healing

Lazy day of letting go

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Have a lazy summer day.

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Summer grasses

Let the breeze shimmer your leaves. Rest with trust in your roots and the earth that supports you.

You can afford a day of rest, of letting go… Letting your mind be clear and blank… settling in to your body, feeling the ripples of thought and feeling that come and go. Now going deeper and feeling the blood coursing through you, the weight of muscle, the bone and skin, the breath as it expands your lungs and ribs, your eyes fluttering beneath their lids…

Let your tense muscles relax. It’s OK to let parts of you be soft and relaxed on your lazy summer day. It’s OK to do nothing but breathe and let your heart beat, your eyes blink, to feel the life course through your body.

Now, just for today, lose the agenda, the to do list, the killer instinct, the high heels, the dress for success, the act you feel you must put on. (Is this you?) Who invented suits and ties? Why?

You are so much more than what you do! Get to know yourself beneath the persona, the snappy business attire, the synthetic rules someone has imposed upon you, your place as a cog in the “system”.

Who are you really?

Limitations

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Cottonwoods at dusk

We are all limited, yet within our limitations we can thrive and create a soul satisfying life. I am limited to my tree self, the roots holding me fast, the seasons dictating my cycles of rest and growth, yet my spirit soars free like an eagle sailing on the wind. I fulfill my purpose here, and feel glad of this life I have been blessed with.

You are given a human body mind and spirit allowing you to expand infinitely within your human form and function! Yet, your experience is limited; you have no wings, your senses are less acute than many living things, you must make sure to stay warm in winter, you can’t breathe under water – you are fragile in many ways. You know the world only from your own limited perspective.

What my tree self wishes to convey is that I desire for you to live up to your limitless potential, to be fully human, fully your unique self. Don’t copy others, don’t envy, don’t try to keep up with others. Commit yourself to being the best you, the only you the earth will ever know.

This is your chance to live the precious life you’ve been given as a gift.  It is a miracle that you are here in this lifetime, in this body, at this time.  Live this truth.

Do not fight

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Jack in the pulpit

Do not fight anything, my dears. For in fighting you give attention. You push against and that strengthens the very thing you wish to eliminate. Shall we fight against war or fight against disease, or drugs or terrorism? How are these battles going for you?

The change you desire begins within the center of your heart. To change what you perceive around you, you must change the vibrations, the feelings, the emotions and thoughts until you have become the embodiment of peace, of well-being, of acceptance.

You cannot fight anything and “win”.  You are simply prolonging the aggression and adding unhappiness and damage and hurt to the web of all things. What you see and feel is a reflection of you and all of us together.

The reflection of well being and peace and love are so much stronger than you know. Tune in to the energy of nature of plants of birds, of the soil and the intricate balance between creatures and their chosen places.

Nature does not go to war with herself! Here you will find such intricacy, such balance, such love and interdependency and trust in life! You will know this also within yourself for it will strike a chord of truth within you.

You will become a true center of peace and harmony for the human world when you live this truth.

Spring is here

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Tree as healer

Now that spring is here, I ask you to touch your hand, your bare foot, perhaps your cheek to the earth, the cool sweet soil, the dewy grasses, the wet sand, the bark of a beloved tree, and allow her energies to fill and restore and heal you.

You were made for the earth and she was made for you. Feel the comfort of her pulse and rhythms, the knowledge that you are home.

I especially invite you to lay under a friendly tree with deep roots. Allow the energies of your home to encircle and fill you with the power your ancient ancestors knew, attuned to her from time immemorial.

You connect in this way to the web of all creation, all living creatures, all spirits, all energies that sustain life on our dearly beloved planet.

Do the right thing

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Early spring vine

My dears, I want you to know that no matter what mistakes you think you’ve made, no matter what you have left undone, or unsaid, no matter the ugly words that have come from your lips, you can choose differently from now on.

Do not limit yourself to “the way I’ve always been” or “my personality” or “that’s how I was raised.” Why would you choose powerlessness?

I tell you here and now that you have a choice in the kind of person you are. There is the inner part of you that only you know and outer part that you present to the world. Allow those two to become one- the two halves to become a whole.

Do what you know to be the right thing. Say the kind thing. Cease all excuses!

Step up to the shining example of your true inner self that is aligned with the source of all creation.

