Happy energetic group

Your energy matters

by ChakrasEnergy HealingEnergy MedicineFeaturedGratitudeHealthMeditationSelf Love

Have you ever noticed the power of your smile? How different does it feel when you walk onto a crowded elevator with a smile instead of a look of irritation? Your smile is evidence of positive energy shining forth—sending waves of peace, tolerance, hope, and comfort into the world. Does it really matter whether you cultivate positive energy and project it forth? Nothing could be more important. Our world’s wellness depends on the kind of energy you contribute.

Energy Matters

In an energy-driven universe, we are givers and receivers. We are conduits of energy and we can decide what kind of energy we take in and give out. The news tells us the world is hurting. Too much hatred, anger, fear, greed, mistrust, incivility, rudeness, and selfishness have been going unchecked. And the greatest of these is fear—fear of not being enough, not having enough, fear that there isn’t enough.The good news is that individually and together we can use our positive energy to counter this absence of love.

I think of Rumi’s call to action: “Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder.” Ask yourself what energy you are you sending forth into the world. Do you bring light? Do you focus on love and unity? How do you present yourself to the world—your face, your body language, your words? What are your rules of engagement—-kindness, courtesy, laughter, openness, curiosity, respect, love?

You have the power to heal the world with your energy. You can change your energy, grow it, cleanse it, clear it! Here are five essential healing energies you can work with:

Compassionate Energy

The power to love and care for one another may seem to come naturally, but actually it is a learned behavior that is modeled for us. We love because we are loved and we know how love feels. Each day you can model compassion by consciously sending loving energy to the people you meet.

Creative Energy

Did you know you are a creative genius? The power to dream, imagine, invent, and build is part of who you are. With our creative gifts, we humans can envision a hopeful, sustainable future and travel there together. You bring joy to the world each day that you work, play, dance, sing, play music, write, paint, design, have fun, or teach someone else to do the same.

Courageous Energy

Every day that you spend living in faith rather than wringing your hands in fear is a great day for the world. Believing in a benevolent universe and a positive future takes courage. Being a role model for faith in the ever-present goodness can help heal the world. Be one of those who appreciates the good, who smells the rose, pets the dog, and shares a laugh at every opportunity.

Cooperative Energy

Can you imagine a world where cooperation—not competition—is the rule of the day? There is too much emphasis on who wins and who loses. Cooperation allows everyone to bring their gifts to the table. We can begin by choosing cooperation over competition at every opportunity.

Connective Energy

Quantum physics has confirmed what traditional wisdom has always told us. We are one unified energy field. When a tree falls in the forest, not only is there a sound but the air quality on the other side of the globe is diminished. We are connected and what affects one, affects us all. Unity is our foundation. Whatever you can do to strengthen your connection—to Source, to the natural world, to your fellow humans—do it today. Smiling at those people in the elevator blesses us all!

Checking in with your energy

Checking In with Your Energy

by Energy HealingEnergy MedicineFeaturedMeditation

Every year when vacation season arrives, you can’t miss the “Summer Reading” ideas that pop up in newspapers and magazines, bookstores and libraries. Figuring that you are going to have lots of time on your hands as you bask on the beach, makers of summer reading lists offer great new books you will definitely want to check out. As much as I love a good book, I’d like to suggest another kind of “summer reading” this year. Why not use some of that sweet breathing space to take a personal energy reading? If your summer respite is meant to give you new zest for life, it really helps to check in and see what your all-important energy is up to. Is it purring or sputtering? Is the rhythm right? How is your energy shaping your life right now?

Energy Is Life

Everything is energy—both the Universe that surrounds you and the inner energy system that is your life force. The state of your personal energy field is reflected in how you feel, how smooth-flowing or difficult your life feels. Does your energy feel light and bright? Or heavy, dark, and stuck? What is the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning? Do you experience worry, dread, anxiety, even fear? Or do you wake up with joy, excitement, gratitude, anticipation? As my friend Louise Hay loved to say, it’s the difference between “Good morning, God!” and “Good God, morning!”

How connected are you to the harmonious energy of your Source? Are you drawing the power you need to thrive? If you feel uneasy in any area of your life—relationships, health, career, finances, self-esteem, faith—a summer energy reading will help you reset and make a fresh start. You can clear, cleanse, and recharge your energy. You can cultivate the positive, healing energy you want and achieve greater levels of peace, wellness, love, and joy.

Five Steps to Your Energy Reset

Try these proven ways to plug in and power up your energy this summer:

Step into nature for instant empowerment.

Just think how good it feels to walk barefoot in the grass, look up at the blue sky, and take a deep breath of fresh, fragrant air. Summer is a perfect time to get out and enjoy the natural world with all of your senses. If your energy feels stale and cramped, there is nothing like sunlight (or moonlight), flowing water, the wind in the trees, and direct contact with Mother Earth to give you a new perspective. Borrow energy from nature!

Keep a journal for the truth about you.

Not sure how you feel or what you think? No one knows more about your inner life than you. It’s just that occasions to reflect on your thoughts and feelings are too rare, unless you make it a priority. Take some summertime quiet to look within. Keeping a journal and taking the time to reflect and record helps you discover insights into your life. If you need to make changes, your feelings and thoughts help you see what is really important, what is really affecting you—not the opinions of others but your own deep truth.

Serve others for connectedness and unity.

Summer brings a gift of longer days and milder weather. Look for some new ways to give and serve that will help you jumpstart your energy. Do what you love and the energy will follow. Help an elderly neighbor with yard work or home maintenance. Start a community garden. Volunteer at the library for summer programs for kids. Love pets? Volunteer at the animal shelter. Finding a cause that speaks to your heart gives you a feeling of fellowship and hopefulness. Energy grows with connection to others.

Learn to meditate for clarity.

When you meditate, you plug in to the greatest power source of all, an energy much greater than your own. Learn to meditate from an experienced teacher who has felt the power of meditation in a deeply personal way. I consider meditation the cornerstone of my spiritual teaching and energy healing work. To connect with the ultimate Source of understanding and clarity, meditate daily. You will be keeping the door open to your greatest spiritual growth and happiness. Healthy energy is joyful!

Say “Please” and “Thank You!” Pray and Affirm!

What do you want? What are you grateful for? Where should you direct your energy for your greatest good? When you pray, you acknowledge the goodness in your life and ask for the direction you need to reach the things you desire. When you address the Source of All Being, you open a channel of communication that empowers you. Pray for a peaceful mind free of worry, fear, regret, and guilt. Give thanks for loving protection and guidance. Affirm “I have a peaceful, loving heart.” Feel your energy soar!

To learn more about your energy and the power of energy healing, join Deborah’s LifeForce Energy Healing® school. Start at the level where you’re comfortable.

