Lily ... Sister Lily of Divine Healing

Great Spirit ... Dad ... Gayle ... you've got this one, right? You've got Lily, right?

I've got Kanen.

Who's got me?

Always seek the highest good.

Our incredibly amazing Lily died on Thursday morning in her sleep. I want to send thanks to everyone who has offered extra love and compassion, I want to tell some of you that I understand that you are unable to feel so deeply as you have avoided the situation. All of the LOVE that we have truly felt and will continue to feel and the healing that is surely supporting us is appreciated. It is remarkable kind. Our strength in facing this is growing and at times we have no strength at all.

I am only writing today to let you all know of this huge change in our experience.

Lily's departure was not a complete surprise to us as she had almost ended her earth walk two months ago. She was not young, growing much older each day it seemed ... giving us just a few glimpses of her playfulness here and there. Her health was depleting almost daily. Her last few months were very difficult for her and for us. She more often than not didn't even want to go places with us. The awareness of this was undeniably noticeable and it is difficult to feel the pain and sorrow in this moment in time.

The UPS man delivered bottles for some of my "magic potions" yesterday and when I opened the door I automatically reached down to place my hand at her back as I always do when someone comes to the door. She didn't come around the corner to bark. My touch on Lily's back was always more for the delivery people or clients arriving for sessions and it was always for their comfort or lack of it when facing a BIG BLACK DOG, not to hold Lily back. Lily was a lover.

Lily came into our lives after I had lost my Father and my dear friend Gayle. At the time I knew that my heart was in need of a greater healing than I could conjure up. We adopted Lily (she really adopted us however) to help keep my heart open (to help her see that her ability to LOVE was more than enough). Lily kept my heart open and then opened it more and more and more, all the way up until her last expression of love towards me on Wednesday night.

My Father passed September 5th of 2005. My friend Gayle passed August 15th of 2006. Lily passed just a day or two shy of right in the middle of those two dates. I am sensing the reason why ... I sense that she left when she did to let me know that she filled in the middle of those experiences with her love. She did fill in the middle of those two experiences with her love with more love than I could have imagined.

There is so much more that I could share ... say ... about her. She was the most amazing of all dogs, she was my familiar, my companion day in and day out. In the five years that she was with us, there wasn't a single day that she and I were not together. She was at my side always. Lily was a Spirit Being and an amazing healer, holding the most sacred of spaces during so many healing and counseling sessions, she was so often right at my side, or the side of the client in session. Lily was so strong, the deeper the emotions and the need for healing, the closer Lily came into it to support. I am not sure how I will work alone now, as she was present during so many sessions. I knew that when she would circle my healing table while clients were on it that she had determined that a specialty clearing was required for the client. I had noticed over the last few months that she was preparing for retirement.

Lily was a pure Ceremonial Leader. She was a High Priestess. Her placement in circles and ceremony was profound. If I was in meditation she would sit at my back, if there was two of us in circle she would take the third position. If there was three she would take the open direction and act as a gate keeper. If there was a large gathering ... she would find her way in if she wanted in, always with the utmost of respect. Many times she would circle the circle, setting the energy.

Lily was an integral part of our home, our family, our lives. She was a Sacred SIGNIFICANT Other and a true companion, a holder of the most unconditional love for us. We are so grateful that she blessed us with such deep and loving relationships. Our cat Violet has been deeply effected also, only drinking water from Lily's bowl now and pausing to yowl in the hallway where Lily would lay. It is wonderful in its sadness and truth.

Lily was/IS so much more than a dog. We miss her so much!

So, when you come over for a visit, when you arrive for a gathering or a class/workshop ... please hold the silent space of knowing that Lily won't be answering the door. Thank you. It will help us out a lot by not asking us where she is or what happened. It will really help us out by not asking us how we are doing ... right now we are doing what we should be doing and that is crying a lot when we forget that she isn't here. Please honor our need to grieve ... as long as it take. Lily was a constant companion and a best friend to my son and me.

