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6/4/2021 0 Comments

Summer: A Soft Opening into Skillful Action

Tenderness does not choose its own uses.
It goes out to everything equally.
~Jane Hirshfield

The season of summer is a time of joy, celebration, vitality and expansion as it's the most "yang" or peak time of the seasonal cycle of a year and relates to the element of fire. Fire has two distinct transformational purposes: it releases or purifies (think of heat creating sweat that eliminates toxins) and it creates new possibilities and gathers together (consider how a stove cooks food or a campfire draws people into more intimate conversations).

Summer solstice falls on June 20/21 this year and marks the longest, lightest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. It's often the time of year when we might feel the most active and outgoing as we make plans to travel or spend more time outside in nature. However, this year isn't like others that have come before. Just a year ago we were in "lockdown" and living under vastly altered conditions. Many have been temporarily separated from or permanently lost loved ones, navigated dramatic economic and familial changes that have necessitated career transitions, moving households, or shifting schedules to account for virtual/homeschooling and the list goes on.

Every single human being on this planet has been, in some deep way, changed forever. As the world begins to open up many will feel the breath of fresh air as masks are dropped and restrictions are lifted. You may feel like dancing in the streets inviting the neighbors to celebrate the return to living. Others will feel tentative, protective of their 6 foot space, a bit disoriented and unsure of how to have a normal conversation. Where do we even begin? Perhaps you feel a little of both. Or something entirely different. Whatever the case, I vote for a soft opening back into the world where we do our best to meet and greet ourselves and others with equal tenderness, big hugs and plenty of emotional space to discover and create, together, what's next.

Summer is the season of action. I'd like to offer the distinction between action and motion that we make in yoga. The practice of yoga is the science of action and action is movement with intelligence. In a yoga pose, for example, here is the difference: I might say "Step your left foot open wide and turn toward the long edge of your mat." That cue signals a movement that you will make to come into the pose. Once you are in, let's say Warrior 2 pose, I might add: "From the core of your pelvis, root down evenly through both feet. Sense the tailbone and crown of your head lengthen away from each other in space. Inhale and gather energy into your center and exhale, extend energy from the center of your body to the edges of your skin." Those particular cues suggest a quality of attention that will deepen your awareness. That is what makes it Yoga: skillfulness in action.

Let's take that wisdom with us upon our re-entry this month and beyond. What actions will support you in defining the new opportunities and possibilities that are available to you? How will you use the skills you have developed over the last year to explore how you will more articulately and purposefully move through the world? Consider what the fruits of your particular actions might yield?

To support your transition into summer, please enjoy this 25 minute Yoga Nidra Meditation practice for shifting from Spring to Summer. Yoga Nidra is most commonly understood at "yogic sleep." The word Nidra comes from two words: "Ni" means "void" and "dru" means "to draw forth from or reveal." It's a beautiful practice that invites us to move through the various states of consciousness with effortless awareness. Learning to use technology to share my voice and heart with you this last year has been its own kind of drawing forth of my own deep desire to serve the personal and collective awakening of our greatest human potential. It has proved to be a challenging, yet rewarding growth edge! I truly appreciate your engagement with my offerings. May it bless you in the highest and best ways.

Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti. Peace, Peace, Peace 💜

I'll be taking some time off for my annual summer sabbatical at the end of this month and will return to teaching in August. I look forward to continuing the journey of growth and expansion with you in the second half of 2021!

*Nidra script from Tamara Verma

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4/20/2021 0 Comments

The Energy of Desire

The energy of desire is tremendously powerful in creative manifestation. When you connect with the feeling of what you truly desire in any area of your life, you begin to open the doors of possibility.

All of your truest desires already exist as potentiality within you. One of the greatest obstacles to realizing your desires is also within you—operating as subconscious programs or limiting beliefs.

How can you make the energy of your desire greater than the force of the subconscious?

Consciously and continuously direct your awareness to the energy of the desire. Reinforce what you actually want. Affirm: “My desire longs for me.” Feel how it acts on your being like iron filings to a magnet—drawing your mind and emotions into its orbit.

One of the common subconscious programs that many of us have to overcome is the belief that we are not worthy of what we truly desire. Our precious life force is being used to run the disempowering program. Remember—the desire couldn't exist without the means of also making it real and your Higher Self is the director of your human operating system if you so choose! Call on this aspect of yourself to support you.

Make this a practice throughout your day to strengthen your connection to your authentic desires:

🌸Re-direct your awareness to your heart +
🌼Return to the authentic desire
🌷Reinforce what you want. How does it feel?
🌺Remember you are sovereign, whole and worthy of your desires
💐Receive the blessing and gift of your desires being actualized Now. Express Gratitude.

Let your desires work for you; to free you to experience your greatest fulfillment.

How might your life be different if you were connected to your heart’s desires in this way?❤️

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1/30/2021 2 Comments

Being Habibah

“What is my name,
O what is my name
that I may offer it back
to the beautiful world.”
–Mary Oliver

This month I am offering more about me and how I found my way to my authentic path. It's a bit of a "spiritual autobiography" and how I received my spiritual name: Habibah.

I have been born many times in this life and each time I re-emerge I have to learn my name again. When I came into this world my parents gave me the name: Jennifer Jane. My middle name came from my mother. In my early years I went by Jenny—it was cute and fit my sweet disposition. Somehow very early on, though, I knew that I was not my name; not what people called me. My awareness of my life as a spiritual journey came quite early on when I began to wonder about who I really was and why I was here. The idea of death was a subject of both terror and fascination. Catholicism came to me from both of my parents. Irish on my mother’s side and Italian from my father. With that genetic and religious background a few predetermined tendencies were set in place from the start including: a love of family and food, stubborn impatience, a tough work ethic, and fear/awe of God. I was a curious and imaginative child and my first years were idyllic, with my mother at home and plenty of love and care to create a strong foundation.

The first passage that was marked by an ending occurred when I was six and my family moved from a small rural town in upstate New York to the “big” city of Orlando Florida. Gone were the days of crafts at the kitchen table, snow angels outside in winter and hot cocoa after school. The transition was much easier for me than my two older brothers who were leaving behind more mature relationships with friends and environment. On the bright side, our new home had a pool and a couple of girls my age lived close by. However, it was also much more progressed and less friendly than our birth home. We all had to let go of what we knew and loved and come to terms with our new life. I accepted it and began to settle in to the new life. But things grew difficult with my parents both working full time to launch their new business, the strain of adjusting to life in public school, and my brothers’ often loud and explosive rebellion at being transplanted. Looking back, I see how, as coming from a line of immigrants who made their way from Europe to America, this theme of being displaced, exiled and thrust from home has stretched throughout my history and meets me like an old family heirloom in this life. I believe that my own tendencies in navigating change were modeled on what came before me, namely, an attitude of forging ahead without concern for what was left behind. My early years in school were mostly anxiety filled and highlighted with a sense of insecurity. I was extremely sensitive and loathed the idea of speaking aloud and being tested in any way. Socially, I made my way by befriending a couple of close girlfriends and never liked being the center of attention. It was a relief to be at home and because I had a vivid imagination and I could spend hours alone happily.

Sometimes one mother is not enough when it comes to raising children and working full time. Thankfully in those early years I had a few mentors in the form of older women that I admired that helped me in ways for which I am still very grateful. My grandmother was a widow from the time I was born. She was a retired school teacher and the most present, calm, stable person I have known. She would spend hours helping me with school projects, make clothes for my dolls, and take me out to eat regularly. I cherish the memory of her support and love. Marcella was a young Italian woman that worked for my parents and would also watch me during the summers. She ranks highest in creativity, openness, and grace. Her gifts to me came in the way she treated me as an equal and instilling the belief that I could do anything. She taught me to play the piano, sew, make home-made pasta, and made me feel like one of her extended family. Two other women that took me into their home and hearts were our neighbors, Iliana and Bettina. They were sisters and their family was from Venezuela and at 20 and 22, respectively, they lived with their parents as was customary. They would do my hair and nails, let me dress up in their fancy clothes and shoes and dance around the house with me. Over the years our family and theirs became very close. These relationships with older women were of profound importance for me because I felt validated, loved, protected, and guided by them. Each of them planted certain seeds in the ground of my being in the way that they interacted with me that pointed me in the direction of womanhood.

