The False Hawk and the Real One: Ecotherapy Magic
Ecotherapy is a sacred, magical, and very fun way to work with clients. Consistently, I find that nature brings exactly what is needed – even over the phone! Here’s a snippet of a powerful ecotherapy session full of synchronicity, messages, and inspiration.
Wait and See – The Treasures from Patience and Presence
If you’re willing to be patient and present – to wait a bit in the unknown – you’ll perceive the blessings showing up. No matter where you live, you can find life and inspiration; even on a busy urban street!. Here’s a snapshot from a couple years ago of a simple treasure that brought a beautiful insight.
Make Time for Timelessness
Feeling stressed and short on time? The best way to shift out of overwhelm and find fulfillment is to stop completely, unplug outdoors, and open up to timelessness.
It was a Thursday morning, and I had just dropped off my daughter at her internship at a nature preserve. The perfect time for me to visit the lake at Foothills Park, just 5 minutes away. I relished the idea of alone time outdoors.
Don’t Go Back to Normal – Be Extraordinary!
As I’m writing this, we are coming to the end of the first phase of our shelter-in-place for corona virus, and restrictions are beginning to lift. Everyone is looking forward to going back to “normal” – but that’s not what I’m thinking at all.
In fact, there’s a lot about “normal” that I am not interested in going back to, both in my own personal life and in our planetary experience. Instead, let’s stop fully in the present moment to assess what’s true, and step forward into the extraordinary!
Presence, Resilience, and the South Gate Meadow
A challenging hike (for me, that day!) to a pristine alpine meadow teaches me the power of presence, trust, and reveals my inner resilience. The whole day was in front of us, and we decided to take a hike that I hadn’t been on in over 20 years. I barely even...Hiking in the Rain: Going Past My Comfort Zone
A couple weeks ago, I had planned to hike on a Thursday morning with a friend I hadn’t seen in months. We were looking forward to being together and venturing into one of my favorite forests at nearby Huddart Park. The forecast was for rain – not just a little drizzle. Did we want to venture beyond our comfort zone, even if it was pouring?
I was game, and so was she – what an adventure! Going outdoors brings me great joy, but there’s always an element of being uncomfortable. Will I get muddy? Will my new rain pants truly hold up? What if I slip and fall? How about the cold? Being in nature mirrors to us the fact that life is unpredictable and uncomfortable sometimes.
We met up and drove together through the windy road to the park entrance, then on to the grassy field near the trailhead. On with the jackets, hiking books, and mittens (yep, it was chilly!), and off we went into the redwood forest.
One Way to Find Love – in Yourself
Yeah, I know. Valentine’s day is this week. How do you feel about it?
Do you feel loved? Do you have someone that you love? Do you appreciate this day to express that love, or does this day trigger painful emotions?
I think there are as many reactions to Valentine’s day as there are the spectrum of emotions. I personally appreciate the opportunity to express love and care for others. But I also don’t like the expectations and commercial aspect of “Valentine’s Day”.
And I don’t think this is about someone else – I think this day could be turned towards finding love wherever you are, inside of you. Because love isn’t limited to a person, a place, or a thing. Love is infinite, unlimited, and ever present. Love is the Divine, and it’s already within you.
Sing Your Song
Every morning, shortly after I wake, I do my “sit-spot” practice outside in our front yard. This is a practice of simply sitting and being present with everything in nature. It’s a beautiful way to begin my day with the freshness of the morning air, the sun beginning to peek through the leaves, the squirrels racing up and down the oak trees, and most of all, the birdsong.
I relish hearing the variety of birds in our neighborhood. On those beautiful, bright, sunny mornings it is pure delight to sit by our grassy patch and hear a bird calling from the tall redwood tree 5 houses down to the right, and to hear the high-pitched clicking sound of a hummingbird as it zooms in for a drink from our Mexican sage.
This morning, however, was quite different than the others for the last couple of months. It was dense with cloud-cover, and rain was expected. For California in June, this is rare. With ordinary eyes, one might wake up, see the dismal looking skies, and decide to just pull the covers over the head and go back to sleep. A dreary, cloudy day.
The Hawk and the Gopher
Last month, I led a spiritual retreat at an idyllic farm, tucked into a secluded valley in Half Moon Bay, California. The focus of our day together was embodiment – being fully present, centered, grounded, and aware in our bodies and connected with the Earth.
In the afternoon, we immersed in a practice called Sit Spot; sitting outdoors, quiet and still, taking in whatever we experience from nature.
I sat on the edge of a field, facing some trees and the rising slope of a hill behind them. There was a gentle breeze, and my gaze lifted up to the clouds floating by. High in the sky, almost at the height of the clouds, I saw a hawk. It was slowly gliding in circles on the currents of air, as hawks often do. I couldn’t stop looking at it as it drifted higher and higher, further and further away over the distant hills until it was just a speck, and then disappeared from my view.
It struck me as an interesting contrast to the idea of embodiment – floating up higher and higher into the clouds, far above the earth, rather than deeply rooted in the soil, as we had much of the retreat.