It is amazing how many times I have heard her over the past few days, expected her to be in my sons room, wondered if she needed to go out, checking her water bowl, wondered how she is. Not seeing her check to see what I was doing.

We have created an altar in the front room for Lily, with our favorite picture of her there and a few sacred items to hold our hearts open for her. Lily's ashes are there too. They will remain there until we decide where to spread them, yes ... spread them at her happiest place to be ... and for Lily that place was always right by our sides, within inches preferably. She may just stay right here. When you visit, and see the altar ... please feel free to send Lily your love.

..........

Dog Medicine ~ Jamie Sams

Be loyal to yourself.
Be true to others.
Bolster your integrity.

Dog, you are so noble. Until the bitter end, your medicine is the teaching us of being a true and loyal friend.

Dog offers innate loyalty.
Dog embodies loving gentleness.
Dog is the guardian of ancient secrets.
Dog reminds us of our sense of service to others.

A tolerant Spirit dwells in the heart of every canine.

Lily was a Wolf Spirit too. Four out of five vets said that she was part wolf. My vet of 24 years had claimed that "the wolf" would be a problem. He was so wrong and I was so happy to fire him. She was always(during my childhood) with me in my dreams, she was always at my side while I turned my life into my dreams and she will always remain by my side until we meet again in the dream realm, as everything now is the dream realm.

Wolf Medicine - Jamie Sams

Wolf ... Teacher, Pathfinders, Moon-Dog of my Soul. Howling, singing, teaching how to know.

Find new paths and options.
Break through.
Be a role model.
Share your inner knowing.

..........

If you have a dog, love them twice as much today and every day.
If you don't have a dog, love another persons dog twice as much today and every day.
If you don't own a dog, consider owning a dog, they will change you for the better and we all need that, to be better and for you to be better too.
If you see a dog treated really well, thank the person who treats the dog really well.
If you see a dog treated badly, get the dog away from the bad person and report the bad person to the authorities who treats them badly.

All in all we are very grateful and very happy that Lily was such a complete part of our lives. In truth ... I have no idea what we are going to do without her.

Lily's eyes were open when she died. I believe that she was looking at her light.

Blessings, love and more,

Laurel

August 15th ... how could I resist

Gayle ~ I have decided to send your Spirit Body or your essence a communication via the ethereal atmosphere of the internet. I trust in doing so that the love and light of this will gather up there in the great imagisphere of the universe and you will then collect the good intention of this message whenever you want to.

This is sent as a way to update me of my progress since you passed, I have done really well with the promise that you made me make. You either already know, or you are so far gone in your next lifetime that the thought of me is faint if at all.

I upgraded my website over the past few weeks, and I pledged to a launch date of today. I made it just in time to honor you, publishing the changes at 12:36 this morning. I have grown so much more over this past year. I am glad that you would be happy. I am in full blown loving service. Thank you again, for wanting me to do this.

I have yet to find my partner, my "sacred significant other" as you also made me promise that I would do. I wonder where that promise has gone, but then again I have really only focused on the promise to walk in loving service. For as much work as it has been for me to change for the highest good perhaps now the next work will be connecting with "him".

I hope he understands that I am writing a book now, in addition to looking for him.

I have taken on a deeper love, a sacred significant relationship with Plant Medicine. Of course you know this too, as you placed that sticky Pine Cone in my hands when I left your home the day of your memorial service. The Pine Cone, sacred geometry, the pineal gland activation ... the shut down of your brain, the activation of your light body. The day soon after you passed when your essence came to visit me at work to give me all of the information. That was the same day that you asked me to call Jamie, she had to return to work for the first time and you were worried about her. That day you also saturated me with all of the images of natures patterns. That was intense to say the least, you taught me so much that day, showing me all of the things that I never understood before about geometry. I had no idea that a Pine Cone in 2006 would turn into a profound healing work today. There is so much more about this that you know.

"Love is blind. Friendship is clairvoyant." This is so true as it was all the truth with you Gayle. You saw me in the ways that I live in today. Amazing! I am still stunned by your insight and your faith in me. You got me good with that final promise, last breath stuff. I still cry and I will always thank you. As much as I understand it now, it still just blows me away.