My fear of the world and its crassness was always assuaged with spirituality, namely a connection to Jesus and Mary that were nurtured by the Catholic Church. I never had major epiphanies in church but the rituals were comforting and I always felt like I knew, with a knowing far beyond my limited intellect, Jesus’ message of love, compassion and truth. My heart and soul resonated with him both as a person and messenger of God. Up until the age of 12 or 13 my spirituality was rooted in religious tradition. But at that time my faith deepened with my first spiritual “experience,” one in which I had no logical explanation or understanding. It was so personal that to this day I have never shared it with anyone. I was away for two weeks at a Christian summer camp located in the mountains of North Carolina. It was a very loving and supportive environment where the ethics and message of Jesus were modeled and never forced. The people were sincere and truly good. It was customary to pray together in small groups when inspired and one such circle developed one afternoon for me in the woods with two other women. Standing, we joined hands and one of the women began to pray in a “normal” way, as would be expected before a meal or event. At one point the praying became more spontaneous—each of us offering in the circle our own words. Eyes closed we all began, as if in perfect sync to take turns saying one or two words and the speed and rhythm increased. Next we were all speaking in a way that made no sense linguistically but our hearts were so full of joy and bliss that our “words” became laughter. In later years I have had similar feelings of ecstasy arise when chanting in a sacred language. Was I speaking in “tongues?” I am very hesitant to label my experience but it opened something in me that made me curious about such inexplicable joy and awoke a hunger for more.

One person in my everyday life that I could have deep spiritual conversations with was my brother Jeff. To this day we are able to share personal stories with each other comfortably, affirming to each other that no matter how mysterious they seem we are not going crazy. As I got older, 15-16 years, we would sit on the back porch late at night, smoke cigarettes and talk about life, death, the soul and finding our purpose. Those times with him always felt like “out of time” occurrences in which we were no longer older brother and younger sister, but rather soul mates from life times ago that supported and inspired each other in this life. In those moments it was a relief to be understood and seen truly, and then we would go back to being annoying siblings. Unfortunately my brother was well on his way to losing himself in drugs and alcohol and battles addiction to this very day. We would often talk about dying and leaving this world and what that would be like. Without saying it we both believed that somehow that would be preferable to the difficulty of living in this world. Our talks were always other worldly and we shared a deep desire to return to that place from which we came. The feeling of being a stranger on this planet, exiled from a “home” I couldn’t name, is something I have carried throughout my entire life. But this part of myself that longed for the transcendent; I kept hidden from view and did my best to fit into my environment. I was good at socially adapting and remained mutable in my views outwardly so as not to appear strange. Although I went to an academically rigorous and socially elite prep school, most of my friends lived in our middle class suburban neighborhood and attended public school. In many ways I felt as though I had a split personality and could navigate in either world without really feeling as though I belonged in either. As I approached 18 and high school was ending, I was desperate to discover my true identity outside of my religion, family, friends, education, etc. The weight of years living according to some outward, prescribed model was beginning take its toll. The summer before college I fell in love for the first time with a man that represented this very shift from acculturation toward freedom of self. He was older and the owner of Orlando’s first independent coffee house. His creative and brilliant mind and wide open heart captivated me and we shared a mutual love. He introduced me to the Beat poets, Avant guard movies and eclectic art and music. I soaked it all up and began to taste the intoxication of freedom on all levels. I moved out of my parents’ home that summer and explored this new world with my love. That special relationship and time in my life was the point where I knew that there was no going back to my old self/life and the beginning of my adventure home to the place of belonging.

After my “summer of love” I left Florida for college in North Carolina. It was a tearful separation with my boyfriend but we both knew that it was an experience that was necessary. He had just finished college and was in another phase of his life; it was an interesting experience in letting go for both of us. Having left all things familiar proved to be exhilarating and difficult simultaneously. It was at this time that I went strictly by Jen, rather than Jenny, as it seemed more fitting for my impending life as an adult. All that I remember about that first year of college were the great friends I made and the parties every night. I definitely did not get any closer to finding myself but I had fun. My first experiences with LSD and mushrooms occurred at that time and those mind blowing experiences rank among the most spiritual I have had. The more I tried to create a new life for myself, independent of my past, the closer my darkness came to the surface. Although I am grateful to have made it through my life without significant trauma, the part of me that had always longed for meaning and purpose and a sense of belonging in the world—my soul—was trying to get my attention. At 19 years old it took a debilitating depression for me to begin to listen to my soul’s call. After my second and equally unproductive year in college and a semester backpacking through Europe, I returned home feeling utterly defeated by a feeling that I can only describe as sheer and utter meaninglessness and hopelessness. The feelings I had hidden for years-like there was so much more to life than what everyone seemed to accept as “reality” and that I didn’t really feel as though I belonged here or had a purpose, rose up in me like a tidal wave that pushed me to the edge of life and death more than once. I wanted to die. My parents took me to their psychiatrist and she told me that my illness was genetic and that medication would be necessary. I took the pills because I was truly scared of dying but I was determined not to live with this “disease” for the rest of my life. No one really talked about it in my family, but many of my family members on both sides have struggled with mental illness and apparently I was not exempt. This was another family heirloom as I saw it; and one that I definitely did not want to inherit. The secrecy along with the dependency on medication created a tremendous amount of shame that only seemed to strengthen depression’s hold on me. It is only now that I am able to see that hold as an embrace from my soul whose purpose was to guide (wrestle) my wild spirit home to life in this body and on this earth. I had spent years only partially living in my body and, like my brother, was tempted by drugs to escape completely the harsh press of the world on my skin. If not for bearing witness to his (almost) complete destruction from drugs many times throughout his life I might have ended up in his place.

I left college after that second year and returned home to rest, stabilize on the medication, and decide my next move. I spent that year mostly alone and enjoyed reading books that I wanted to read rather than what was required. I came across Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” and one piece of my soul was reclaimed in that moment. It was that portion of writing that was responsible for sending me back to school with the intention of studying philosophy. As a lifelong lover of wisdom, I had finally found a discipline to which I could commit. And so I earned my undergraduate degree in Philosophy and Religious Studies from the University of South Florida. I secretly hoped that all of the big questions I had been carrying about the nature of existence and my own purpose for being alive would be satiated at last. Instead, I was left with more questions and the beginning of a new adventure.

In college I took my first yoga class and was intrigued by this foreign practice that was both physical and spiritual in nature. From the physical practice I became interested in meditation and found (or was found by) a wonderful book on the subject called Zen Mind, Beginners Mind by Suzuki Roshi. It was so powerful in its simplicity which was such a relief from the dense and turgid reading that I struggled thorough in much of Western Philosophy. Eastern Philosophy, by contrast, was not any less intellectual but offered a wider platform of wisdom that seemed to point to an awareness far beyond the limits of the mind. I need to say here that one of the key points in noting the way(s) my life has been a “spiritual” adventure, is that I have always followed my heart or intuition in making big decisions. Even when everyone I knew thought I was crazy, I chose to trust my guidance. That is how I ended up moving to California to study at the San Francisco Zen Center. After reading a few books on meditation and attempting to practice on my own, I knew I needed some guidance. I was a guest student at the Zen Center and lived there for some time before finding an apartment a few blocks away. I participated in daily meditation and took classes to learn more about the Zen tradition. I spent two years in San Francisco and felt like I was finally coming home to myself. After sitting meditation regularly I began to become fascinated by the mind-body connection and was led to get my certification in Reiki. Using my hands in this way to give energy to another for healing was by far the most natural experience I had ever felt. And for the first time in my life I felt like I was really good at something. I wanted to be a healer. But really I needed to heal myself first. I was still taking medication for depression and any time I tried to wean myself off, I would begin to feel the looming darkness and submit to pharmaceutical relief. I had been gathering information and reading about various modalities of healing and decided that I would go to massage therapy school. I was drawn to San Diego and due to a series of synchronistic events that placed me easily in a home and massage school, I moved and happily assumed the role of student again.

