On Uprooting Oneself…

Most people have excellent intuition. The challenge arises when they are called upon to trust it and heed its guidance – even when it means moving to the other side of the country.

Here I was, living in Ontario, with a thriving practice as an intuitive and as a yoga instructor, when I began at the start of the year to sense that I was no longer where I belonged. It started with feeling displaced, as though the town I had been calling home since the mid-90′s no longer felt that way. People continued to be friendly and welcoming, and indeed, there was no end of work for me. I could have tried to stay in Kingston and continued doing what I was doing, but the call to move was too strong. I had no choice but to listen. I kept hearing the word “Kelowna” in my mind.

Now, this is where an intuitive has no choice but to put her money where her mouth is. I had to listen to my intuition and make the move and accept whatever changes that brought forth in me, or I would become a disingenuous person, giving advice to my clients that I was not myself willing to heed. I committed to making the move, but my ego wanted a safe, cushy period of time to prepare for the shift. However, once I had stopped deliberating and the decision was made, circumstances made it so that I had less than 30 days to do the deed.

This is not uncommon when we make a decision based on intuition. The universe gives us a test. Often, the time period to accomplish the task is sped up. It’s as though God is asking how serious we are about our decision. Will we act even though things are occurring outside of our conscious control? Will we go anyway or will we cling to the familiar and miss our opportunity? I knew I had to go, even though it meant leaving friends and family behind, and embarking on a journey to a place where I knew no one and knew nothing about where I was headed.

Packing to leave Kingston

There was no time to spare. Within 24 hours of getting clear on my decision, on August 2nd, I had arranged to stay at a condo at Big White Ski Resort and had purchased a plane ticket to fly out on September 3rd. Next came organizing movers, finding work in BC, and packing my stuff. I won’t say that the move was easy. Plenty of tears were shed for the folks I was leaving behind, and it was a scary proposition to uproot myself and go to parts unknown. But, what an adventure!

The Rockies from the plane

Kelowna from the air

I had never been further west than Manitoba, and here I was, flying over the Rockies, in awe of the magnificence of this mountain range that just seemed to go on and on…  The hours spent on the plane, watching the landscape pass by below, gave me time to wonder at the monumental decision I had made. Here I was, moving on my own away from the province where I had spent most of my life, having moved to Ontario from Quebec when I was five years old. What was I doing, moving to BC? All I knew was that I was moving where I was being called to go, and I would have to trust that, even though I knew next to nothing about Kelowna.

Touching down in my new hometown, I realized that I had been given a tremendous gift – the opportunity to live in a place of such beauty in all directions, with people who welcomed me before I even arrived.

Near the top of Big White, looking at the chalets below

During my last month in Ontario, I had sent out emails to yoga studios and other contacts provided me by friends in the know, and I felt encouraged by the responses I received. Brenda Wowk of Kelowna Hot Yoga Studio was the first to connect with me. Her warm welcome made me feel right at home, and I began teaching Yin yoga at her studio the week I arrived.

My first night in Kelowna, I drove for an hour up the dark mountainside to Big White, making hairpin turns, passing steep dropoffs, and dodging deer. In the morning, I walked to the top of the mountain and surveyed the range, marvelling at the green expanse before me. For several days, I drove up and down the mountain, exploring Kelowna and looking for a place to live, since the condo was a temporary rental before the start of ski season. My ears popped each day, during the sharp descent into the Okanagan Valley. I came to realize that the wildlife own the roads in these parts. One night on my way back up the mountain, I had to stop half a dozen time for deer crossing the road. During my forays into the city, I would drive around the ducks near city park. They are quite clear on their ownership of the road and are not the least bit fussed about traffic.

The ducks own the road.

In that same first week, I found a carriage house to rent in West Kelowna surrounded by vineyards, fields and mountains, bought a car, and began to make friends in my new community. I hiked in the mountains with Brenda, and with my yogi friend, Dawn and her three rescued dogs. I attended the Wise Women Festival in Penticton, where I became gloriously lost in the dark on the way home, finding myself at Okanagan Lake at midnight. I found a park near my home where I could sit on a bench and look across the water at Kelowna and take in the beauty of the lake and the mountains. I found myself laughing at the flocks of quail that would run along in front of me and hide in the bushes where I passed, looking much like old ladies in cocktail hats toddling off for their afternoon tea.

So, I take this adventure a day at a time, humbled and grateful to have been led here, looking to continue learning what my higher wisdom wants me to know, and recognizing that I am indeed taken care of, and that God/the Universe/All That Is reaches out to me through my mind, my heart, the mountains and the wind, and every smiling face that welcomes me, and all those in kindness who wish me well wherever I walk the earth. Namaste and blessings to you all.