Deborah's Elephant

A Baby Elephant – Just What I Always Wanted!

by AdvocacyEnergy HealingFeaturedGratitudePetsSocial Activism

At a retreat last week, my advanced students presented me with the most amazing, loving, and life-affirming gift. On my behalf, they made a donation to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Kenya. I am now fostering an orphaned baby elephant! I received a certificate from the orphan rescue program and will be able to follow my foster child’s growth and development in an online diary. His name is “Maktao” and he is three months old. I’m so thrilled and I hope I will be able to go to Africa soon to bond with him!

The Work of the DSWT

Best known for their work to protect elephants, The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (DSWT) operates the most successful orphan elephant rescue and rehabilitation program in the world. They embrace all measures that complement the conservation, preservation and protection of wildlife including anti-poaching, safe guarding the natural environment, enhancing community awareness and providing veterinary assistance to animals in need. Born from one family’s passionate love for Kenya and its wilderness, the trust is one of the pioneering conservation organizations for wildlife and habitat protection in East Africa.

DSWT was founded in 1977 by Dr. Dame Daphne Sheldrick, to honor the memory of her late husband, famous naturalist and founding Warden of Tsavo East National Park, David Leslie William Sheldrick. For over 25 years Kenya-born Daphne Sheldrick lived and worked alongside David, during which time they raised and successfully rehabilitated many wild species. At the heart of the DSWT’s conservation activities today is the Orphans’ Project, which has achieved world-wide acclaim through its hugely successful elephant and rhino rescue and rehabilitation program.

Orphans Welcome Here

The Orphans’ Project exists to offer hope for the future of Kenya’s threatened elephant and rhino populations as they struggle against the threat of poaching for their ivory and horn, and the loss of habitat due to human population pressures and conflict, deforestation and drought. When a tiny new-born elephant like my charge is orphaned, it is often because its mother and family have been killed to serve the brutal ivory trade. For an elephant, family is all important; a calf’s very existence depends upon its mother’s milk for the first two years of life. An Elephant Nursery now exists nestled within Nairobi National Park under the auspices of the DSWT. The nursery offers hope for any orphaned elephant fortunate enough to be found alive. They rescue and hand-rear elephant and rhino orphans, along with many other species.

Daphne Sheldrick worked for nearly three decades of trial and error to perfect the milk formula and complex husbandry necessary to rear an orphaned infant African elephant. Today, with support from many caring people world-wide, the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust is proud to have saved over 150 orphaned infant calves, which would otherwise have perished. More importantly, every one of these orphans can look forward to a quality of life in the wild, living free in Tsavo East National Park protected by their new extended orphaned family and friends among the wild herds.

Welcome, Maktao!

So my wonderful gift from my students of a chance to foster baby elephant orphan, Maktao, comes via The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust’s digital foster program. This program allows individuals across the world to support the trust’s field projects by fostering an orphaned elephant, rhino or giraffe in their care. All elephant, rhino and giraffe orphans rescued by the trust are available to foster, including those orphans living back in the wild. The DSWT’s Elephant Orphanage is open to the public for one hour every day, from 11 am to noon. During this time the orphans arrive for their midday mud bath and feeding. Baby elephants love their mud baths!

Welcome, Maktao, to the sponsorship of a caring human family—all of us here at the Deborah King Center. The Trust likes to name its orphaned elephants in a way that can identify them with their origin. The orphans come from all corners of Kenya and from many different elephant populations, so they are usually given place or ethnic tribal names, as was Maktao, where he was found.

The most precious gift is the gift of life. Thank you, my beloved students, for giving me this gift of life!

If you’d like to help a baby elephant, click here.

Astral travel

Fly Free with Astral Travel!

by Astral ProjectionFeatured

Have you ever had an incredible dream? One where you visited a beloved family member no longer here on earth? Or you had amazing super power to soar over the rooftops? Maybe you were exploring a new city. Did you wake up feeling peace or excitement, surprised to be back home in bed? And then ask: “Wow! Where did I go?”

The potential to have experiences like these—the stuff that dreams are made of—is completely within you. It’s your unlimited nature, your spirit and its connection to the Source that makes such dreams possible. What if you began to explore the access you have to your unlimited being and see where else your “wings” might take you? By strengthening your spiritual connection and expanding your consciousness, you can learn to choose and direct your flight plans. You can learn to astral travel!

What Is Astral Travel?

You actually already travel this way when you dream. Your astral body leaves your physical body sleeping soundly in bed and roams the dream world. With study and practice, you can learn to astral project deliberately—to leave your physical body consciously and choose to travel to certain destinations. Astral projection is an out-of-body experience you choose to embark on with the intent of traveling to many different “astral planes” that are shaped by energy and light.

With astral projection comes the undeniable knowledge that you are more than your physical body. Astral projection helps you gain a new level of access to the universe within you as well. As you explore your inner universe, you can also take advantage on the physical plane of the knowledge you gain from astral travel. Your astral experience can help you reach a higher level of consciousness.

What Are the Benefits of Astral Travel?

Astral travel can open a new world of knowledge and spiritual growth for you. Your energy body, your personal energy field that you’re sitting inside of right now, is your greatest source for healing on every level: physical, emotional, and spiritual. Mastering astral travel techniques is an important step in expanding your energy body, so you have even more opportunities for healing and growth

Here are some powers you may discover with astral projection:

Solution—Problems of every kind, challenges, and stress can be worked through and more easily resolved during astral projection.

Expansion —Whatever you would like to learn about or explore, a vast amount of knowledge is accessible on the astral plane.

Healing— Astral projection can bring you closer to the source of illness, disease or past trauma where active energy healing can take place.

Connection—Astral projection allows you to connect with deceased loved ones or others you would otherwise not be able to connect with in the physical world.

Perception—You can gain a clearer or “higher” perspective on your life situation by viewing yourself and your life from the astral plane.

When you learn to separate your consciousness from your body, you can experience firsthand what life is like beyond your usual physical day-to-day reality. You can see and feel things that will raise your consciousness, increase your energetic frequency, and minimize your negativity, uncertainty, and fear. And you will better understand your limitless potential and your spiritual connection with Source.

Where Do You Want to Go? 

There is no defined limit as to how far you can travel. Imagine flying high above the highest mountains and into the starry galaxies, visiting times and places from the past or the future, meeting with loved ones who have passed on to resolve old issues, and visiting the heavenly realms. You’ll get in touch with your innermost desires and learn how to use out-of-body experiences to design the life of your dreams. If you want to learn how to do it, check here for more info.

