You Can Do That In Three Days?

Recently I had a client follow a three day detox diet. Since I was doing the juicing for her I decided to do it with her.

There is always an interesting response when people hear I am doing a detox or cleanse. I am always asked why I would need to do a detox if I eat healthy. I realize this question comes because of what most people believe the words cleanse, detox and diet mean. When you hear cleanse or detox there are usually two main beliefs associated with it - I will starve and I will be on the toilet all day. When you hear ‘diet’ you usually think food restriction, calorie reduction, low or no fat and certainly nothing sweet.

So let me share my thoughts about what a detox/cleansing diet is and isn’t. Diet is simply the food I eat. My philosophy on diet is to eat seasonally, eat organic/non-GMO and eat fresh. Fresh means the least processed. A carrot is fresh, a twinkie is not. I avoid gluten, grains, dairy (although I may make an exception if eating out). My diet is 95% vegetarian; I never eat red meat (or any 4-legged animals).

By following this philosophy I am eating food with the highest vibrational frequency (a measurement of the electrical energy that is present in all natural living things). Food can help or hinder our health, depending on its vibrational frequency. A healthy human body operates at 62 to 72 MHz; the brain operates at 72-90 MHz (genius brain frequency 80-82 MHz); disease starts at 58MHz; colds and flu start at 57-60 MHz; candida overgrowth starts at 55 MHz; receptive to cancer at; 42 MHz and death begins at 25 MHz. fresh foods 20-27 Hz; fresh herbs 20-27 Hz; (fresh foods and herbs can be higher if grown organically and eaten freshly picked); dried foods 15-22 Hz; dried herbs 15-22 Hz; processed/canned food 0 Hz...(the majority of food we eat). To learn more about vibrational frequencies check out the work done by Bruce Tainio.

By raising the vibration of the body disease, virus and fungi cannot live. If we are eating low vibrational foods we are indirectly polluting our body by lowering our frequency.

There are plenty of foods I don’t eat, but I never deny myself anything. I consider myself a conscious and intuitive eater. Because I eat a balanced, high vibrational diet I have a clean palate (sense of taste) and I trust what foods will resonate with me on any given day. If I have a craving for a particular food I trust it is a vibrational match to my body at that time. This is why I say I am only 95% vegetarian and why you will never hear me promote or follow any of the hundreds of diets out there. I can look at items on a menu and make the best choice based on resonance. I believe that is how we are intended to eat.

I pay attention to what I have cravings for and how often I have them because it can be an indication of imbalances in the body. Here are a few common ones:

1. Chocolate > Magnesium

2. White Bread/Pasta > Chromium

3. Soda/Carbonated Drinks > Calcium

4. Coffee/Tea > Sulfur, Iron, Salt, or Phosphorus

5. Cheese > Omega-3s

Even more important to note are sugar cravings. There are several different conditions associated with sugar cravings but the four common are:

• Candida over growth

• Adrenal Fatigue

• Hypoglycemia

• Insulin Resistance

Sugar cravings are more complex than other food cravings and should be taken very serious. Scientific data shows sugar is more addictive than cocaine and for millions of people this addiction is the leading cause of their health issues.

So back to my reason for doing a 3 day detox. I love food, really good high vibrational local organic food. There are not many restaurants that fit my criteria for that so I prefer not to eat out but since I don’t drink, my social gatherings tend to be over meals. For my birthday last month I had many invitations from friends to get together, which means I ate out several times a week during the month of October (yes, I actually celebrated my birthday for an entire month). I started to notice my energy level dropping, I was sleeping more but waking up tired and overall I just felt sluggish and withdrawn.

At first I attributed it to the change of season. Fall is full of movement; referred to as wind in Chinese medicine. From September to November there is rapid change; one day it is hot, the next day it is cold. It is a time when the body must continually adapt to change. This same pattern happens in spring. It is no wonder these two seasons have the highest incident of colds and flu.

Once I started craving sugary foods I realized that I had an imbalance in my gut flora, most likely a candida (yeast) overgrowth. This is why it is so important to be in tune with your body – you can adjust the minor imbalance before it becomes a major health crisis.