I used to think that you weren't present for the last 10 days of your life. I now believe that you were busier than ever, working out all kinds of details for the greater ways of all of us that you loved so much. The day before you passed when you called for me, me out of all of the people surrounding you to tell me about karma. I got it. I got it. I finally understand about Karma.

I have added the work of "Dying Consciously" or in the Shamanic Ways, the work of "Death Walking" to my medicine bag. I have done this primarily because of what you taught me in the last few weeks of your life. Through this work, I am not afraid of dying. That may be easy to say as it seems that death is nowhere near me in my life right now. That said, we are really never ever prepared. I miss my Dad so much. He passed right after you did. That was a hell of a time to take lessons from. I am not as emotionally awkward when facing the death of others. I offer support to help people cross over now, but mostly to help the ones who are left behind. You quite possibly know what I have learned, and that is that death is just the birth of the Spirit Body into the Spirit Realm. That makes it all so much sweeter when death is looked at in this way.

Gayle, I believe that you came onto this Earth with an agreement that you would activate me before you died. You did activate me before you died. I am eternally grateful as I cry my annual and traditional August 15th tears now. I knew I wouldn't make it through the day without the sweet cleansing of a visit from you.

It gets better every year, I trust the same for you.

Blessings, love and more ... for eternity,

Laurel

Gayle ... I loved you more than I knew.

Lady Justice ... we're on our heads

A friend asked yesterday ... "To all my metaphysical peeps-Is anyone else feeling this energetic shift? For the past two days things have seemed different... Thoughts?"

I saw this post and I got side tracked in the chaos of my day and didn't get a chance to mail her my thoughts. It seems it rested heavy in my soul as I dreamed the energy/essence of the comment last night.

My "thoughts" yesterday were encapsulated in a BIG GIANT YES to her question and my thoughts were ... 'WTF' the past two days, PAST TWO WEEKS, MONTHS ... YES, all giant sized again.

So my dreams, guides, Dream Guides gave me so much more last night, and the dream world started to unfold the cloth.

For the past two days I have been bombarded with images of Lady Justice and the scales of justice in images, sound lyrics, comments from friends/strangers/radio DJ's and such. I am putting together a "Women's Courage Circle - Rites of Passage" workshop and I was thinking that Lady Justice must have some message for me for this workshop and she does.

She told me last night in my dream ... "The scales are no longer set and balanced. The scales are no longer in place. The scales are upside down on the balance beam and nothing sets on them the same as before. Know that no matter what the portions are, that used to balance the scales ... give no longer means receive ... take no longer means removed from ... nothing can balance because the trays on the scales cannot hold anything now that they are upside down. Everything is different in this Universal Underworld."

In the dream Lady Justice reminded me that I have always heard the word JUSTICE as the wordS ... JUST US ... and that in my many times of pondering the sound of the word JUST US ... it is the break down that is the significance ... it is JUST US that creates the balance and right now, it is just us that care.

I woke feeling so saddened by this and then more feed back started coming in.

We used to live in the balance of give and receive.
We used to live in the balance of love and be loved.
We used to live in the balance of right meets right and wrong meets wrong.

The world is upside down ... LADY JUSTICE is on her head and we are on our heads too!!!

It doesn't mean that we stop giving, that we stop loving ... that we stop doing right.

It means literally and figuratively ... that we TURN THE SCALE OVER to catch what is slipping away.

I printed a picture of Lady Justice today ... from google and I cut and pasted the trays of the scale upside down to see what the image (changed) really was ... I have been using the images to reset the opportunity to give and receive, to love and be loved and for right to meet right ... (forget the wrong).

When the trays of the scales of JUST US are upside down, inverted ... they look like trays with little caps on them so that nothing slips away ... JUSTICE is maintained by JUST US.

It seems in my little way ... in my little corner of the world ... this has made a difference.


After all ... JUST US is MINE!