In my earlier studies I had read a few books by Deepak Chopra and admired his particular blend of science and spirituality. But I never thought that I would ever end up working for him! Just out of massage school, I responded to an ad for therapists at the Chopra Center for Well Being. I figured it would be a long shot as I was just newly certified. However, I was hired on the spot when the woman to whom I gave a massage said that I have the energy that they were looking for and they could teach me the technical part of the job. That’s how I became an Ayurvedic therapist at Chopra’s center. It was a wonderful job where I was exposed to the rich world of holistic health and able to work with all kinds of people. I loved the emphasis on healing rather than just manipulating the physical body. In addition to the outer work, I was doing a lot of inner work as well. I sampled from the spiritual buffet while in southern California—I did various kinds of yoga, worked with a shaman, learned about chakras and energy healing with another teacher, and became enchanted with the study of herbs and aromatherapy. But a dam broke open when I met one woman in particular that noticed my gift and began to teach me how to use it. Her name was Nazahah and as soon as I heard her name, I felt connected to her. She came from a long line of healers in the curandisma (Mexican shamanism) tradition, but she was “doing” something I had never seen or felt before. I took a woman’s healing class with her that concluded with a session on Mayan uterine massage. It is a form of massage, done over the clothes, to move the displaced uterus back into its “right” place. She had us practice first on her and when it was my turn and I leaned over to touch her, she opened her eyes and said something about how I knew how to work with energy. That small confirmation (after the similar comment from the woman at the Chopra center) was what I needed to send me further along my path of learning. In that class with Nazahah, I felt my uterus move and it was as if my entire being was somehow rightly placed after a lifetime of confusion. I began working with her individually and learned that what she was doing was rooted in Sufi healing. Of all the traditions I had sampled from in the healing smorgasbord up to that time, I had not encountered anything as powerful or transformative. After months of working with her and learning more about Sufism, I recognized that the healing that I was seeking was not available through the mind or body, but that I needed to commit to deeply entering the world(s) of my heart. Where philosophy acknowledged my love of knowledge and wisdom and Zen provided me a passage into the space beyond the mind and body, Sufism captured me in its declaration of Love as the highest potential for healing. I took hand with a very holy man (a Sufi Shaykh) from Jerusalem with whom Nazahah studied; his name was Sidi Muhammad Al-Jamal. Sidi, as he was affectionately known, lived in the holy land and only visited once a year to be with his students and I first “met” him over the phone. When I called him to take a promise to be a student with him, he greeted me with such kindness and said: “It is so good to hear your voice again, beloved.” He prayed a prayer with me and then gave me my spiritual name. He said in his broken English: “You are Habibah. The one who carries the special love.” I thanked him and hung up mystified and speechless. That was almost 20 years ago and I am still learning my name.

After three years in San Diego I felt it was time for another change. My parents had just completed construction on a large boat and were planning on traveling for a year in the Caribbean and extended the invitation for me to join them. It was difficult leaving California especially my friends that became soul mates, but I could not pass up the opportunity to travel and I needed some time to rest. I moved back to Florida and prepared for my oceanic adventure. So much had occurred during my time on the west coast and I needed the time and space to digest it all. I brought Sidi’s first book on Sufism (called Music of the Soul) with me and savored reading and learning this new way. In it, he writes about certain times in our life we find ourselves in difficulty and constriction (jalal) and other times in the beauty and expansiveness (jamal) and that both are necessary for us. My time in the Caribbean was definitely one of beauty and ease. After years of struggle, namely with depression and trying to find my path, I felt deeply contented and strangely protected in this new place. It was a relief to be connected to this amazing tradition that was, outwardly, very foreign. During my year on the seas, I decided to enter the Sufi healing school that had been created by my guide in the US and run by an incredibly talented healer that studied and received his direction from Sidi himself. Nazahah was a student there and encouraged me to develop my gift with energy healing in that environment. I began a three year healing program at The University of Spiritual Healing and Sufism in 2003. I worked very intensely on my personal healing by learning the practices and prayers in the Sufi tradition and spending time at least once a year working directly with Sidi. One of the most profound things I learned during that time was that learning about how to be a Sufi was truly the vehicle for healing. It was not about doing something particular, but rather a natural product of recognizing my true nature as Love. That is the medicine, I believe, in being given a spiritual name. In my case, I had known that I carried this “special love” all my life but I did not recognize that it is who I am until my guide told me my name.

I no longer require medication for depression and although I still struggle with living at times, I finally feel as though I belong here and that I will continue on this journey to recalling all of my names until, when the time comes--to let them go completely.

My path over the last 15 years since planting my roots in Clermont, has unfolded in many beautiful ways through my continued personal transformation as well as becoming both a teacher and mother. This portion of my journey would require a couple more posts! I am realizing that what it is to be fully human (as Jenny) is the perfect compliment to being deeply spiritual (as Habibah). When I feel lost or confused about how to keep going, I hear my guide's simple instruction to my heart: Just Be Habibah. . . .

*Thank you, dear reader, for taking the time to witness a portion of my story. What does it illuminate for you? What names have you gone by and what do they mean to you? Do you feel as though there are, perhaps, new names that you haven't yet discovered? Where or in what places might you learn them?

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1/4/2021 2 Comments

Inner Expansion

"It takes discipline to be a free spirit." ~Gabrielle Roth

As this year begins I am opening up to the newness of each moment and staying curious and receptive to what is unfolding. I'm riding the collective turning-of-the-page wave and I'm certain that there will be so much more change and uncertainty for us to navigate. As well as possibility.

You know what the real work is now--it's about cultivating the inner expansion that is able to hold all that we are in Love. Theres's this reminder from the 5 Aquarian Sutras for this time we are living in: "Understand through compassion or you misunderstand the times." How will you deepen your roots? In what ways will you respond to the request to let go rather than be dragged by the dramas and old fears? What learning will you dive into? Can we agree to allow for regular moments of rest without regret? What are those reliable truths you unearthed last year that can be carefully polished and tucked away for safe keeping or placed visibly on your altar as a reminder when the anxiety creeps up? What does it mean for you to participate in the creation of a "new earth?"

I created a simple little manifesto as my own starting place as 2021 begins. A few invocations to name my intentions:

*Looking for the signs rather than the approval
*Showing up everyday for All that I Am
*Accepting the invitation to grow through pleasure, love and joy
*Surrendering to the Divine Plan for my life yields the greatest outcomes for all
*Creating S P A C E --inner expansion is the way of liberation
*Devotion to Creation is the ambition

Essence. Presence. Freedom. Sovereignty. Peace.

I created a guided meditation to support you as you courageously and compassionately take the next steps in your own sacred journey. May we remember the divine reason for our being here now and welcome the challenge and reward of coming alive to all that lives within us. May we return to the infinite place each day and be nourished by the truth spoken to us from there as many times as necessary: I Am Divine Love. I Am Divine Light. I Am All That I Am. And then take another step, looking through the infinite eyes to see every person, every thing as a fractal of that same Beauty. Let your reflection be the projection of your Highest Self. You don't have to be perfect--just willing to stay Present.

Take a look at my Services page to explore my private offerings and feel free to reach out if I can be of support to you on your personal journey. I would be honored. I have a very limited number of private session spaces open each month in order to provide the highest quality experience possible.