I use juicing as a way to ‘reset’ my system, something I always do in the spring and in the fall. This assists my body with the changes happening in my energy level as well as my food selection because both change seasonally.

In this case, the reset followed a month of a non-typical diet, something I don’t normally do. It is important not to fall into the psychological trap of binge eating because you have convinced yourself you can just reset with a cleanse after. For many people poor dietary habits are due to emotional eating, a very real imbalance that is too complex to address here.

For two years I lived and worked at a detox center in Sedona, Arizona where clients came for seven days to do a digestive cleanse. I witnessed miraculous transformations in their health. In the last ten months I have seen how changing my father’s diet got him off eight medications, a 40 pound weight loss and shifted his system out of constant inflammation to a state of repair. In that same ten months I have seen how my mother came off her medications, lost at least 35 pounds and shifted from survival to thriving. And yes, in three days I reset my own system. 

It is important to understand that many of the food choices I made in the month were still healthier options, it's just that it is unusual for me to eat out so often. That is also why in three days I was able to feel better. So one has to wonder, if I still made healthy choices why, in such a short period of time, could I actually see and feel changes while many people spend much of their life eating processed foods and 'seem' fine? It's like the frog in water analogy.  Put a frog in hot water and it will jump out. But put a frog in water and gradually raise the temperature and it will just eventually die. Become aware of your body's vibrational frequency and you know when you are in or out of resonance. When you are not aware you are slowly adjusting to the water temperature. You gradually feel more fatigue, get sick more often, get headaches, joint stiffness, allergies, depression or anxiety and you buy into the belief that it is all part of an aging process. 

Pre-detox

Post-detox

My general rule is if I eat something that isn't necessarily the best choice nutritionally, then I make sure the next day I eat 'clean' so my body can process what I put in. The body will process anything we put in as long as it has what it needs to clean and remove the toxins. Unfortunately most people continue to eat foods that cause inflammation and the body never comes out of that lower vibration state. If you don't feel vibrant and healthy take a look at your diet and your thoughts. Yes, thoughts have an equal role in your health and can lower or raise your frequency, but that would be an entire blog of its own.

Nutrition is the most fundamental part of health,

it should be our first priority

~Marla Schmidt, Moon Fox Massage & Wellness www.moonfoxmassage.com

Change Through Awareness

Change is happening at so many levels right now and it doesn’t matter what side of the issues you are on, it is rippling through our country like a firestorm. It is as if we are waking up from a long slumber to find a world barely recognizable and it is shaking us at our core. We are finding our voice after being silent and suppressed for decades. For me, it is a beautiful thing, I rejoice in the fact that systems are crashing and old ways of ‘being’ are no longer sustaining. We have a long way to go, but it is happening.

I stayed up late last night reading the flurry of posts on Facebook regarding the Supreme Court’s ruling on gay marriage. I watched as people’s profile pictures became covered in rainbow colors. I listened to the Eulogy our president gave in Charleston, I watched as confederate flags came down and rainbow flags went up. I shared my own posts of gratitude for the changes happening. I also realized what a diverse set of ‘friends’ I am connected to through social media. I love the diversity it exposes us to, the connections, agreements, disagreements and debates this platform has brought forth (of course realizing its many restrictions and short comings). Most of all, I love that social media has helped us become more aware and more likely to question those we have trusted for too long. Institutions like McDonald’s, Monsanto and Sea World are crashing because of our awareness. We have better knowledge of how bad factory farming is for our food supply, our health as well as our planet. This global awakening is very exciting to me. Change happens through awareness.

Early this morning while walking on the Oak Leaf trail, my head was swirling with thoughts from everything I read last night. I began to further examine my own thoughts on racism and prejudice. Reading through friends posts last night and the comments those posts created, made me even more aware of how much we really do classify people and how outdated so many of our belief systems are. Statements like I have many gay friends, I have many black friends really bothered me, especially when being used as a way of claiming you are not a prejudice person. Why are they not just friends? Why would we classify even our own friends? I have always believed that if you truly want equality, stop categorizing people. Are we not all just sentient beings, created from the same source? When we record world records, we do so by race; first black man to hit this many home runs, first white man to run this fast. Why are we separating the white and black people, or any other ethnicity in recording those records? Why isn’t it just the fastest person? Why do we continue to have affirmative action? I understand the intent when it started, but doesn’t it just keep us segregated? Why did I as a child get called out of my 4^th and 5^th grade classrooms to go to the office where they offered me free school supplies because my parents happened to list that part of my nationality was Native American? We were a middle class family (when they still existed) and we could afford school supplies. If you want to provide free supplies, why not supply them to students of families that had financial hardship. Doesn’t that make more sense? Why single me out because of a checked box signifying a specific ethnicity? My parents refused to accept the supplies and eventually stopped listing me as anything other than Caucasian.