"Summer Soulstice Red Poppy" Flower Essence"

Mother Nature's Red Poppy ... growing in my garden. This makes me so happy! These Poppy's have offered themselves up as a "Special Edition "Summer Soulstice Red Poppy" Flower Essence". The Mother Essence is dancing in a bowl right now and the dance is beautiful as the wind nudges the petals to swirl the flowers in the bowl. She is being supported with quarts charger crystals on each side of her, while being infused with the Sun's eternal light w/ no beginning and no ending, all that we revere of this potent season, all God's, Goddesses and Deities of this season, to bring the Source of the Sun down through the body to send the element of fire to the Root Chakra for purification and healing.

This life is so easy to love ...

Crow ... more from Crow

Saturday May 21, 2011

What would the skies be like without Crow? How would the morning silence break without Crow? Would perception shift accordingly without Crow?

Immediately I take on a random direction, I never did like Scarecrows. They were lifeless, senseless farm land oddities when I was growing up in the Midwest. Hanging lifeless like Christ on a cross in more ways than one, attempting to cast away the truth of the natural world. Ah, I see a parallel without looking and once again it is connected here to Crow Law, Sacred Law, TRUTH. Truth … I like Crow’s and all that sacred law stuff. I was always happy when the scarecrows didn’t work. I like Christ and all his sacred law stuff too.

The night was filled with rain and I was having incredible dreams when Crow woke me up this morning. Didn’t crow know it was a weekend morning and I actually had the day off? Didn’t Crow know that I could sleep in late? What was Crow doing waking me, it was raining, didn’t Crow want to find shelter from the storm and let me sleep a bit more? Apparently not, because Crow was making sounds louder than the rain to let me know it was time to toss out the peanuts in the backyard.

Crow wakes me on any day and every day that I sleep in past breakfast time, Crow breakfast time that is, not my breakfast time. It is all my doing as I have feed Crow and all of his family, Momma’s, Daddy’s, brothers, sisters, young ones for many years now. I have fed his cousins too … the Blue Jay, Purple Finch, Zebra Finch, Robin Red Breast, Mocking Bird, Sparrow, Chickadee (I call them the grim reaper birds, I love their black hoodies), Pigeons, Doves and more. I have made peace with the Pigeons. They are not the smartest bird on the planet and it is not my job to educate them. I still don’t see the reason for 11 of them trying to fit into one bird feeder. I guess that if they do, what am I to do about it?

So Crow woke me, perched on the roof line at the front of the house. I found that amazing as I had slept in the front room that night and not my bedroom at the back of the house. Crow usually wakes me from my bedroom. I was cognitive enough to realize that Crow found me in another room, in another part of my home, to wake me up to feed him. I was amazed at Crow’s intellect and ability.

I got up from the bed in the front room and walked through the house. I walked down the hall into my bedroom where I keep all of the bird seed, bird feed and assorted nuts and dried fruits for the birds. I was surprised that I had on my Uggs. I didn’t remember having my Uggs out of the closet. This was the first clue that I got from my very life like dream. I did not wear my Uggs the night before.

I am stocked like a mini feed store. I am especially stocked this time of year for the Quail too. I love the Quail. I opened my back bedroom doors and started to head to the yard and there was Crow, right at my feet to the left of me. He was bouncing and cawing loudly. As I walked further into the yard I noticed that two more Crows were to my right and they were telepathically letting me know that they like peanuts very much.

This was the second clue that I got from my very life like dream. I could hear the rain in my sleeping mind but there was no rain in my yard. The sky was clear, there was no rain and the sunlight was brighter than the actual time of morning. The sky was actually to light, it was glowing and everything was shiny.

I did a few more reality checks and realized that the blinds had been closed in the front room, but I could see Crow on the roof. In my reality check I wondered how I could see Crow on a roof with the blinds closed on the windows.

Right about the time that Crow knew that I knew I was dreaming, he started talking to me. He thanked me for always feeding him and his family. The two Crows to my right went into the yard to eat the peanuts that I had tossed out for them. As the Crows went into the yard other birds started flying in to the yard to eat.