Color

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GCW speaks of color

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Summer color

Life needs color! Mix and match have fun, for color never hurt anyone. Be bold and playful. You are too careful! Break the rules. Then contemplate why there are rules, who made them and why you should waste any more of your precious time worrying about them!

Turquoise, pink magenta violet, red, orange. The colors of the sunset… Fill your home with all tints and shades, all hues blues, greens, cerulean, ocean, sapphire- get scarves or pillows or curtains, or bedspreads or rugs, or socks, or clothes or paint for your rooms in those pretty colors you adore. Be like a kid in a candy store! Plant flowers, little summer jewels that delight with their form, color, and fragrance.  Give this delightful gift to yourself

Wrap yourself in color from head to toe. Let your eyes delight in the interaction of adjoining and overlapping colors. Allow yourself to be dazzled! Fill your world with the visible spectrum. Your senses are meant to bring you delight and joy.

Get started now! Enliven your world!

Drop everything

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Early spring Robin

At times it is right to let go, to release your hold, just as trees in autumn drop leaves to prepare for winter. You may simply need to release your grip on all the details of your life for a time- All the worries, fears, all the tickly and prickly little things that make your brain race in circles with no finish line in sight.

Let your brain rest. Be content. Allow yourself to be empty.

Change gear, unplug from the shiny blinking objects that demand so much of you, that suck the joy and life from you. Lay on the sweet cool earth, nestle your body against the trunk of a sturdy tree, put your ear to the soil, hear the rhythm and heart beat of the earth. Know that you are meant to be here, are beloved. You don’t need to prove yourself by constant action that frazzles your nerves and wipes you out.

Burn your epic to-do-list and rest!

Should?

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My dear, the word should is not your friend!

Should is the voice of mom, dad, church, teacher, doctor, expert, all rolled into one. It is a word that holds you back and ties you down. It is a word generated by the mind, the fearful self critical mind, not the heart or the voice of your soul. It is not the real truth of you.

Of course, sometimes what you “should” do and what your heart wants to do are in alignment. Can you discern when this is true? Do not lie to yourself!

Do you fear that you will not belong, that you will be cast out if you follow your heart and not your shoulds? Perhaps it is time for a new group, new friends, a new tribe that celebrate the deep inner beauty and kaleidoscope of gorgeous colors and patterns that is you!

I repeat myself yet again. Follow your heart for that is where your true riches are found.

Grief

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GCW speaks of injury, loss, and grief

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Have you seen? I have lost many branches in my long life, The dead sumps and scars are here to be seen, the bark still protruding where it once protected a dear limb, now white and rotting on the earth at my roots.

Have you lost something precious, someone dear? Does your heart grieve? All living things know loss. Sickness and health. Injury and healing. Having and losing. Grasping and letting go. Falling and rising again, perhaps to a new reality you didn’t ask for and don’t want.

Can you sit and breathe through the tears? That is enough for now, simply sit and feel and breathe, even though your tears may fall. Can you love yourself, the part of you that feels what all others who have walked this earth have felt? Can you simply love yourself as you sit and breathe and feel?

For love heals. The breath heals. Feeling heals. Tears heal.

Expect nothing. Simply sit and feel and breathe. Like waves on the shore – in and out in and out, the rhythm of life.

Aging

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GCW speaks of getting older

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Grandmother Cottonwood

Surrender, my dears to life. Life moves you downstream on the river finally to merge with all that is.

Perhaps you’ve awakened from sleep and seen a gray haired man or woman looking out of the mirror at you, or lines on your face that you can no longer pretend away. Perhaps the dreams you’ve held dear since childhood no longer feed your soul. Can you find the gold in this mud?

Can you let go of those dreams, desires, beliefs that once seemed so vital and precious but are now hollow and stale, outdated and obsolete?

Can you conjure a new dream for this time of your life? What desires still hold your heart’s attention?

What new dreams will carry you to the end of this life and beyond – with eager anticipation, passion and delight – so that as your body ages your life’s true work comes into focus, your spirit feels joy, your heart sings? For your heart can sing now in older years, without embarrassment, with true wisdom and beauty, the song of your soul.

Embrace yourself as you are with a whole heart. Live from the inside (soulside) out for the outside of you is just a temporary wrapper for the spirit.