the HEAT is ON!

  

In Central Texas, we had a magnificent Spring - pleasant temperatures, fresh rains and cool breezes all the way to June! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I have because Summer is a-knock-knock-knocking at our door.

June brings a turning of the seasonal Wheel on the 21st - Summer Solstice - the official arrival of Summer. This is when the Sun is at its peak. It is hot, it is dry and the HEAT is ON.

If you dread the Summer heat, consider this: Heat is a generating power; it creates energy. Heat is also a transforming power; it creates alchemy. This is great news for us in Summer. It means we have access to one of the strongest sources of energy and alchemy in the Universe!

So what, you ask? Here's what: use the Sun's energy to purify and refuel your own energy body and also use it to transform and release your burdens. To purify and refuel, draw the Sun's energy into your body and let it clean out your energy system and feed new vibrancy into it. If this is all new to you, call me for a session and I will walk you through it.

To transform and release your burdens, try any of these using fire (Sun energy). If you are not sure what to do or how to do it, call me and I can coach you:

• Write on paper what you want to release; then burn it safely and with clear intention of letting it go.
• Light a special red candle every evening or at the end of a week and meditate on it. Imagine giving the candle all you want to release from the day or week. Let the candle flame burn and transform what you give it. Blow out the candle when you feel complete and watch your burdens drift away to Source.
• Light a small, safe fire outdoors. Speak what you are releasing into the flames. When you are ready, jump over the fire and leave your burdens behind, where they are burned and transformed.
• Find a small stick. Hold it in your hands and breathe into it what you are releasing. When you feel complete, wrap the stick with red thread or cloth and safely burn it to ash, inviting and allowing your burdens to be transformed.

As energy Beings, it is important to attend to our energy bodies, lest we wind up energetically polluted and clogged up. If we ignore our energy bodies, we will ultimately wind up sick or crazy - out of balance in one or more areas of our Being. Take advantage of Summer's hot intensity and empower yourself rather than ignoring yourself.

aMAYzing time to blossom!

How are you feeling these days? Is your energy high or low? Are you feeling vibrant or dull? May is a great month to revitalize your energy and your life by taking in all the beauty that nature puts forth to stimulate your senses. Look around you. There are brightly colored flowers, birds, baby animals and grasses about. The trees are green with life. Even the Sky seems more blue and the clouds more white!
 
May is about blossoming. If you've followed the seasonal changes with me, you've planted your seeds of intention for the year, and they may be beginning to open in your life. Now is the time to enjoy the ride as they come into more full bloom! They are likely not all complete at this stage yet you may see changes happening, movement, more activity, color and life around them. Take notice of even the tiniest sign of growth...
 
If not, apply your attention and your energy on them more consciously. Review what nourishment they need to thrive into full bloom and then provide it for them. Remember, this is a co-creative process: you breathe life into the things you want to take form in your life. They probably won't survive without your LOVE to fuel their journey into being.
 
Enjoy the things that are in full bloom already and allow the rest to "simmer" for later. Take in the color, flavor, perfume, texture and energy of the ripe blossoms - how they change your life for the better - and set the others aside with anticipation. There's nothing wrong with allowing things to enter your life in their own time - the time that is perfect for you and aligned with the Divine. There's no need to rush things. Instead, use your energy to appreciate what is here for you today and surrender the rest to the possibilities of the future.
 
Open to what's here for you now with gratitude. Gratitude is powerful fuel for co-creation! Then open to what is still ripe with potential for your future. The more you honor the goodness in your life - what is here already and what is yet to come - the more goodness will come your way...
 
Enjoy this aMAYzing time to blossom!

Spring Open!

Now that Winter's cold is receding and the Sun is strengthening, things really begin to pop open! Leaf buds open, flower buds open, eggs open, cocoons open as life springs forth all around us this month.

April is about opening. Whereas March officially kicks off the Spring season in Central Texas, April opens it up and gets it moving. Just as a new born chick having cracked open its egg, you may find yourself wanting to move and be free! April is a great time to get your body moving and to do things that feel freeing to you, especially following the more indoor, sedate climate of Winter.

Everything is filled with freshness during April. As new life itself opens up, the time is ripe for you to open in new ways too. Consider doing any of these opening things this month:

• Perhaps last month you consciously planted seeds for what you want to grow in your life. If you did not, plant them now. Consider what it is you want to bring or add to your life this year. Now is the time to begin nourishing those seeds with actions. Make a list of the actions needed to grow the things you want. Then break each item on the list down into small, do-able steps. Then prioritize the steps and commit to getting things moving forward in some way, one step at a time.