As I walked further on the trail this morning, I was rounding a curve through a heavily wooded area of the trail and suddenly I became fully aware of my own programmed responses. A runner came from behind, passing me. He happened to be black and there it was. I instantly felt it in my body before it even came to my awareness and for a split second I had a flash of feeling unsafe. But then something really interesting happened. I looked at his legs, his body type and how he was dressed. It was very clear that he was a runner; probably a marathon runner and I cleared him as a possible threat. I do not consider myself prejudice in any way, so I couldn’t believe I had that initial response, I was horrified actually, and it left me searching for an explanation. Five minutes before this incident, I was walking under an overpass, a darker secluded part of the trail. A white older man was walking towards me. I analyzed the situation – he seemed out of place. He wasn’t dressed in what would seem typical clothes for walking. He seemed over dressed, too many layers, heavier jacket. But he did have a bottle of water in his hand, I rationalized. I was very alert as we passed on the trail and I ‘neutralized’ him as a threat and continued on my way. This entire process happened in seconds. I then tried to convince myself that this was no different than how I acted toward the black man therefore I was indeed not acting from prejudice - right? Wrong. This man I saw coming and I was able to assess the situation with my conscious mind, based on something I was seeing in the present moment that seemed out of place. I convinced myself that I had ‘acted’ the same way towards a white man who seemed out of place and a black man. But what about that initial feeling when the young black man jogged past me? I didn’t see him coming therefore I didn’t have the opportunity to consciously assess the situation, as was the case with the white man.

This is a perfect example of subconscious programming. Because of my age, my race and the city I grew up in, I had a core programming, a belief that was placed there by society. We are a product of our environment and as young children we are programmed by it more than any other time in our life. Becoming aware of subconscious programming also happens to be the work I do with clients; creating an awareness of those programs and understanding how they create our current beliefs, fears and realities. Clearly I still have some programming that I am now aware of. Once you have the awareness you can make a change, you can rewrite the program. By being fully present in the moment I was able to assess if this person was indeed an actual threat, and that shifted me out of a programmed response to one based in the present moment reality.

Fear is a valuable emotion, and this is a perfect example of how it is most helpful to us – it creates awareness by heightening our senses, thereby keeping us safe by keeping us alert. I spend an unusual amount of time in nature, most often alone. Fear is a valuable tool for survival, yet I rarely feel it and I certainly don’t live in it. My awareness of it today was only heightened by the previous evening’s topics. Every day I practice being present in the moment, and I feel that has helped me be in tune with my surroundings and decipher dangerous situations by reading/feeling the energy of a situation. None of which is usually taking place on a real conscious level. I don’t walk around my life analyzing everything, but I am very in tune when something doesn’t ‘feel right’ and I always want that awareness to be free of irrational fear or someone else's beliefs.

Who you are is expressed more in your actions than your words but your words are a window to your subconscious beliefs. People may claim they are not prejudice, but their choice of words may say otherwise. If we are not aware of our subconscious programming that creates our beliefs which is then reflected in our personal realty (personality), we react more out of fear. We as a nation have a long way to go in shifting out of fear, but it starts with the awareness of it. That is what I see happening – people are becoming more aware – and that excites me.

I will leave you with words that I recently shared with a client who is struggling with his marriage. I said to him “love your wife, not because she is your wife, not because you have spent so many years together, not because it is expected of you. Love her because she is a soul who is no less worthy of love than you are. Love her unconditionally for who she is. If the marriage ends or the marriage lasts makes no difference, love her no less”.

