Time is on a Rampage

Well, here we are again--as I wrote my newsletter I realized I hadn't really blogged lately. Why is that? Maybe it's because I haven't had many readers, but I think it may be that my entire brain has been taken up with writing my latest book, "The Gifts of Grief: Finding LIght in the Darkness of Loss." I've definitely been feeling like I went down the rabbit hole and have just come up fo air. Writing for people who are grieving is a sacred trust, and one I could never take lightly. I thank all of you who have supported me in this work, and been patient with my vague inattentiveness.  (Is that a word??)

Lance was out of the country taking care of his sister for nearly a year, so I was hunkered down in the world of the writer, barely coming up for air. The whole process felt guided and blessed and I will be so happy to see the work go out to those who need it. The process of grieving is personal, individual and not to be held up to standards and ways of being in any case.

I'm now re-entering the real world--the world of business that requires me to edit, promote, sell and pray my book into existence. It's the other part of the brain, and one I would avoid if I had a choice. Visits from friends and family--especially my kids and grandkids--are keeping me sane and focused. My clients, those who collaborate with me on the work of the heart--are a blessing too. I promise to keep more connected here for those who have asked. Many blessings as summer flys by and my favorite time of year returns--anything that's cooler!!!

Spring has Sprung

Without a whimper of winter, spring has arrived as full-blown summer. We have been in the 80s since February and expecting more of the same. And yet the desire to clean closets, plant flowers and celebrate arises out of the pure waters of our hearts sighing "spring, spring!" How this happens we don't know, but it compliments what we know about the body's cells recording and refreshing every incident from the day we were born, and before, so that we recognize it and follow it's direction. The purpose of Somatic Intuitive Training, one of the modalities I work in that was taught to me by Lance Ware, and to him by the M.D. who discovered it, is to disconnect us from those cellular memories that are NOT ones we want to hold on to. If we were abused as children, our cells lead us to similar people and places, and we add another layer to the recognitiion of what is familiar. Our work is to change the focus, break the chain and lead the client to a new, fresh start with no emotional connection to the earlier abuse. This works for SO many things, including anxiety, fear of flying, etc. We are ready to hear from those who see Spring as a time to clean house in more ways than you can imagine. In love and blessing, may your particular form of Spring bring you joy.

Autumn Musing

As Autumn nears, or in some cases fully arrives, our thoughts turn to the end of summer, the last baseball game, football, marching band, ice hockey, a pot of chili (beef, pork or vegetarian) and preparing for winter. Even though the days of stocking up the cellar with summer's bounty is long gone for most of us, our bodies seem to remember that time. We knit, we make stew, we start to think about home made goods for friends and family, and, if we're lucky, we start to plan for seeing family and friends over the holidays which will arrive all too quickly. As we settle into our afghans in the evening, possibly in front of a fireplace, it's a really great time to go to the heart. Even for those of us in Florida who are experiencing 50s at night--hurray for winter!--there's a feeling of going deep and feeling love, anticipation and even some old warm memories.

The heart is a multi-faceted beautifully energetic space, as I've talked about in earlier blogs. This is a time to open to our feelings and emotions and make an effort to forgive old wounds (and wounders) and be grateful for those in our lives that come to us with their whole hearts. As we've also talked about, forgiving is not for others, nor is it about forgetting. Forgiving is for us. It's the leaves falling off our blame tree, making room for the blossoms of Spring. Gratitude is one of the healthiest emotions possible. The more gratitude we hold in our hearts, the healthier our hearts become. Keep a journal by your bed, and every morning when you wake write down one or several things you're grateful for and why. Before bed, review your day and do the same thing. Note when you have been able to forgive or accept someone in the day who is different, annoying, or even "in your face." Use your heart's empathy to know they are in a bad place if they are acting badly. Don't make an effort to spend more time with people who affect your energy in a negative way, but do forgive it so that you don't carry it around in YOUR body. I wish everyone a wonderful season of introspection ( sort of like mulching a tree) that will lead to a new year of positive blooming. You have the skills, the energy and the motivation to birth a new you. In love, Therese

CHANGING STRESSING TO BLESSING!

