to come out and play!  She likes to find other souls and talk with them. SOUL loves to play when the playground is full of love.

In preparing this next retreat, I am driven to better understand what the heart is all about.   In my search for understanding, the Universe seems to be providing me with ways to explore what “conditional” and unconditional love is.  What true love means, and how it fits into my life.  The “feeling” of love with anyone in my life seems to be expanding and I feel a tremendous peace and lack of anxiety about the future – a rare and pleasant state for me.  I am present – with my heart – and find that my thoughts and concerns turn from personal introspection to a compassion and concern for the people in my world.

To better understand…I wrote  poem to share with you.

WHAT LOVE ISN’T

Love isn’t  being nice to everyone.

Love isn’t letting the world use you as a doormat.

Love doesn’t mean that everyone will like you.

Sometimes the greatest acts of love

cut to the deepest place,

and can change you forever.

And that’s ok.

Love isn’t ice cream on a cone,

or sweet flowers in a vase.

Love is a goodbye,

when hellos are holding you back

Or you suddenly hear your own lie.

Love is an ear,

when the mouth wants to move.

Love is seeing you,

without needing to see myself.

Love isn’t a complicated thing,

It’s all in the heart,

Opening wide -

and suddenly expands…

Creating a new star.

Love is expansion

Holding within it’s own self

the possibility of everything.

~Namaste~

NEXT RETREAT – MAY 19 -

SOUL AND EGO: Writing Our Own Stories

This is what Soul Would Say:

Earth has an ego and a soul – just like we do. The massacres in Boston yesterday, were the ego – an ego we are ALL responsible for.  The Ego wants to make a point, it wants to be RIGHT it wants to “win” and it wants to “own” the material.  This makes absolutely no sense at all.  Does it make sense to you?  Ask yourself the hard questions. It won’t hurt.

Often it takes a catastrophic event to remind us that we are all a part of a living cell; a macro-cosmic environment which is our planet.  Just as with our human-physiological selves(the microcosmic version of earth) when one system is out of whack, the whole thing goes a little screwy.  The planet has an ego just like we do…and it has a Soul.  Yesterday Boston saw another ugly display of Ego trying to make a point about something unimportant and completely motivated by fear. This is a difficult time of change.

The fact is that right now  the energetic system of our planet is readjusting, and we are seeing all sorts of strange  happenings personally and globally. Bombs at the Boston Marathon, epidemics of cancer, teen suicide, grown men shooting children in the face for wanting to go to school, mental illness at an all time incredible high.  The planet is sick. Did you know nearly 850,000 people this year alone will kill themselves?

We have incredible strength and power in our thoughts.   What you think will be created.  I not only believe it, but when my Ego is quiet enough, when I am diligent in my spiritual practice, I can even work with this idea directly. We all can. It’s not some special magical power like a super hero or religious leader that only special people get. It is a power which resides equally within each of us.  The choices you make will directly implicate how much of this power you become aware and connected to.

That is why there is so much power in prayer – no matter what your belief system; prayer is universal.

Information and a relatability between each other is also emerging at a furious pace.  We need to both acknowledge and use our “powers” as soon as possible.

Beyond how you eat and and whether or not you do yoga, this power is accessible and available to you. You just have to decide it really. The amazing thing is that once you know how to access your own, then you can directly help the entire planet. We all can.  One person – one light at a time.   Quantum physics is constantly re-proving how far reaching the implications of a simple single thought can be in epic detail.  It’s really an amazing age to be living in.

But we have so much tragedy. That’s the way it is when things change. Similar to the 60′s when an energetic shift in consciousness caused tremendous social upheaval as well.  It amazes me how we still idealize the 60′s in our popular media, with it’s flowers and love, cool beads, music, sexual liberation and civil rights – often forgetting that these great acts of creation, either ideological or artistic, were propagated by tremendous national and international pain and fear.  The 60′s and 70′s were a precursor to what is happening now, and they were chalk full of tragedy and drama and horrifying events.  The death’s of great minds and leaders, social upheavals - again a readjustment period.  We are experiencing a stepped up version of this time in our current circumstance I believe.

Now events are much more powerful and pervasive. We have a physically globally connected singular world mind, in the form of the internet. Its consequences and effects are beyond anything we could ever have imagined and we are just at the very tip of something that is inclining us to learn how closely connected to all of the energies around us that we really are.

Some people are starting to understand the implications of this and are hopping on the bus with both feet towards a fearless conscious evolution.  This emergent understanding of ourselves as energetic spiritual beings, connected in every way to and from our creative source, far supersedes anything religion has ever attempted to delve into. Why? Because weren’t ready.  Learning anything, I have been taught with horses, is like learning the alphabet.  You cannot make too many words if you skip learning certain letters.  You need the whole alphabet to make sentences. And so, now, we have access to the whole alphabet, and we are starting to write our own stories.

The only things that will last are the things we attach to the only aspect of existence that doesn’t change – and that is our own personal consciousness. Our energy. Our US-ness. The I AM part of you. Even if you have never heard this, I bet somewhere inside of you this makes some weird kind of unrelatable sense. That’s the way deep truth feels. Intangible but solid.

