Art For Your Heart

ur happy place 10/26

2011-10-24T10:14:00.000-07:00

For the New moon from jan spiller's website, www.janspiller.com:
enjoy... till next time..xx

NEW MOON REMINDER… Wednesday, OCTOBER 26, Scorpio 2:56 pm EST, is the New Moon Power Day in October! Don’t miss this opportunity to make wishes for goals you’d like to reach and experiences you’d like to have.
Because this New Moon is in the sign of SCORPIO, it’s a powerful time for new beginnings in relationships that evoke your passion: perhaps with a sexual partner or a business partner. It is the most potent New Moon of the year for wishes involving Soul Mates or relieving personal debt. Things you may have wanted to happen in your life for a long time can begin easily manifesting through using the boost of this profound and potent New Moon.
For success, your wishes must be handwritten on paper and ten wishes maximum are allowed on each power day. The most potent time is the first 8 hours AFTER the exact time of the New Moon; within the first 48 hours will still work. The potency continues to exist for another twelve hours, but is weaker. For clear success, it’s best to avoid wishing during those hours when the Moon is Void of Course.
Therefore in OCTOBER 2011, your most potent times for wishing are:

Wednesday: 3:57 pm – midnight

Thursday: clear for making wishes all day and night

Friday: 12:01 am – 7: 48 am, 10:45 am – midnight
These times are in Eastern Standard Time and need to be converted to your local time zone. The Moon Box on the Homepage of this site will tell you how many hours difference your location is from the Eastern Time Zone in the US.
Among other things, SCORPIO rules the passion necessary to propel us to a victory. The energy of SCORPIO is discipline and fixed on its goal, especially if that goal involves a relationship.
Because the New Moon of November is in the sign of SCORPIO it is the most potent time of the year for wishing to increase your psychic or psychological abilities; the wisdom to see how to create a deeper bond with someone important to you; the insight to see how to resolve situations involving debt

ur happy place 10/19

2011-10-18T14:10:00.001-07:00

Here is a sampling of the goodies you can win!!!!!!!! keep for yourself or get started on your stocking stuffers, gifts for your goddess sisters, mom, aunties, wife......or a bit of both :)
Yes! Stamps for your Holiday greeting cards

Shine Your Heart necklace!

Hands and Heart necklace

Buddha Love necklace

Buddha Love T shirt

To Enter:
On Halloween/Samhain, Oct 31st, I'll send out my newsletter. If you already receive it, just follow the link to my new website, check it out and then send a reply to my newsletter letting me know one thing you like about the new site That's it! You'll be entered.

If you 're not on my list or you want to add someone, go the my website www.deborahdonofrio.com to the BLOG PAGE and sign up for the newsletter. This enters you into the give- a- way too!

Either way, one entry only.

until next time...xx

ur happy place 10/12

2011-10-09T07:24:00.000-07:00

A Tough Day at the Office

Mermaid Chronicles 10.9. 2011/Crane Beach, Ipswich, Ma

arrival: 4:30 pm

sunset: 6:15pm

Here are some behind the scene shots from the video I am creating for my website!

goofing..if u can't laugh at urself...call me the humble reiki master!
the estate at sunset...
geese ...
dino with full moon

i have never seen so many canines... on the beach at one time!

big sniff!

yes! calypso the painted horse and her owner...

you'll see the results of this work on the DEBORAH section of my new website, www.deborahdonofrio.com..open on Oct 31st!

till next time...xxx

below is
a little inspiration for u....

TOUCHSTONE March 2011 - No Matter from Colors In Motion™ on Vimeo.

ur happy place 10/5

2011-10-04T04:39:00.000-07:00

mermaid chronicles begin today... 9/27/2011-arrival:5:15pm, sunset 6:35pm
in the distance...do you see them? here is nancy in the foreground, although when i took this shot, i hadn't yet met her!
shadow play.....

the best show in town...waiting for sunset at land's end......
beautiful crane beach, ipswich , ma
changing of the tides...
still barefoot..
you never know what magic the shore will offer up...

yes, photo shoot.."bride & groom" in the water! my mini- photo shoot of the photo shoot:)
as I keep my promise to myself to stay in touch with the sea and shore...I 'm rewarded with these sights and the sound of waves, breathing in the salty goodness of September sea air.

if all this wasn't enough, a happen chance meeting with sister beachcomber, nancy from rochester, ny and a bday girl on the beach with her fiancee. nancy and i took some impromptu souvenir pics for them on their camera, they insisted on sharing their batch of Russell Orchard's freshly baked apple cider donuts ...with the sun set we raced off to our respective cars, - clutching our donuts, laughing and waving so long ....worth showing up for , don't you think? as sabrina ward harrison writes in
brave on the rocks. ."if u don't go you can't see!"

until next time...xx

2011-09-28T03:33:00.000-07:00

The Three A's

Awhile back in yoga class Ken brought the Three A's onto the mat for us to consider: Awareness, Acceptance and Action.

Since then I've offered the Three A's to many of my clients as a way to work with challenges in their lives.With phobias..say flying- one could consider the following:

Awareness that u have this fear and it may stem from another experience, maybe a flight where u experienced an emergency evacuation. It is common to generalize, taking what happened once and fearing it will happen again each and every time. Logic is lost and knee-jerk reactions take over. Interjecting a breath and moment of present awareness can help to break the spell. You might be aware of your stomach tightening or head throbbing, acknowledge that. Stay with what you notice right here, right now.

Acceptance- accept u have this feeling, feel it- breathe, allow , observe. An easy 80% of the energy of the fear can be dissipated by learning to feel without labeling or repeating the mental tape,"I'm afraid, something's going to happen.. I'm afraid something's going to happen..I'm af..." Let the feeling move through and out of your body.

Action- “ I am in this moment and I am safe ” repeat and breathe. Perhaps a mantra such as "Om Shanti" (eternal peace) could work for you or other words such as on an in breath "Peace" and the out breath "Here" In this way you can substitute a higher vibrational choice, rewiring your reactions into deliberate choice, a very big difference, your body will feel it and you can shift yourself out of panic and into balance.

using the 3 A's can reorder your daily experiences and bring a calm and sense of connection to your own deep well of power and spiritual resources.

Meditation is a beautiful reinforcement to this practice. Developing a regular meditation practice may be one of the finest methods you can choose to enhance your day to day living. I hope u can join me for my two upcoming series:

Meditation: Mala Beads, Mantra and Breath

In this series we will work with mala beads, mantras and our breath. Mala beads are strung in a circle and have been used since time immemorial. Their energy comes from the power of form, the intent from centuries of human use, and the intent you place in them. Malas bring beneficial energy into your life and this happens when the mala itself, combined with the energy you place inside it for your specific use is combined together.

We will learn to use the malas to do japa, which means chanting an affirmation, prayer or mantra, and will incorporate the conscious breath. A regular japa practice with malas, mantra and breath brings focus, clarity, peace and deep well being to your life.

Bring your Mala beads to class. Resources for Malas: www.Circleofwisdom.com, www.sanandaspiritualcenter.com and www.shakyadesigns.com

Oct/Nov Dates :3 week series –Mon.10/17, 10/24 and Nov. 7

7-8:30pm $65 early bird special when prepaid by 10/10 or $75 first night of class.

An Evening of Guided Meditation

We all seek to remember who we are, to feel whole, at peace, to have a framework that will help us navigate through life’s hardships and hurts. We want to feel safe, loved and supported. We long to feel connection with the creative force of the universe, and our own Sacred Essence, to feel connected to others we share life with. We desire to do work in the world that satisfies us, to fulfill creative urges, to embody the limitlessness of our true self.

In this series we will experience and learn meditations to help foster the use of our inner resources. We will reconnect with our body’s wisdom for greater intuition and health, the inner healer for mental clarity and emotional care and the wise teacher for spiritual growth, and direction. We will learn that within us we have all that we need.

Nov/Dec Dates: 3 week series –Mon. 11/2, 11/28 and 12/5

7-8:30pm $65 early bird special when prepaid by 11/14 or $75 first night of class.

ur happy place 9/21

2011-09-19T09:15:00.000-07:00

Serenity Massage....

Here are a few images of where our Walking Meditation Retreats in nature will take place.... on Plum Island

me and Twinkle on the way..
shell garland for a beach wedding left to decorate the trellis...

Inside Serenity Massage....

For those of you who haven't had a chance to stop by Serenity Massage yet we are hosting our Open House this Friday from 5-8pm. Here are some shots of our lovely spot, hope u can join us..try a Reiki, chair massage, meet the staff, giveaways and more. Session sign up incentives too.

Also, the first Walking Meditation Retreat in Nature on Plum Island is this Sunday looks like the weather is going to be perfect.

The Autumnal Equinox (Mabon) is here on this Friday the 23rd. It is the day when we experience a day and night of equal duration..perfect balance... and New Moon in Libra is coming up on 9/27. Libra the sign of the balanced scales ties in with the theme of overall balance ..why not take advantage of all the special energies at your disposal and create a ritual for yourself....