I'll be teaching three public/group classes a week at One Yoga and Fitness :
Wednesday 9 am Foundation Yoga
Thursday 6 pm Slow Flow
Friday 9 am Warm Flow and Yin

Expect to find a Cosmic Conversation on my YouTube Channel for the New Moon in Capricorn on 1/13 🌙 and join me in studio on 1/29 for a Full Moon Flow and Gong bath to reset and restore equilibrium as the month concludes🌕

~Namaste~

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12/1/2020 1 Comment

Becoming the Bridge

“Love is the bridge between you and everything.”
~Rumi

Welcome to December and congratulations--you have successfully navigated through a deeply transformative year! But it's not quite over yet. This entire month in itself represents a powerful gateway into the new year.

From the Full Moon Lunar eclipse on November 30th, to the 12/12 spiritual activation day, a Solar eclipse on the New Moon in Sagittarius on the 14th, Winter Solstice with the Grand conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn on the 21st in Aquarius and the month closing out with a Full Moon in Cancer on the 29th, we have some very big energies at play!

Just as I started writing this blog, several crows began flying around my backyard and the sound of their call can't be ignored. In the Native American tradition, these are considered signs from the natural world and an invitation for us to pay attention to what they might be signaling our consciousness. Because this is happening as I write, I trust that there is a message for all who are reading this now. When I look up the medicine of Crow in Jamie Sams' Medicine Cards book, this is a paraphrased version of what it says:

"Crow...Are you "cawing," So I may know, The secrets of balance, Within my Soul? Or are you sending, Your sacred "caw" Just to remind me, Of universal laws?

Crow medicine is (that of) Law. Since Crow is the keeper of sacred law, Crow can bend the laws of the physical universe and "shape shift." All sacred texts are under the protection of Crow. Creator's Book of Laws or Book of Seals is bound in Crow feathers. Crow feathers tell of spirit made flesh, Crow is also the protector of the "ogallah" or ancient records.

The Sacred Law Belts, or Wampum Belts, beaded by native women long before the boat people or Europeans came to this continent, contain knowledge of the Great Spirit's laws, and are kept in the Black Lodges, the lodges of women. The law which states that "all things are born of woman" is signified by Crow. . .

Human law is not the same as Sacred Law. More so than any other medicine, Crow sees that the physical world and even the spiritual world, as humanity interprets them, are an illusion. There are billions of worlds. . .

Crow is an omen of change. Crow lives in the void and has no sense of time. The Ancient Chiefs tell us that crow sees simultaneously three fates--past, present and future. Crow merges light and darkness, seeing both inner and outer reality.

If Crow appears, you must pause and reflect on how you see the laws of Great Spirit in relation to the laws of humanity. Crow medicine signifies a firsthand knowledge of a higher order of right and wrong than that indicated by the laws created in human culture.

As you learn to allow your personal integrity to be your guide, your sense of feeling alone will vanish. Your personal will can then emerge so that you will stand in your truth. The prime path of the true Crow people says to be mindful of your opinions and actions. Be willing to walk your talk, speak your truth, know your life's mission, and balance past, present and future in the now. Shape shift that old reality and become your future self. Allow the bending of physical laws to aid in creating the shape shifted world of peace."

This perfectly relates to what I intended to write about this month--which is about building the bridge to a Higher Truth within. As much will continue to shift, change and appear chaotic outwardly, the choice to practice Self-mastery and personal sovereignty by remaining focused on the wisdom within your own Sacred Heart is a vital skill to develop. As you commit to this intention, you are becoming the bridge to the Infinite Source of wisdom, truth and love within you. It's from this place of inner connection, that you can begin to become the bridge to the world outside of you. Inner energetic alignment always precedes outer manifestation. Cosmic law reminder: as within, so without.

I would like to offer you a few very practical ways to maintain this alignment as the month unfolds. Our daily Self/Soul care continues to be of primary importance:

* Focus on what brings you the most JOY. Engage with the people or activities that you love being with or doing. Explore and discover new joys. Make a list of the things that bring you alive each day. Because everything is significantly amplified energetically this month, choose to amplify that which you want to expand; not what you don't.

*Set a daily intention first thing in the morning to align with your Highest Self and service. Work with the ancient mystery school technique of Decrees and Invocations. It is also Cosmic Law that if you call on the Highest Light of God/Divine Source it must be granted. So use your voice to call it in! Center yourself in your heart and command: "In this Now moment, I call forth the Highest Light of Pure Source Consciousness, Beloved I AM Presence, to fill my being on all four levels with Divine Light, Divine Love and in alignment with Divine Will. Unify, amplify and expand infinitely in every direction. I set this light forth and consecrate my thoughts, words, actions and intents this day to serve the Highest. So be it and So it is." Stay very conscious of how you are using your words throughout the day--your words create your reality. Use this simple test: consider putting the phrase "SO IT IS" after everything you think and speak. If it's not in alignment with what you desire to create then choose differently!

*Connect with the natural world every day. Aim to experience all 5 elements (earth, water, fire, air, ether/space) in some way. You can be creative depending on your environment. If possible, get outside and put your bare feet on the grass, allow the rays of the Sun to warm and wash over you, hug a tree or tend a garden, breathe fresh air, gaze at the night sky, walk near or swim in a body of water or take a warm epsom salt bath. You can light candles in your home or office, use an aromatherapy diffuser or burn sage or incense to clear the space, place a few objects from nature on a window sill--a rock, crystal, feather or shell to bring the natural world into your living space. This kind of bridging with the natural world is one of the most effective ways to restore balance and harmony and it's free. So unplug from the inorganic/virtual reality and connect to Gaia--our Living library planet and most powerful Organic Healer, Teacher, Mother. Her ascension is our ours--feel yourself connected to the frequency of the Earth as the resonance is daily shifting to higher levels.

*Keep a dream journal. Many of us are experiencing very vivid dreams each night. Place a notebook by your bed and jot down anything you recall in the morning. This is a rich way of building the bridge between the unconscious and conscious mind. Notice any symbols in your dreams that may relate to your waking reality and think about any personal associations they may have for you.

*Utilize the timeless practices of Prayer and Meditation to keep the vertical channel between you and Spirit open and clear. The more you practice, the stronger the alliance becomes. And because there is so much happening in the collective that seeks to keep the mind caught in polarization, it is vital to create a buffer of protection and peace. There are many ways to meditate--using mantra, breath, mindfulness while cooking or walking, etc. Choose whatever helps you slow the momentum of the mind and supports you in attuning to deeper Intuitive knowing. Most importantly, do your practices consistently to maintain equanimity daily. I offer many short "Tune Ups" on my YouTube channel that may be of support.

I'll be offering one final special Solstice event on 12/21 at One Yoga and Fitness. "Becoming the Bridge" will be a 2 hour practice to support your energetic upgrades on this potent day. In the Kundalini yoga tradition it is taught that two of the most important days to do a dedicated yoga and meditation practice are Winter and Summer solstice. It is said that our practices on these days create an alignment that will allow us to more easily unfold on the path of dharma or purpose throughout the rest of the year. I welcome you to join me for an Energy yoga practice and Chakra meditation that will activate the "Rainbow Bridge" and create the conditions to elevate your consciousness to the frequency of Unity and Peace. My dear friend and Reiki healer, Kolleen Evers, will be offering a crystal bowl sound healing relaxation to further support our energetic attunement. Let's finish this year feeling victorious, balanced and focused on a positive vision for the future that you and I most want to create. You can register for this event online through One Yoga.

Finally, I will be taking the time to make the most out of this month for myself and will be *mostly* offline and reflecting on my own dreams and visions for 2021. I will continue to teach my weekly Wednesday and Friday classes at One Yoga through December 23rd and then will be completely offline and not working or seeing private clients until January 8th.

Thank you for engaging in the conversation with me here, in my classes, videos and social media platforms over this last year. Thank you for your commitment to doing your part to become the powerful creator that you are.

May you be abundantly blessed in the new year to come. I see you. I bless you. I love you. We are ONE.