Fear-Hate-Kill

I am fascinated with the psychology of the mind and human behavior and our complexities of emotions. The basis of the work I do with clients is to help remove the layers of emotional baggage we humans feel the need to carry around like pack mules. Inevitably in the unraveling, we reach a layer filled with fear that has a direct correlation to the struggles they are facing.

I am always curious about the origins of one’s fears. How do so many fears get implanted in our psyche? So many of our actions and decisions are based in fear and we are not even aware of it because it is programmed in the subconscious mind as a belief.

If we listen closely to the words we choose, it becomes very apparent when we have a belief that is based in fear. Hate is one of those words. Fear is the basis for hate. If fear is allowed to rule in our life, it leads to much negative and violent behavior. Things like racism and war are fueled by fear. Fear keeps us separate; invoking the ‘us against them’ mentality and fueling our hatred. Hate keeps us in the lowest vibration, furthest from the vibration of Love. 

Let’s start the unraveling of fear by dissecting the use of the word hate – verb; to dislike intensely or passionately; feel extreme aversion for or extreme hostility toward; detest. When I hear people exclaim how they hate this or that and how random their hatred seems to be, I like to invite them to shift their awareness to the use of the word hate because of the energy that particular word carries. Often when I question someone about the use of the word, they are not even aware how often they use it, or why hate has become their default verb. 

Consequently, the opposite of hate is love. This means if we are in the energy of hate we are the furthest distance from the energy of love. So every time you use the word hate you are absent of love. Your intended use of the word hate has no bearing on the energy associated with it. You can say the word hate while listening to Mahlers Symphony No. 8 and it won’t change the energetic vibration of the word hate.

If you don’t understand the significance and power behind words I recommend you read the research done by Dr. Masaru Emoto. Words are so powerful they can support life or destroy life, yet most people are not conscious to the words they choose to use. We claim to hate many random things and if we actually think about what we profess to hate versus love, in most cases it doesn’t appear very logical. 

Because I love and respect nature, I most recently have been very attuned to how many things people claim to hate within nature. How one reacts to their environment is a simplistic way to help demonstrate the inner workings of hatred and how so many of our fears are programmed beliefs from our unconscious mind. A person can hate dandelions but love marigolds, hate pine trees but love lilac trees, hate spiders but love grasshoppers, hate wasps but love bumble bees, hate centipedes but love caterpillars (make them fuzzy and they are loved even more). So what is the belief that created such a strong hate of so many things around us? 

I love opening dialogue of discovery with clients, friends and family. This blog was inspired by a june bug. Someone stated they hated june bugs. When I questioned why, there was no real answer – they are creepy and they make a creepy noise as they bang up against the window screen at night.

People don’t think twice about killing something in nature they find annoying or, in this case, creepy. When opening the dialogue about the basis of this hatred toward specific species, there was no rational explanation for it. This is someone who grew up in the country where, as a child, all plants, animals and insects were explored and appreciated for their simplicity and beauty. Somewhere along the line a fear developed into a hatred that led to a killing. When sharing this topic with a friend, she agreed that june bugs are creepy and hates them. Further discussion revealed a fear of them buzzing on the window screen when she was a child. Fear-Hate-Kill.

Emotions are triggered by particular beliefs. Fear is based on a belief that one's life is in danger. When you see a spider your subconscious says fear-hate-kill and you smack it without a second thought. Now, unless it is a poisonous spider (which would be considered a rational fear if it was about to attack you), what is the thought that triggered the fear that makes you reflexively take its life without hesitation? What are you thinking when the fear arises in a non-life threatening situation? Emotions are automatic responses and thus fallible, so they should be compared to reasoned thoughts. If a conflict occurs, you can attempt to resolve why the conflict exists by understanding why the emotion is being triggered and whether it is correct. This will provide you with the opportunity to change a belief based on subconscious programming based in fear.

God, Creator, Great Spirit lives within all things, within every plant, insect, animal, tree, and in every one of us. How can we justify loving this but not that? Is that not the basis of prejudice? Fear creates separateness and judgment of life we view different and somehow less significant to the planet than our own. You honor Spirit by honoring all living things, as all living things are from the same source. When we love we love ourselves so when we hate, don't we also hate ourselves? By expressing love  we are then in our highest vibration.