Ritual for the Equinox & New Moon

Try writing out a wish or 2 on a slip of paper that corresponds with Libra qualities. For example: balance in life, relationships with others and urself., (learn more in Jan Spiller's Book, New Moon Astrology....hold slip of paper in your hands and imagine with your mind, feel with your heart and emotions the things you've wished for being real right now. How would this reality feel, what would it look like ..what are the ways it would enhance ur life? when u've spent a few moments "making it real" have a yellow candle ready to light to send up the wishes into the world. You have now invoked a 29.5 day cycle of manifestation that will continue on till the next new moon in scorpio on oct.26th.

enjoy your celebrations and hope to see u this weekend!

until next time..xx

ur happy place for 9/14

2011-09-11T10:36:00.000-07:00

surf cast hol-ey relics
turned into.....

mermaid jewels...and sea weathered heart talisman

A Different Kind of Sunday Worship

This morning I waved to my hubbie, Dino, on the road as his car passed mine on his way out to church. He finds everything his spirit needs each Sunday morning within the four walls of his God's temple. He is nourished by the music, singing the hymns, the comfort of familiarity knowing what verse will be recited next, when to stand, to kneel and step into communion line. He finds a sense of community with fellow parishioners and a place to give back and serve.This is the religion he was raised with and he's never needed more.

Like him I have a date with the Sacred, but my internal compass heads me in the opposite direction to a temple crafted millenia ago from crashing surf pounding stone and boulder. From cross winds, raging storms and wild weather carving the curving shoreline and tree scape, an ever changing expression of the Sacred's artistic bend. My fellow worshippers will be the gull, plover, hermit crab, bits of driftwood and seaweed. Here I'll reconnect with my wholeness, release my cares, and come back home to myself. I will offer up thanks and make prayers for others, honor the simple act of being. I am my own priestess, sovereign servant to the Sacred.

Having spent nearly thirty years within sniffing distance to the sea, it has not been without difficulty in this recent chapter of my life to accept the notion of commuting to my holy land. Worse is to have whittled my visits down to warm weather season only. Most grievous of all has been the withdrawing from swimming in the sea. Too cold on the North Shore! Dino jokes I have my annual polar bear swim, not in January, but on my birthday in August....but no more.

This year it was all too much. Too much of not enough. So I made new vows; to swim the freezing waters and to walk the beach year round. With these new decisions longing and disappointment shapeshifted into adventure and reunion. I hadn't realized how much this pulling back had spiritually marooned me. As is so often the case, it 's only when we stop to listen, to breathe, to say yes, to take the leap and dive in that we have 20/20 vision restored to us. We open up grand soul vistas once more, we re-establish roots to our very core.

While wading the shallows this morning I was reminded that nature is one of our greatest portals into the Sacred dimension. It is a powerful healing ally and faithful companion. It has the ability to erase stress, worry, anxiety and sorrow. It can re-energize our bodies, clear our minds , nourish our hearts and reunite us with the vastness of lall that is.

From this came the aha!.... invite others to come along. ...

An Invitation For You:...whether you find solace within man made or nature made temples or both- I do hope you'll gift yourself with some time to come along, to find your way back home to yourself in the good company of others who value the practice of reconnecting through nature, movement, breath and the celebration of Life itself. Walking Meditation Retreats in Nature.... be present with yourself through the seasons of the year and the seasons of your life.

See the schedule and details in the events calendar of my newsletter...

until next time..xx

ur happy place 9/7

2011-09-06T05:21:00.001-07:00

a bit of heart to escort u thru the week.
betwixt and between

As the wheel of life turns and we begin our journey into the fall season you might feel betwixt and between..a bit nostalgic over the end of summer, maybe feeling the loss of the slower pace and warmth... seeing the falling leaves and gardens wilt reminds us that autumn is a threshold of letting go ..a season where transformation is underway..leaves fall...become protection for the garden in winter...and compost come spring..the eternal birth, death and rebirth mirrored to us in nature's dance and flow.

at the same we celebrate all the good that we've harvested since the spring equinox. we can enjoy reflecting on what we accomplished at work, home, and in our relationships, our soul growth...what we've completed, created, nurtured to fruition .we anticipate apple picking, lighting the first fire in the hearth, the savory smells of hearty soups on the stove, squash pies and homemade cranberry sauce..

in the midst of all this i hope you'll honor yourself....carve out an afternoon to take an outdoor walk, look around you, breathe, slow down for a few moments, smile.. .appreciate the in between times, transition, in each arising moment.

may you come back home to yourself:

make a new commitment to bring peace into your daily life: Join me for 2 new meditation courses at Kula on Locke Yoga and Nutrition in October and November:

1. meditation: mala beads, mantra and breath: a 3 week series of exploration, practice, self discovery, peace and healing. oct 18-nov.1st

2. an evening of guided meditation: a 3 week series learning a variety of meditations; guided imagery, walking meditation, focused relaxation and more. connect to your inner resources for deep well-being, self-healing and resilience. nov. 22nd-dec. 6th.

learn a new skill:

as you'll learn if you join us for your intuitive life: a course to awaken your inner gifts and guidance, intuition is useful in every moment of your life. it isn't just about "pulling rabbits from a hat", drawing impressive nuggets of insight or predictions from the ethers or words of wisdom from loved ones in spirit. it is a seamless flow of connection that is ever available to us, useful in the smallest and biggest aspects of daily life. it helps us discern which person to call for help with a loved one and saves us from running down a long call list. or how to assign tasks in our day to take advantage of the best use of our energy, motivation and time. or "feeling into" the day so we can see who might be in a "mood" giving us a heads up on when to approach them about supporting us in a new project we want to spearhead at the office.

i hope to help you enlarge your idea of what intuition is, to widen your scope of living and to help you blend with it consciously to bring more joy, ease and peace into your days. to give you a profound sense of the divine, your constant companion and original home base. to help you to remember how wonderful it feels to be unconditionally supported, loved and wished success in each part of your life, from the source of all things.I hope you'll become part of this new world that is being creating, the world of awakened doers, the enlightened ones, the bringers of the age of the soul.

begins: thurs eve's 9/22 for 5 weeks..$150.

connect with your inner healer:

Special Guest,Sherryl Comeau of Energy Works Studio joins us and performs LIVE Crystal Bowl Chakra Meditation

Reiki II Saturday 9/24, 9-5pm , location Caring Hands, Haverhill ,Ma

Reiki I Saturday November 5th 9-5pm, location Kula on Locke Yoga & Nutrition, Andover ,Ma.

The sound and vibration of the bowls clears, unifies, and balances the chakras, one of our primary energy systems that we rely on for good health, intuitive information and spiritual balance. Reiki also works directly with the chakra system and having Sherryl introduce you to the chakra system through the bowls will be a very special experience.

Class Includes:

Reiki I- attunements, instruction, meet your Reiki Guides, self-healing techniques, ample practice time, manual and certification.

Reiki II -attunements, instruction, receiving symbols, distant healing work, Japanese healing techniques, ample practice time, manual and certification.

$165 certification, $20 manual ( manual is good for Reiki I and II)

bless yourself this fall, connect inward and upward, bring more peace and inspiration into your daily life, spend time in the company of other kindred spirits...

hope to see you soon!

until next time...xx

ur happy place for 8/31

2011-08-30T13:46:00.001-07:00

Me and Sherryl Comeau, owner of Energy Works Studio recording the crystal bowl portion of our collaborative meditation series ( I contribute the guided spoken meditation element and Sherryl, the sound healing portion), debuting with the launch of my all new website on..... October 31st!
Sherryl working her harmonic magic for our downloadable meditations...
Sherryl showing me the ropes...
I give it a whirl, beautiful!

A Special Day

On October 31st when I launch my new website, www.deborahdonofrio.com, you will be treated to an interactive home away from home; a place to return often for peace and spiritual nourishment, an inspired spot to learn, grow and evolve. You will find a place that fully supports you as you journey back home to yourself, a place that affirms:

· You are perfect just as you are. Already whole, and enough right now. There is no need to fix who you are. You are not broken, fragmented, lost, dysfunctional, lacking in anyway. You are a sacred embodiment of the Universe or Living Light, or what I also refer to as Love.

· You are a vast, unlimited expression of Sacred Essence and Being. Who you are is not your mind, thoughts, emotions, identifications with the outside world. You are not your career, your marriage, your divorce, your aloneness, your address, your bank account, your children’s successes or failures, or your successes or failures, your body’s appearance, age, aches or pains or diseases. You are not your small self (ego).

· You are here to experience your enlightenment in this lifetime. It's easy to get caught up in the idea of enlightenment being something elite or lofty. That it means we 're special or highly advanced. The small self likes that! But enlightenment is our natural state, a sense of felt oneness with the Living Light, Love or Being.