Get under the tap!

At a recent meeting of my lightworkers’ group, one of us discussed the challenges of going against our soul’s path. In this case, we were talking about the importance of doing work that is in accordance with the soul’s purpose.

When lightworkers are first activated, they find many aspects of their lives coming into question. They may wonder if the partner they have is still right for them, if they are living in the right location, and if their livelihood is still in keeping with their new perspective. Often, one or all of these aspects undergoes profound change through the evolution of the lightworker.

One way of knowing when you’re walking your path is to notice if you feel motivated to gravitate toward a particular person, place or occupation. If what you’re doing now brings you no joy, and you have to drag yourself out of bed to do it, you are not as I see it UNDER THE TAP.

Being under the tap means that you are attuned to the natural flow of universal energy. You move forward with joy and ease because you are aligned with your life purpose. You have physical energy. You are naturally happy most of the time. Your life has meaning (even if you can’t always figure out what that means in the moment; you sense it). You feel like doing the things you do. You LOVE what you do.

When you’re not under the tap, you feel tired, irritable, even ill, because you are not working with universal energy. YOU ARE WORKING ONLY WITH THE ENERGY LEFT IN YOUR BODY, AND IT WILL RUN OUT. It’s the universe’s way of stopping you in your tracks before you go too far down the wrong path. It will shut you down through illness, job loss, marital breakdown or some other crisis – such as an accident.

So, if you encounter any of these circumstances, you have a choice. You can fight your experiences, or you can stop and assess your current situation. What needs to change? What new direction do you need to take? Do you need to stand perfectly still until an answer arises (not easy to do)? Illness is a great teacher. So is misfortune. You can rail against these lessons, and they will just keep coming back and getting bigger until you face them. Or, you can surrender to the universe. Ask it what it wants to teach you. And let it start shifting your life in a new direction.

Oh, there will be losses. Your ego will be very disappointed to see you lose a relationship, income, job status, your home. Your ego likes everything to stay exactly the way it always has – even if you fall apart in the process. Your ego wants to keep you safe, believing that change is dangerous. However, adapting to new circumstances is more than ever the best survival tool we have. So, thank the ego for the things it does (it means well), and turn your attention to the work at hand.

If you have chosen a spiritual path, if you ultimately chose to be activated at this time as a lightworker, you will function best by getting under the tap. Let the universe provide you with direction and the means to walk your path. Be open to it taking an unexpected turn – in fact, many turns. Be open to people and circumstances affecting your life in ways you didn’t count on. Be open to being taught what your path is by a greater wisdom than your ego-mind can summon.

Breathe into your heart, where true wisdom lies. Sit in observer consciousness, allowing feelings, images, and words to float into awareness. Sit until you know without knowing how you know. The wisdom will come when you don’t try to attain it. This is the ultimate act of surrender – to wait to act until you know what to do. Remember that the ego is all about the doing. It’s not about the being. But, you are a human being first.

Life is a mind-altering journey if you allow it to be. And all the resources and guidance you need are always available to you. In fact, they’re on tap. Just stand still, open yourself, and receive.

What I’ve learned about love…

Something has shifted on a deep and significant level for me. This may be a result of my Yin yoga practice. It may be the effect of major shifts in my life during the past several months. It certainly is having my soulmate hold a mirror up to me and my patterns around love.

Whatever the contributing factors, I’ve come to the realization that there is only one way to love, and that is unconditionally, without reservation, and without regard to the outcome.

To some, that may sound self-sacrificing; yet it isn’t. I continue to ensure that I meet my needs, including expressing them to others if their involvement or cooperation is required, and I’m happy to move in and out of situations if they don’t feel right for me, whether that has to do with my home, job, or relationship.

However, I’ve discovered that there is incredible freedom and joy in loving someone for the opportunity of expressing that love. It moves me out of “what will you do for or to me?” It stops the question, “Will you love me or hurt me?” It shifts it to, “How can I understand you better? What can I give you?”

This shift moves us from grasping to giving, and it’s only when we have an open hand that we can receive the gifts of the universe. It also sets up a wave effect. As we freely allow Love to flow through and out of us, it rushes right back in through beautiful and unexpected channels.

This offering up of love does not restrict itself to a romantic relationship. Indeed, as conduits of Divine Love on earth, we can freely provide that energy to everyone we meet, whether they are ready to receive it or not. It’s really none of our business what others do with the Love we offer. It’s just our role to let it move through and out of us.

Often, when I’m struggling with a particular stage of my personal growth, the Universe speaks through someone that day, giving me the exact guidance or support I need. Indeed, it wants to communicate through us all, if we just get out of the way and allow it.

