It has been quite the month!  Between the eclipse sandwich (2 solar and 1 lunar), my birthday and the powerful solstice energy in June I have felt A LOT of shifting as I try to live my life more presence, pleasure and peace! For me it has felt like I've been coming in for a "landing."  I've been feeling the Earth's energy draw me close and closer.  It's been calling me to live from my lower chakras (of rootedness, creativity and power) to balance the "floatier" energies of heart, head and beyond!  I've been feeling a call to "anchor in" (whatever that means). ;)


Maybe you have felt it too?!


Or maybe you've been feeling the urge to let go, allow, to "fly!" 


So today was "landing day" for me!  I have never felt so grounded and in my body EVER...and it feels really good!  I can feel my feet on the ground (literally) for the first time and there is a pleasant heaviness to my mass of of cells and organs that lets me know I am even MORE fully alive than before.


One of the main things I stress in sessions with clients is to trust their own instincts and inner wisdom.  So today, my body, my wisdom is calling me to enjoy, relish and be present to this transition and integration of more of me.  Although there are many things to do...I am going to joyfully listen.  This means going offline until Monday (at least) and just being very present in my body! 



Neat - huh? :)



I'm excited to dive into the new space we just created for  messiness and art with my two amazing daughters and really get my hands dirty.  I'm excited to be amazed at the way my clothes feel on my skin and the way my hair brushes against my shoulders...all things I have never really felt.  I feel like I am home again and I want to be present to it, extract every ounce of pleasure from it and rest in the peace of knowing I listened...really listened to the wisdom of my body and soul. I look forward to sharing more of this journey with you.



Until then, please let me know how you have been experiencing your own life.  Have you felt a shift?  Are you feeling more open...expansive?  Have you constricted any areas of your life?  Please leave a comment below and I look forward to connecting next week!

Last week I  blogged about  Alignment #1 for living a more authentic life.  These are rules I "officially" lived at Eden Unplugged in a small community of evolutionary entrepreneurs for three days and nights. They also represent the genuine feeling of self-awareness and community that was the real education students received in my classroom as a teacher of young souls...solving equations was secondary. :)  I'm so excited to share them with you and have already received amazing feedback about peeps actually applying these principles to their lives and seeing results!  Woo hoo!

Alignment #2:  Don't Do What You Don't Want To Do!

Now I was thinking to myself,  this is the same as the first alignment and I really like to keep things positive rather than tell people what NOT to do.  But there are a few important distinctions I would like to highlight here.

Those of you who have ever said to yourself...


I have to...

I should...

I'm supposed to...

I always get roped into...

I hate doing this but...

I don't really want to but...


then you are doing things that ARE NOT serving your highest interset and robbing you of more PRESENCE, PLEASURE and PEACE right now! 


No more obligations!


Here's the subtlety -

Alignment #2 is about you CEASING from doing the things you don't really want to do and

Alignment #1 is about CREATING the things you DO want to do!

So now CEASE and CREATE! (but only if you want to:)

Very important as the basis for each of these Six Alignments I learned at Eden is...

learning to become very present in your own life, day to day, moment to moment, millisecond to millisecond!  When you are present body, mind and soul to yourself, your environment and to the people and energy around you, these alignments will come more naturally and produce more love, peace and inspired learning in your life. 

So...

Alignment #1:  Do What You Want To Do

No...really!   Stop worrying about how you will appear or offend people...just listen to yourself (there's that get present thing again) and do what you WANT!

You can rest assured you will ALWAYS get immediate and useful information back from the Universe. Use it or don't.

But for God's sake and your sanity, get in your body, listen and DO WHAT YOU WANT! ♥

This has helped me with the art of allowing...when others do what they want and don't try to guess what they SHOULD do, or what YOU want them to do, it frees all of us to allow for natural consequences good, bad or neutral, set boundaries and communicate our needs.

When I do what I want I can observe the affects on myself and the people around me.  It makes me an observer of my own life and empowers me to choose based on desirable or undesirable outcomes.  Doing what I want helps get me closer to living the life, relationships and purpose I truly want to be living in this world by providing immediate feedback to my choices rather than having to navigate the thinking and psychology around why I choose what I choose.  I choose it because I want to!  It works to bring more life or it doesn't.

As someone who's always had...well...no boundaries, accepting that others do what they want has helped me be true to myself by setting better boundaries or reaching out with authentic communication if I am uncomfortable or don't understand someone else’s choices.  Not to mention making it easier for me to let go of um, well...eh hem..some...(cough, cough)...control issues! Whew! :)

Practical Tip:  Stay present...pay attention and accept the feedback the Universe provides when you do what you want! Use it...or don't! 