A string of assorted birds of every color came into a line up to eat. The first bird was a bright golden yellow and red peacock. The second bird was a turquoise and magenta pheasant. The pheasant was followed by a couple of Robin Red Breast’s but these Robins had purple and burgundy breasts. A row of Hummingbirds entered the line up and they were taking dew drops of rain off of the lawn like they were nectar from flowers. The Hummingbirds were the usual colors of Hummingbirds but they were lit up like neon signs.

I looked at the Crow to the left of me, in amazement and Crow said to me “It’s your dream.” More birds entered the line up on the lawn and eventually the yard was filled with amazing birds of every color but their natural colors. The golden yellow and red peacock was the most amazing as he strutted around the yard with his tail fully fanned. He was so proud of his feathers.

It started raining and I told the Crow that I was going to go inside now. The Crow told me to have a great morning and he thanked me again for feeding him. I asked him how he knew I was sleeping in the front room and not my bedroom and he said that he looked through the windows to see I was not in my room. I realized that that made sense and I closed the door to enter my room.

I made my way up the hall, through the house and into the front room where I had been sleeping. I could see the bed where I had been. I noted that the blinds were closed and that I would not have been able to see Crow on the roof. I sat down on the side of the bed and slumped over very heavily. I noticed that I didn’t have my Uggs on. I heard the sound of Crow calling to wake me up.

I sat up and woke up. I opened the blinds to the large front window and there was Crow sitting on the corner of the roof line peering into the room that I was sleeping in. He woke me up to let me know that it was breakfast time.

This trip down the hall was done while wide awake, wide awake and in awe of Crows intellect and ability. This trip down the hall, I was barefooted. I was happy to be so trusted by Crow. I was stunned by the dream that I had awakened from, just a few moments prior. In the dream I was wearing the same pajamas. Would I go to the back yard to find peanuts on the lawn, a Crow to my left and two Crow’s to my right? Would I see a golden yellow and red peacock swaggering around my yard?

I opened my back doors to walk into my yard and toss out a cup of peanuts and Crow landed just to the left of me, he had walked across the roof while I walked through my home. Two other Crows landed in the yard to eat. I looked at Crow beside me to the left and I asked him if he had seen me twice already, once in my dream and again while wide away. Crow said to me “you are always wide awake”.

I need to shop for peanuts tomorrow.

My latest Reiki Blue post ...

Reiki ~ “The Secret Art of Inviting Happiness”

Since my last visit to Prototypes I’ve been meaning to post a blog entry. I have considered going a number of directions with this blog. I’ve sat down to write four times and the words simply didn’t flow. My first subject matter, the title of this blog is the only thing that I am called to write about. I initially thought that this subject was just too simple, not enough about the actual experience at Prototypes, too much about me and my experience with Reiki. I am back here at the keyboard (for the fifth time now) to write about my first subject matter and it is flowing, after all how could I write about an experience other than my own anyway?

Mikao Usui is the founding father of Reiki. I am not a worthy historian when it comes to Usui or Reiki so I won’t increase the number of words in this post with too much of the story, even HIStory (Master Usui’s story) in this blog. I will say that in my opinion Master Usui was an amazing man, unique in many ways. Master Usui lived an authentic life of expansiveness and diversity. He forged his own way in the world, sacrificing his own comforts for the highest good of others. He devoted his life to energy healing, healing others, becoming “one with Reiki”. He was a modest Super Human. Master Usui was a great example of living a life of loving service.

It is said that Master Usui was approximately a decade into his walk with Reiki when he determined that even with the difficulties he had experienced along the way, Reiki had given him the greatest happiness of his life. He knew that loving service, helping others, promoting energy healing, being One with Rieki, living his life as he was meant to live it had established an art. After ten years with Reiki Master Usui decided that Reiki was “The Secret Art of Inviting Happiness”.

My last visit to Prototypes was on Thursday, March 31. I started the day with the open mind to share with the women at Prototypes whatever my heart spoke of Reiki in the moment. I knew that I would offer an introduction to energy healing, the importance of patterned breath and breathing deeply and fully. I knew I would encourage the women to breathe in this way so that they could engage easily into the center of their being, at the heart beat itself and from there, they would become more present in their bodies.