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11/1/2020 0 Comments

Tomb to Womb

The beauty of nature insists on taking its time. Everything is prepared. Nothing is rushed. The rhythm of emergence is a gradual slow beat always inching its way forward; change remains faithful to itself until the new unfolds in the full confidence of true arrival. Because nothing is abrupt, the beginning of spring nearly always catches us unawares. It is there before we see it; and then we can look nowhere without seeing it.

Change arrives in nature when time has ripened. There are no jagged transitions or crude discontinuities. This accounts for the sureness with which one season succeeds another. It is as though they were moving forward in a rhythm set from within a continuum.

To change is one of the great dreams of every heart – to change the limitations, the sameness, the banality, or the pain. So often we look back on patterns of behavior, the kind of decisions we make repeatedly and that have failed to serve us well, and we aim for a new and more successful path or way of living. But change is difficult for us. So often we opt to continue the old pattern, rather than risking the danger of difference. We are also often surprised by change that seems to arrive out of nowhere.
We find ourselves crossing some new threshold we had never anticipated. Like spring secretly at work within the heart of winter, below the surface of our lives huge changes are in fermentation. We never suspect a thing. Then when the grip of some long-enduring winter mentality beings to loosen, we find ourselves vulnerable to a flourish of possibility and we are suddenly negotiating the challenge of a threshold.

At any time you can ask yourself: At which threshold am I now standing? At this time in my life, what am I leaving? Where am I about to enter? What is preventing me from crossing my next threshold? What gift would enable me to do it? A threshold is not a simple boundary; it is a frontier that divides two different territories, rhythms and atmospheres. Indeed, it is a lovely testimony to the fullness and integrity of an experience or a stage of life that it intensifies toward the end into a real frontier that cannot be crossed without the heart being passionately engaged and woken up. At this threshold a great complexity of emotions comes alive: confusion, fear, excitement, sadness, hope. This is one of the reasons such vital crossing were always clothed in ritual. It is wise in your own life to be able to recognize and acknowledge the key thresholds; to take your time; to feel all the varieties of presence that accrue there; to listen inward with complete attention until you hear the inner voice calling you forward. The time has come to cross.

To acknowledge and cross a new threshold is always a challenge. It demands courage and also a sense of trust in whatever is emerging. This becomes essential when a threshold opens suddenly in front of you, one for which you had no preparation. This could be illness, suffering or loss. Because we are so engaged with the world, we usually forget how fragile life can be and how vulnerable we always are. It takes only a couple of seconds for a life to change irreversibly. Suddenly you stand on completely strange ground and a new course of life has to be embraced. Especially at such times we desperately need blessing and protection. You look back at the life you have lived up to a few hours before, and it suddenly seems so far away. Think for a moment how, across the world, someone’s life has just changed – irrevocably, permanently, and not necessarily for the better – and everything that was once so steady, so reliable, must now find a new way of unfolding.

Though we know one another’s names and recognize one another’s faces, we never know what destiny shapes each life. The script of individual destiny is secret; it is hidden behind and beneath the sequence of happenings that is continually unfolding for us. Each life is a mystery that is never finally available to the mind’s light or questions. That we are here is a huge affirmation; somehow life needed us and wanted us to be. To sense and trust this primeval acceptance can open a vast spring of trust within the heart. It can free us into a natural courage that casts out fear and opens up our lives to become voyages of discovery, creativity, and compassion. No threshold need be a threat, but rather an invitation and a promise.
Whatever comes, the great sacrament of life will remain faithful to us, blessing us always with visible signs of invisible grace. We merely need to trust.

~From To Bless the Space Between Us, John O’Donohue

A few inquiries to cradle close this month:

*What old identities are fighting for survival? What new form has been growing in the dark and requires my deliberate daily tending? In which version will I invest my energy?

*Am I willing to slow down when the press of urgency from my habitual self seeks to maintain the old pattern? Can I accept the invitation to reach deeper within for peace when I want to react outwardly from fear?

*How will I bless myself in this liminal space?

*In what reliable truth can I place my trust? What ritual will return me when I forget?

I welcome you to remain connected to your nourishing self-care practices and the people that feel like honey to your heart.
May your threshold crossing be a revelation of the most sacred proportions. . .

Bless you ♥️

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10/1/2020 0 Comments

Nourish

It's one thing to be fed by any old thing; it is quite another to be nourished.
~Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés

October will stand out as one of the most powerful and pivotal months when we look back on this transformational year. A new season is upon upon us and the scales of balance tip toward longer, darker hours in the Northern Hemisphere. This is a time of paradox and reflection as it's about reaping the harvest of all that we "planted" in the Spring as well as experiencing a letting go and shedding of the old skins. In the Native American tradition, Autumn holds the position of the West on the medicine wheel and it represents the direction where one would go if you desire healing on a spiritual level. Its position relates to the setting sun, introspection, and developing the strength and stamina required to live in true connection to Creator. We have essentially been placed in this kind of retreat all year long and the energy continues to build as we navigate the final quarter of 2020.

We have three lunations this month with Mars (the planet of action and willpower) and Mercury (the planet of communication and thinking) both retrograde, making it extra internally oriented. This month is bookended with a full moon on the first and last day and the Super New Moon in Libra on the 16th. These will be days that you will definitely want to set aside and create some time for meditation, relaxation, purification and creative dreaming.

This is a month to focus on staying aligned with very high vibrational self-care practices to support the deeper inner work that will be assigned to you to complete. As difficult as it may sound, try to cultivate the opportunities to stay in the flow of joy, gratitude and heart coherence. Notice the temptations within or around you to fight, force, fix, or otherwise remain attached to suffering. The great big invitation this month: LET GO TO LIBERATE. Challenge yourself to perceive everything you're experiencing as an invitation to liberation. "This is here to set me free" can be the mantra. Trust that you are safe and that in your surrender, you will be met by Grace. Often times it's in the refusal to let go of our expectations and rigid tendencies to control outcomes that we actually block ourselves from receiving something much more nourishing. Be gentle, we are all in the gateway of the Unknown.

I invite you to join me this month in this inquiry: what does it mean to you to be truly nourished? Several years ago as I was creating my website and talking about its design and content with a dear friend, she asked me: "If you had to choose just three words to describe how your offerings support, help or serve others, what would they be?" After some time I said: Nourish. Create. Transform. This is the kind of alchemy that I enjoy exploring the most. It's what brings me alive and when I can enter the conversation in this way with another or others, it becomes pure, undeniable magic. It's a process that begins purposely with nourishing because without that foundational piece, it becomes very difficult for the unfolding of new creations and personal transformation. Of course, this isn't a linear process as we are always invited into the spiral dance of discovering entirely new levels within the journey itself.

If we are constantly overwhelmed, stretched thin, depleted and worn bare by the demands of our days then we won't have the emotional energy, mental clarity, or intuitive fluency for creation or transformation to be possible. Often, this is where crisis, illness or some other challenge enters our lives as an agent for awakening to change. This is usually the point in the story that I meet students or clients. Truly, it's precisely the juncture where we get to meet ourselves again if we are willing to take the opportunity. By feeling our exhaustion, facing our seeming brokenness and turning toward our suffering with tenderness and love, we allow ourselves the chance to find the Source of what feeds us most deeply: the warmth and Light of our own Soul. Nurturing that connection with ourselves is the greatest gift we can receive and through it we discover what truly nourishes.

