Back in the UK

The past week has flown by and I'm somewhat bemused as to how I have managed to go this long without doing the blog. Normally, it is something that I sit down and do without a huge amount of pre-thought. It tends to flow from my current experiences and thoughts.

Not so much this past week. Perhaps because it has been a week of huge change; just prior to leaving for the UK I heard from my very dear friend that her uncle had passed away on the Tuesday evening. This was a bit of a shock thought not a huge surprise. Her uncle had been very ill with brain cancer for a number of months. We had given him Reiki in January and the message was clear; 'your life is in your hands.'

This is the reality of life and cancer; ultimately, the decision to live or die rests with the individual. No one can really say or declare that someone is 'terminal' or that they will live. Our souls are our own and it is our decision. This isn't an easy concept to understand because for all the world a friend or family member appear to have the desire to live and in fact, will espouse that point of view openly and with great inner conviction. This indeed was the case for my friend's uncle. He did believe he would live.

So my trip to the UK was overshadowed by his passing and yet, it has given me a lot of fuel for thought and introspection. We really do not know when our passing will be. Our only real option is to our live our life as consciously and with as much love and gratitude as possible.

This feeling of gratitude has been with me throughout the past week. I am grateful to be in the UK with my friends and family. To have this time to be together and to also have the opportunities I have to work and do what I love to do.

I truly am blessed and grateful that I am able to live the life that I am living right now. I understand at a very deep level that this time here is very brief indeed and to appreciate the many gifts that I have received already.

Feeling blessed and trusting I am where I need to be.

New Beginnings

Spring has always been one of my favourite seasons and never more so than after the winter we have had here at the 'Beach.' Winter has been relentless; snow, ice, wind and freezing temperatures have all combined to make this a very challenging place for me to be. I prefer the temperate climate of Vancouver and London.

This past weekend has been an especially significant weekend with a massively huge full moon waking and shaking everything in it's path. That's what a full moon does; it wakes people up by stirring the emotional body and getting things activated. People feel a little crazy and with everything going on in the world, it isn't hard to understand why crazy seems to be the current emotional flavour of the month.

I chose this past weekend to hold a Reiki Level 1 class. My thinking was that with all this powerful energy arriving this weekend, it would be a perfect time to hold a class. To integrate the energy of the moon and the equinox with the assistance of the Reiki energy seemed like a good plan. The word 'Reiki' means 'Universal Life Force Energy' which is essentially the same energy that holds the moon in the sky, keeps the sun where it is meant to be and runs through our energy systems; it is all the same stuff.

Connecting with the energy of Reiki has been a 21 year relationship that never ceases to surprise and amaze me. I met the husband soon after doing Reiki; it was as if our souls could finally see each other and recognize who we were. My interest in 'Soul Mates' was cultivated and deepened through my relationship with Reiki. Curiosity about this thing called 'Soul' and where does one find a 'Mate' that matches your soul?

And here I am again, bemused and aware that once again this powerful force is taking me on yet another journey. I leave again for the UK this Friday and I am holding the vision to teach a Reiki class while I am there. My two worlds of 'corporate' training and 'spiritual' training are coming together, just like me.

I think that the world and I are in for an incredible ride.

Reiki: Hawayo Takata's StoryReiki: Hawayo Takata's Story

The Aftermath of the Earth Shifts

It may be too soon to speak of this being the 'aftermath' but I'm going to risk it for the sake of addressing what I think is an important part of this whole horrible crisis in Japan.  Thousands of people are either dead or missing – thousands more injured; this is the real aftermath; loss, grief and the prospect of a very slow recovery.

It leaves me with the very big question; what can I do to help?  How do I relieve the genuine sense of hopelessness and helplessness that this type of crisis evokes in me?  I don't think it is a coincidence that I have spent most of this weekend at my computer trying to come up with a creative solution to an issue we have faced since we moved back to Canada.  How do we get our youth leadership programme off the ground?

We are in the business of training, development and fundamentally; leadership education.  We have worked with young people and understand some of the issues they face.  Each time we experience a crisis like the one recently in Japan, I feel strongly drawn to do something about this leadership gap that exists in our society today.  We have worked with adults but in my heart I know that it is the kids who need the support.  This level of change has got to be traumatic for them; what hope do they see for themselves as the world appears to be crumbling before their eyes?