During the day leading up to my visit to Prototypes I found myself filled with serenity while walking step by step through my life. I was working my basic tasks of watering my garden, cleaning my dog’s teeth, feeding the backyard menagerie of bird life and doing basic household chores. The day was one of our first really warm days of spring, and after many, very many days of chill and rain, I was delighted to take in the warmth of the sun on my body and the beauty of the clear blue skies above me. I was joyful and simply happy.

I paused at one point to consider my happiness and I thought of my walk with Reiki. I thought of how my life has changed so much over the years (a decade) and I thought of my pleasure in my work tasks that used to be more of a pressure from work tasks. I acknowledged my growth and I realized that I had found myself living Master Usui’s claim, that Reiki, when practiced devotedly over time is “the secret art of inviting happiness”. I decided in that moment that I would share a bit that day with the women at Prototypes about Reiki being this secret art form, leading to happiness.

As always, one good direction heading towards Prototypes can easily go another good direction once you enter the doors there. As I mentioned in my last blog the women are often experiencing one form or another of stress or anxiety, they have a multitude of thoughts on their minds, they have come from an assortment of previous environments and they are easily distracted. They appear to lack a deep, long attention span and rarely are they present in their bodies. It is always amazing to witness the massive energy that a group of these women can show up with and I love this.

This day was no different than the others with the women entering with their own experiences front and center for them. This day included the majority of these women working to organize a large rummage sale that was scheduled to take place at Prototypes the upcoming weekend. The day was warm and the women were all affected in one way or another by the rummage sale organization and by the warm weather.

Allison Stillman was right by my side as usual … OH THE JOY OF HAVING ALLISON STILLMAN RIGHT BY MY SIDE … and Allee worked her magic in bringing the Prototype women into circle. The group energy was WILD. It was particularly hard to get the group focus together and some of the women were completely interested in Reiki and others were in their chairs and completely out of body, many appeared to be completely out of the room and not at all interested in Reiki.

I began talking about breath and working with the women to get them into their bodies and to get the Reiki flowing. One by one the women connected in, even the women who were out of body and the women who appeared to be out of the room eventually came into the room and into their bodies too. Keeping the women on track for breath alone was not easy so the challenge was there to get them to consider working with energy for healing.

The group eventually became receptive and it was beautiful to see these women support themselves in a greater calm, a more present state of being and these women created change that affected the change of the entire room and each person in it. One woman was very resistant to it all; typically this woman has remained resistant to me, to Reiki and any idea of energy work, energy healing and self healing. She has been consistently difficult to try to keep on track and she has been unwilling to conform to group activity. She is not obnoxious or rude in anyway, she simply has and holds her own agenda.

I was verbally guiding the women with deep breath work, connecting them to the heart beat and working with them to sense the energy in their bodies. The group was cooperative and most of them were very successful in feeling their individual energy field. These women were markedly affected by the calming nature of this basic practice. The one woman continued to be demonstrative and kindly combative with me. I kept at the process, encouraging them all to stay with in, focusing now on the woman with the greatest resistance to it all.

I talked to the women about feeling the energy. I asked them to feel the physical body, to feel the emotional and mental state that they were in. I asked them to feel for a shift in energy in and around them. It was all positive at this point, even the gently combative nature of the one woman, as she caused me to go deeper with the other women who were present.

At this point I asked the group to place their hands close to the other hand in prayer position but with their hands about and inch or two apart to see if they felt energy coming from their hands. This request created a sweet experience as the women could all feel this energy. This request created the best experience as the woman that was most resistant to the entire experience literally jumped out of her seat and almost stood completely upright, before she circled back around to her seat to sit back down. She exclaimed that she could feel the energy between her hands. She was none the less “trippin” (that was her word) on the full effects of Reiki, and the Reiki that she was “trippin” on was her Reiki. This woman exclaimed that she felt “high” … “really high” and she asked me … “is this Reiki? Is this Reiki that is making me feel high?” I answered her that she was feeling the natural high of her energy body.