· Forgetting this is why we feel alone, separate, and disconnected from ourselves, others, our purpose, Being and the Living Light itself. We suffer when we forget who we are. We often become depressed, anxious, fearful, angry, envious, dejected and lose the natural state of joy that is our birthright.

· Our practice is to remember and learn to consciously embody our Sacred self. Doing this brings us back into harmony with our true essence, into right relationship with others, enables us to make the wisest choices for our life, and from this state we act as reminders for others , bringing greater peace and enlightenment to our planet.

You'll notice many, many new features on the website:

*In the INSPIRATION section

You'll find the FREE downloadable meditations that Sherryl and I created- Look for the whole story of how we came to together for this project complete with photo album.
FREE Manifesting with the Moon Phases instructions, resources, lunar calendar link and more to help plan your own rituals/ ceremonies to coordinate in time with the new moon, full moon and dark moon.
and lots more

In the LEARN & GROW section
You'll learn about which online workshops are currently available for you to download. Catch up on the latest in person schedule class and workshops.
Stay current on when book study classes will be held and more

in the SERVICES section
You'll get a much more in depth understanding of the options available to you for Intuitive Counsel, Reiki and Integrative Healing. Processes during sessions have been refined and redeveloped to bring you back to your own home center and help you discover your own inner healer, wise voice and answers.
Intuitive Counsel sessions can now be face to face- whether you are in London, Glasgow, Florence, San Diego, Cape Cod or next door- with Skype.
I'll be offering Private Mentoring sessions for individuals and small groups of friends.. choose from topics such as Personal Altars, Designing Rituals and Ceremonies, Creating Your Own Mediation Practice...
and more

In the SHOP section
You'll enter my new zazzle store and see all new products to choose from for birthdays, the holidays....
You'll visit my Soul Essence Portrait Gallery...and more

You'll be able to catch up with what's happening through my BLOG and newsletters..and get to know me a bit better under DEBORAH.

These are just a few of the highlights....There's so much I'm excited to share with you.
until next time...xx

ur happy place for 8/24

2011-08-23T07:01:00.000-07:00

A Gentle Shift

if the time of year has u anticipating the big gear shift back into a bursting to the seams schedule and feeling perhaps a bit anxious or overwhelmed just thinking of it.. or maybe you dread the shorter days, t he loss of cheery sunshine and winter hibernation... consider this...

Most of us first resist the idea of change, therefore, when we know a shift is coming it can be helpful to give ourselves space to receive it, to anticipate how we might feel and to be gentle with ourselves, supportive and nurturing. Including some space to attend to your well-being can give you a sense of relief and also something to look forward to. More than that, as you come back home to yourself, you create an inner pathway that you may travel at any time. You begin to know yourself, not as a fragmented being, but as one who is whole and part of a living light that sustains, informs and enlightens you continually.

Today I share more on the resources I recently offered and on how you may create your gentle shift:

1. the pocket pema chodrun by pema chodrun:

Read an entry each morning to begin your day.Set a compassionate and empowered tone.

2. start where you are : a guide to compassionate living by pema chodrun
It is easy to forget our best intentions to live as loving, generous, balanced creatures, this book will remind you.

3. radical acceptance: embracing your life with the heart of a buddha by tara brach, ph.d.

A book I highly value for its openhearted and wise teachings about living with the understanding that you aren't in need of fixing, you are not "dysfunctional" you are already whole, teachings to embrace what you truly are.

4. start a meditation practice- you'd be amazed at the peace and calm, acceptance that can come from a 10minutes/day practice. new for the fall a one on one private instruction session with me to get ur practice started. learn everything you need to know to have a successful meditation practice. I welcome you to make an appointment with me to learn how to meditate. There are many ways, we'll craft a practice that fits you.

5. reiki to relax and re-group- i'm now offering 30minute reiki sessions to support you in the midst of it all. consider a weekly reiki lunch break, or come by while the kids are at piano lessons or soccer practice. return to your life rejuvenated, calm and able to flow thru the rest of your day with ease. may you take conscious compassionate care of yourself. come back home to the peace that lies within you. until next time..xx

ur happy place 8/17

2011-08-16T16:56:00.000-07:00

vintage niko back to school..aaahh the good ol' elementary days! yes he's the guy with the cap and knifty cord blazer!

welcome to ur happy place: a refuge for body, mind and soul for 8/17! if the time of year has u anticipating the big gear shift back into a bursting to the seams schedule and feeling perhaps a bit anxious or overwhelmed just thinking of it.. here, i'm sharing what i consider essentials to help u thru. these are powerful empowerment tools for you to keep connected to your own deep-well being , spirit and truth.

self-healing:

1. the pocket pema chodrun by pema chodrun

2. start where you are : a guide to compassionate living by pema chodrun

3. radical acceptance: embracing your life with the heart of a buddha by tara brach, ph.d.

4. start a meditation practice- you'd be amazed at the peace and calm, acceptance that can come from a 10minutes/day practice. new for the fall a one on one private instruction session with me to get ur practice started. learn everything you need to know to have a successful meditation practice.

5. reiki to relax and re-group- i'm now offering 30minute reiki-reboot sessions to support you in the midst of it all. consider a weekly reiki lunch break, or come by while the kids are at piano lessons or soccer practice. return to your life rejuvenated, calm and able to flow thru the rest of your day with ease.

to what's to come...celebrate it all!

until next time...xx

ur happy place for 8/10

2011-08-09T11:05:00.001-07:00

reiki II graduates: from left: (me) , niko d'onofrio, nicole poirier, seren elizabeth (co-owner of serenity massage) and caitlin mccann(massage therapist and resident mermaid at serenity) congratulations to u all!
what "time" is it ?? do you see double digits like this more and more lately? the universe is talking to you.....

welcome to ur happy place: a refuge for body, mind and soul for 9/10! today i have a bit of a summer scrapbook for you...images of some of the summer passage...
the son of my universe, 4th of july, salem, ma..

baking ritual bread on lammas, august 1st..this is the day of celebrating the beginning of harvest season..and especially the harvest of grain...we make this bread each year ..it is delicious and contains the grains of rye, whole wheat and white flour...if u have a day around the house you can intertwine it in and around your tasks while it rises and bakes, the recipe is found in the book you'll see a few pics down...

finished bread ready to munch!

ready for the oven....
this book, wheel of the year:living the magical life by pauline campenelli is one of my faves, you'll find the bread recipe plus a plethora of info, crafts,rituals and insight on the wheel of the year, that is living closer to the seasons and nature...
felicia, ashley (our own serenity massage therapist!), and margie-students for making friends with meditation at stevens coolidge estate
walking meditation and nature, a beautiful way to be present to your world...
sights from the gardens....

full corn moon this saturday the 13th.....spend some time with the lady, the last full moon of the "summer"..

until next time...xx

ur happy place for 8/3!

2011-08-01T18:27:00.000-07:00

pics. from stevens coolidge estate in north andover, ma.. the location of today's making friends with meditation gathering come by and join us if you can 10-11am....

welcome to ur happy place: a refuge for body, mind and soul for 8/3! aaahhh, the month of August, my bday and I find a bitterweet mood descend. the month to wrap up de-cluttering, to savor the last summer sunrises, watch the dragonflies zoom around the garden, to buy back-to -school supplies.. to breathe and enjoy.

with that in mind here is the poem of the week:

This Island: This Season

the corn stalks are broken
potatoes are cached in dark corners
onions and garlic braided
and hung. gold peaches
in glass and plums
rich ruby. black pulp of berries
thickens in jars. split cedar
is stacked by the door
and the lamps filled
anchored all night in the eyes
of this wind, the house
billows toward the stars.

alicia hokanson

until next time...xx

ur happy place for 7/27

2011-07-25T05:34:00.000-07:00

welcome to ur happy place: a refuge for body, mind and soul for 7/27! i'm still busy working away on my new website..so much in the wings for you...continuing to create lots of learning opportunities : private mentoring sessions are brand new- come for one-on-ones or with a couple friends and receive hands on learning. a sneak peek of topics include learning how to make & use personal altars... for every season and reason of your life..also...learning to craft your own rituals and ceremonies...

and the poem for the week:

Doing The Best We Can

When we do the best we can,
We never know what miracles await.

Helen Keller, 1881-1968

may miracles aplenty be yours this week....until next time...xx

ur happy place 7/20!

2011-07-19T06:33:00.000-07:00

welcome to ur happy place: a refuge for body, mind and soul for 7/20! hoping this week is finding you well..and here's a bit of inspiration for the path...

Be Who You Are

Be who you are,
and may you be blessed
in all that you are.

Marcia Falk

working on meditations for the website and scheduling video shoots!

until next time....xx

ur happy place 7/13!