Nourishment for me looks and feels like creating spaces that are beautiful, being in nature with my bare feet on the Earth or swimming or soaking in water. It's spacious, gracious, abundant. Some days clean, simple, orderly, quiet and refined. Other days less curated and more carefree or superficial. It's following this delicious prompt that my dear sister Wendy offers in her work: Let your desire counsel you. Most often lately it's slowing down, savoring and saying YES to what I truly desire in the moment. . . which is a yes to the weaving and welcoming of my hand-made life. Nourishing is allowing for all the parts and pieces to be stitched, knitted and braided into the tapestry of my design. Uniquely and beautifully my own creation; no better or worse than another~simply a reflection of my creativity. Daily life with the mess and miracles as my holy grail. It's the meeting of wonder at the crossroads of laundry, self-love making, dinner prepping, divine channeling, painting and poetry, asana and pranayama breaks, broken shower doors, co-parenting gymnastics, grief spilling over into memories or moments of pain, communing with the hawk that shows up in my backyard every single day, belly laughter at my son's incredibly accurate impersonations, inhaling the last remnants of baby in the skin of my 11 year old, aging parent appreciating, daily garden tending of my own longing. Leaving plenty of room for any of what I have planned to be improved upon or all together replaced by sacred surprise. Moments of supreme mystery interlaced and exchanged with the predictability of the mundane. This body and heart, herself, a cross+road for creative genius to build a home in exactly the way She desires. My nourishment looks like the sign next to my front door that says: LOVE. It's my invitation to myself, really, that means Live here, Love. Live here xo

I welcome you to consider what nourishes you and create your own signs, love notes or language for living it more fully this month. I also invite you to my new weekly class: Energy Yoga--a Kundalini fusion practice where, together, we will explore this theme of nourishment and see where it leads us! We begin Monday 10/5/2020 from 10:30-11:45 am EST at One Yoga or Zoom.

I am also available for private mentoring, healing, or coaching to support you in the discovery journey of weaving a new level of wellness, creativity, and self-care into your days. Feel free to reach out to me at [email protected] for a complimentary 30 minute session to determine how I can help.

Wishing you a deeply nourishing month and beyond~

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9/1/2020 0 Comments

Riding the Dragon

“Nature loves courage. You make the commitment and nature will respond to that commitment by removing impossible obstacles. Dream the impossible dream and the world will not grind you under, it will lift you up. This is the trick. This is what all these teachers and philosophers who really counted, who really touched the alchemical gold, this is what they understood. This is the shamanic dance in the waterfall. This is how magic is done. By hurling yourself in the abyss and discovering it’s a feather bed.” ~Terrence McKenna

Welcome to September where the wheel of time turns toward the Fall equinox in the Northern Hemisphere, global energies are intensifying and we are being shown more clearly (with that 2020 vision) where and how we are called to choose a new reality. There’s this Chinese proverb: “If you ignore the dragon, it will eat you. If you defy the dragon, it will overpower you. But if you ride the dragon, you will know its strength and power.”

If it’s time and pressure that creates diamonds or disasters, we’re either going to crack under the weight of it all or we’re going to choose to develop our multi-faceted brilliance. I support the position of using whatever we’re experiencing personally as an opportunity for growth and expansion. It’s the grit that polishes the jewel. That perspective catalyzes movement from victimhood and helplessness in the face of so much chaos to a sense of empowerment with that which we have command: ourselves, our creative responses to life and the reality we experience as a result. This is what it means, I believe, to ride the dragon.

Surely if you’re reading this you are aware of this “paradigm shift” that we are being initiated into through this portal of planetary awakening. Eckhart Tolle wrote about this quantum leap in his book “A New Earth” while others call this current period “The Age of Light” or the “Aquarian Age,” as it’s reflective of a much longer cosmic, astrological cycle that lasts for roughly 2,000 years. We are in the midst of this great evolutionary change now. Much like a birth process, it’s not without moments of great possibility and promise as well as deep pain as the old systems are being dismantled and dissolved to make way for the emergence of the new order.

How can we more accurately understand the nature of the changes that are underway so that we can nurture our own process? What is this leap that we are called to make? Truly, it’s so much bigger than any of us can imagine, however I have been able to identify several key themes that will support you as a frame of reference. More than anything I share, please begin to develop the habit of going within to resource your inner wisdom as there is no shortage of information available and it is vital to be discerning and trust yourself above all. . . .

Separation to Integration: we are moving out of the dualistic, divide, conquer, separate, label and compartmentalize mentality (either/or) and into a much more integrated, holistic worldview (both/and) that is able to hold polarity and paradox with an understanding and respect for the nature of harmony, balance and the interdependence of all life. The old paradigm is fraught with fear, scarcity, competition, comparison, consumption, us vs. them, and power “over” struggles (which perpetuates cycles of victimization/co-dependency) that have reinforced agendas of corruption, abuse, suffering and enslavement. The shift is to sovereignty, self-responsibility, collaboration, creativity, healing, appreciating/celebrating diversity and honoring unique gifts, empowerment (power “with”), abundance and prosperity for all. Unity consciousness (oneness/inclusivity) that allows for greater authenticity and creativity. Unity isn’t uniformity or “we’re all the same,” it’s honoring the many faces of Oneness in the multiplicity of possible expressions. It’s the weaving of the many strands of the web of life rather than the manufacturing and distribution of plastic replicas.

Personal Trauma to Collective Ascension: in a nutshell, this is the “me” to “We” to “Thee” pivot. From spending so much of our energy on our personal stories of woundedness to a shared experience of healing that supports us in moving out of being stuck in the same narratives that reinforce the belief that “I am my trauma” and instead into the default that we are, fundamentally, Divine, Creative beings having a human experience working through centuries of trauma together. Healing is understood as daily value of self-care that supports the natural process and path of moving toward balance and wholeness rather than perpetuating health care for the forever sick as treating of symptoms and strengthening of stories that reinforce pathology, brokenness and dysfunction (for profit).

Mind/Intellect to (with) Heart/Feeling: in the division consciousness paradigm, the thinking mind (I think, therefore I am) has been valued over the heart and feeling function while both have been historically divorced from the sensory system of the body (I AM All That I AM). To reclaim a connection to the body and the "felt sense" is about coming home to ourselves as whole human beings. Activating the qualities of the heart: Love, Compassion, Forgiveness, Gratitude, Joy, Harmony, etc. is what establishes us in a state called “Coherence” where our thoughts and feelings are in alignment to support our highest embodiment. It’s from that frequency or channel of energetic attunement that we have the ability to experience (not just cognitively understand) Unity consciousness. This is about knowing ourselves in terms of our relationship to our thoughts as the seed from which the formless (ideas) are brought into form (fruition). From thoughts come feelings which become emotions (energy in motion) which translate into particular behaviors (i.e harmful or healing) which express as distinct actions in our everyday lives. Those actions either generate karma (unconscious, habitual, conditioned responses) or dharma (consciousness, destiny, purpose, creativity and service to collective). Thus, as you think, so you create.

Reliance on outer authority to Intuition: When we practice heart coherence regularly and in tandem to an embodiment practice that connects us to our body as a vehicle or instrument for experiencing higher states of consciousness, our intuition (the ability to see "in-to-it") becomes the main navigation system for how we move through the world. We trust in our sovereignty (freedom and empowerment) rather than continually outsourcing our decisions to experts or authorities outside of ourselves. Trusting that our Souls will never guide us astray and that it is safe to follow the path as we discern based on that guidance becomes a freeing adventure with unlimited possibility. Again, self-responsibility is key here: no longer do we seek outside expert advice or guru generated grace to replace our own inner knowing. Instead, look to those figures that inspire or encourage both critical thinking and courageous commitment to developing trust in your direct relationship to that Source of Grace within you.

