Spring Is Springing! Are You Springing, Too?

March sunrise.

I feel as though I’m greeting you from a great distance. It’s been a few months since I last wrote a blog, so there’s distance in time. The pandemic is still raging (please keep wearing your mask, get a vaccine when you can, and remember the vaccine doesn’t necessarily prevent you from getting COVID, but it will help you stay alive--kind of a big deal), so there’s still social distancing and keeping connections virtual where/when possible. And additionally, there’s the change within each of us over time which doesn’t necessarily create distance, but does necessitate some maneuvering to figure out where I am in space and how to connect with you from this different space which also provides different perspectives.

While I am aware of the changes, I’m also aware of that which hasn’t changed. If you’ve experienced my guided meditations, you know that I bring awareness to and have you look for what is different as well as what is the same. Here are a few things I am aware of that have changed for me and my world: I am more aware of my need for quality human interaction; I only hit the grocery once a week for the whole household; I am now more comfortable with texting as a way to stay connected with friends; physical contact with other humans is nonexistent. Here are a few things I am aware of that have not changed for me and my world: Lilly is still my best pal; our walks are still a daily practice; patterns and rhythms are still foundations to my sanity; I still need a balance of quiet me-time and interactions with humans.

Here are a few things that have changed in the bigger picture: there are multiple COVID vaccines and they are reaching more people everyday; some politicians are not only listening to their constituents and the majority of the American public, but are taking moral stands; more people understand that mental health is health. Here are a few things that have not changed in the big picture: COVID is still here; systemic racism is still not being addressed; it is still harder to register to vote in most states than it is to buy a gun; there are too many deaths by guns every day.

Are you aware of what has changed and what hasn’t for you in your world?

My Intuitive Guide services have not changed. I am still here for you when you need a different perspective, and some deep relaxation or clearing, and this is still by phone.

My Doggedly Whole private training is still outside at a client’s home. My classes are also outside: I have ongoing Nose Work classes; and I am starting up some new classes next month. I am offering both Nose Work for Beginners and Team Together where you and your dog will learn foundational skills to help you both comfortably navigate the world together. You can find more information on these classes HERE.

May this find you soaking in the green, the new growth, and the emerging colors of a season of hope.

My thanks to you and your companion animals for being part of my world, and for connecting others with me and my work. I look forward to working together more in the future.

~Namaste

I’m a Fraud! Oh, Wait! Just Human.

Final summer sunset 2019.

It’s officially the first day of autumn, and I’m reaping my harvest. I’ve been experiencing epiphanies and uncovering and exploring old, deep beliefs. So, here I am, again, in a multi-layered transformation. In this life so far, I find that, for me, the discovery and exploration of the deep beliefs and patterns is often just as important, if not more important, than the dismantling, unraveling, shedding, releasing of said beliefs and patterns. Yet, right now it feels like this belief is in a central aspect of my being and very rooted, and I am feeling my mental body try to kick in and overwhelm (overthink) the rest of me.

In recent years, I’ve discovered and recognized the belief that “there will never be enough for me to do more than eke out a living.” Wait, what?! Here’s the thing with the old, deep beliefs, there’s never any logic involved. These are beliefs that are epigenetic, that are tied into the reptilian part of our brains, that are about survival. This summer’s harvest has uncovered the belief that “I can never be enough” which leads to constantly striving for perfection in the hopes that no one will notice that I am a fraud (at being human). I know! Just today I was journaling and found my brain trying to take over with worries and fears about what to do with these beliefs and the patterns they hold together.

My process is my process (just as your process is your process). It is one of flow, one of deeply being me in my daily practices: walking, writing, gratitude. I recognize and acknowledge the belief and then I let go of it and it’s like the idea or essence of it floats around in my being. And I start to feel or see where it is connected to or in other parts of me; I start to sense the patterns within me that have grown from the belief. I tend not to even look for the whys of a belief, though sometimes they’ll appear somewhere along the journey. The now is where I focus. So, here I am at the equinox, opening to the strong, accessible energy of balance, feeling it stream into me. And working with this balance, I can feel the shifts begin at my core.

It is a new season, a new day, and I am always me even as I am a new me with each breath. Breathe, be you, part of the whole.

~Namaste