What’s tremendous about this realization is that it takes the emphasis off of receiving from someone in particular. How often do we become angry and bitter because we felt that someone should treat us in a particular way? When we surrender to the Universe, and accept that our needs will be met through a greater wisdom than our ego can summon, we move from blame to compassion, realizing that others may be suffering and unable to offer anything that day… but that it will come to us through the appropriate channel at the right time.

Knowing this, we can freely offer up love, opening our hearts to let it back in from wherever it’s destined to come. We can cease grasping and clinging and simply resonate with the compassionate, all-encompassing vibration that is the Universe. All that truly exists is Love. With that vast ocean surrounding and permeating us, why focus on the smallness of the illusion that we are separate and somehow removed from the All?

I prefer to live in Truth, knowing that my sole purpose – indeed everyone’s purpose – is to be Love expressing itself today. However you do it, you are the Love of the Universe… and the Universe/God/All That Is doesn’t play favourites and doesn’t care if anyone loves it back.

When the Universe Comes Knocking on Your Door

Image from Stock Xchng

I know now beyond any doubt that the law of attraction works. I also think it’s tied in with my lucid dreaming practice.

Part of what I do as a lucid dreamer is to recognize that the waking state is also a dream, and so is just as malleable by thought as the dream state we experience when we sleep.

For a long time, the Universe/God/All That Is has done its best to make it clear to me that my thoughts create my reality. I think things, and they immediately come into being. For example, two nights ago I decided that I need to take my tarot readings on the road more often and attend more shows. Two minutes later, I’m checking my junk mail only to find an email inviting me to attend the International Women’s Day event at the Ramada Inn on March 6th in Belleville.

Snap! Just like that.

This morning, I was driving to my Therapeutic Touch Practice Group in Carrying Place, listening to some Abraham CDs created by Esther and Jerry Hicks. I was enjoying a fun and lighthearted presentation about the Art of Allowing and the Law of Attraction. As I drove, I settled into my waking dreamscape, allowing the scene rolling by to reveal symbolic imagery to me just as my sleeping dreams do.

Driving along, I glanced over to a farmer’s field to see a door standing alone, with no building to support it. The door was decorated with a Christmas wreath.

I arrive at my practice group, happy to see my friends, not suspecting that today would yield a breakthrough. We offer Therapeutic Touch sessions to each other for practice and personal growth. While receiving my session, my very skilled and compassionate friend and fellow practitioner, Martina, triggered an emotional response in me. I began to cry.

Normally, this would be my cue to shut down the waterworks so I could look to all the world like I had my act together. However, this time, having made a decision to follow the Art of Allowing (during which I’d put out the intention to make a good living doing the work I love) I realized this was my first lesson in doing just that – letting go. After all, how could I expect to get everything I wanted in life if I wouldn’t allow the experiences that came to me?

I cried for a long time, and was soon flanked by two other practitioners, Barb and Nicole, who held my hands while Martina held my head. I felt enveloped in love, and my heart chakra, so often tightly clamped against harsher realities, began to open up. By the time my session was over, it felt as though a wind were passing through my heart chakra.

I had many realizations during the course of the treatment, including understanding that I must give up my sense of separateness, and that I have a new tool for listening to my inner voice. If my thoughts cause that passageway from the back to the front of the heart chakra to tighten, then I need to choose more positive thoughts. If a choice I’m about to make is wrong for me, I feel that tightening.

I came away from the group realizing that the universe is always there, wanting to give me everything there is to receive. I really only have to allow it all in.

On the way home, I stopped at Campbell’s Orchard to buy a pie. When I drove up, rabbits were everywhere, hopping amongst the parked cars. More dream imagery.

Arriving home, I found a phone message from LeapFish inviting me to sponsor an ad with them, thus opening new doors to my work, and it just kept flowing from there. I called them back, because Marina, on whose machine I left a message to call me back, finished her greeting with “Make it a great day.” Talk about alignment with the law of attraction! I soon had an account set up with Leapfish and a sense I was connecting with great people.

Within a few more hours, I’d spoken to a friend who’d left a bad marriage with nothing in her pocket but faith, and within 24 hours had manifested an apartment, a moving company, and other amenities she needed. I also received several offers for work as a psychic – one of them on an ongoing basis.

As for the symbolism? In the Chinese horoscope, I am a rabbit. I determined that this would be my turnaround year, and what can be more fitting than to see a family of rabbits in a most unlikely setting, showing me that I’d be equally comfortable venturing into new territory.

The door in the farmer’s field… well, it’s pretty straightforward. The universe is knocking at my door. I just have to let it in.