Chakra Health

Power Up Your Chakras!

by ChakrasEnergy HealingEnergy MedicineFeaturedHealth

As the daily news continues giving us reasons to be nervous and worried, anxious and afraid, angry and confused, how are you doing in this struggle between fear and love? We know what fear looks like, and we know we have to rise above life-destroying fear and seek life-affirming love. Each of us has the power to choose and use the unlimited energy of love available from our Divine Source. Take a look within. Is your connection to your loving Source clear and open? Is the energy of your love at the ready, flowing and powering your mind, body, and spirit? For the challenges we face, taking good care of your personal energy centers, your chakras, can help you fight fear.

Your Chakra Power

As invisible but vital energy centers, your chakras are designed to move energy between your personal field and the universal field. Your wellbeing depends on the energy you bring in, and your life of joy, fulfillment, and service depends on the energy you give out. Love can’t reign when fear is blocking the channels. When clear and balanced, your chakras are the means by which you replenish your energy and maintain your health. Without the healthy flow of energy through your chakras, you might feel empty, depressed, and powerless. Each chakra represents an aspect of higher consciousness that is essential to your life. As a system, the seven basic chakras integrate your mind, body, and spirit; and each has a physical, emotional, creative, and spiritual component.

Your Chakra Gifts

Each of your chakra centers is important because each one allows you to call forth different skills and strengths and bring them into the world. Keeping your chakras clear and balanced allows you to access your highest gifts and talents—those powerful energies that are your contribution to the world! Here are some of the ways your chakras affect your life:

First Chakra – This foundational chakra located at the base of your spine keeps you grounded and rooted, firm and secure in the world. However, fear of destructive events like those we are experiencing in our world today combined with personal fears about safety, security, and stability can disrupt or distort the free flow of energy in the first chakra. Taking a walk in the beauty of nature, actually touching the earth with your bare feet, can bring you back to the foundation of your being, make you feel present and safe, and strengthen your first chakra.

Second Chakra – Located about half way between the base of your spine and your navel, the second or sexual chakra is the center of your emotions and desires, and your interactions with other people. In the work of moving away from fear and toward love, a balanced second chakra is vital to helping you enjoy healthy intimate relationships and overcome feelings of guilt and shame that may interfere. Bathing in the ocean or a bath of sea salt and baking soda strengthens your second chakra as it restores you to the purity of your true nature.

Third Chakra – Located at the solar plexus and the center of your body’s metabolic fire, the third chakra is the seat of personal power. This primary power center is the source of will, purpose, and action—that which “moves” you in the world. If managing your energy in a healthy way to reach your goals and fulfill your purpose is a challenge, you may need to devote some loving attention to your third chakra. Physical activities such as gardening, sports, T’ai Chi, Yoga, and Pilates can awaken and recharge this energy center, especially if performed outside in the early morning sun.

Fourth Chakra – The fourth or heart chakra is the bridge between the three lower chakras that connect you to the earth and the three upper chakras that connect you to the Infinite. When the heart center is in balance, you are content, caring, compassionate and forgiving. Heart chakra balance gives you the courage to give and receive love even when fear and anger threaten to close you down. How precious is an open and compassionate heart in today’s world! One of the best ways to boost your heart chakra is by giving and receiving love with a pet. Animals are great role models for the unconditional love that heals us.

Fifth Chakra – When fifth or throat chakra energy is free-flowing and balanced, you are free to speak your truth. You are empowered to express who you are, what you feel, and what you believe. Speaking for your beliefs and your truth is essential for you to express the love that can overcome fear in the world today. Writing down your feelings with total honesty can help clear and charge your fifth chakra. Take time to use your “voice” to write, sing, read aloud, and communicate your true feelings.

Sixth Chakra – The sixth chakra or “third eye,” located between the eyebrows, is the source of intuition. When balanced, this chakra helps you keep an open-mind and have faith in your inner guidance. It supports your sense of the interconnection of all humanity and helps you seek the truth in any situation. When this chakra is out of balance, you may feel out of touch with your intuition and struggle with fear-based negative thinking and narrow-mindedness. Daily meditation helps you awaken this chakra and lets you increase your inner wisdom and your ability to “see” clearly.

Seventh Chakra – The seventh energy center or “crown chakra” is located at the top of the head. This is your connection with spirit, your higher power, and the universe. Opening outward and upward, this chakra draws light energy in from above and fills you with an experience of transcendence. Meditation, prayer, and communion with nature are powerful tools for boosting the seventh chakra. Keeping this connection free-flowing, balanced, and clear is your key to bringing all-powerful love into our world.

Working to take care of your chakra energy centers is simply making sure that you have access to all the powers, the gifts, the talents, the energy and the light that is you. Get ready to share your gifts, to move forward in love, to inspire and encourage others, and to live a life of love and joy.

You can learn more about the health of your personal energy centers and how to supercharge them here in the Secrets of Chakra Wisdom Course.

Open Borders

Love vs. fear – which is guiding us

by AdvocacyEnergy HealingFeaturedSocial

As a spiritual teacher, I’ve long taught there are two basic emotions – love and fear, and every emotion and action can be tracked to either one or the other.

If you prefer, call them good and evil, hope and hopelessness, the best of us and the worst of us, but know this: whatever the literary context, it always comes down to right and wrong.

When the border crisis is dismissed as “just political,” I feel compelled to speak. Nothing could be farther from the truth. A humanitarian crisis of historic proportion is unfolding at America’s borders. No ifs, ands, buts, or maybes, the stories aren’t fake but painfully real. It’s not about votes or nightly soundbites, but mothers and children, families and values.

Some things are simply too abhorrent to defend and most of us learned long ago that defending the indefensible will never work out. Coming to terms with a crisis like this is neither easy nor optional. We’ll either figure it out and learn from it or, failing that, risk the moral undoing of who we are and all we aspire to be.

As a horrified world watches America default the moral leadership that has inspired hope and set us apart for nearly two and a half centuries, it’s important to look beyond politics to fully understand what is occurring and what it means in human terms.

We have long stood for the country that takes all – the inscription on the Statute of Liberty reads:
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.”

It’s impossible to reconcile those sentiments with our current stance at the border. We have refugees seeking a better life here, and we are suddenly turning them into criminals and taking away their children in the process.

This can’t be sugar-coated or explained away.

There is nothing political in a baby ripped from her mother’s breast, a toddler sleeping on concrete under a mylar blanket in a facility reminiscent of a jail, or a stunned teenager frightened at a separation he can’t possibly understand.

This emphasis on fear isn’t new, take a look at what’s happening right now in France, German, Italy, and the Netherlands, where fear about the “otherness” of immigrants is being pushed. Around the world people are being manipulated by fear. Emotions are weaponized to trample human values. Ends justify the means as people are used heartlessly as pawns in a much bigger game. That the powerful blame the powerless to stay in power is an old story. Leveraging the emotional vulnerability of the weak to further an agenda is a new wrinkle on an old evil.