3D to 5D and higher dimensional realities: For many this is perhaps one of the biggest leaps to consider. That’s because it’s a QUANTUM leap. Terrence McKenna, the great mystic/scientist referred to the multiverse as an unlimited pool of creative consciousness into which we can place the “dipstick” of our awareness anywhere we desire. Do you really want to keep dipping into CNN, FOX, and Facebook when you could be communing with our living planet, the stars, your own untapped potential or anything else for that matter? 3D is physical, limited, local and based on a linear understanding of time and space. Many dimensions (or frequency bandwidths) exist as meta-physical, non-local and quantum, parallel realities experienced as the eternal “Now.” Each dimension has its own characteristics, beings, laws and even languages. This is a very rich subject that can be infinitely explored in our multidimensionality and we can (if we choose) experience these realms as expanded states of consciousness through prayer, meditation, learning to use our subtle body technology and DNA activation. From a 5th dimensional plane of reality, this state of Unity consciousness or Unconditional, Divine Love is ALL there is. All beings are integrated, aligned with Higher Self, attuned to the intelligence of the heart, directed by intuitive guidance and working in cooperation for the highest good of all. Living connected to Source is actually a way of life and not just a practice separate from the rest of life. Can you imagine what our world would be like from that higher awareness? The more you imagine it, the better. Additionally, practicing these expanded states everyday is a form of multidimensional muscle building that will naturally and organically evolve in unimaginable ways. From a quantum perspective, we can easily create anything we desire. New Earth isn’t a place, it’s an ascended version/vision of reality aligned with the vibration of Freedom, Divine Love, Divine Light and it's meant to be experienced here, now and within your human operating system. Much like what we are familiar with in this technological age of upgrades and downloads—you can learn to update and (re)program your subtle system to receive and transmit from any dimension and connect direct to Source to download new applications of your Higher Self embodiment. Your free will allows you to choose any version of reality you want—that’s why even though we all live on the same planet, we may feel like we live in different worlds. In fact-we do-and it will only become more apparent as time unfolds.

These are no small shifts and will take decades (and more) to actualize and implement into new frameworks and systems of support. We’re all being called to take responsibility for the creation of this new paradigm in the ways that we are each authentically guided. Holding this larger vision is vital as we can easily become overwhelmed and disheartened by what we partially perceive or actually experience day to day. Continue to make your daily self-care a top priority and connect with those who are invested in the birthing and building of the new. Spiritual practice is no longer a luxury or option--we must make it central in our lives. Trust that you are here as part of the Great Plan to support humanity in this monumental shift. Identify yourself according to the role you’d like to play in the writing of new scripts and storylines in this evolutionary exchange. Call on your Higher Self to guide you every day as you endeavor to live out your own lasting legacy of Love. Let go of what you think you “should” be doing and open up to the not-yet known within you…let yourself be amazed by what you discover as you make these leaps in your own life.

Get Up on your Dragon. This ain't your first ride. It could be your last of this kind, though. Make it your best.

Dare to dream the impossible dream.

Sending you many blessings xo

This month I offer you a gift of the first class of my 5 week series Energy Yoga: Activate Your Radiance. As it is a Zoom recording, the quality isn’t the best, but the intention is clear. I share a little talk about the reclamation of the Divine Feminine and a Kundalini practice to support you in being the Living embodiment of the LIGHT that you are. I look forward to sharing more in this way. Find it here: SAT NAM.

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8/3/2020 0 Comments

Your Light Paves the Way

Welcome to August where while we feel stop and micro-movement starts in the outer world, we are discovering vast, new horizons within. If you've been showing up and doing your inner work, you'll know it's working when the things that usually have a "charge" and that used to throw you off balance, simply don't effect you in the same way. You've changed and that's very good news. Keep going!

A few months ago I gave myself a creative challenge. In response to the deluge of information being offered on-line, (much of which isn't relevant or helpful and some that is supportive for me) I decided to pull back from sharing my own perspectives and reading or subscribing or following or liking anything for a while just to quiet things internally. I made a commitment to create more content than I consume in any given day. During this time, I have been listening deeply for what really wants to be expressed through me. Some of it I am called to share while most of it has been just for me--for now anyway. I have been led back to inner child work, unraveling more layers of co-dependency, playing with my art supplies and writing. LOTS of writing. I've made several videos for my YouTube Channel. Oh and I have been cooking--I have discovered that I find great pleasure in chopping an assortment of vegetables to roast each week. I'm into simple savory plant based at the moment with as much fresh fruit as possible. My culinary creations have become a sacred act. Every Sunday I buy myself fresh flowers. Dancing happens everyday, no matter what. One of the most interesting things that has happened is that my yoga practice has shifted in a subtle, quiet, and profound way. And I have gone days with as little as a single downward dog. I can't remember the last time I've not done a full practice everyday. I'm an intensity junkie when it comes to all things consciousness. I want it in its purest form, straight from Source, rock my world, fast lane to Samadhi--no scenic detours, give me all the Oneness, NOW. Sidi, my spiritual guide, once said to me after I asked him ten questions in a row, "My love, you want to eat the apple in one bite!" That's right--I'm a very hungry student. I don't have time to waste and I want to maximize this finite existence to the fullest. Is there really any other way? Actually, yes, I am finding, there is.

While I'll always be wholeheartedly devoted to the path of awakening, I am learning to relax. Did you hear that? I have been practicing yoga and disciplined spiritual practice for more than 20 years and I am just now learning to relax! To soften and surrender more. Just a little less warrior and a bit more water. "Flow, not force" has become one of my mantras. Along with, "Rest in Presence." It's fine to talk about these things, but I am learning how to embody this feminine wisdom more fully. I have been mentoring with Queens. Really, I have...but that's for another post. So in my yoga practice I have been exploring this kind of balance and letting my Higher Self guide me to what kind of practice will best serve my body, mind and heart on any given day. It's expanding my intuitive felt-sense experience of yoga as "union" with the True Self. I receive messages for my own healing and for what I am called to create next. It's crystal ball clear. And so here I Am. Sharing with you. One of the wise messages I received recently when considering my future was this guidance: Your Light Paves the Way. Ultimately, it's not about what I say or don't say. . . do or don't do. Create or uncreate, even. It's about knowing who I Am and trusting that source spark of Divinity within me to lead. I imagine myself hurling that Light far, far into the distance ahead of me. Pathway lit AF. Now all I have to do is take a step and then another. From the Quantum reality perspective--IT IS DONE. So it is.

I continue to show up to my own creative process each day and I invite you to do the same. There are many ways that I can support you in your own journey. As I reflected recently, I realized that in the last 6 years that I have been working as a teacher, healer, guide and coach, I have helped all kinds of people--from Starseeds to CEO's, addicts to athletes, stay-at-home moms to soul-starved career women--heal, grow and discover their own authentic purpose and take the steps to actualize their visions in the world. Perhaps you want to feel better in your skin, heal the pain of a past wound that is still wreaking havoc in your life, learn to balance self-care with your service in the world, or summon the courage to focus on making your life-long dream a reality. Maybe you want to be a better leader or lover. Possibly, you'd like to learn how to just relax. I welcome you to receive the support that you need to be your best self despite outer circumstances or your own inner limitations. All of my services are available not only for your personal growth and transformation, but for your business as well. I teach corporate yoga both remotely and in person and my signature six week coaching series The Art of Fulfillment: Creating A Life You Love offers key creative principles that serve as essential building blocks for living with greater purpose and joy. I would be happy to discuss working with you personally or collaborating with your business. Feel free to reach out at [email protected]

Finally, I'd like to invite you to my upcoming series "Energy Yoga: Activate Your Radiance" beginning 8/17 at One Yoga and Fitness with a Zoom option. This will be a 5 week exploration that will weave Kundalini yoga and Divine Feminine Embodiment practices: think spirals rather than straight lines, balanced feeling and receiving, yin/magnetic energy with finer tuned focus and relaxing into process rather than rushing to completion; greater reliance on trusting how you receive intuitive guidance rather than outer authority or expert advice. Also included: Soul Astrology to honor the circular journey of the lunar phases beginning the week of the New Moon as well as journaling prompts to track how you are consciously using your precious energy everyday. Register for this series here

May you continue to connect to whatever illuminates your Soul and let that light pave the way!

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6/25/2020 0 Comments

The Way of Love

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned,[a] but have not love, I gain nothing.
1 Corinthians 13

The Great Turning. A wake-up call of worldwide proportions. The coming to light of centuries of oppression, violence, greed and hate. Pandemic, protests and politics that have fostered virulent polarization are waging a war on humanity. From the disorienting and debilitating ironies and realities of being in global lockdown, labeled "essential" or not, coerced into public mask wearing and social distancing to the devastating tragedies of our black brothers and sisters being murdered in the streets--could it be any more apparent that we are witnessing the outrageous cost of remaining collectively unconscious, unable to breathe, work or live our lives according to our civil rights and sovereign dignity? We heard George Floyd's siren call out to the one that he hoped would save his life: MOTHER.