Boston was a horrible tragedy. But so are the countless deaths in Afghanistan every day.  There are many hundreds if not many thousands of children who have watched their own fathers die there, as did the little 8 year old boy who sadly experienced this with his own father at the Boston Marathon Bombings.  Are those fathers less important to their children?  I don’t think so. We just need to stop killing each other.

Segue…

I am going away for a few days to be alone. It will be good to clear my mind.  I like to meditate and gather my energies back when I have a chance to do this – unplug from technology and remember what I feel like – unhindered.

I am very lucky in my life to have the help and support of an incredible Tribe. My tribe is very special. We have consciously chosen one another.  We choose to be honest and supportive. We help each other be brave and fearless in our life choices, and we mostly spend time reminding each other of who we really are.

Everyone needs a tribe. Ego hates my tribe. When I “hang with my tribe”, in whatever form it is in that day, ego is mighty quiet.

He wouldn’t get a word in edgewise over the cackling anyway.

~Namaste~

ROUND 13: Soul Sings a Song!

There are two things I have come to know for sure in life. The first is you WILL get what you pray for – SO BE CAREFUL!  Maybe (probably) it won’t arrive in the form, shape or colour you thought it would arrive, but I can guarantee you my friends, that if you pray earnestly for something..you will get it.

The second thing that I have learned is that the more we think we know how this life will turn out, the more incredibly wrong we will find we are.  There are surprises EVERYWHERE! At every turn, I have been shown the unpredictability and absolute adventurous magic of this life, and I am in awe.   Sometimes, the story bends and turns darkly.  It can be filled with loss and drama and grief, as much as it can overflow with love and gratitude and joy.

How I experience any event in my life entirely has to do with how determined I am to stay spiritually connected.  Soul keeps me and my overly active mind on the straight and narrow.   Ego is always  busy lifting power weights and gearing up for when I let my presence and awareness slip away.

Ego has a chance to come out and play if I don’t sleep enough, don’t eat well, don’t excercise and meditate. Ego has an especially great time if I forget to set boundaries, go around motivated by people-pleasing and allow myself to dwell in the illusion of guilt from the past or anxiety in the future.  Ego never seems to exist in THIS particular moment.  Where there is a desire to maintain a conscious contact to our creative/creator source, without the encumbrances and limitations of human expectations on that relationship.

But life isn’t all very predictable, and knowing where and when to head off Ego at the pass becomes a challenge of staying present and aware in this moment. I think God keeps it real – so there are curves in the road.  And thank God for those curves!  If we could know the ENTIRE story and how it were to unfold BEFORE hand, we would probably just stand there terrified to move forward at all like deer caught in the headlights.  It’s those curves that give us space and allowance and time to assimilate the next set of challenges on the road.

 

There are always surprises…you never know how anything will turn out really.

******************************************************************************************************************************************************

Soul hears a knock at the door…

She opens it and finds another – just like her…

Loneliness lifts. The sun shines.

Thank God for the curves in the road.  She is surprised that she is not on her knees.

In fact…She is elated.

A song fills the room – a sweet soulful melody, moving in and out of time gently like silk.

Soul begins to sing inside, deep in the place where songs are created.

Ego sends out a muffled barely audible sound from beyond the mind- Soul doesn’t hear him.

“That song sucks”.

Soul smiles and continues her sweet composition.

The stars turn their faces towards the Her and stand still in rapt attention.

The sun and the moon dance lightly between one another in the falling midday sun.

Her song is a breath of relief that she is till here – she feels it deeply in this moment- the one that is her gift to herself.

Soul is on fire. In this moment there is only her song and nothing else.

The sound of something like a summer night compliments the tune. Soul feels like she is writing with the whole world as her orchestra and Love is her muse.

Ego…?

What ego?

 

HEALING WITH HORSES – THE THIRD CHAKRA

HEALING WITH HORSES – THE THIRD CHAKRA

WILLPOWER – INTUITION – FEAR- GUT FEELING- PERSONAL POWER

Building Spiritual Confidence

Third Chakra Lesson Of the Horse:  “You’re allowed to be afraid – but you can’t let it govern your choices and actions”

 

A horse naturally knows when you are comfortable with being approached as demonstrated here by JJ and Tiara.

The third chakra is considered to be the center of energetic power of a person; it is our “gut feeling”, our intuition and our desire to move forward – our willpower.  If your third chakra is out of alignment or is blocked, then you will experience lack of feeling powerful, lack of willpower, hesitancy in decision making, and an inability to move forward on plans you have for yourself.  You will continuously questions your intuition or gut feelings about things.  You will find that you ignore your gut, and then regret it.  Physiologically, Third Chakra blockage results in digestive issues and sensitivities.

We are encouraged through the study of chakras to become aware that we are both physical and energetic beings – spiritual in nature, and connected to a higher source, in whichever way you conceive of that source.  Through the practices of presence and awareness, we become more in tune with our connection to that divine source and the manner in which it communicates to us directly, is through our “gut instincts”.  Connecting with that source and really understanding where your center of power comes from – is the ticket to the removal of all fear.