Blaming those with different ideas or viewed as threats is a proven technique shamefully enhanced. Look to the language used to justify inexcusable actions, how it expertly stokes fear to manipulate and encourage us to close our eyes to what we see and accept it as okay. Words like “crisis, disaster, an out-of-control influx of criminals pouring over open borders, drug dealers, thieves, rapists” – language meant to incite and further an ugly narrative.

We are told these are people we shouldn’t want or welcome. English isn’t their first language and their skin is often darker than ours. We’re warned that what they want is ours – told their gain is our loss – and it must be stopped.

There are a number of truths here. First, this is a real disaster. Second, it’s a crisis that didn’t have to be; it was discretionary. Third, we have more than enough room for immigrants, as we are a much less dense population than other countries and our population is declining. We should be eager to have these hard-working, highly motivated people who have a lower crime rate, higher marriage rate, and are more church-going than our own citizens, all values we claim to cherish.

Sadly, the tragedy is that there appears to be no carefully thought-out next step, no skillfully-exercised solution conceived to undo the damage done. We can imagine an ever-increasing number of children and families left in limbo for months. The human collateral damage is simply incomprehensible.

By leveraging immigration fears, we’re asked to turn our backs on refugees fleeing tyranny, ignoring our most basic, admirable American values.

I’ve always believed in the idea that there is enough, more than enough, for all of us. Plus, we all learned as children we must give to get. And there is no more basic teaching than the Golden Rule, telling us to do unto others as we would have others do unto us. The answer to our biggest problem lies within us.

Reject fear, choose love.

Value humanity above all else; in the end that’s our best and oldest defense.

Defend against fear by rising above it and meeting it with love.

That isn’t politics. It couldn’t be more human. Or divine.

Children at the border

Why How We Behave at the Border Matters

by AdvocacyFeaturedSocial

I was truly moved by the First Lady this morning. She spoke eloquently about immigrant children separated from their parents at the border. Mrs. Trump, following similar guidelines of other former first ladies, urges us to govern with heart.

This crisis at our border is not about politics; it’s about us—our behavior and our core values. It doesn’t matter what laws we have on the books, who put them in place or when. Children are being hurt right in front of our eyes, and we must not allow it.

In a lifetime of teachable moments, I most cherish these precious and rare opportunities to share something of human value empowering the best in us; moments that attest to our highest purpose which naturally inspire our spiritual growth.

This is one of those.

Our values are expressed by our behavior and we can’t ignore the consequences of our actions. The way we behave impacts the behavior of others, which in turn influences their treatment of others. We choose how to create our world.

Because behavior doesn’t occur in a vacuum, it makes a public statement, serving as a lens into our heart that showcases our values. Our actions, even small ones viewed as inconsequential, can have profound consequences. No one is exempt from the impact of his/her own behavior. Sadly, learning to take personal responsibility for how we behave may be one of life’s most urgently needed but difficult to learn lessons.

When we allow what is happening to innocent children at our borders, when we hear doctors and psychologists describe the lifelong damage it causes and remain silent, and when our response to such cruel behavior is to do nothing or worse, argue about who’s fault it is, what does that say about us?

As a spiritual teacher, I counsel against accepting less of ourselves, and to demand more. Each of us makes that choice and our behavior tells the world the choice we’ve made. And, in the end, our behavior reveals our humanity and core values defining our moral compass.

Whether we are red or blue, black or white, rich or poor, young or old, we must choose to protect innocent children being ripped from their mothers’ arms. Here’s a moment to make our world a better place, defined by the best we have to offer, instead of debasing the world with the worst .

It’s what these children and our future world deserve.

Travel

Open Road, Open Heart: How Travel Transforms Us

by Energy HealingFeaturedUncategorized

Once people achieve the basic necessities of life—peace, freedom, and security—what do they begin to yearn for? You wouldn’t be wrong if you guessed travel! People are curious explorers who want to learn and discover and grow. The Open Road of myth and legend is actually a path to an open heart and an open mind, qualities that the human spirit is always seeking. At our best, we want to know our world and be connected in peace and understanding to all who share it with us. Travel is about people, who we are and what we want and need.

We put our discretionary income where our hearts are. According to the U.S. Travel Association, travel and tourism generated over $1.7 trillion in economic output in 2016 and supported 7.6 million jobs. A heartening feature of the travel industry is that it is highly dependent on human labor—robots will not be taking jobs in the travel industry any time soon. When you think of it, travel is people-centric. We travel to see new landscapes, it’s true, but we also want to meet the people who occupy those places. What do they eat? How do they dress? How do they live and what is important to them? What can we learn from them that will expand our hearts and minds?

You Don’t Have to Travel Far

There’s no need to travel around the planet to enjoy the benefits, although you are very blessed if you can manage it. The world is large, but you don’t have to go far to find a place where people live a different life from yours. As the late and much-beloved traveling chef, Anthony Bourdain said, “If I am an advocate for anything, it’s to move as far as you can, as much as you can, across the ocean, or simply across the river. Walk in someone else’s shoes or at least eat their food. It’s a plus for everybody.” Visiting a small farm town in the Midwest can take you a world away from the bustling mega-city where you normally spend your days. Extra blessed are those who can cross the oceans and the continents and meet people who speak a different language and raise goats instead of social media presence. They shall be rewarded with tolerance, understanding, and a new perspective on life.

As another TV travel hero, Rick Steves, says, “Thoughtful travel helped me become a better citizen of the planet.” Steves specializes in European travel but has visited nations from El Salvador to Iran to discover what the people think and feel as well as what they eat and drink. He says these connections with people “open you up to things” as they show you new ways of looking at the world. It’s hard to think in terms of “them” and “us” when we discover the shared concerns of people everywhere. Mark Twain famously said, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.”

Any reduction in those human weaknesses would be a blessing indeed. And travel provides joy, adventure, and education while accomplishing this spiritual expansion.

Forget Fear and Embrace the Unknown

“Fear is for people who don’t get out very much,” says Rick Steves. Tourist industry experts report that more and more people are letting go of the “sanitized” excursions of yesteryear that offer to keep life just like home as you travel. Isn’t the core idea of travel to leave the everyday behind and experience the new? To recreate and reflect and come home with fresh energy and vision? More travelers are letting go of fear and letting the new enhance their chances of self-discovery. Travel organizers have responded with more trips designed to help people “transform” with adventure, exploration, education, volunteering, even spiritual training. Why do people love travel and seek it out to the tune of trillions of dollars each year? Because, when we look closely at ourselves, we see that to learn and grow makes us happy.

Will you be taking the Open Road this summer? Will you find ways to discover, learn, and grow? Whether you are flying to China to walk on the Great Wall or driving to Omaha to visit Aunt Charlotte, you can make your summer travel transformational. Wherever you go, you will see places, meet people, and hear stories. Of course, you’ll take photos. Try also to keep a gentle journal of your travels so that back home you can make a small memory book with favorite words and pictures to help you remember and reflect. Most of all, have fun! Learning opportunities that cost only loving awareness are everywhere for all who keep an open mind and an open heart.