This monumental period of human history will now include HER-story. A great gift that 2020 is now revealing to us is the return and reclamation of the Divine Feminine back into our collective consciousness. We are being invited to remember what it is to respect and honor the sacred balance of life as all of creation contains this model of relationship between Divine Masculine and Divine Feminine as universal, complimentary creative principles. Indigenous and ancient wisdom traditions understood the necessity and inherent value of respecting both principles as they relate not only to our personal health and wellbeing but to the ecology of our relationships with each other, the plant and animal kingdoms and Gaia herself as a living library of consciousness destined for a particular evolutionary unfolding with which we are directly invited to participate.

Our current collective awakening is being deeply activated by the Divine Feminine Consciousness which has been silenced and subjugated for centuries because of patriarchal oppression where masculine principles have been misused and abused in order to gain control, profit and power over others while toxic agendas have depleted the planet's resources at an alarming rate. Humanity's addiction to enslavement, war and rape as a "normal" way of life is finally being recognized by many more people now for what it is: unjust, inhumane and completely insane. True healing often begins with a crisis, which is really a decision point in the course of an illness where we either actually change for the better or continue to suffer. At this very moment-- we all have that choice.

This is a pivotal cosmic portal that will support your awakening in miraculous ways if you decide that's what you want. We have astrological aspects at play that we haven't seen for hundreds of years. There is another way to live that will invite you to accept full responsibility as a powerful co-creator of your life. It will ask you to surrender all of your ideas about what is happening and why and to trust that it is all playing out exactly as it needs to. We are at a cosmic crossroads where timelines are splitting and some significant decisions must be made. In general, there is the choice to remain asleep or awaken, but more specifically there is the choice to participate in the fighting and dismantling of the old structures or to engage directly with the decision to practice higher-self mastery and engage with the process of personal and planetary ascension by being involved in the co-creation of the New Earth paradigm. Beyond right or wrong, every person must choose, authentically, for themselves. I am guided by a desire for the latter and will continue to dedicate my efforts and energy into restoring, remembering and reclaiming the body, heart, mind and soul of the the Divine Feminine back into this world.

I believe that the most revolutionary act we can commit now is to walk the way of Love by choosing to claim our divine birthright of happiness and to prosper in all ways. The choice to continue suffering and fighting in the name of justice, peace, or freedom isn't necessary. Your suffering won't help others suffer less. Instead, by fully claiming your own body, mind, heart and soul as a sovereign, free and divine creation and choosing to live in alignment with the qualities of your higher self everyday, you will be participating in the masterful art of your own self-actualization as well as contributing to the balance of the whole of creation through your own transformation. This way of walking the path of Love is ancient and encoded in the fabric of your own soul. When you begin to turn the details of your life over to your higher self, you'll be amazed by what doors open. You'll remember that you are from the future and that you came in order to birth this new paradigm. Everything you need to make this a reality is already inside of you. Legions of divine support (not to mention human beings) are with you assisting the living out of your legacy if you just ask.

The Divine Feminine way is one of softening and surrendering into the non-linear, organic unfolding of our inherent gifts and particular path of purpose. It's the way of creating sacred space for allowing, receiving and magnetizing rather than pushing, forcing or controlling outcomes. It's intuitive and intentional; more about resting into our power and relaxing the neurotic tendencies in favor of claiming and embodying our divine qualities. The sensual body and all of its functions are as sacred as the spirit that animates it. As I am led to more deeply practice, explore and evolve my own relationship to Divine Feminine Consciousness, I am being initiated into a new level of my awakening. Much is shifting and rearranging within me and while it isn't always comfortable, I am certain that I'm growing in accordance to the authentic prayer of my heart. The path of Love is intelligently designed to reconcile the Divine Masculine and Feminine into balance through Unity consciousness where each part contributes equally to the whole. Every being on the planet is invited and included to participate in this cosmic Love-Making as a unique embodiment of Soul in the ushering in of this next Golden Age.

At the end of last year I wrote about how this would be a year where quantum leaps in our spiritual awakening would be possible. I invite you to continue to open to those possibilities in your own life when you align with the highest and best within you. Vividly imagine the world you want to live in and commit to first making it a reality within yourself. Vibration matches vibration. How bright are you willing to burn? Let the incorruptible Light at the center of your being reveal the perfect next step and have the courage to take it. Trust your heart to show you the way. It is safe for you to live in the most sacred, beautiful and joyful ways. This is the age of self-initiation where it's entirely up to you to take your rightful seat on the throne of your own divine sovereignty and claim every single dream that your heart most desires. You get to choose the reality you most want to experience everyday. You are a very powerful creator and you're definitely not alone...

Know that SHE is here and the Goddess will continue to Rise. Unmasked and unafraid to get very close and personal.
SHE IS YOU.
I AM HER.
WE ARE ONE.

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What My Clients Are Saying:

"I know that “life changing” is a bit over used but it best describes how I feel about what Jenny Clarke offers with "The Courage to Create" course. She uses the metaphor of the labyrinth. A twisted turning path with hidden chambers that takes you to the center and then back out again with new insights. I took the private version of this program. The weekly lessons took me to the core of who I am. Along the way looking into some long closed chambers where we cleared out a few ghosts and discovered some buried gems. At the end of the course I emerged forever changed with a new understanding and appreciation of who I am. You can not get lost in a labyrinth as long as you keep moving forward. The journey begins when you take the first step. I highly recommend that you take the first step and sign up for the Courage to Create!" ~L.H.

My experience with the circle was amazing. I have been told that circles have power. And I am now a believer. I felt like my intentions of gaining insight and tools for my life and the lives of those I am blessed to work with were fulfilled. It confirmed so much of what I have learned over the last few years. I felt validated. The way the materials were presented was so well thought out and simple to follow. I gained so much support from the souls inside the circle and I gave a ton of support to them. That was also my personal intention for class. My experience was life changing. Jenny has changed my life for the better MANY times through her work and healing. Thank you Jenny Clarke ~Kevin S.

The series was an experience like none other! What was covered and how was truly impressive. Our group of participants were amazing – a small intimate, non-judgmental group. As a domestic violence survivor, I have participated extensively in many avenues of self-awareness and growth; individual cognitive therapy sessions for years, specialized group therapy sessions, read many books, am part of online groups and researched endlessly many self-growth and psychological disorders and topics online. I’ve done a lot of this work on different levels but this series really encompassed everything I have worked on and more in one workshop in 6 weeks. It put it all together (plus more) in an easy streamlined way. I was able to start to understand that I am my own life expert and I realized that I was seeking external advice or validation instead of listening to my own inner compass. I liked having a partner and the group circle. We did some hard inner work and I think sharing with others cultivated acceptance and moving forward. The group created a non-judgmental space that welcomed this. The struggles shape us into who we are. I was presented with the opportunity to give and receive support. It was interesting to hear others perspectives of me. I realized I do not see what they see in me (strength, courage, openness etc.) and that has stuck with me. Because of this, I realized I need to be easier on myself. I can’t wait for the next circle! ~Anonymous/The Art of Fulfillment participant

"Jenny’s coaching was full of gentle reinforcement that inspired me and provided loving guidance to help me create a connection to my heart by taking small steps toward my desires. I get so much from her feedback emails after each session. The practical skills and wisdom (both personally and professionally) are exactly what I needed during this time of flux. Jenny really helped me stay focused on the details of the moment without getting confused or losing sight of the big picture." ~K.E.

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Tenderness does not choose its own uses.It goes out to everything equally.~Jane Hirshfield

Jenny Clarke

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What My Clients Are Saying:

Connect with Me

Subscribe Today!

Tenderness does not choose its own uses.
It goes out to everything equally.
~Jane Hirshfield