• Get yourself outside to the Sun or by the water this month. Take a walk or a hike in a State park or out in the woods. Visit a wildflower center or other natural gardens. Sit by a river or lake and allow yourself to open to the natural things around you. Near the Austin area, we have Pedernales State Park, McKinney Falls State Park, Natural Bridge Caverns, Lady Bird Lake, Enchanted Rock State Park and many other natural places to support you in opening.

• Open yourself to something brand new this month - something you may be curious about or interested in but have never tried. For instance, try a new class at a local Studio such as yoga, Nia or other movement class. Or eat at a new restaurant you've heard of. Or finally do that creative project you've been thinking about for so long! For example, just after the Spring Equinox, I made a throw blanket that was on my list for years! Doing new things can open you in beautiful ways. Take advantage of the energy this month and open to something new.

• Create a wildflower garden in your yard or more simply, plant some flowers in colorful pots and put them where you can enjoy their beauty (and scent if they have one) every day. Flowers attract Hummingbird moths, butterflies, beetles, Ladybugs, bees and other critters that bring life and movement to your yard space. As you watch new flowers open and interesting critters appear, allow your senses to open even more to the life inside of and all around you. Invite yourself to blossom and bloom in colorful ways this month, too.

• Buy some sad-looking plants from the "Clearance" section of the store, take them home and give them new life. Plant them where they will get the nourishment they need to thrive and watch them flourish back to vibrancy! Let them remind you to give yourself what you need to thrive and then do those things for yourself. Watch yourself flourish back to vibrancy, too.

 

HAPPY SPRING OPENING!!

March is the perfect time to up-vibe your life!

Ready to shed Winter's chilling grip? March brings a more consistent promise of Spring than the past few fickle months (at least in Central Texas), even though we still have cold temperatures to wade through. After the Spring Equinox (March 20th), the days steadily outgrow the nights, temperatures begin to warm up, and Winter begins to lose its grip. This month we can lean  into a powerful and growthful quality of energy that continues through June.

March offers us a particularly high vibration because things that have rested dormant for months begin to awaken. Trees prepare to blossom, flowers start to emerge, grass begins to grow, baby animals and birds are born; the activity of life is everywhere! We can't miss the power and determination of life force energy taking form all around us, and we can tap this vibe to nourish our own visions into form.

Perhaps you spent some time this Winter in contemplation and planning. Your thoughts have already seeded your ideas into the soils of your Being. They are dormant and resting there, ready to be coaxed forth just like the wildflowers in Spring. Now it is time to feed your seeds of inspiration with attention, energy and action so they can sprout roots and grow into something vibrant in your life.

How can you nourish your fledgling inspirations and ideas? What do they need in order to take root? What do you need to feel nourished and to take root into something different? March offers you a powerful opportunity to meet these questions with answers. Try these five ways to tap this month's energy and up-vibe your life:

• Shake off Winter. As the days grow longer and get warmer, allow yourself to start shedding your Winter clothes. It may not be time to put them all away, but you can certainly let the strengthening Sun touch your skin whenever possible, especially your face. Like a snake shedding its skin, shifting from Winter to Spring is a deliberate and slow process. Take your time yet allow the energy of Winter to begin to shed from your Being, day by day. Let the growing sunshine outside remind you of your inner Sun and its growing power, ready to birth something wonderful and new into form. Let your inner Sun warm your chilly bones and prepare the soils of your Being to nourish any gifts you choose to bring into your life at this time.
• Look outside. March is a good month to shift your attention from inside to outside. As the weather softens, you can literally spend more time outside rather than inside. The same is true with yourself: spend more time looking outside for what actions are needed rather than inside at your ideas. It's time to focus your energy on movement and action rather than ideas. Take steps to give your plans concrete form, like a seed that sprouts roots into the soil.
• Strengthen your roots. Birthing new gifts into form takes commitment, stamina and stability. You must stay the course when things get tricky. Build your inner commitment, stamina and stability by strengthening your roots - your sense of foundation, capacity and resources. On a practical level, get organized, get the details lined out and get the support you need behind you. On an energetic level, root into the soils of the Earth. Bare your feet on warm sunny days and through them, reconnect to the ground beneath you. Imagine roots of light and energy connecting you to the Earth through the bottoms of your feet like a plant's roots and breathe that light and energy into the core of your Being. Let it fill and nourish you; feel held, supported and stabilized by the Spirit of the whole of Earth.
• Nourish your seeds of intent. The ideas you had during the introspective Winter months are seeded and ready to root. Give them your love and attention in service to your life, as the Sun gives the cold ground its love and attention in service to the renewing plant life resting there. Warm them with your energy and hold them in your heart as important, living creatures sprouting into form for your pleasure!
• Be creative. There is nothing you can imagine that can't be done. It may not be done NOW, but it can always be done. Someone, somewhere will find a way; they will take what you start and finish it. Think beyond the parameters of your own life and into the larger whole of life, for whatever you plant now has potential to grow into something beautiful for us all.