Pet Power

Pet Power: The Amazing Ways Animals Help Us Heal

by Energy HealingFeaturedPets

Pet Power: The Amazing Ways Animals Help Us Heal

It’s no secret that our animal friends, our beloved pets of every species, provide us with companionship, love, and an overall feeling of wellbeing. They help us feel good in so many ways that we accept their value without question. In fact, all the animals of the Earth are worthy of our concern and protection and, today, need our attention more than ever. Although we’ve always known how important animals are to us, our knowing has been personal and intuitive. Now a new era of research has begun to discover the hows and whys of our bond with the animal kingdom. We know about “pet power” from our personal experience, but now science is exploring the power of human-animal connections to document and strengthen those ties!

Paws for People 101

In 2015, Tufts University launched a new research wing, the Tufts Institute for Human-Animal Interaction to discover more about this important connection. The campus library was already “healing with the animals” in a program called Tufts Paws for People, bringing pets into the library during exam week to help students handle their stress and anxiety. Customer satisfaction ratings were high. Everybody loved it! Later, the university documented the positive stress-reduction results with hundreds of students participating in a survey about their stress levels before and after they spent time with the animals. When science documents the feel-good power, support grows for more research and development in this life-changing field.

What Can “Pet Power” Do?

According to the American Heart Association, pet ownership is linked to a reduction in cardiovascular disease risk factors, such as lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol levels, and reduction in obesity. Research has shown that interacting with animals can increase people’s level of the hormone oxytocin, the “hug hormone,” which brings feelings of happiness and trust. Being with pets also causes your body to release serotonin, dopamine, and prolactin, more feel-good hormones. Pet your dog or cat for a few minutes and your cortisol, a stress-related hormone, will dip. Interacting with pets helps us relax, and they are pretty happy chilling with us, too!

Pet ownership is often recommended for people suffering from depression, low self-esteem, and severe anxiety. Animals are role models for being present, enjoying simple pleasures, being active and awake to their surroundings. Taking your pet for a walk takes you out of your head and into the world, where they eagerly and joyfully demonstrate how to explore and appreciate the environment.

Pets Bring You to Life!

Dr. Marty Becker, known as “America’s Veterinarian,” has made his life’s mission advocating for the wellness benefits of the animal-human bond. “Pets bring you to life,” he says, citing the physical, social, and medical avenues of healing that pets provide. In his lifetime, he has seen the human-animal bond move from the realm of folk wisdom to the realm of scientific research. “We have to prove it is true,” he says. Science is now confirming that people who interact with pets enjoy better physical health, a stronger social connection, and a greater sense of joy and wellbeing.

And, the wellness feeling is definitely mutual. What Dr. Marty Becker calls the “love loop” between humans and pets can be measured. Adoption rates increase at shelters where volunteers visit the animals to play with them and help them develop their social skills. Pet owners with chronic pain report less need for medication than people who don’t have an animal presence at home. Counselors, therapists, and teachers are drawing on the healing power of pets in their work. From veterans with PTSD to children with autism, more people everywhere are “feeling the healing” with pets!

Want to Help?

You can contribute to animal welfare by supporting your local shelter and donating to animal protection organizations. But what if you have a pet you would like to train with for animal therapy work? Look for opportunities in your community to join visitation programs that teach people and their pets how to help and heal. It could be a wonderful learning experience for you and your animal companion!

If you love animals like I do, you’ll love my new course, Communicating with Pets and Animals.

2018-Learning5CsfromPets

Learning the 5 Cs from your pet

by FeaturedPets

What Your Pet Can Do For You

We love our pets and they love us. Even if your animal darling is a fish called Wanda, the joys of having a friend from the animal kingdom are real and true. Pets are powerful! I have to smile at the growing number of quips about watching pet videos when the world becomes too much to bear. In homes and offices across the land, people are tuning in to the world of animals for sweet relief. The work is too hard, too much, too stifling? The boss is cranky? The people unkind? The news horrendous? Check out the latest kitten and puppy antics online to soothe your soul!

One friend of mine shares news of heart-rending current events, followed by heart-warming videos of her cats playing in their favorite cardboard boxes. Her message? No matter what troubles the world is suffering, the animals remind us of our essential consciousness. They remind us not to lose heart or forget that love rules our existence. Love does and will conquer all. We love our pets and they love us. And in this exchange, our animals give us an amazing array of gifts that help us grow in spirit and live up to our responsibilities as their human partners.

The spiritual gifts we receive from our contact with animals are immeasurable, but we can focus our attention on a few core values. Here are five of the gifts we enjoy from our pets each day:

1. Companionship – Who is always waiting for you to appear and ready to show affection and enthusiasm for your presence? Even Wanda may do pirouettes in her fish tank when you peer in to check on her wellbeing. Pets provide company in the world whether we are walking, talking, sleeping, watching TV, working, socializing, or eating. Dogs especially love to be present while we are eating and I’m ashamed to admit I had a cat named Ginger that I let sit in the middle of the kitchen table during dinner. Pets increase our connection to the world by bringing out the best in us and bringing us into social settings from a walk in the park to the pet supply store to the veterinary office. Here we focus our caring attention on our animals and take a healing break from our own concerns. Animals can help us build communication skills in our efforts to understand and be understood. They can draw strangers to us to share our mutual love for the animal kingdom.

2. Comfort –We all need unconditional love, and sometimes we need a role model to remind us how love feels. The physical touch you experience with your pet can heal and soothe. Petting your dog or cat or horse or rabbit can help you feel less stressed, more at peace. Employees from one company I know make regular visits to a nearby animal shelter to play with the pets who are waiting there for permanent homes. The visitors report receiving as much comfort and joy from petting the animals as the pets so obviously do. Volunteers are always welcome at shelters to comfort the animals and expand their own hearts. Pets find homes more easily when they have opportunities to give and receive love. Researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia found that petting a dog can spark production of two calming hormones that help you feel more relaxed. The unconditional love we receive from our animals helps build a self-esteem and self-acceptance that enables us to bring our better angels forth in everything we do. Loving family support heals us, even if we are talking “animal family.”

3. Courage – Animals are brave in defense of their loved ones, their homes, and one another. What is your favorite classic story of pet loyalty, unconditional love, courage, and steadfastness? From Black Beauty to The Incredible Journey, animal strength and courage lie at the heart of many of our most beloved tales. Today, you’ll find hundreds of true accounts of animal valor online—animals who have saved lives from war zones to their own backyards. Our animals remind us of what we wish to be: unselfish, loyal, joyful in simplicity, present in the moment, unworried, courageous, and unconditionally loving. We need role models for living, for keeping on under all circumstances, for fortitude. Our pets keep us grounded and focused on the things that really matter.