I was delighted at this point.

In less than an hour, again … a large group of women went from one side of the spectrum of energy to another side of the spectrum of energy. They went from stressed out to blessed out. It was wonderful to experience.

I left knowing what I felt. I felt great happiness. I thought that perhaps I am an art teacher instead of a Reiki teacher.

What would the heart do ...

What would the heart do if you decided to really grow?

The heart would rise to 'unmeasurable' heights, it would fall to 'unmeasurable' depths, it would expand to 'unmeasurable' widths and it would beat beyond any capacity that you have known in any previous moment. The heart would reach to the ends of time to gather together the very best of you. The heart would reach from the beginning of the first moment to gather together the very best of you. The heart would call to the angels and the demons for surrender. The heart would support each and every breath that you take with light and love. The heart would open and reveal the soul. The heart would love you ... always and in all ways as you are and of course as you will be too.

So grow, grow now ... grow as you want to ... grow as you should grow, grow as you are called to ... grow now ... just GROW.

Reiki Blue ... with Yoga Blue

Prototypes Womens Center: Breathing and Sharing. 3.14.11

Please visit Yoga Blue @ www/yogablue.org ... it doesn't want to link for some reason. Thank you!

by Laurel on March 16, 2011

I have had the pleasure of working with Allee Stillman at Prototypes over the past several months. Working with Allee is really playing with Allee. Working with essential oils is bliss. Sharing such a profound experience of aromatherapy with the amazing women of Prototype’s has been so inspiring and so sweet.

I have wanted to offer Reiki at Prototype’s since before the first day I played there with Allee. I have wanted into the women’s recovery community to help in some way, any way for almost two decades. Assisting as I have has been richly rewarding, and I wanted to introduce the women of Prototype’s to self healing with Reiki.

My lineage in Reiki is that of Master Mikao Usui, the founder of the way of Reiki. Reiki is a Japanese name and when translated means “universal life force energy”. Master Usui said that Reiki is the container of consciousness. Master Usui also called Reiki “The Art of Inviting Happiness”. Who wouldn’t want to share this? I do. I share Reiki every chance I get.

I immediately shared my desire with Allee and then with Winifred. Both of these sweet women were completely receptive and enthusiastic about this possibility. My first day of sharing Reiki with the women of Prototype’s was yesterday, March 14th, 2011. I was blessed to be joined by Allee, her way of playing back with me I guess.

As usual at Prototype’s, when it is time to start a group gathering with the women immense energy enters along with them. The women enter a large room from two different doors and just about every mood that you can imagine comes with these women. Some of the women are wild with energy, some are exhausted. Some of the women are totally stressed out, some are calm and composed. Some of the women are sweet and tolerant; some are not sweet and tolerant yet.

Getting the group settled in is an interesting task and it can be ongoing. The purpose of my time with these women was to introduce them to a basic awareness of the energy body, the chakra system, the aura. I had a sense about the effort required to discuss energy healing with 15-18 woman, in one hour to work with and all of the above to deal with … my approach needed to be solid.

I suggested breath work first, with deep exhales pushed out to the count of 7 followed by simply allowing the inhale to respond to the count of 7. We went for a series of 6 of these deep breaths and I then asked these women to feel the center of their body, in the chest and to feel the beat of their heart. Two thirds of this group had completely different energy. Of these two thirds they were remarkably calmer and more balanced.

We stayed in the deep breath work and the heart beat while I shared with them about the chakra systems and its beautiful spheres of vibrant colors. I mapped the location of each chakra and introduced the women to the idea of the aura that wraps around their physical body. I suggested to them that they controlled this energy with their breath and they loved this possibility.

Over all and over a short amount of time, the majority of the women in the group were relaxed, more aware of their surroundings, more able to define what they were really feeling, they were more present in their bodies. We stayed with the deep breathing and feeling the heart beat in the chest and this time I was able to talk uninterrupted as they were more focused and more responsive.