Stress--it's all around us! Inside with our worries about money, family, health and outside with the daily trauma of the news about floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, war and rape in the military, Africa, the streets and homes of America and even in the Peace Corps! Acts of violence and the faces of those violated. Is it any wonder we are traumatized by stress? Do we add to it by the daily ingestion of reality television outside the news? What about shows with the "housewives of..."--you name the city; bridezillas; women and men attacking one another; shows that grow more violent every year as our appetite for them increases? Are the choices we're making causing our stress load, and thus our diseases and behaviors? The latest statistical data says it's so. So what can we do about it? First of all, it's important to know that our brain CANNOT TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN REAL AND IMAGINED PAIN AND ANGER! If we are watching something violent and our body reacts to it, the body is releasing a chemical stew of toxins like adrenaline and cortisol into the body that tells it we're being attacked. All of our nerves and messengers believe we are in danger and respond accordingly, sending us into fight or flight. This happens to us multiple times a day. These chemicals break down the health of the body. On the other side, when we are receiving, or having a memory of receiving, love, care, appreciation and kind touch, endorphins (good chemicals) are released that make our bodies feel good. These chemical baths lead to healthy bodies. What we can do is experience the good stuff throughout the day instead of the bad stuff.

How often do you talk to those you love--face to face or voice to voice, not through FB or email? How often do you say "I miss you; I love you; let's get together"? How often do you touch another human or animal with affection? All of these are healthy, healing parts of life.

Here's a tip: Every day, several times a day, breathe into your heart and remember a time when you were loved, appreciated or just plain contented. Breathe this memory into your body, and your body will respond as if it's happening in the present moment. Do this consistently, and you'll feel your shoulders drop and your chest relax as you are going into a meeting or just facing a stack of papers on your desk. It's so easy and so amazingly affective. The AMA reports, and ABC news followed up on the fact, that meditation is the one and only effective relief for stress. What I just gave you is a form of meditation. It doesn't have to be hard. It doesn't have to involve a class or a pillow--just you and your heart. May both of you thrive in love. I'd appreciate hearing from you! Therese www.IsisInstitute.org

READY FOR SUMMER

This photo conjures up every summer I spent in the Chain of Lakes in Wisconsin. A relief from the unbearable heat of the Illinois prairies, quiet days on the water fishing, "black cows" (for the uninitiated, root beer floats) at night listening to the owls. My lifelong love has been lakes--the smell of them, the romantic breaking of the waves under the dock--all coming at a time when my hormones were waking up and life at home was not quite so beautiful. The two or three weeks we spent there were heaven on earth. My first love courted me by the lake, and he'll be remembered as the smell of fresh water and green corn carried on the breeze to Lake Springfield.

I put this photo in the new book I'm writing for middle grade readers about the earth and her beauties and where we have gone wrong and need to clean up after ourselves. I remembered how fresh the air smelled, how the water tasted when you dove into it from a row boat or canoe. Working for Breaking Ground Contracting and writing books for the educational division is a gift for me--a chance to make a difference and also a chance to remember the beauties of being a child instead of the pains.

With all that is going on in the world--the fear of nuclear meltdowns; wars in several countries; economic disaster due to greed and avarice--the bright spots are the many people, young and old, moving forward to clean up our waters and hills and valleys and those in the Mid-east who are struggling for freedom. If all of us spent two minutes a day just sending love and energy to the planet and our brothers and sisters who live on her, the results would amaze us. I recommend that you check out the Global Coherence Initiative (www.Ghcoherence.org) where people go every day to join others virtually to send heart energy to the planet. It sure can't hurt:) Love and blessings to all who mother as we approach Mother's Day, and that doesn't mean only those of us who bear children. Sometimes the most mothering people on earth have no children of their own.