4. Caretaking – Animals teach us the important spiritual lesson of taking care. Although we are mostly providing the food and shelter, our pets are giving us the opportunity to do so. They don’t supply a share of the rent or provide any financial support, but in caring for them, we grow in empathy and responsibility. The fact is that we are our brothers’ (and sisters’) keepers in this world. We are stewards of the Earth and protectors of the animals. It is a role we are called to honor and we grow in spirit when we carry out our duties faithfully. Taking care of pets expands our powers of nurturing and giving and builds empathy. The ability to recognize the needs of other living creatures and to see the connections between us all helps create an atmosphere of caring and compassion. Isn’t that just what the world need now?

5. Comedy – Lastly, I probably don’t need to remind you that we have fun with our pets, and fun is a spiritual gift, too! Never forget the healing and restorative value of laughter. Remember those pet videos? Our pets are natural comedians who know how to delight us with their innocence and inquisitiveness and just plain cuteness. Laughter heals us and returns us to a state of innocence. We experience present moment awareness –where our pets always dwell. They provide a special kind of happiness by encouraging us to love freely, live joyfully, and maybe even roll around on the grass or run through the sprinklers.

Thank you, animal kind, for all the blessings of your presence! If you’re seeking a deeper connection with pets and animals, checkout my course, Communicating with Pets and Animals.

2018ElephantBlog

Help Save the Elephants

by AdvocacyEnergy HealingEnergy MedicineEnvironmentalFeaturedPets

“Elephants cannot be manufactured. Once they’re gone, they cannot be replaced.” – Dr. Iain Douglas-Hamilton, Founder of Save the Elephants

You probably don’t remember the first time you saw an elephant. Was it on a TV screen, in a book or a magazine, or maybe at the zoo? You may have been a child with a stuffed elephant on your toy shelf or a pair of elephant-patterned sleepers. This iconic animal has been a part of human consciousness for millennia—think about the ancient Hindu god Ganesh, for example. Always believed to be highly intelligent as well as mighty in strength, elephants are not mythical beings like unicorns or dragons. Elephants are real, and they need our help desperately if we are going to keep them with us on planet Earth.

And we do want to keep them! Elephants are gentle giants, largest of all land animals. They play an important role in maintaining the biodiversity of the ecosystems in which they live. Both African and Asian elephants form female-led, tight-knit groups consisting of a dominant matriarch and her female relations plus their calves. Living in groups makes individuals safer and allows them to devote more time to caring for and teaching the young. Research shows that elephants have amazing long-term memory and can recognize themselves in a mirror, showing self-awareness. They understand what other elephants are feeling and comfort one another. They also assist other injured elephants, and even mourn their dead.

What makes elephants special in addition to their intelligence and self-awareness? Their amazing anatomy! Here are some details from the International Elephant Foundation: The elephant trunk serves as a nose, a hand, an extra foot, a signaling device and a tool for gathering food, siphoning water, dusting, digging and much more. Elephants don’t drink with their trunks, but use them as “tools” to drink with. This is accomplished by filling the trunk with water and then using it as a hose to pour it into the elephant’s mouth. Elephants can swim – they use their trunk to breathe like a snorkel in deep water.

And then there are the elephants’ precious tusks. Most precious to them, and they should be allowed to keep them! Both male and female African elephants grow long tusks. Tusks are actually elongated upper teeth embedded deep in the elephant’s head with up to a third of the tusk hidden from view. They have a variety of uses: as a tool to dig for food or water and to strip bark from trees; as a weapon in battles with rivals; and as a courtship aid. The tusks of elephants grow throughout their life and can weigh over 200 pounds.

Each year tens of thousands of elephants are killed for their tusks. Although people do care about elephants being killed in Africa, they may not be aware of the full story and the implications for world peace. Because of the high value of wildlife trafficking, organized crime and terrorist organizations have a stake in the black market operation that brings in billions of dollars and funds civil wars in Africa as well as global terrorism. According to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, “Stopping poaching is no longer only about protecting the planet’s natural resources. It is also a national security issue, a public health issue and an economic security issue.” The Elephant Crisis Fund proposes using “the best ideas and actions from a diverse coalition of effective leaders, non-profit organizations, institutions, media, scientists, and governments.”In other words, it will take a village, a global village, to solve the elephant crisis.

Ironically, one of the most popular elephant stories of all time is Jean de Brunhoff’s children’s book The Story of Babar (1931) which begins with Babar the baby elephant being orphaned by hunters. Today, aid organizations are working to protect the animals from poachers while keeping their natural habitat intact—no easy matter. In fact, this crisis of existence for the elephant is a spiritual crisis for humans. While some humans are destroying, others are choosing to protect.

You may remember another classic children’s book, an elephant tale which portrays the heroic efforts of Dr. Seuss’s Horton to save an entire civilization. “I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. An elephant’s faithful 100 per cent!” are Horton’s words to all the naysayers who don’t think his mission is possible. Horton’s efforts defined his noble spirit, just like our human spirit must grow and be defined by our effort to defend and protect our planet’s most at-risk members.

For more information on elephants, check out my newest course.

2018EndangeredSpeciesBlog

Endangered Species: What it Means for Us

by AdvocacyEnvironmentalFeaturedPets

“Blessed are those who love animals, for they shall preserve the Earth.” I’m misquoting the Sermon on the Mount for a really good cause. Environmental protection looms large in our minds right now due to the extreme threat our planet faces from climate change and the missteps we humans continue to make. Whenever we think of protecting our planet, we also need to think of the other sentient beings who have something at stake. We are not alone. We live here with an incredible array of other life forms whose existence also hangs in the balance. And their welfare impacts ours in every way.

Our natural world is a complex interconnected system of human, animal, and plant life. We now know that the health and well-being of animal and plant populations reflect the quality of the environment we share. Think canary in the coal mine. We function with the millions of other living species on our planet as part of a finely balanced system. The loss of any single species can create a ripple effect that will eventually touch all of us.

The ecosystems of the earth function smoothly because of biodiversity—the full array of diverse life forms that populate our planet. Biodiversity, it turns out, is critical to ending poverty and promoting shared prosperity for the millions of people who depend on nature for their livelihood. When species disappear or fall in number, ecosystems and people suffer—especially the world’s poorest. We can’t know how valuable a species of animal or plant may be for us in the future. Everything is connected. When we protect endangered species, we also protect the ecosystems that permit us to live.