Do what you want! :)

It has been quite an adjustment this last month after returning from Eden!  It's like I was on a natural high immediately when I returned...and then my body was like, wait, this is TOO good and I created situations in my life to screw myself out of manifesting in my "real" life all the wonderful things that happened inside me at Eden!

Have you ever done this?

It's called hitting your "upper limit." 

It can look like picking a fight with your partner (this is my fav...blah...poor Steve), procrastinating, yelling at your kids, overeating, not taking care of yourself, really anything that will keep you from focusing on making positive change in your life and bring you right back down into the muckity-muck! I've felt this many times before I know I'm supposed to step into something bigger.  It feels like you're being stretched from the inside out. 


Why?  Because you're expanding into new uncharted territory!!!  Exciting but oh-so-scary too!




So instead of heading back to where I feel "comfortable" (which actually, after fighting about the dishes for the 400th time, I realized, really actually sucks!)  I've begun LIVING what I learned at Eden and wouldn't ya know, I'm right back on track and ready to share it with ya'll. 




So here a simple tool we used regularly at Eden Unplugged and I have used in many other arenas in my life throughout the years!




This works at home, work, social gatherings, classrooms, with kids, with cranky spouses, with friends and strangers alike!  And yes, I've tried it with all of the above!




So please, for God's sake and your sanity,

try this at home! :)




Circle Time!


1) Sit or stand in a circle...yes, that's right, just like in kindergarden! (also works with two people, so no excuses :)).

2) Take a deep breath together.  Do it a few times if it feels a little weird. (yes, we did this in my junir high classromm almost every day)

3) Invite everyone to check in or pay attention to how their body is feeling (giggle, giggle).  This could mean physically, energetically, if there is pain, or excitement in the belly, light headed, nervous energy, etc.

4) Invite everyone to share.

    a) Name

    b) How there are feeling in there body and

    c) if there is anything keeping them from feeling completely      present right there and then. 


Or come up with a question of your own.  We used "What inspired you to come" at our last community gathering and it was so incredible to watch people (many complete strangers) simply begin to connect...

authentically...

by just sitting in circle together! 

Try it.  You might like it! :)  Let me know what you think by leaving a comment below! :)

I’ve been humbled this week.  I was forced to really look at the message I am sending out to people.  A message I’ve tried to live, communicate and teach for years…to just “be!”  I sometimes talk about “being present” (one of my rules as a classroom teacher) and last week encouraged you (and myself) to just be and allow. 




This week I got an email from a beloved friend of 20 + years, pissed off that I was telling people to “just be” when our world was falling apart.  He felt I was giving people an excuse to just sit on their asses all day and not lift a finger to do the work that is required to get our world back on track. I’ve built my life and business around the concept and practice of “being present” so this well meaning email caused me to take pause!




Okay, his directness stung a little (a lot :))…but it inspired me.  After the sting wore off…to question my own intentions and also take a deeper look at the reasons for living, coaching and writing so much about this topic.




Was there some truth to what he was suggesting?




Was I giving people and possibly myself an excuse to be lazy? 




I knew there was some truth in it because of the strong reaction I had. 




Note:  if you have a strong reaction to something someone else says or does there is always a lesson (and a gift) in it for YOU…it has nothing to do with the other person.




So here’s what I learned.  I DO hide behind my keyboard quite often.  It is safe and I can choose whether or not I respond to emails and comments about what I write.  It protects my sensitive nature and in some ways keeps me from actually doing the work that I know needs to get done in real life that would make my services more accessible.  Writing is one way of being present for me so if I’m writing and nurturing my own soul, thus advancing the consciousness of the world, then all is well...right?  Maybe.  Or is more balance called for.  Hmmm...at least something for me to ponder.




So, I have now taken more action this week to do some of the  things I’ve wanted to do for a long time (namely getting organization and systems in place to help boost my productivity).  Whoa, did that just leave my fingertips? lol




Thanks to my amazing friend,  I’ve allowed my “being” time to be a catalyst for inspired action and both the being and the doing have been more fruitful! Woot! :)




I also learned that I don’t have to be afraid to question and reflect on what I believe to be true.  If any of you have had to leave a religion or have lived a life in opposition to your family’s values (I’ve done both) then you know what I mean. 




I was worried that if I really looked at my motivations, intentions and “truths” about being present, I would find that I actually know jack squat about what I was trying to articulate and thus be found out to be a fraud!  But the gift was that as I communicated with my friend, I became more and more convinced of the importance of becoming aware and being present in order to act, do and work from a place of authenticity. He forced me to stand up for my beliefs and also mirrored back and affirmed them as I was able to clarify my motivations.