2011-07-11T15:15:00.000-07:00

welcome to your happy place for the week of 7/13! much magic is afoot here in my little world...above is a SNEAK PEEK of my all new website! It won't premier till this fall and i'm redesigning every aspect of it: you'll see my photography(as above) and lots of new images. the site will be interactive, a place for you to come back home to yourself often with free downloadable meditations and guided meditations you can purchase to keep close whenever you might need them. you'll find many ways to stay true to your deepest wisdom, experiences to practice embodied enlightenment..online classes so you can study in the comfort of ur own home and at ur own pace..and lots more that you'll see for yourself:) in september...

in the meantime, i will be sharing simply with you here..so i'll leave you with a poem from one of my favorite anthologies:woman prayers by mary ford-grabowsky

Earth is crammed with heaven
and every common bush afire with God
but only he who sees
takes off his shoes.

elizabeth barrett browning

don't forget the full blessing moon, this friday...
until next time...xx

ur happy place 7/6!

2011-07-05T18:54:00.000-07:00

chrissy's sunflower....

a simple thought for today:

Purnima

before the first word
of the day

before i break my fast
and break my silence

before opening myself to traffic
before losing touch with sleep

hearing only the crowds of birds
hearing only a far - off voice in a temple chanting

seeing mists dissolve quickly in sun
seeing the newborn mountains

before losing touch with silence
while still touching sleep
before i forget to remember

let me sit down and recall
my blessings

Judy Kroll

until next time..xx

ur happy place for 6/29

2011-06-24T15:12:00.001-07:00

welcome to ur happy place : a refuge for body, mind and soul for 6/29!

a good story can heal

"storytelling is the oldest teaching/healing art found in all cultures. worldwide, stories are used to transmit important ancient values, themes of healing, love and wisdom. stories are containers for creative problem-solving and show us ways of overcoming obstacles and challenges."

angeles arrien

the first heart teaching i have received from my angelic guide, lilah, is embodied enlightenment. she stresses the importance for us to become increasingly aware of our Selves in our body and recognizing that it is through this conscious awareness of our soul selves, our spirit in body, that we advance and ultimately create the circumstances of our own ascension. i think sometimes it's easy to get caught up in the idea of ascension being something elite or lofty. that it means we 're special or highly advanced. the ego likes that! also we can be swept away from the moment by imagining ourselves at a future date when we have accomplished this feat, placing much attention on the space when we'll be enlightened, free, unburdened of our dark thoughts, irritating co- workers, unreasonable child or stubborn parent, forgetting all the while that the work of enlightenment is here and now.

my friends, we are in magical times. times that many of us know we have been waiting for- to come back to earth and play a deliberate part in. many of us know we are in the process of embodying enlightenment, we accept we are here at this pivotal time in earth's history to lend our service and in this, be amongst the energies, the experiences, the day to day events that will usher in our conscious awareness. however, remembering who we are often eludes us as we ride the waves of chaos and mayhem. as we are pulled out of ourselves and into the drama of a friend, the heartache of a sister or tragedy of a woman in the congo we've never met but whose story disturbed us the other nite on 60 minutes. we lose consciousness when we churn that heated conversation we had with our mate over and over in our minds, worry ceaselessly over the assignment in pakistan our journalist daughter just accepted, judge ourselves ruthlessly for the "stupid" comment we made at the staff meeting yesterday.

one of the surest ways to enact a remembrance, to carve a way back to yourself is thru connecting with a good story. we all have life stories to tell, or listen to. some of them may be just what another might need to hear to spark a shift inside him or her, to lift their spirits or to bridge a gap in understanding. recently i had a story to share with a friend that gave her a single sentence, a question, i once had to ask myself. it's one i still use quite alot to prompt me into making the best decision i can when i am challenged. here is a mini-version of the story:

when i was a junior in high school, i somehow strayed onto the radar belonging to a group of hostile girls. my guy friends had a descriptive nickname for them that kind of spells it out,"the sweats". it wasn't that i had ever done or said anything directly to them or gossiped about them behind their backs. we had nothing in common other than being in the same high school, the same grade and were of the same gender.

i don't recall how it began but it lasted most of the year. each day the janitor came with his bucket and sponge to clean off the profane graffiti they scratched down the length of my locker. my father bought me a brand new white thunderbird in my junior year. i lost count of the times i found it in the student park lot, marinating in a coating of red wine that they'd poured over it, sometimes "decorating" the radio antennae with the bottle turned upside down. keying the side of the car added another nice touch.

my friend 's fifth grade daughter is a target for a clique of bullying girls right now. as we were talking about the situation, my days with the sweats popped into my mind. i began to retell the story... the sweats numbered about twelve or so and the chance of seeing a few of them clustered together shuffling down the hall between classes was excellent. i told her about how my heart leapt into my throat each time i saw any of them down the hall moving in my direction. oftentimes i was alone to face them. would i glare at them? look them in the eye or glance away? would i return the insult they would surely whisper as they passed?

by far the scariest thing they did was to create a voo-doo doll of me. scary that they would lavish attention onto an object with such malicious intent. scary that they used it. it was a handmade doll and scrawled across its various body parts were obscene descriptions.:c*unt, ugly t*its for example and lots more. my guy friend, roy, noticed it with the sweats at a party one night and overheard what it was and what they were doing with it. somehow he manged to get hold of it and brought it to school the next week to give to me..i felt sick to my stomach experiencing the dense and thick, black energy of the thing and thinking about the investment of negativity they placed into this little doll. and wondering why. why go to such lengths, what will it bring them? my mother and i reported this to the principal, who was friends with the parents of several of the girls. nothing was done, the doll was taken from me and the sweats kept on.

but here 's where the question comes in. whether it's my friend's daughter or me or any of us, the question to ask is "who will i be?". who will i be in the face of such blatant hatred? how will i respond? will i remember who i am? this is the question i asked each time i passed them in the hall. it is the question i used to stay strong within myself. it is the question my friend took with her from our conversation. i hope when the timing is right she'll plant that seed in her daughter's brave heart. and i hope that her daughter will choose to embody her enlightenment and draw deeply from her own flowering wisdom and stand claiming her space and beauty.

perhaps it's no surprise that i am so deeply drawn to the woman's journey, and that i've just signed on to be come a facilitator -coach with imagine a woman based on the poem, imagine a woman by patricia lynn reilly. perhaps my year with the sweats was a soul orchestrated event made to put me on this very path, who knows? come late fall, early winter i will be ready to offer you online and in person facilitation/coaching sessions, courses and support for your journey.

here then, i leave you with two of the stanzas from the poem that is changing, empowering women all over the world. a poem that is inviting them to embody their enlightenment as i invite you to do as well:

imagine a woman who has acknowledged the past's influence
on the present.
a woman who has walked through her past.
who has healed into the present.

imagine a woman who tells the truth.
a woman who trusts her experience of the world and expresses it.
who refuses to defer to the thoughts, perceptions and responses of others.

patricia lynn reilly-
from imagine a woman

until next time...xx

ur happy place 6/22!

2011-06-20T17:04:00.001-07:00

welcome to ur happy place: a refuge for body, mind and soul for 6/22! just a quick touch in this week...are u a summer reader? love to sit by the pond, lake or ocean with a good book? curled up on a rainy sunday with no particular place to go...taking in a chapter of two before bed...maybe your book travels with you, a few pages here and there in between the camp drop off and pick up? whatever the case below are a few of may fave's..

maybe one will catch ur eye....

1. The Maeve Chronicles by Elizabeth Cunningham

2. Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life with the Heart of a Buddha by Tara Brach Ph.D

3. The Witch in Every Woman by Laurie Cabot

4. A Year by the Sea by Joan Anderson

5. Everyday Sacred by Sue Bender

6.The Architecture of All Abundance by Lenedra Carroll

7. Imagine A Woman in Love With Herself by Patricia Lynn Reilly

8. A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose by Eckhart Tolle

9. The Dance of the Dissident Daughter by Sue Monk Kidd

10. 365 Thank Yous: The Year a Simple Act of Gratitude Changed My Life by John Kralik

here's to the lazy days of summer, happy reading!

until next time....xx

ur happy place for 6/15!