Naturalist and author Paul Rosolie writes about the urgent importance of preserving endangered species, “Wild animals keep our world alive. Without them, there is no us.” We don’t want to find out what the world would look like without our fellow creatures, and yet the problem of disappearing habitats and dwindling animal populations continues to grow. Just two months ago, the world’s last male northern white rhino, “Sudan,” died, leaving only two females left. Among other endangered animals are tigers and other big cats, elephants, gorillas, sea turtles, black rhinos, blue whales, and whooping cranes, to name the most widely known. There are many other endangered species within more localized habitats. Maybe you even know of some close to where you live.

“The appreciation of wildlife goes beyond merely what they have given us,” says Rosolie. “Wild animals have their own inherent value, their own reasons for existing. There are many species capable of making tools, sharing innovations, and having complex thoughts and emotions. They, like us, have families, endure struggles, feel pain, experience joy, and even play with one another.” I know you can testify to the truth of Rosolie’s words. Recently, I saw a heartbreaking photo of orphaned baby elephants wearing small blankets on their backs. Placed there by animal aid workers, the blankets were meant to simulate the feeling of their mother’s trunk draped over them for comfort and protection. These babies were not orphaned by Nature, they were orphaned by us.

We humans are now the dominant population on planet Earth with numbers greater than 7 billion. How have we been treating our fellow inhabitants? You may have heard the term “sixth extinction” coined by scientists as an expression of how rapidly species and ecosystems are vanishing under our watch. Humans of an earlier era did not have the scope of knowledge we have about our planet and its complex workings—and the delicate balance of life. With our increased awareness comes increased responsibility and the need to take action. We can work to reverse the ongoing damage. We don’t want to find out what it would mean for us if wildlife becomes extinct.

“Blessed are those who love animals, for they shall preserve the Earth!” What we love we protect. People around the world are working to help save endangered animals from extinction. Conservation organizations like the World Wildlife Fund, Defenders of Wildlife, Project AWARE Foundation, the Jane Goodall Institute and many others work to increase public awareness of the problems facing endangered animals, and by association, all living creatures. Opportunities to support the cause of animal welfare are global and local. You can help save creatures great and small, far and near—from the elephants in Africa to the local wildlife in that nature preserve your city is working to create. Every loving action counts. For more information on animals and what you can do to help save them, check out my newest course.

2018MothersDay

A Thoroughly Modern Mother’s Day

by CelebritiesDivine FeminineFeaturedRelationshipsSocial ActivismWomen

What Mom Really Wants: Peace, Love and Understanding

Bloomingdale’s flagship store in New York City is honoring Mother’s Day with something a little different this year. Instead of the usual spring fashions, their windows will showcase the good works of five New York moms in “Magnanimous Moms, Moms Who Make a Difference and Moms with a Heart.” Consumerism, move over – it’s time for what the world needs right now: the loving activism that mothering is all about.

Honoring activist mothers turns out to be in perfect keeping with the energy that started Mother’s Day to begin with. Contrary to what you might be thinking, Mother’s Day in the U.S. was not founded by the florists, the candy shops, or the greeting card companies. The holiday was first celebrated in 1908 when Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother at St Andrew’s Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia. Anna’s mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis, had been a peace activist who cared for wounded soldiers on both sides of the American Civil War and created Mother’s Day Work Clubs to address public health issues. Anna’s campaign to create an official Mother’s Day succeeded in 1914 when Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second Sunday in May a national holiday to honor mothers.

Giving cards, candy, and flowers on Mother’s Day is sweet, but look deeper into the activist heart of the holiday. What do today’s mothers really want? They want the same thing that mothers throughout time have always wanted—a better world for their children. Each of the activist moms being honored in the Bloomingdale’s window found a cause that mattered to her and took action. Each of them leads a philanthropic organization that they created to make things better.

Bloomingdale’s didn’t have to look far to find these caring mothers: Agnes Gund founded Studio in a School in 1977, in response to city and state budget cuts that were threatening art education programs in public schools in New York. Gund is a legendary arts patron known for supporting a variety of social justice causes.

Chelsea Clinton’s Too Small to Fail promotes the importance of early brain and language development and empowers parents with tools to talk, read and sing with their young children from birth. Christy Turlington Burns founded the global maternal health organization, Every Mother Counts, dedicated to making pregnancy and childbirth safe for every mother. Kim Sweet is Executive Director of Advocates for Children of New York, whose mission is to ensure high-quality education for New York students from low-income backgrounds. Elizabeth Bryan-Jacobs is an upstate New York artist who pioneered her “Spread Your Wings” art-making program at Dell Children’s Hospital in Austin, Texas, where it broke all fundraising records and “brought out the angel in everyone.” Think children in wheelchairs painting brightly colored feathers for an enormous pair of wings!

The possibilities for celebrating Mother’s Day with social activism are truly boundless. One thing about today’s world—there is no scarcity of vital, life-saving work to be done. Whether the realm is health, education, justice, government, environment, animal welfare, the arts and whether the venue is local, national, or global, finding a cause that speaks to your heart is easy. Making a better world is an equal opportunity job with room for everyone. In addition to the local public schools, day care centers, health clinics, libraries, and senior centers that could probably use your in-person assistance, there are national and international organizations ready to welcome your support. Heifer International out of Little Rock, Arkansas, works to end poverty and hunger and build community with donations of farm animals (and bees) around the world. Habitat for Humanity (think President and Mrs. Jimmy Carter) works locally and internationally to build homes for low-income families. Doctors Without Borders provides humanitarian medical care wherever it is needed most. Amnesty International supports human rights efforts. The Sierra Club works to preserve the environment and the World Wildlife Fund? Their name says it all.

Taking loving action in the world seems like the perfect way to warm a mother’s heart and honor the day that is dedicated to mothers everywhere. Everything in this world is connected to and dependent upon everything else. To honor our connectedness is to honor life itself and the Creator of all. Whatever actions you take to provide loving service in the world will send forth pulses of healing energy. When you choose a way to serve that matches your passionate interests, it brings joy to you and to Mom and to all the moms who pray for the health, safety, freedom, and happiness of their children. Think about Ann Reeves Jarvis, Civil War nurse, who did not discriminate between North and South in her healing mission. There couldn’t be a better symbol of the stuff that needs healing today than the American Civil War. Thank you, Ann Jarvis, and daughter Anna, for the loving spirit that inspired Mother’s Day. It’s just what the world needs now.

If you’re interested in promoting feminine values like those you read about in this blog, you’ll love my course, Living Out Loud: Activate your sacred feminine energy and connect to your soul’s wisdom, so you can live a life of beautiful radiance.

billcosbyguilty

Cosby Conviction a Victory for Women and Men

by AdvocacyCelebritiesEnergy HealingFeaturedSocialWomen

It’s nothing less than a seismic cultural shift, perhaps the greatest our generation will ever witness.