LOVE : It's an inside-out thing

I've often said I'd rather designate one day a year to be angry with others and focus the rest of the year on expressing my LOVE to them. What might happen if we extended Valentine's Day to cover the entire year and spent February 14th healing and releasing our conflicts, hurts, anger and places of blame?

February reminds us to open ourselves to LOVE. It brings us back to our hearts in the midst of busy, stressful, distracted lives. Don't be fooled by all the commercial hoo-ha around Valentine's Day. Any opportunity to bring our (and our Nation's) attention to LOVE - to put LOVE up front and center in our lives - is a good thing, a healing thing. It opens us and brings vibrancy to our Spirits and our energy.

With so many distorted messages about LOVE in our society, how do we leap beyond the commercialism and tap into the real thing? And what is the real thing? How do we know when we've tapped it? These are the kinds of questions to explore this month, and here are some tips for doing so:

LOVE is an inside-out thing. As we nourish self-love, we become more and more capable of sharing LOVE - real, unconditional LOVE - with others.

LOVE is full. Real love flows out from us to others from a place of fullness and wholeness, not lack or need. When we are filled with real LOVE inside, it overflows from us and is naturally and easily shared with and received by others.

LOVE is abundant. There is no lack of real LOVE in nature. As part of nature, we have access to an infinite amount of real LOVE. There is always plenty of LOVE for everyone, especially when everyone is full with the awareness that they are lovable.

LOVE is opening. When we claim real LOVE inside and share it outside, we open. Our hearts rest into the grace and peace of LOVE.

LOVE is healing. The flow of giving and receiving real LOVE through our Beings is healing and wipes our fears away. LOVE shines as light through the darkness of fear, and fear disappears in the presence of LOVE.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY AND YEAR, EVERYONE!

Happy New You!

Ah - January. We can all take in and release a deep breath, having made it through the activity of the holidays and wrapped up 2013. As testament to the fabulous holiday busyness and subsequent desire for "down time," this eNewsletter is late! Pardon me for that; I took a retreat that was both fulfilling and renewing...

Although we are still in mid Winter, the Solstice is behind us. Our days are growing longer and warmer overall, beginning to reach tentatively toward Spring. January is the perfect month to begin shifting from planning and preparation into action.

Now is the time to get clear about your "seeds" of intent for the year (and beyond if you choose), and to determine what preparation is still needed to make their future expression as likely as possible. This month you can begin (energetically) sowing your seeds into the soils of your life. There they will incubate until it is the perfect moment for them to break forth into the Sunlight!

There are many ways to change your life and even to create a whole new one for yourself if you want to. Rather then expending your energy on resolutions (which often amount to little more than an annual "to do" list), follow these simple steps to get started on a Happy New You!

• Step 1: Get clear about what you want. Make a list of all your "seeds" (intentions, ideas, dreams, wishes, projects, etc.) and decide which ones you are really ready to plant and grow into your life. Not all your seeds have to be planted this year; feel free to set some aside for another time. Consider too that you may plant seeds now for things you imagine in future years. Those seeds will rest in the loving soils of your Being until their time has come.
• Step 2: Meditate on the seeds you select for this year's life crop. Meditation is a great way to connect with the feeling of having what you want to bring into your life. Sit comfortably, close your eyes, slow your breath, get still and imagine how it will feel to have the thing - how might you and your life change or be different from what they are now? Do you feel full, happy, safe, empowered, excited, relieved, etc?? Is your life richer, more active, more restful, more free? These are the kinds of feelings to invoke as you imagine having your intentions already met. Use your strongest sensory skills to make your imaginings as real and visceral as possible.
• Step 3: Make a Vision Board. Vision Boards are a powerful way to take things in your inner Being to a physical level. They are an outward expression of your internal imaginings and energy. Your Vision Board can look however you want it to and can be made of any materials you choose. I use images and words collected from magazines, cards and catalogs glued onto a salvaged piece of cardboard. Your Board can be one dimensional or multi-dimensional; it can be one panel or several. It can contain a single image or word, or several. Be creative and open, and most of all, have FUN!
• Step 4: Make it real. Move through your life with awareness of your intentions and what you can do now to support them. Walk around each day with the sense of your intentions growing and manifesting before your eyes. Notice what arises in your life that may be linked to them in some way. Pay close attention to any sign of support that crosses your path during the day as well as in your dreams. Perhaps someone unexpected calls who has a skill you need. Perhaps you find yourself in conversation with someone who inspires you around your intentions or even offers to help you in some way. Maybe clarity or direction comes in a dream. Support can show up in magical and unimagined ways. Consciously accept that support by saying "YES!" to it, and open yourself to receive...