I am now pursuing all avenues of marketing to see what I can do to generate the financial support that we need to do this work.  I have gone up many dead ends this weekend and gained some knowledge about many different 'portals' that offer opportunities to raise funds online.  It is all very confusing and it will take time to sort out what will work and what can be left behind.

Spending this time focusing on what I can do, helped me to ease the pain of what I simply couldn't do; I couldn't make the pain of loss and grief that the Japanese people are feeling go away.  What I can do, is focus on my vision and do what I can do to make a difference here and with my friends and my family.

My hunch is that everyone has been deeply touched somehow with the events in Japan.  How we move forward from here is going to be a very individual thing.  For some people it will be a donation, for others, committed action to do more in these devastated areas and for others,  it will be a greater commitment to move forward with courage and determination to provide solutions that will hopefully lead to a deeper level of understanding and compassion for who we are on this very fragile and currently, very volatile, planet.

The shift has only just begun.

The Earth is Shifting

I woke up this morning to the news of a devastating earthquake and Tsunami in Japan that is working its way across the Pacific to Hawaii and then the coast of Canada and the US. For me, this is very close to home. I lived in Vancouver and on the Island for many years and have spent a lot of time in California; these are places that are also home to me. It is difficult to believe that these areas are going to be affected. My heart is in my throat as I think about the people who I know and love and who are currently under threat. I am praying that the effects will be minimal and that my friends and family will be safe.

As a planet, we are only just coming to grips with the disaster in New Zealand, followed by the flooding in Australia and then the earthquakes in Chile – how can we comprehend the enormity of these shifts that the earth is going through? I think in some ways, I'm a bit numb to the possibility of what might happen here. This is very close to home indeed.

We have been given warnings for years that the earth is shifting; shaking off the effects of our abuse and neglect over the many years. As a sentient being, mother earth feels as much pain for our bad behaviour as any mother does when observing the self destructive habits of her children. It hurts and eventually, the hurt comes out as grief and a massive healing process. This is what we are experiencing right now and so many of us are being affected in a truly horrendous way.

As the earth shifts, we are being awakened to our own inner grief and pain. The opportunity is to observe, reflect and to be accountable for our own emotional distress. It is easy to look outside ourselves and say that it isn't about me – it's happening over there – but this is no longer possible or true. We are all responsible and it is time to take a stand and own our part.

The earth shifts aren't going to stop any time soon; in fact they are going to get stronger and louder. This is a wake up call on a major scale and like any mother who wants her children to wake up, she is being a bit of a nag – annoying really – but it must be done.

As the earth shifts; so do we. Are you ready?

A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose (Oprah's Book Club, Selection 61)

Five Tips to Creating a Successful Relationship

Relationships appear to be a source of trauma and pain for a lot of people. I have had my fair share of difficulties – it has also been the subject of my ongoing research. 'Complicated' is how most people describe their relationship status on Facebook. How come relationships are so complicated? I think it may be that we make them complicated by not understanding some of the rules about relationships.

So, here are my five tips for creating a successful relationship, in no apparent order:

1) Tell yourself the truth about why you want this relationship. Ok – I started with the tough one but the most important one. What motivated you to get into the relationship in the first place? For some – that's easy – I fell in love. Hm – think about that – fell (kind of unstable and a bit slidey there) in (into what?) love (whatever that means). A difficult place to make a choice from – sliding into God knows what.

2) Understand that the person you are in a relationship is going to mirror some of the worst aspects of you – for your enjoyment and edification. Pretty funny huh? You start a relationship with someone and then before you know it – wow – where did that come from? I don't know this person – a complete personality change. Well, actually, it's all a bit of a game calling 'mirror, mirror on the wall' – and we know how that went for Snow White. One moment – fast asleep – the next – woken with a kiss by Prince Charming. The End. Ever wonder what happened after the kiss? Yep, it's called the beginning of the relationship.

