Realizing and Experiencing Grief

Recently upon waking after an incredible, self-administered Reiki session, I got onto the treadmill to walk into my day. As always, I wanted to select some reading material. I was drawn to a journaling book, one of many on my “personal development” book shelf. When I opened the book to the table of contents, my eye was drawn to a chapter which focused on journaling through the five stages of grief. I went straight to it. Read more »

Your One Wild and Precious Life

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” (From Mary Oliver’s “The Summer Day,” New and Selected Poems) September is upon us. Before you know it, Halloween will be here, followed closely by Thanksgiving and then, yes, Christmas! Where has 2014 gone? And what have we done in 2014 to further our self awareness and personal development? Have we touched upon our soul, our very essence? Have we plumbed it; explored it? If the answer is yes, superb. Bravo to you! If we have not, perhaps we need to lay aside the daily, weekly, monthly, burdens, i.e., our day jobs, that divert our attention from those tasks that nourish our souls and are the essence of each of us, long enough to do so. Read more »

We Find the Strength…It is Within

We have heard it said, and maybe said it ourselves, that God (Great Spirit, Life, or such other moniker based on your belief system) never gives us more than we can handle. While I know personally I have doubted and even questioned this concept, the month of June has shown me that my doubt and second-guessing are unwarranted. Indeed, I am now convinced that God does not give us more than we can handle in our lives at any one time. Read more »

Dare to Grow Wings and Fly!!

Remember back to your childhood? Close your eyes and see the fluttering of a beautiful monarch butterfly, gracefully ascending and descending from flower to flower. Harken back to that early science class when you learned about the caterpillar, its journey into the chrysalis and the remarkable metamorphosis from a creepy crawly critter to a graceful winged acrobat. Caterpillars are not the only creatures that transform themselves. We as humans also undergo metamorphoses, many of them actually over the course of our lives. Read more »

2014: Dare to be Different This Year

As the New Year looms before us, many among us will feel compelled to make New Year’s resolutions, just as we have likely done in the past. Have you ever wondered why we do this? How exactly did the practice of resolving before the start of every New Year come into being? And, why do we keep making resolutions, many times the same ones, year in and year out? Why, too, is it that we just stop at some point, generally early in the year, honoring those resolutions? What if we changed from making resolutions to articulating affirmations? Read more »

The Healing Power of Color: Part Two

There are two steps to working with colors to improve our daily lives. The first step, understanding the individual properties of colors, was addressed in our last article. The second step is learning and applying certain techniques enabling us to project and absorb colors. So, how do we do this? In working with colors, we can do so physically, using color swatches or crystals and gemstones, or we can do so mentally, using visualization and breathing. Read more »

The Healing Power of Color: Part One

The old adage of “healer heal thyself” has never been more appropriate than when picturing yourself “in” a specific color, albeit surrounded by the walls within your home or office or the wardrobe that clothes your body. Remember the 1980s when the rage was to learn about your colors, whether you were spring, summer, fall (autumn) or winter, based upon the spectrum of colors that enhanced your skin tone? Read more »

Balancing the Yin and Yang

As I write this, I am sitting not far from one of Sedona, Arizona’s most powerful vortexes, and one whose energy is recognized as strengthening the feminine-masculine, or yin-yang balance.  Understanding ourselves is something we all strive to achieve.  Why we do what we do, respond as we respond, act [...] Read more »

Sow the Seeds and Harvest the Bounty

It is that time of year when possibilities are resplendent! Look around. Daffodils are pushing their bright blooms up through the earth to dance in the spring breezes. Hyacinths and tulips are teasing through Mother Earth in search of the gentle kisses of spring showers. Calves, lambs and foals are tentatively teetering on unsure legs in meadows tall with mustard. Winter’s stark trees are awaiting a new cloak of leaves promised by their budding branches. New possibilities are, or at least give the appearance of being, everywhere. Read more »