I stand firm knowing that as we become more present to your our own life we heighten the effectiveness and meaning of our work in the world as well as create fun and ease within the process of “work” itself!




So many of us just do and do and do without ever stopping to think…what the hell am I running around doing all this for? 




Why am I working so hard at a job I despise? 




Why am I giving all of my time to things I really could care less about? 




Because society tells you to?  Your boss?  Your God?




This I know, until you are able to be - just be - with yourself  and until you get present enough to hear your own soul, your actions will be forced, laborious, and less effective than if you learn to get present and listen. 




So there it is...the lesson that kicked my butt into action and the gift of my friend (and teacher) for speaking his own truth to help me clarify my own!




Now get busy...just being!

I’m crying as I begin to write this.


I’ve been trying to find a way to express to all of you what I soaked up, practiced and learned at Eden Unplugged last week.  There is so much I want to tell you but as I sit to write, my heart is heavy because writing this means I am no longer there…for reals.


I’m no longer sitting naked in the healing waters of the hot springs, I am no longer in the warm shelter of my tent/soul mate mama, I am no longer listening, connecting, crying, hugging, eye gazing, dancing and holding space with the beautiful souls I was fortunate enough to cross paths with on this desert in the journey.


Smiling through the tears now.


As I sit hear in my local coffee shop sipping a matte latte with a scarf I wore most of the time at Eden wrapped around my shoulders (I may never wash this thing again), trying to keep the hip barista guy from seeing proof of sorrow streaming down my face, I feel an incredible energy and hopefulness!   My experience at Eden has proven to me that the world I have dreamed of all my life (and somewhat lived in, if only in my head :)) IS possible!  We CAN be and love, allow and accept, create and fall apart with each other…in community! 


We no longer have to live in the illusion of isolation!


You can be who you really are…all of you… naked and raw, vulnerable and brilliant and it will be okay...it will be enough!


Writing this, honoring what I said I would do when I got back and sharing what I have learned, is calling me out of that space in my heart I have not wanted to let go of for the past 11 days…so thank you for holding me to my promise to share…I will, in depth and in all the amazingness that is Eden and Eden unplugged share more!  For now, thank you for allowing me this moment to grieve the physical experience of Eden so that I can begin to, with your help, manifest the spirit of Eden in the real world! Woo hoo!


I think it will seep out through these messages over the next few weeks but if there is one lesson to take away and one I am learning through this process of reintegration into the “default” world, it is honor where you are.   If you feel yourself, trying, pulling, pushing, straining, feeling the “have tos” and shoulds…stop…no seriously,


Stop...


Take a deep belly breath….


Allow whatever you are feeling to just be.  Allow yourself to feel it in your body and feel it and feel it and FEEL IT until the Universe has squeezed every last beautiful, sparkling nourishing tear from you and then…


Listen... listen close to the Eden of YOUR heart! 


Let’s build it together! 


I’m in!  Are you?

 I have a problem with reacting impulsively.  Verbally that is.

To my defense I chalk this up to being a "highly intuitive and sensitive child" who kept her perception of the world deep down inside for a LONG time!  So now that the pity part is over (almost ;)) and I've found my voice, my emotions, intuitions, judgments, ideas, inspirations now come spewing out on those unexpecting victims I like to call my loved ones at warp speed! :)

Do you know anyone like this? ;)

Now that my feet are beginning to touch the ground, I am learning how to be "in authentic relationship" with other human beings in this earthly realm... and, well,  in my earth tone living room.

I'm not talking about the kind of relationship where, you play and role and I play a role...I ignore your shit if you ignore mine.  I'm talking about a whole new paradigm of being together...a welcoming, accepting and helping each other transform into more highly evolved individuals who carry the light of the Universe within our very SOULS kind of relationship! 

And to be frank...I suck at this!

But,

I'm learning every day and I wanted to share something (pretty drastic) I did this week to keep my impulsivity in check and my relationships in tact! :)



I decided to be silent! 

That’s right folks…I am a non-reactionary, all accepting, completely allowing, non-attachment, loving, breathing (a lot of breathing) woman!  It can be done.  When emotions, reactions, intuitive feelings, judgments, perceptions want to come hurdling out of me at the speed of light (which is quite often, I might add),

I stop…

take a breath…

acknowledge my feelings (very important),

take responsibility for my own stuff and

whewwwwwwwwwwwww……exhale!

And all this in the time it would normally take me to cut someone off, mispercieve their intention, project my own fears, doubts or insecurities on them, and then make some distorted profession of my all knowing, all seeing nature! J

I choose silence!