Twelve men and women comprising the jury in a Norristown, Pennsylvania courtroom did the unthinkable on Thursday, convicting Bill Cosby, now 80 years old, of drugging and sexually molesting Andrea Constand in 2004. The verdict was met with cries of relief and joyful celebration. It changes everything, and not just for women, but for everyone. Its significance cannot be overstated, because this is about more than any one man, any one case, or any one movement.

#MeToo will garner much of the credit for changes in attitude that brought the man down. The movement was certainly a catalyst, and deserving of credit, but what’s bigger this time is that it’s about all of us. Understanding it requires putting the man, his groundbreaking life, the broken and shattered lives of millions of women throughout history, along with the movement, into context.

Bill Cosby was nothing less than an American icon; wildly popular stand-up comic that broke ground in the 50’s and 60’s and never stopped. The first African-American to star on a national network’s television series, I Spy in 1965. He won Emmy’s, three consecutively.

“The Cosby Show,” a staple on NBC from 1984-1992, featured America’s first affluent and educated black family. Here he became America’s Dad. With “I Spy” some had called Cosby the Jackie Robinson of TV, and there was truth to that. In “The Cosby Show” he became the black Marcus Welby and during its run there was no bigger star on TV.

Cosby’s wealth and influence grew along with his fame. He was revered, respected, trusted and handsomely paid. His voice could be heard on Saturday morning children’s television, and for years, he was the famous spokesperson for no less an American institution than Jello Pudding.

Now, his name and face are infamous, and he has become a national pariah synonymous with something evil and wrong that has gone on for the past 5,000 years + of patriarchy. Molesting Andrea Constand was no isolated event. Dozens of accusers had made similar charges over decades against the comedian, television star, and professor, that had embodied what we considered good and admirable in our society for over half a century.

Constand’s case, however, was the only one where the statute of limitations hadn’t yet run. She deserves our thanks and admiration for her courage and commitment to finding justice.

And so, last Thursday, in a retrial after a hung-jury couldn’t reach a verdict in a trial last year, America’s most famous dad became America’s most infamous felon.

The thunder of hooves you hear is the stampede of corporations, universities, the rich, the famous, and the rest of us, cutting financial and emotional ties with a man that had been part of American life for most of our lives. The silence is the absence of his sitcom reruns no longer airing.

Women around the world are celebrating and this is proper given the conviction of a man of such stature that did unconscionable evil.

What Harvey Weinstein ignited fueled movements and a meteoric cultural recalibration. Cosby’s conviction is the best worst-case example of how society’s bullet-proof protections for sexual predators have disappeared; perhaps, at last, forever. What was once okay is no longer okay and will no longer be ignored and swept under the rug. At last, a woman’s voice can be heard.

The movement, like the Cosby conviction, should be considered not only a game-changing, needle-moving event, but also a moment and opportunity for national healing.

After experiencing sexual abuse as a child, I’ve worked through it all my life as a writer, speaker, and spiritual teacher. I wrote my first book, Truth Heals, because healing should be our highest priority. Even now. Especially now.

The verdict isn’t just a victory for #MeToo, and it’s much more than a victory for women. It’s a victory for all of us, women, and men, too.

Equality of rights, opportunities and treatment under the law – for everyone.

Perhaps it’s time for #MeToo to consider a companion movement.

We could call it #AllofUs.

We’d love to read your comments.

Pink Moon

Let April’s Pink Moon Shine for You!

by Astrological EventsFeaturedLunar

You may have heard that April showers bring May flowers. That’s a lovely positive affirmation when spring is taking a little too long to arrive and the storms won’t stop rolling through with showers that are white and icy! That is probably how we got the Native American’s traditional name for the April full moon. The Pink Moon of April usually coincided with the appearance of blooming ground phlox, a stunning pink carpet of tiny flowers. Ah, Spring at last! This year’s full Pink Moon appears on April 29, and with a little reflection, it might bring you a very special spiritual bouquet!

Think about how sweet it is to spot the first flowers of spring—whether they are crocuses peeking through the snow or daffodils, tulips, or hyacinth pushing up through the soil in your garden. The ground phlox that inspired the Pink Moon’s name is a North American native whose meaning in flower lore is “harmony” and “sweet dreams.” The first-blooming flowers of spring do bring a feeling of hope, sweetness, and the excitement of new possibilities. Which one is your favorite?

Bring yourself into the spirit of the Pink Moon with a nature walk in a spot you love. While you walk, let your eyes take it the details of the setting that make it unique. Are there any plants, trees, flowers, or rocks that you have noted in passing but not truly studied? Take time to look closely and focus on the light, the color, the shape, or the feeling of one or two familiar features. If you can find a flower, look inside—like modern artist Georgia O’Keeffe loved to do. (Watch out for bees and bless them for their vital work in pollinating the plant kingdom.) Try to really examine your flower’s form and consider the complexity, artistry, and beauty you see. Are there any birds or small animals to observe? Could they be present with you right now for a purpose?

Take a deep breath as you enjoy the natural surroundings you have chosen to visit. Remember to give thanks for your senses of sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste which allow you to experience the natural world on multiple levels. You are part of the natural world, too, part of the work of the creative universe. During the last few days before the full Pink Moon, think about ways in which you can make your life more joyful and purposeful. Each cycle of the moon marks the passage of time, and this Pink Moon marks the beginning of a new month and a new beginning for any dream or endeavor or developmental step you have been thinking about.

Here are three questions to consider as you prepare for the next step:

What do you know?
Do you know yourself deeply and truly? How would you describe yourself? What are your greatest strengths and abilities? Do you know the desires of your heart? Do you know what you really want to do? Do you feel that you know your life’s purpose? Where do you want to go? How do you want to feel? Who and what do you love? What do you believe? What are your values?

What do you want to know?
If you know your life’s purpose, do you want to know whether your present actions are taking you in the right direction? Or do you still need to discover your purpose? Do you want to know how to do something that interests you? Is there some knowledge or skill that you want to explore? What are the biggest questions in your life that you would like to answer? What are the biggest challenges in your life that you would like to face and find ways to overcome?

Who can you ask?
Where do you go to seek wisdom? How do you fill your need for spiritual guidance, fulfillment, and inner peace? Where do you turn in times of need? Who can you call? Do you seek help from the Divine—“Ask and it shall be given”? Do you rely on friends and family for solace? Do you have a tool kit of practices for comfort and healing? Do you call on the angels, guides from the spirit realm, spiritual teachers and counselors, sacred texts, or the energies of nature? From whence cometh your strength?

Exploring the answers to these questions helps you connect with your higher Self, and brings comforting knowledge of who you really are and why you are here. Self-discovery brings peace, joy, and a sense of what is possible for you in the new span of days opening before you.

May the full Pink Moon bring you a new awareness of the miracle of being you. And may you be blessed with the radiance of healing moonlight on the evening of April 29.

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