Changing our programmed beliefs is not an overnight event, but it begins with awareness. When we become aware of our words, we start to see what our programmed beliefs are and this is a direct correlation to our present reality. When we remain conscious – a state we can only obtain by being fully present in the moment – we can rewrite the words we use. This is something I personally work on all the time. I am grateful to have amazing friends, family and clients that remain open to the work I do, and allow me to be who I am and to share all my thoughts and ideas openly. When you see peace and love, you become peace and love. When you respect all of nature, it respects you back. Love something in nature you have only known to hate. Shift from hate to love and see how much love you get in return. I leave you with this excerpt from a book a very dear friend recommended because she thought of me while she was reading it. It has become one of my favorites – thank you!

You cannot remain conscious motivated by fear. You will experience sorrow, suffering and death. It is only your ego that makes you fear. Your ego is here to look after your physical body, to make sure it gets enough to eat, to make sure it does not walk over the edge of a cliff or damage itself unknowingly. Your ego is the steward and potential master of all material –plane fears, an important and necessary component of your identity. However, your ego was never meant to provide you with your primary sense of self. In a healthy state, the ego is a secondary component of identity. In a healthy state, the Being behind all being, the self behind every self, the Great Spirit behind all of creation is experienced as your primary sense of self. Your ego does not have to be repressed or transcended for this to happen. It does not have to die. It simply has to assume an appropriate relationship with the spirit that in truth you are, the spirit that wants to incarnate and take up residence in your body/mind/heart system. Your ego is by nature a reflection. It can either be a good, sharp, clear reflection, or it can try to be an independent reflection. Your ego may create such an illusion, but if you believe in it, you will be troubled and unfulfilled. When your ego stops trying to do everything all by itself, and invites eternal spirit into your consciousness, your historical illusion evaporates like mist on a sunny morning. A polarity reversal takes place in the charge of your human envelope. The field of consciousness around you changes. Instead of your ego dominating your sense of identity and blocking your awareness of the Great Spirit, an eternal sense of self awakens within you. You remember and everything is seen differently. The world is perceived anew through the eyes of a universal awareness. Your ego becomes your working partner, and you commence the conscious creation of a new human reality.

When you simply destroy that which you cannot understand, it will come back to you again and again, each new form worse than the previous. But if once you can understand what motivates your enemy, you can often help him discover superior ways of accomplishing his deeper purpose.

Return of the Bird Tribes – Ken Carey

Mourning

I love nature; it keeps me present, real and grounded. Nowhere am I more at home or more observant then when I am in nature. Spring, my favorite time of year, is bursting with creative energy and full of new life, gifts and messages.

Outside my dining room window I have observed the joys and perils of two mourning doves building their nest and starting a family. They started building at the end of March – haphazardly collecting twigs (they are not the best architects in the bird world). I remember thinking what a great job they did in securing some prime real estate – tucked in the corner of the eves in the rain gutter with a little roof over their head providing protection from the weather and blocking the vision of any predator flying overhead. It wasn’t long and they were taking turns sitting day and night, a sure sign they had eggs (almost always 2). Mourning doves, a symbol of peace, are devoted parents. Rarely do they leave their nest unattended, both male and female take turns incubating the eggs.

One day I found an egg shell on the ground below the nest. I wanted to believe it was from an egg hatch, but I knew it was too soon, which could only mean one thing - the nest was raided. I felt sad, but a few days later I happened to catch the two mourning birds mating just below the dining room window, and once again they were incubating. This time, I thought to myself, I will be more observant of any threats to the nest. I became somewhat obsessed, always checking on the status of the nest. A couple times I was successful in scaring off a crow – the likely culprit of the previous nest raid. Crows are smart birds, and this one now knew where he could get his next meal. As we got closer to two weeks, I grew impatient waiting for the first sign of a successful hatch and finally several days ago I noticed more activity in the nest – we have squabs! It will be 11-15 days before they are fledglings (the stage where they have their feathers and their wing muscles are strong enough to take flight).