2011-06-11T06:59:00.000-07:00

from my book of shadows...thirteen moons
john william waterhouse..one of my favorite artists...

celestial happenings

welcome to ur happy place: a refuge for body, mind and soul for 6/15! a happy "coincidence " that my blog entry falls on june's full moon. i follow a practice of connecting intimately with the moon, and have given each of the thirteen
( one for approx. each month plus the blue moon) names that correspond to my personal life. traditional names for this month's moon in sagittarius include strawberry, rose and hot moon, mine, simply moon of summer. we also experience a total lunar eclipse and some say that this allows for xtra magical and spiritual energies to form...sooo why not whisper a prayer or intention for something special you're wanting to bring fully into the world, a creative endeavor, deeper personal or spiritual connection, use your imagination and open to the possibilities.

we also encounter the summer solstice this month on the 21st. time to revel, dance, appreciate the fire in the sky- the sun and celebrate the season of abundance. where is life showering you with goodness, flow, promise?

refilling your well and investing in ourselves

i also think of the summer as a time to open to new opportunities, a chance to refill my well and nourish myself. i've made some wonderful commitments to myself and well being over the last few years. these are some of the ways that "keep me, me". i'm lucky to have found a nucleus of gifted healers and teachers within one block of each other! that create space for me to care for my core mind, body, and spirit needs.. i've found such consistent results with their treatments and services that i've made the commitment to regular visits with each of them.

to call eden, my chiropractor, simply that, would be an understatement. but technically this is his title. he's much more than this to me and my family. he's educated us on why chiropractic is such an important part of a personal wellness regime and has trained niko in the tls shape-up for kids program. my visits enable me to have less neck pain and more freedom in my day to day life and recently he's pulled me through a back strain with flying colors.. he's passionate about his work and this is something i seek out when i choose who i wish to support me.
to that end, he is wise in that he offers the option of a cash payment system that allow patients like me to pay a reasonable monthly stipend in exchange for unlimited chiropractic care. it makes sense for us all and i appreciate this option because it makes taking care of my health affordable and easy.

you've probably heard enough about ken and abt yoga, but let me just say, he too is one of my pillars. i've gone from the occasional yoga student to one who form an aha! in phoenix rising sessions, birthed my art business and now am a daily yogini, opting for studio classes several times a week and practicing at home in between. yoga has become one of my primary life practices. i'm less anxious, more enlightened and happy. ken extends a pay for the year program that saves the student, me! money and offers unlimited visits to the studio. i am testing edges and stretching, pun intended, myself more than ever because of this support.

anne, my massage therapist and polarity healer, and ken's wife, at a body transformed, is a gem. our pre-massage talks solve the world's problems. she is a powerful visionary, insightful and a beautiful soul. even after five or so years of monthly treatments i still relish each and every session. like the others she gives back to her regular clients with a package program that i have taken advantage of many times.

investing in myself this way means that i know i will have support when i need it. waiting until the wheels fall off the wagon, or crisis is so overwhelming i can't stand it; until i've painted myself in a corner and don't know which way to turn or until i'm in so much pain i can hardly function, these are no longer options. i think of choosing for myself in this way akin to the oxygen mask principle:

“Should oxygen be needed, place the mask above your seat over your mouth and nose,
and secure it with the elastic band. When traveling with your children,
put your mask on first and then offer assistance to them.”
(Flight Attendants Handbook)

It makes great sense. If you don’t get oxygen, you will lose consciousness quickly.
You will not be available to support anyone else."

from the www.iaw.org website

do you often wish you had a life that nourished you, that allowed you to drink from the well more often? how often do you de-prioritize your needs and well being over another's in your care or circle? do you fear the places self-care might take you- into issues better left unaddressed, into thickets you 'd rather not wander? does ignoring your inner world sadden you, anger you or perhaps you're resigned to it because it's financially out of reach or you can't even begin to think where you would schedule just one more thing, even a life giving thing, into your bursting at the seams schedule?

i know what it's like on both sides of that river, and i can tell you it's worth crossing to the shore of your own deep good. inspired by my personal well-being pillars, and by the call to serve you in more meaningful and effective ways, i have now crafted ways for you to drink deeply from the well of self -care with intuitive life readings/counsel, reiki and integrative healing. my intention is to encourage you to care for yourself regularly, to create a brand new way to live from within. to live more authentically with peace, joy, power and freedom.

wouldn't it be wonderful :

-to know you had a de-stressing reiki or integrative healing treatment waiting for you at the end of a crazy week? that you'd be able to unwind and let it all go?

- that if you were ready to evolve to the next level of your spiritual awareness that you had someone who could support you and guide you safely into you own deep wisdom, with integrity and compassion?

-that when you are working through a life challenge, transition, or change that you could meet with your spirit guides and angels for insight, clarity and comfort?

for those of you who are finding courage today, or are weary of being last, weary of being weary. who are opening to the possibility of a deeper inner connection, or who are longing to come back home to yourselves, i invite you to call, email or visit soon.

see details in my newsletter under the services description.

i'll be looking for you at the well...until next time...xxx

ps- ken at abtyoga is hosting a taste of phoenix rising yoga on sat. 6/18 from 2:30-4:30 pm, cost $10. as u know i recommend ken - phoenix rising is for anyone looking for support and space to discover that your own answers within you waiting to be revealed.and if the inner yoga teacher is calling you, ken is hosting yogaspirit's teacher's training at abt, begins 6.23.

ur happy place for 6/8!

2011-06-07T13:22:00.000-07:00

the lady of wellness card .....
crown chakra card...

welcome to ur happy place: a refuge for body, mind and soul for 6/8! summer seems to be setting up house here the last few days, it is very welcome:) what have u been doing to enjoy the weather?
tonite i drove down with the top down and just gazed up ( at safe intervals!) at the Lady in the darkening night sky....moving on towards full on the 15th, magical.

and i've continued my descent into body -love ..last week when i posted about some of what's been going on in my world, i was sent a post from patricia lynn reilly's blog...about body love! you can read it here. the thread of body love draws me into a path of greater devotion to affirming women's ways and essence in the world. patricia's work, if ur not familiar with it, is worthy of your time...maybe you'll make friends with your womanly self by the pool or shore this summer, with her book imagine a woman in love with herself: or
another of her's i promise myself:making a commitment to yourself and your dreams

maybe this summer is the breakthru where you love ur body in ur bathing suit regardless.......

today i'm sharing two stanzas from her poem and book by the same title, imagine a woman in love with herself:

imagine a woman in love with her own body.
a woman who believes her body is enough, just as it is.
who celebrates her body's rhythms and cycles as an exquisite resource.

imagine a woman who has grown in knowledge and love of herself.
a woman who has vowed faithfulness to her own life and capacities.who remains loyal to herself.
regardless.
imagine yourself as this woman.

words to let seep in and wonder on. or perhaps to call u to action.

until next time...xx

ur happy place for 6/1

2011-05-31T09:42:00.001-07:00

the book, cakes for the queen of heaven... the start of my journey to goddess
my soul collage cards of goddess: brigid, my matron goddess...
earth, our mother goddess.....
the priestess....
archetypal goddess.....

welcome to ur happy place: a refuge for body, mind and soul for 6/1! did u get out to soak up some of the beautiful weather over the holiday weekend? each year weather permitting, this is the weekend we put out our gardens, ...veggies and potted annuals, herbs, and we started to dig out a new perennial flower bed, back breaking, but the results will be worth it...what a time to commune with the Great Mother, Gaia..since i tend to be such a hermit during the winter months, i spring alive in the planting and harvest seasons. full days and lots of big plans for all the warm days that seem to stretch out before us..but speed by in the blink of an eye...

my body loves this time of year too..the time when the sun both invigorates and lulls...naps in the adirondack, long beach walks, drinking in the sunsets...hungering to take care of all the projects that lay fallow in the dark months; touch up painting, freshening decorations, spring cleaning for the attic and basement....

and the deep peace of twilight- day turning to dusk, breathing in the smells of summer..fresh mown grass, barbecue, lavendar, honeysuckle, basil....

it is at the turning times like these that i feel especially close to goddess. i feel her within me, as me, and also see her most everywhere in the blossoming and abundance of the growing things....

when i first began studying the world of goddess under the umbrella of feminist spirituality with the curriculum of cakes for the queen of heaven in 2003, i remember thinking , " where has this been all my life" and " i wonder who i would've become if had i been raised with this kind of information, and celebration of the feminine?"

here is one excerpt about our bodies from the book u see above :

"reclaiming our female bodies light a special candle and use the full power of ur imagination as u read the following visualization: imagine urself standing naked before a full length mirror (or do it for real, i say) look closely at all parts of ur body. turn and look at urself form various angles. now look closely at ur hair. what do u like about ur hair? do u like the way i t looks? do u wish for another kind of hair? now look at ur face, ur eyes, nose, mouth. skin. do u like what u see? now look at the rest of ur body, ur breasts, hips, genitals, arms, legs,ur shape, ur size. r u pleased with ur shape? ur size?

look carefully at ur hands and feet. do they seem attractive to u? now look at urself as a whole person. how well do u like the way u look? what do u like best about ur body? what do u like least?

this guided visualization touches our most private experiences- our feelings about our female bodies. in using the visualization with groups of women over the past (ten) years, it has never failed to elicit a depressing discussion of all the aspects women hate about their bodies. only very recently have there been one or two women in any group who begin the discussion by saying" i really like my body, especially my skin (or hair or legs etc.)

there is hardly a woman alive in this society who does not dislike something about her body. as women we learn that we are too short unless we teeter about on high heels, that we must color our hair becuz blondes have more fun;that we must diet until we are pencil thin;that size A breasts need the help of a padded bra or dangerous surgery......everything around us conveys the message that physically we are not ok as we are. we learn in subtle ways that we are inferior..."