Historically we have downplayed our instinct in favour of pure rationalism – today that is changing. Women especially have been taught over the millennia to “tune down” their inner navigational systems. In North America the culture has been created around a belief that “emotional response” is weak and invalid, when in reality, an ability to listen to and make decisions based on a faithful understanding of the “Still small voice” within – is the most powerful choice a human being can make.  Not paying attention to our inner guidance has resulted in the evolution of a culture run entirely cerebrally and materialistically – and that kind of focus is getting us nowhere fast. .  We have entered an age when this is simply no longer enough for what we need to survive and thrive.

By participating in any program which allows you to return to a basic presence and understanding of your “gut”, individuals are contributing to the healthy continued evolution of the planet.  We are finding that reconnection to nature and to animals in general, horses specifically is an effective way of living a more peaceful and energetically connected life, allowing you to rely on your instinct as a real tool in decision making.

There are many ways of perceiving and dealing with our chakras.  Horses are an exceptionally effective way of understanding where your blockages lay and how to manage them.  Horses reflect a person’s interior energy.  They are not aware of what you are trying to tell them on the outside, but rather focus on the true energetic intention you bring into your interaction.  You can be smiling on the outside, but if you are deeply frightened or sad in truth, a horse will know it and will reflect this back to you in no uncertain terms.

PREY VS PREDATOR

A horse is a prey animal. Therefore its only resource for survival is its ability to run. On occasion horses will use a “fight” response when they are afraid, but this only occurs if they feel trapped or unable to escape a perceived threat.  See any similarities to the way you might handle conflict in your life?

In horseback riding, I often teach that the most important part of your body to be aware of during any equine interaction is the third chakra solar plexus area.  It is your center of gravity in the sadlle. If you know where your center is, you will have a more connected safe and enjoyable ride.  By being aware of the sensations in the solar plexus, you bring yourself immediately back to center and into a space of recognizing the present moment in your experience.

When I ask a new nervous rider -

“How are you feeling”?

Often people will unconsciously put their hands to their solar plexus if they are feeling nervous or anxious.  If they are feeling joyful and relaxed, their hands move to their heart.

One of my favourite lessons taught to me by horses is that we are all allowed to BE AFRAID…we’re just not allowed to let that fear govern our decisions.

Horses do not react aggressively if you are afraid. This is a myth. Horses however will not stay with you, stand beside you or feel entirely comfortable with you, if you exhibit signs of insecurity because they will sense this and fear that there may be a real reason for being afraid, putting them in a state of preparedness to flee.

If your mind is scared, which happens to everyone, horses can teach you how to allow that to be, but generate a centered peaceful feeling in your body.  This is a matter of awareness and discipline. Now, imagine if you could take this kind of awareness into your interactions with people in your life? Your body is allowed to be fearful, but your mind is centered and relaxed knowing that the fear is only generated by your thoughts. The results can be quite fantastic.

The third charka can be a response to intuition  – our higher sense of knowing that goes beyond thought and human emotion.  We feel our “gut” when we are going to make a move in our life and are not sure which direction to take.  |We pay attention to our gut with our children.  We pay attention to our gut when we are placing bets on a football game.

Honing the ability to listen to and TRUST your “gut”, is a most important tool in spiritually understanding your life. Horses can be very helpful.

In this chakra exercise, we will work with horses to understand both how powerful our conscious and subconscious intentions can be, and how our intereacvtions with animals can help us to know our personal truth on a more profound and functional level.

Horses are animals which exist entirely off of “gut feeling”. By spending time in quiet observation  of the herd we will come to see how their subtle yet complex system of communication, based entirely on “gut instinct”, serves to keep horses both safe and balanced within their herds.  We will spend time sketching drawing or representing the horses in our own creative way.  Then in the round pen, each participant will be given the opportunity to work energetically one on one with a horse of their choosing.

The activity begins by using your gut to choose your horse.  Then later, once you get to know the personality of your equine partner better, you will come to understand and explain to the group what it is about that horse that attracted you, what it was in their energy that reflected back to you something about yourself which is of key importance in your spiritual development.

Horses make us vulnerable.  They are big, we are small. They are mysterious to most people and yet,  are quite obvious to them.

Being vulnerable and aware of the sensations of your body in a state of vulnerability will allow you to transpose what you learn about yourself, into your “non retreat” world.

Horses are gentle brilliant teachers.

I look forward to the continuing journey with you!

QUESTIONS:

1-      Can you remember some times in your life when you had a “gut feeling” about something and ignored it? What happened?

2-      How do fear, anger and resentment feel in your body?  Where do they arise?

3-      Did your parents and environment teach you to honour your instinct?

4-      Are you afraid of horses? What is it that makes you afraid? List all of the “things” you can imagine happening that are bad in your interaction with a horse.

5-      Finish this sentence… “ When I have a gut feeling I….”

6-      How do you protect yourself when you feel threatened?

7-      State 10 things in your life you have POWER over. List 10 things you are POWERLESS over.

8-      Where does your personal power come from?