This morning as I sat down to enjoy my morning smoothie, I heard a ruckus outside and as I looked up I saw a crow fly and the mourning doves hot on its tail. I knew instantly what happened. The crow landed on the ground only a few feet from the nest. I knew even if I ran after it, it wasn’t about to give up its meal, yet my reflex action was to throw open the front door and run outside. Once it saw me burst out the door it flew off with its breakfast. I will never forget how helpless I felt as I watched the crow fly off with that baby bird as mom and dad sat nearby. I stood and watched the mourning doves as they tried their best to save their squab. Their cooing seemed desperate and intense. My heart sank, my eyes filled with tears. The song of the mourning dove has never spoken so deeply to me.

I looked up at the nest, now lifeless and empty. It was a good twenty minutes later when one returned to the nest and began to coo. I stepped outside to take a peek and my heart filled with joy at the sight of the second squab - still alive. Soon the other dove returned also, landing on the ground below the nest - cooing non-stop for the last hour or so as I write. What are they saying to each other? Can they feel a sense of loss? I believe so.

As much time as I have spent in and observing nature, this is something I have witnessed many times. There is always a sadness I feel when I am witness to what seems like such harshness in nature. But it is nature - the natural world as it exists without human beings or civilization. The crow’s survival is no more or less significant than that baby dove. The crow didn’t have a personal vendetta against the mourning dove. The crow needed to eat, and most likely has its own family to feed.

The voice of the dove is the rain song. Out of its mourning, it invokes new waters of life. Its song should remind us that no matter what our life conditions, new waters and new life are still possible. The song of the mourning dove tells us to mourn what has passed, but awaken to the promise of the future. The doves may mourn their loss, but will not lose sight of the fact that there is still new life in that nest that needs their attention.

Nature is always our best teacher

Feather to Fire ~ Fire to Blood ~ Blood to Bone ~  Bone to Marrow
Marrow to Ashes ~ Ashes to Snow

A Journey to Remember

One of the most important things I've learned working with clients is that you can’t want things to change more than they want it for themselves. Change is a difficult thing for most people, even when faced with a life threatening illness. The reality of that first hit home when my brother was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (which actually turned out to be undiagnosed Lyme’s disease). In just 3 months his symptoms were reversing by aggressively treating the Lyme’s disease with alternative therapies. The protocol was intense; it required many lifestyle changes including a complete nutritional overhaul. We would soon realize that mentally my brother was locked into the diagnosis given to him by the MS doctor and it wasn't his reality that he could get better. Having to let go and allow him to walk the path he was choosing was a difficult but enlightening process.

Eight years ago my father was given a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s. I was hopeful for a chance to have a different outcome than that of my brothers. We started down the path of alternative therapies but gradually that path was washed away by allopathic medicine.

After a phone conversation with my mother in August of 2014, and hearing how overwhelmed she was with everything, I began to have visions of assisting them on a journey of transformation. I started seeing them healthy, active, enjoying their retirement like they had planned to. I began writing thoughts and ideas down as they would come to me. I knew how intense and difficult the process would be for them and I was also reminded that it isn't something I can want more than they do.

During a two week visit with my parents in October, 2014 I personally noticed a significant change in my father since I last saw him 6 months earlier. The drugs on the market for Alzheimer’s are experimental at best. These drugs don’t change the underlying disease process, are effective for some but not all people, and may help only for a limited time. Like so many pharmaceuticals, they come with a long list of dangerous side effects. Ironically these side effects can mimic the symptoms of Alzheimer’s, such as depression, mood changes, confusion and hallucinations. I scrolled down the list of medications asking why he was prescribed each one. Most of them were for “known symptoms that people with Alzheimer’s get” but yet he wasn't exhibiting any of those symptoms at the time they were prescribed. And of course there were the usual MD favorites, cholesterol, blood pressure and ulcer medications. To top it off, his latest checkup revealed borderline diabetes, bringing the total number of medications to eight.

When I looked at the list of medications he was on, I felt angry, disappointed, sad, then ultimately became inspired and determined. Before I left to return to Miami I had lunch with my mother. I put it all on the table. I was willing to come and help improve the quality of their life, but she had to want it more than me.