....it was thru this time spent with other contemporary women, as we explored Herstory, myth, creation tales of a great mother, learned about the maiden, mother and crone, of matriarchal societies with egalitarian rule between males and females, unearthed remembrances of times where the female form was actually revered, as we shared personal stories of our own, as we imagined a new future- one where women aligned with their holy selves, body, mind and soul, that i began to rethink and detach from what i'd been force fed all of my life.

the heart teachings and body love that lilah, my angelic guide, is offering me takes me further into the work i began back then.

..the process of unlearning and stepping away from our cultural norms has been difficult for me, especially now that i am "aging" . however, aging is also liberating. it is a time to embrace what we are, looking it straight in the eye and appreciating it. valuing it. redefining what beautiful means to us, what our beauty is.

it is a time to experiment with ways to be with our bodies. ways we may not have made the time for until now; dancing our prayers, sorrows, intentions, or lifting our voices in our personal soul songs. maybe we will revisit ideas we had talked ourselves out of; walking 60 miles for a breast cancer fundraiser, taking a bike tour across europe, trekking the el camino in spain. my yoga practice continually transforms my relationship with my body. when i practice yoga i 'm engaged with flow and form, movement and breath...i find i'd rather have this happiness than the self-criticism. feel the pleasure of alignment rather than sacrifice it to worries about how big my backside might look in a forward bend!

once i heard a friend say she was in the process of making peace with her mid life body. with that meant all the change she was experiencing: the increasing curves, skin changes, the creaks, cracks and pops of joints under protest.

another friend who was one of my mentors in cakes, remarked that she wouldn't want to stay young forever becuz she was curious about what all the other ages and stages would feel like; how dull to stay the same forever- in fact unnatural.

once upon a time, i occupied the body beautiful- the one that won me homecoming queen and prom queen, the one that made heads turn on the beach. i couldn't revel in it or love it becuz i was too consumed with it's appearance and what that could gain me. too caught up in the fog of our culture's brainwashing.

luckily, i heard the call of mother, and a better way.

the goddess called me home to roost in my body. i won't say i rest easily in my body at all times. viewing myself with innocent eyes is a process. but when i feel my body, when i'm present and free from the need to live up to an outside standard, or fulfill somebody else's visual expectation, it is in these moments that i am the goddess. moments like these are the ones i wish for every woman. i'm understanding more and more that my body is a gift and a sacrament, the key and gateway to the one. it is here that we experience embodied enlightenment. it's no good trying to escape, minimize or nullify bodily experience, or to try and rush past it to ascension. our body is our school room, our playground and home altar. it is the dwelling place of our soul; consciously inhabiting our bodies is the very way we evolve our spirits.

if u haven't yet heard her, listen closely. she'll be calling you home too. back to the place where your best you is plenty beautiful, where you are more than enough, right now just as u are.

until next time...xx

ur happy place for 5/25!

2011-05-25T05:37:00.001-07:00

welcome to ur happy place : a refuge for body, mind and soul for 5/25!

today i'm feeling in a very quiet place of honoring. honoring the goddess of our beings.as i merge with body love and the heart teachings, i have a very simple sharing and invitation today. i'd like to share with you the first invocation for goddess i ever learned. i use it for all my personal ritual workings and it was given to me thru an initiation into goddess in 2003, an eight week exploration of women's power, past, present and future..the experience was entitled, cakes for the queen of heaven and here is the opening and closing prayer:

opening

by the earth that is her body

by the earth that is her body
by the air that is her breath
by the fire of her bright spirit
and by the waters of her living womb
the circle is cast.

closing

by the earth that is her body
by the air that is her breath
by the fire of her bright spirit
and by the waters of her living womb
the circle is open
but unbroken
may the peace of the goddess
go in our hearts
merry meet &
merry part
and merry meet again

blessed be

-starhawk

i invite you to light a candle in your honor this week, recite the prayer in the morning, cast a circle of sanctity on your day. celebrate the goddess that you are and welcome her presence into the moments you move in the world.

in the evening close the circle with the prayer and breathe in the sweet joy of communing with your own bright spirit, the one that shines your soul light on your path, smile and receive the blessings of the goddess. let her reveal herself to you.

until next time...xx

ur happy place 5/18!

2011-05-16T08:33:00.000-07:00

welcome to ur happy place: a refuge for body, mind and soul for 5/18! how are u unfurling this week?

"as we train in opening our hearts and discovering the soft spot, we gradually feel more joy, the joy that comes from the appreciation of our basic goodness. we still experience strong conflicting emotions, we still experience the illusion of separation, but there's a fundamental openness we begin to trust..."

pema chodrun

lilah

one of the realizations i've come to as a result of my time away is that iv'e found the focus of my spiritual life returning to familiar places. funny how my embrace of the unformed, my next steps into the future spiraled me right back to my spiritual beginnings. in 1986, after reading shirley maclaine's memoir, out on a limb, i began to understand that there was ALOT more then met the mortal eye in the world as i knew it. fascinated, i invested my energy and attention into connecting to the world of spirit: studying the ways of the spiritualists; taking courses in the process of unfoldment and opening to communication with the spirit realms. i also embarked on the daunting journey of practicing meditation, sometimes loving, sometimes hating it. plenty of times i quit, gave up, cursed it and then began again...and again. ( sound familiar?!)

each time i pushed it away, the beauty of its precious gems lured me back : meditation offered the promise of nurturing a more sane relationship with my chaotic, scattered, crazy mind. that even a mind like this could know moments of peace, stillness, even enlightenment. it held the possibility that with intentional regularity i could become an adept at piercing the veils between the worlds, could pass back and forth at will, engage with the higher dimensions and befriend those i met there. important to me was making first person contact with my own non-physical teachers and spirit guides, developing intimate relationships with them. meditative states offered the gift of accessing timelessness; viewing past lives to learn more about my own soul, its choices and journey; even catching a glimpse of future potentials for me, others around me, earth and beyond. it invited me to follow in the footsteps of the mystics, relying on personal and direct divine revelation to satisfy my inner questioning about the world and my place in it. being drawn back through this review into the origins of my spirit's awakening, i've seen that once i resigned myself to sticking with it, meditating has had an invaluable influence on my growth.

the process of channeling is a distant cousin to psychic/intuitive messagework as it does involve entering a kind of meditative state as a means to connect. sanya roman's excellent book, opening to channel, is one i used as a guide in 2001 when i wanted to learn to practice trance channeling. a couple weeks ago inner guidance led me back to channeling, so i picked up the book again and took a refresher course, curious to see what would happen this time around.

after completing the welcoming invitation ceremony, it became clear that i would work ongoing with three spheres of wisdom: the angelic realms, nature intelligence- the devas and spirits of nature, and what for now i'll call a teacher from the stars. who knew?! my encounters right now center around my new angelic teacher, lilah. when i first met her i saw soft yellow swirly energy, wispy. she didn't show me details of her appearance but i felt a distinct warmth and strength with her. there is a let's- get- busy kind of attitude with her! she speaks to me, we have sort of a running dialogue throughout the day, and when i channel speaks through me. i don't sound any different but i let her impress her words on my mind and then speak them.

during my last healing session with anne, lilah showed me i would be learning about something called "the heart teachings". they are experiences i will have and go through and then perhaps a year or so down the road i can bring them out into the world formally as a teaching for others. the heart. always the heart. i will spend the rest of this life learning about it, being a voice for it and in service to it, how lucky am i!

just this week, the first teaching has begun, body love. let's find out together where this journey will take us....

until then...xx

ur happy place for 5/11!

2011-05-09T10:22:00.000-07:00

Welcome to ur happy place: a refuge for body, mind and soul for 5/11! Well it's so good to be back with you. I hope today finds you well and breathing, being, smiling...first just a bit of sharing about last nite's Your Intuitive Life weekly class. So many of us that know we are about the work of the divine feel a growing need to come together to share, to create community and to truly reconnect to each other and the light within.Last nite was a time to grow and be in the sweet space of spirit, to receive healing in meditation , to offer up healing thoughts and prayer to others and to practice our message work. Thank u to all who came, your intention to shine out helps us all on our path.
Our teachers worked with us on being c o u r a g e o u s.....come join us next week if you can.

For me lifetimes have been lived in the short span of the three weeks I've stepped away to move inward for a time of mental cleansing and retreat. It's said that as we move forward into this new world, new earth and age that time is speeding up, and it feels that way but at the same instant, we are held in a timeless space as well, have u noticed? I've become aware of how much evolving can happen in such a "short" span of time compared to, say even five years ago.

So many ahas, connections with others, deeper understandings emerge sometimes multiples within the course of a single day! It is a wonder to me to feel this synergy on a moment to moment basis and watch miracles and shifts in the lives of those around me, in ways I never would have imagined or had written off. I welcome being humbled in this way, so much truth to the phrase, " never say never"! So our lives are spontaneous creations more and more. As we rise up to embrace and accept the impulse to evolve and become our deepest soul expressions, our own embodied enlightenment, brand new ways to interact, think, think less :), and behave reveal themselves to us in the presence of each now.