3) Forgive yourself on a daily basis for making the first two mistakes; choosing badly and not liking what you see in the mirror. A bit harsh but it will get better, especially as you embrace the humility to accept that you are human and that as a human being, you are naturally flawed. If you start forgiving yourself now, you will be well ahead and ready for number 4.

4) Accept that there are no greener pastures. Where did you hear this before? It is true, we take our 'brown' with us and turn those lovely greener pastures to the same yecky brown that we left behind. The truth is, we take ourselves wherever we go and if we have 'brown' inside of us, it will still be there even if we move on to Prince or Princess Charming No. 2 or 3.

5) Love yourself exactly as you are. In the end, this is the main relationship that you are having while you are here on planet earth. The other folks at the party are just here to help you see yourself better and love yourself – warts and all.

Relationships aren't complicated but we sure are.

Soul Mates: Honoring the Mystery of Love and Relationship

The Wisdom of the Hula Ring

This week has been seismic on many levels. I started out the week in a bit of emotional overflow; experienced a massive adjustment and now ending the week with a whole lot more clarity, opportunities and magic in my life.

The more I release and let go of what no longer serves me; be it emotional baggage or personal baggage, the more I can open to receive what is wanting to come to me. While I'm stuck, nothing can be manifest in my world in any meaningful way.

Flowing with life has been a theme for me lately; allowing myself to slow down and to be in the moment. Not easy for a major doer like me but I'm getting better at it, as I realize that my results improve the more I slow down and allow things to take their natural course.

I have been accused of pushing the river by the husband who definitely has a different pace to me. Since we live next to the river I have a daily reminder of just how useless it is to push a river. Never-the-less, I am often guilty as charged and frustrated by this tendency.

Recently, I purchased a Hula Ring (weighted Hula Hoop) in a fit of 'let's get rid of the belly fat and try something different.' It wasn't long after using the magic hoop that I realized it had some more benefits that I could not have anticipated.

For instance, when I feel impatient, tempted to push a river and move something along before it's ready; I have a new displacement activity that replaces the tendency to act before I'm really ready. The other benefits are that it helps me keep warm, keeps my energy moving and as a kinesthetic learner this is essential for processing information and generating ideas. It has the added benefit of keeping me in the flow; if I don't know what to do I grab the Hula Ring.

The husband is also enjoying the visual of me trying to keep the hoop up; I am evidently very amusing and while he doesn't laugh openly, the smile on his face tells me that I look pretty hilarious.

Hilarious I might be but wisdom is starting to emerge.

Needing an Emotional Adjustment

If last week was up and down, this week has been a bit slidey – or kinda sideways as it were. Deep feelings have been emerging; residues of stuff that has been lurking about in my psyche for a while. I don't usually blog about this kind of stuff but it was rather interesting, so I thought I'd give it a whirl.

Where do I begin and how do I describe this whole process. I have spent the past 25 years of my life in the process of really understanding what it takes to move forward. What keeps us stuck and why it is in fact important to keep moving; to be in the flow of life as opposed to at the effect of and in resistance to life.

So, this is not new territory for me and yet, I have found myself feeling stuck and very challenged around moving myself forward. Normally, this is quite a simple process for me; I figure out what I want, what needs to shift to do that and then bingo, bango – I'm there. I have been testing this technology for a long time and I know it works.

Why, then I ask, have I been stuck? This is a good question and one that I am only now getting to the bottom of. Apparently, I have been holding on to old residues of emotional baggage that extends back to my parent's passing. Grief – frozen in my body and the accompanying despair and apathy – strong words I know – have been keeping me stuck.

I live now in a home that is filled with my parent's memorabilia. Not everything they owned – I have let go of a lot – but there are still memories and pieces of their energy in our home. In some ways, it has been very comforting but in other ways, it has been a daily reminder of what I am missing.

Releasing this grief and letting go of the past has been my process of late. Not pretty and not fun – let me tell you. I have required the services of my husband who has sat with me, listened and helped me through this in what now seems a remarkably short period of time.

The grief may not be all gone but it has indeed been cracked – it is no longer a piece of frozen emotional residue in my body keeping me stuck; it is now a flowing emotional river of love and gratitude to the parents who raised me and loved me.

Moving forward now with emotional clarity and blessed relief.