Fear; a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined. Fear is an interesting emotion. If you suddenly found yourself in the jaws of an alligator, that would represent a threat that is real and trigger your fight, flight or freeze response, which would serve you well in that situation. If you experience fear in an imagined way (your thoughts) you also trigger the same fight, flight or freeze response because the body doesn't know the difference between a real life threat and an imagined threat. This can create the feeling of being ‘stuck’ in your life – freeze response.

Two months after the conversation with my mother, she called me to say she was ready. So far my personal journey of self-discovery has been incredibly empowering, but my life is not absent of fear or doubt. I can easily create the freeze response by over thinking the fact that I am quitting my job, moving to another state (again), attempting to reverse the symptoms of a disease western medicine hasn't been able (or willing?) to, and a host of other thoughts that came up the minute my mother said yes. But I know by stepping into the shadow of fear, some amazing pathways have opened up in my life. I always trust and move forward, rather than fear and freeze.

This journey is bigger than me, bigger than the fear that arises from risking everything for an unknown outcome. This is a journey to remembering. Remembering family, remembering love, remembering happiness, and remembering our vulnerabilities because it will be raw and painful but on the other side of that awaits an entire lifetime of memories.

To follow our journey, you can follow my blog.

Our Life Is Like A River

Rivers are flowing bodies of water. Rivers generally start at a source, like a snow melt or a natural spring. At the source of a river, the water is relatively pure.

Our body is up to 75% water. Our soul originated directly from source or the creator of all that is. The soul is a divine spark of source energy that is pure.

As a river continues along its course (which is always changing), the surrounding terrain flattens out and the river expands. As the water flows downstream, it picks up silt and minerals from the soil and rock in the river bed. Rivers often meander and follow a winding path along their middle course. Tributaries flow into the river, increasing the river's volume. Sometimes a bend forms in the river because the land becomes more resistant to the flow, like when it hits rock, and this sends the river into a different direction. There is also a natural vibration to water flow that will cause banks to erode and form new bends.

As we flow through our life we pick up valuable information. Our soul expands through tributaries of knowledge obtained through experience as we meander on a winding path along our middle course. Our surrounding terrain (which is always changing) affects the way our natural vibration allows us to flow. When we come up against resistance, we continue to flow around it while slowly eroding any obstacles from our path.

The course of a river changes over time as erosion caused by the flowing water and sediment sculpts the landscape around the river which is then carried downstream towards the sea or lake it flows into. This kind of erosion can even form canyons, waterfalls, and other formations.

The course of our life changes over time when we allow flowing energy to erode our programmed beliefs and sculpt the landscape of our thoughts. This kind of erosion allows our soul to experience an increased flow of life force energies from its spiritual self, which is connected to the creator of all that is.

Starving our rivers. The damming of a river alters the pattern of disturbances on which the plants and animals of a flowing river depend. The life of organisms downstream depends on the constant feeding of the river with debris. This debris includes leaves, twigs, branches, and whole trees, as well as the organic remains of dead animals. Debris not only provides food, it provides hiding places for all sizes of animals and surfaces for phytoplankton and microorganisms to grow. Without flooding and without a healthy riparian zone, this debris will be scarce.

Starving our soul. When an obstacle in our life cuts off our ability to flow we become lifeless. We cut off our connection to the universal flow that feeds us. The terrain around us becomes stagnant and void of the nutrients our organisms rely on to thrive.

Rivers often have increased volume and water speed in the spring, as snow at the river's source melts.

Spring is a time to engage in uplifting and creative activities that expand our energy and consciousness. It is a time to push through our self-imposed boundaries, seeking personal growth and expansion. Everything is full of life and new growth in spring, it is a time we should engage in activities that put our determination, creativity and innate intelligence into motion.

Most rivers end when they flow into a large body of water. The end of the river is called the mouth. At the mouth, there is usually a river delta, a large silty area where the river splits into many different slow-flowing channels that have muddy banks. New fertile land is created at river deltas.

When we allow emotions to flow out of our mouth, (throat chakra) the silt can flow freely into channels of creativity allowing us to use our energy constructively and not destructively. Eventually the soul will clear out enough distortions within its energy flow and raise its vibration to such a point that it will be able to merge with its spiritual self and have the experience of oneness with all living things. That is when we return to our original state of unconditional love, compassion, and oneness.