I've come back from this retreat with a knowing of my next steps and focus, something that a few short weeks ago, was hidden from me. The simple act of calling in awareness , surrendering to the unknown was enough to get the process underway. I found myself settling into deeper layers of agreement with the unformed, vowing over and over to follow, just being with. I engaged with my everyday mind and intuitive sense in parallel fashion throughout the course of the day. My teachers helped me to put the pieces together as I walked in the morning, or drove around town doing errands, made the bed , took a shower. Down loads ran constantly. I was surrounded by otherworldly support and given many insights.

I pared down outside distraction but also kept open to fresh ways of gaining insight and energetic alignment. I tried a session of The Reconnection work with my friend Maria Broderick which was fascinating and compelling. It helped me to recognize that the process I was involved in was one of learning discernment: For example I've been looking hard and tuning in to whether an interest is for my personal development or one I might train in to teach. If the timing for certain changes was imminent or down the road a ways. The alignments from the session helped me along in ways I'm not sure I'll ever understand but I sense the combination of personal inquiry and this energy work, my regular yoga practice, journaling, time in nature, with my teachers and with my intuitive and spiritually minded colleagues and friends brought me concrete answers.

I feel more home and settled than I have, ever. Not settled as in "OK , let me grasp onto this and hold on for dear life", but settled with in me and whatever comes next. This is what's possible for us as we learn to live more from this spaciousness, this center. Are there shadowy places speaking to you? Questions you can't yet answer? Is it time for you to slow down or perhaps , move on? Could you invite in the unformed, the yet to be and begin a conversation? You don't need to be at a major life turning point to have a few words with the deeper wisdom. Today you could simply take a breath and request, " show me something today" followed by "thank you".

That's enough.

until next time...xxd

ur happy place 4/20

2011-04-20T07:07:00.000-07:00

holding space within.....

welcome to ur happy place: a refuge for body, mind and soul for 4/20! this morning my yoga teacher, ken said, "it is in transition that we learn so much" how true! either the easy way or hard way!

i'm learning that my first inclination is to wrestle with transitions, to fear them and avoid the feelings they bring up. they magnetically draw up ego's insecurities and criticisms and the many knee jerk reactions it jumps into whenever it's time to change. the what's, where's and when's scream out in bold letters. needing to float a life raft of sanity into the fray i've made the choice to enter into a time of paring away the outside influence and distractions of everyday life; to surrender into a space of deeper listening and understanding. i need to gather to myself my soul's next evolutionary steps. so i've begun a 3 week period of "conscious cleansing" . this means i'll be deliberately reshaping my daily routine to step away from media at large: tv, all but essential work related emails, magazines, texting, newspaper, radio etc. it means turning in and quietening, listening and taking direction from the One.

sooo I 've gone back and forth with whether to continue blogging while I'm in this process and where these personal sharings fit in with this process. With the nature of self revelation i feel now is the time to stay inward. and so i will continue to stay in touch with event, healing and counseling updates and will be continuing to take clients practicing on my regular schedule, but i will step away from the personal aspect of blogging until the cleanse is complete may 9th.

wishing you a wondrous season of rebirth, renewal and easter for those who honor the holiday.

blessings to you on your journey in the time i'll be away.

until next time...xx

ur happy place 4/13!

2011-04-12T11:13:00.000-07:00

my friend "j-twirl" jaclyn and charmer.

welcome to ur happy place: a refuge for body, mind and soul for 4/13! have u heard the peepers out ur window? or the song birds? aaahhhh slept with the window open monday nite and it was a delight to listen to the night sounds and smell the fresh april air.

living in the moment we can deeply appreciate the many delights a day holds. for me lately:

- getting to the 6am yoga class and seeing the sun rise!
-absorbing the teachings of yoga more and more, and feeling more and more alive as a result
-friends and family 's health improving
-having help in the garden moving piles of brick out of the way
-the joy of planting pansies in time for ostara/easter
-happiness watching others grow in their spirituality
-seeing my son continue to mature into a guy i'm proud to be mom to
-listening to new tracks on my ipod, aine moingue, ashana, sting, uncle kracker
-ideas for new art, "the painted ladies"
-anticipation of all my favorite summer pass times....
-??

how about you? even the difficult moments take on a different more bearable quality when we are fully present with them, have u noticed? try a pause instead of a reaction next time a challenge comes ur way, a deep breath before a word is spoken. a smile in spite of the grimace... it's an and/ both kind of life we live and i'm glad i'm here, living it with you.

also fyi- abtyoga is hosting journeying with the chakras, saturday may 21st, 3-5pm, with joseph carringer, dideridoo musician and sound therapist.

peace and joy to you

until next time...xx

ur happy place for 4/6!

2011-04-06T03:36:00.000-07:00

welcome to ur happy place : a refuge for body, mind and soul for 4/6! today my mind is on the ladies who are taking Your Intuitive Life: Awakening and Using Your Inner Gifts and Guidance. last nite was our 2nd week together and hearing how their first week went was so much fun for me. I feel like part cheerleader, mother hen and sister pilgrim on the path. them opening to the soul within at this time in our history means that they do so with such universal support with all the energetic changes we are undergoing on the earth and within ourselves. we are changing at the speed of love, each of us. the influences surround us and there is no going back. as we embrace change and welcome it into our lives, budding more fully into our soulselves, amazing things are possible, in fact, these days all things are possible. have u noticed?

some beautiful connections were made with some of the ladies and relatives in spirit, recognizing synchronicity show up and having that aha! and taking action- being in the flow with what needed to be done, others found challenges with parts of our "playwork" for the week- meditating...and working to remember dreams ...all part and parcel in the development process. just a thrill for me to witness where they are and where they will go. their development timetable while their own, will overall be much quicker than mine was back in the dark ages, I feel like a traveler and guide with them into unchartered territory as we explore the inner and otherworldly spaces together..so to the ladies and to you....happy travels and journey well!

unitl next time...xx

ur happy place for 3/30!

2011-03-29T09:09:00.000-07:00

welcome to ur happy place: a refuge for body, mind and soul for the week of 3/30! i'm not sure if it's spring and it's usual influence over me, the new moon this week or all of the huge changes we, as human beings continue to undergo, but i'm feeling the anticipation of new, green and good. a few images from anthropologie, color! travel! this store brings my gypsy spirit alive:)
and what's march without a bit of clover?

last we nite we started the first week of your intuitive life classes and i' m feeling a true sense of excitement for everyone involved, wondering what they'll experience, how developing their intuition will change their lives. we'll have surprises, lots of fun and i know i will marvel at this group of beautiful goddesses as they deepen themselves and create new friends and practice mates, as they live more of their soul's life.

walking with dino this morning recounting last nite, it hit me that my dream life is continuing to take shape. making art was a big focus last year for me and putting those little canvasses in the world felt like spreading seeds of joy to the wind. hoping they made it into homes that would enjoy them, maybe bringing a smile or moment to pause and breathe, reconnect inward, art for your heart fulfilled that dream, and it will continue on..in new forms down the road.

listening and following the longing to paint and taking the leap into a different style of artistic expression brought out soul essence portraits. co-creating with the universe is an adventure and i can't wait to see what else it has in store.tuning into another's soul essence and somehow relating that in tangible terms for them is such an honor and gift for me, and to provide such an unique gift for another continues to make me smile.

i feel the same happiness when i sit in private and group sessions working with intuition. offering others the chance to reveal more of their soul's nature or direction, to help point out an internal shift that might open up a whole new world to them.. ...ultimately we're all headed in the same evolutionary direction, and whenever i am in some way a part of this, i am deeply fulfilled...teaching this in any regard is incredibly satisfying!

so of course the creative wheels are spinning... more surfaces to share with you...starting may 3rd i'll be hosting an ongoing weekly intuitive unfoldment class, one that is open to all, no prior experience is necessary. come when you can. in this class we'll practice meditations, exercises and other ways to be receptive , open and to develop intuitive skills to use in your everyday life, we'll also give and receive messages.

and i'm in the process of seeing if there is enough interest for another class i'd like to pull together hopefully in may or june, working title: awakening from the trance; teachings and tools for your transformation. i've noticed common themes appearing lately for many of the folks I'm working with. these words from tara brach, ph.d author of radical acceptance speak to the core of what's materializing:

perhaps the biggest tragedy in our lives is that freedom is possible, yet we can pass our years trapped in the same old patterns...when we get lost in our stories, we lose touch with our actual experience. leaning into the future or rehashing the past, we leave the experience of the immediate moment....we grow accustomed to caging ourselves in with self-judgement and anxiety, with restlessness and dissatisfaction...we grow incapable of accessing the freedom and peace that are our birthright.

some questions to consider...are you:

in the midst of a major life transition?

grappling with the need to be perfect, to do it perfectly all of the time and exhausting yourself to do it?

do you think you need to control everything & everybody in your life in order to be ok?

are you tired of trying to be all things to all people?

are you wondering if your relationship is evolving or dissolving?

caught in the unhappy stories your mind is constantly spinning and thinking this is really who you are?

are you longing to:

love yourself and your life just the way they are?

find peace of mind, body and soul?

learn how to create spiritual practices to support yourself?

know what your soul's purpose for you is?

live a creative expression that brings you joy and prosperity?

be in a relationship that is right for you?

if you're saying yes! after reading these questions, i'd love to hear from you. guidance comes daily on the format and structure of the group. the intent is to provide you with teachings ,tools and inner connection to free yourself so that you may live the way you truly wish and deserve to. the power of community accelerates our growth and enlightenment, it creates a sense of support and friendship. it's a blessing to allow ourselves the gift of good company and kindred spiritship when we are ready to embark on a new spiritual journey that requires change and the unknown.

to life!

until next time...xx

ur happy place 3/23!