Living Your Intentional Life--Quality Six--Ritual

Hello again! I hope you are all doing a little (or a lot!) with Qualities 1-5. Quality number 6 speaks particularly to the holidays and the mixed messages it can bring up.
When I work with groups, the most confusion comes up around ritual. For those grappling with being “un-affiliated” with the religion or church of their youth, it brings up all kinds of ghosts, especially around the holidays. Ritual can also be a no-no word from certain ethnic and religious backgrounds, implying god or goddess worship or pagan behaviors. How we carried this into the 21st Century is another article, but suffice it to say that these reactions are real, at the body level, and deeply imbedded. So, why would we want to “infuse” our lives with more of what we have removed or ignored for years? Because ritual is not what we think it is.

Ritual is a reverence for things of the spirit, the family, the country and memory. I usually ask my groups, after the groans, some of the following questions:

· Do you have something on the table at the holidays that is your mother’s or grandmother’s, like a tablecloth or a bowl?
· Do you have an area in your house where you gather photos of family and/or friends? Do you have several such places?
· Do you sometimes have a figurine and/or candles in those same places?
· Do you eat certain specific foods, create certain blessings or play certain games when gathering for holidays?
· Do you sing the Star Spangled Banner before a football game, or wear your team colors?

All of these things are ritualistic—places of energetic spirit where we evoke the memory and the presence of family and friends. They are things we do naturally, without thought, because they are part of the tapestry of our lives. Maybe we have carried them on unknowingly because we learned them from someone else, or through our religious affiliation. Maybe we created them in our childhood rooms or dorm rooms or in the early days of our marriages. Maybe our children are already creating similar spaces in their homes and offices. Because of the amount of pleasure they create, we can infuse our lives with our own self-created rituals or places of sacred energy. Family ritual changes as the family changes. Divorce, death, illness, children grown and gone, all create flux in the way we observe our rituals. Sometimes the time has come for us to create personal behaviors that are honoring of ourselves as much as ancestry or habit. For those who came from Orthodox religions, particularly Catholicism, recreating an altar in our own vision of our spiritual life is healing.

The most common way of creating ritual is to build a small altar that is ours alone, made up of items that inspire us or create memory of sacred precious times for us. The altar doesn’t have to be fancy, and it can be anywhere. Most women choose the bedroom, so they have privacy and quiet to create their own sacred space. Some use a dresser top, a small end table or a low table with a cushion in front. A lot of us put a scarf or cloth on the altar, then decorate it with things that are meaningful like an angel statue, a Buddha, a Kuan Yin or Blessed Mother or a Native American pot. They then add things that bring them to a spiritual thought, such as candles, flowers, music, feathers, sound bowls, cards and pictures. Altars can be as elaborate or as plain as you like. Mine are reminders of my May altars, when I worshipped the goddess in the guise of Mary, with peonies and lilacs galore.

Then, it’s time to choose a specific time of day where you will devote at least ten minutes to clearing your mind while sitting in front of your altar, and inviting guidance, memory or meditation. Generally, women choose first thing in the morning and last thing at night to put their mind at ease and prepare them for the day and for sleep. At those times, it helps to open your meditation/prayer with similar saying or wording to create a sense of ritual deep in your body.

Rituals can be individual or include members of the household. If you all begin dinner at the table—even if only on certain days—and open with a blessing, prayer or saying, you are creating a ritual for the family. Using dishes that have been in the family, and sharing that with your children, creates a sense of continuity in a world that is moving at the speed of light. Helping your family to create their own personal altars, with their own choices of décor and creation, heightens a sense of their spiritual self as much as awards and statuettes heighten their sense of mental or physical accomplishment.

As you go along, ways of infusing one’s life with the ways of the higher self will begin to change how you look at life in general. There will be daily reminders of how life can be peaceful, loving and intentional, as opposed to chaotic, rushed and disorderly. You will want to spend more time in the place of celebration and ritual, and that can be a wonderful life change. Just start small and see what happens.