2011-03-22T12:36:00.000-07:00

our altar from the spring equinox ceremony this past sunday, and the drum that jessica just built and painted herself!

"...enough people in the world must take these remaining steps in order for the Influence to become powerful enough to counteract the dangers that are rapidly growing out there. to not act is to send out a contagion, one of giving up on the world."

from the twelfth insight, james redfield

welcome to ur happy place: a refuge for body, mind and soul for 3/23! this past sunday me, gerri shanti desimone and jessica marrocco hosted our monthly gathering with the special theme of spring equinox. during the message portion of the event i received a message meant to be shared with the entire group: on the floor we laid a cloth with an image of a tree (u can see a bit of it in the pics. above) over it i saw another tree, the Kabbalah's tree of life. and with the images i perceived "downloads" of impressions to describe. the two trees were symbolic of the many paths that can lead us soul ward. and that each is valid and worthy and meaningful. all show us the way home. all lead to the continuing evolution of our human consciousness.

i saw that with the occurrences globally in japan and libya- humanity is reaching a distinct tipping point. it is part of the phenomenon underway that eckhart tolle refers to it as the flowering of human consciousness. ancients such as the mayan civilization have named the rise of energy and shifts we are undergoing, the ninth wave:

"On the 9th March 2011 we will begin an intense 234 days of transformation and integration leading to a new level of consciousness, according to Mayan Calendar authority Carl Calleman. Calleman describes the shift as the Ninth Step in Consciousness – the Universal Underworld, the last step before the completion of the current period of human evolution. The original step – Cellular Underworld – began over 1 billion years ago.

According to Calleman the next 234 days will consist of periods of intensity lasting 9 days followed by a descending intensity for the next 18 days when we are able to integrate the higher energies. The Ninth Wave is about creating harmony from what has evolved previously, to let go of old personal agenda’s and begin manifesting unity consciousness with all that is. This represents a choice between truth and tradition."

from, loveyourdesign.com

the Celts considered the Ninth Wave a place beyond the mortal world, a place where magic happens and where the soul journeys.

as i felt into this information i sensed that the harmony available to us if we ride the wave, comes with the promise of allowing the heart to be our compass and that forgiveness is a key in finding our true north. that the energies of the ninth wave are completely supportive of our growth and personal processes. with us free from lingering hurts, energetic blocks, painful past memory, left over patterning, we create space to re-emerge consciously with our true nature, love. this then becomes our natural disposition. i equate love with unity, and the message made clear that this is an aspect of what's unfolding in the soul's collective theater at this time.

post tsunami stories from japan describing the integrity and lack of fear, the kindness and compassion of those now in the aftermath speak to this tipping point. food care packages mysteriously left on doorsteps, strangers moving door to door to see how the the inhabitants are faring. in the midst of this devastation, we witness none of the usual post tragedy looting, violence and chaos but rather, an acceptance and perhaps a connection with a deeper understanding, code of conduct, civility and honor towards self and each other.

no longer an us/ them proposition, former walls of caste, neighborhood and association dissolve in the wake of the ninth wave. catastrophe is an equal opportunity experience. demonstrations of unity consciousness spill into our living rooms as we watch the evening news. amidst the devastation of the old, in the heart- breaking rubble of their former lives and world, an expanded spirit, rises up like the mythic phoenix.

this spirit is the tangible embodiment of ninth wave. how will you respond? what acts might you engage in? who needs forgiving? how will it feel to lead with love?

until next time...xx

ur happy place 3/16!

2011-03-16T05:39:00.000-07:00

welcome to ur happy place: a refuge for body, mind and soul for 3/16! usually i write my blog content prior to the day i post, but i have been a bit discombobulated with my temporary full time care takers position of late and i just didn't get to it, so today will be a more spontaneous chat with you.

it's so quiet in the house -niko's at school and steve is resting. i went back to bed till 8:15 . it's the moontime phase for me right (menses, but doesn't moontime sound much more interesting and powerful?) i've learned the first two days are ones that want me to slow down, so when i can , i do. i am having a really peaceful start to the day..just brewed a pot of nettles tea and brought out one of my favorite english cups and saucers to drink from.

with the spring equinox in hand this weekend, we know that daylight savings has ended and we are feeling more of the sun's warmth and seeing the days grow longer. in the christian tradition's easter about a month away, the season of rebirth and resurrection is here. the energy of the christ, the illumined energy of the most high is palpable, perhaps more than any time of the year. pagans and others who follow earth centered traditions may retell the story of demeter and persephone- the myth of demeter, the mother, who lost her daughter, persephone, to hades the lord of the underworld. in her sorrow and wrath she made the lands barren each year until spring when her daughter was allowed to come back to her for a spell, and with her return came the greening of life and spring.

do you find yourself naturally responding to the returning light. the renewal of vital energies? i am soooo earth's creature. each season i feel spring fever take over and i find myself chomping at the bit to get out and clear out our garden beds..look at what landscape projects i can tear into, what art i might want to make to decorate the doors or meditation garden with. what trees need to be cut and used next winter for fire wood. this week, if a goes well i'll pull last season's heirloom tomato seeds from the freezer and pot them up for memorial day planting in the raised beds outdoors.

but more than reconnecting and communing with nature and earth, spring can be a time for us to reawaken dreams, to renew our personal fires, to follow through with some more of our intentions for the new year. it's a time to experience a new life force, of joy, of resurrecting our own christ light. what tiny seeds of new life are you aware of? is there a dream that yearns to sprout now, that can blossom with the sun's warmth? is there a load that needs to be lightened? a self-care practice you're ready to try like meditation or yoga? smile, breathe and consider the possibilities as you sow your fresh seeds of potential. i'll look for you there, sleeves rolled up, elbow deep in the field of dreams!

until next time...xx

ur happy place 3/9!

2011-03-08T14:45:00.001-08:00

welcome to ur happy place: a refuge for body, mind and soul for the week of 3/9! we are managing to live a new life here for awhile as recovery takes its time. part of using our intuition is learning to listen to ourselves: body, mind and soul. learning to be with the messages our bodies give us; rest, act, move, lie still. for me its been a balancing act of movement -to do what needs to be done here: the laundry , meals, food shopping, dispensing medication, tending emails, making phone calls, tidying up, refilling water glasses, disposing of tissue piles, rechecks to the doctors in the city, helping with homework, scheduling visits with friends, communion visits from the priest, updates to family, working on the intuition course coming up beginning 3/29... and pausing to keep my loved one company, to chat, sit in companionable silence, to just be.

as you'll learn if you join us for your intuitive life: a course to awaken your inner gifts and guidance, intuition is useful in every moment of your life. it isn't just about "pulling rabbits from a hat", drawing impressive nuggets of insight or predictions from the ethers or words of wisdom from loved ones in spirit. it is a seamless flow of connection that is ever available to us, useful in the smallest and biggest aspects of daily life. it helps us discern which person to call for help with a loved one and saves us from running down a long call list. or how to assign tasks in our day to take advantage of the best use of our energy, motivation and time. or "feeling into" the day so we can see who might be in a "mood" giving us a heads up on when to approach them about supporting us in a new project we want to spearhead at the office.

i hope to help you enlarge your idea of what intuition is, to widen your scope of living and to help you blend with it consciously to bring more joy, ease and peace into your days. to give you a profound sense of the divine, your constant companion and original home base. to help you to remember how wonderful it feels to be unconditionally supported, loved and wished success in each part of your life, from the source of all things. we already have a handful of students and hope you'll become part of this new world that is being creating, the world of awakened doers, the enlightened ones, the bringers of the age of the soul.

until next time...xx

ur happy place 3/2!

2011-03-02T10:23:00.001-08:00

welcome to ur happy place: a refuge for body, mind and soul for the week of 3/2! ohhh to acutally be able to say "it's march!" psychologically it's a big boost! we're still surrounded by mounds of black snow, but slowly it's dissolving and it can't be long now till we see signs of warmer weather.

today i'm just popping in to say i won't be doing a post per se as i have an i family member at home who is needing pretty careful watching just now. i expect to be back next week, visiting more about intuition and you!

peace and be well to you!

till next time...xx