One of the women mentioned that she had been stressed and deeply saddened because she was missing her children. She said that she had been very emotional but with the breathing and the energy connection she felt better. I shared with her that because her babies were from her body, that the calm state of her body could be shared with her children from a distance. This became very important to this woman and to a lot of the women in the group.

I shared a story of a time when my grown son was very ill in the hospital. I was unable to visit my son but I spent each evening while he was healing, sending him Reiki from afar. I shared with these women, that I would hold a teddy bear like it was my son when he was a baby and I would rock the bear while sending Reiki to my son. I shared that my son felt this in his hospital bed miles away, the rocking and the healing of his body. I did not tell my son what I was doing exactly, but he knew somehow what I was doing and he could feel it. He could feel my love, my calming presence and he could feel the healing energy of Reiki.

The women who had babies and children left that group gathering with the plan to calm themselves first and then send the calm feeling to their babies and children. I had no plan to tell the story of my grown son and using Reiki on him. Seeing the way these women all responded to the story … I couldn’t have planned better than that.

I can’t wait to go back to Prototype’s.

The Old Woman Weaving

a poem from a dream ... two years ago

one night time while the strong winds came to whistle and to sing
I dreamed of an old woman weaving with sparkling star lit string
weaving the wisdom of the ancestors and their sacred ancient ways
she told me a story of life and death, and the world in the in between days

she spoke of legend and lore, dreams awakened and dreams true
she taught me lessons with value to me, to know what I should do
the old stories were wild and vivid, as she sat low beside a fire
she wanted me to stay free from the aches of my human desire

that night as she was weaving I saw this and it was true
as she sat and spoke so softly, from her lap an animal grew
from the cloth that she was holding, in her hands I started to see
a lynx and a coyote - a strange mix, that she was weaving just for me

as I sat in full attention, without a twitch, not missing a sound
the old woman, she clearly saw me and by her eyes I was completely bound
she looked clear and straight into me as she gave comfort to this animal mix
in this medicine weave she made certain that I noticed what I needed to fix

the lynx she said will give you the secrets of the magical medicine ways
the lynx she said will teach you who to trust in your night and your days
the lynx will hold your tongue for you, so you will be silent and not make a sound
the lynx is crawling in you, yours tracks are different when your feet hit the ground

the coyote is the trickster, the one who runs and plays the odd game
the one that sings the songs at night that connect lonely ones to their shame
the coyote is your worker now, the coyote energy is not that of you
the coyote keeps you safe in knowing, to keep the eye on what other coyotes may do

the old woman then stood before me and she approached me with a walk of grace
she placed the animal medicine on me, wrapped me tightly and then cradled my face
she said this dream, this medicine is yours now you are the weaver of the ancient way
get up, you were awake with me all along as this night has turned into this day

don't resist your passion

Much like a rainstorm rolls onto the vast landscape of a desert,
there is a passion that rolls into the vast lovescape of your soul.

As a rainstorm brings sweet moisture to the land, to the earth,
the passion that rolls into you brings to you a greater life essence for you to fill up with.

The desert does not resist the rainstorm.
Make sure that you don’t resist your passion.

ah ha ... one post in October

I let the light have its way with me ...

there is peace in the breath

Laurel Lyons

Life will bring you everything that you need, including great moments of challenge and moments of great challenge. These moments will bind you to your ways. Whether they are good ways or not so good ways depends upon the focus of your life. Basic "attraction" stuff.

There is peace in the breath.

It rarely matters what the nature of the challenge is, when challenge brings fear with it ... often the first “feeling" that shows up, even if only for a second we restrict ourselves. Depending on our "practice" we may choose to react to the challenge, by way of fear.

There is peace in the breath.

Our "practice" ~ if you are aged enough (years are not the dominant factor of age, age equating to wisdom here) to recognize "challenge" you are most likely aged enough to establish some kind of a practice. A basic practice of "self awareness" is deep breath. By simply breathing deeply, you have the power to remove fear. Breath supports the body to be present in the moment of now.

There is peace in the breath.

Practice breathing, practice deep breathing ... the kind of breathing that if you are not doing it, it will make your head spin when you do it. Find in that deep breath the essence of life, the essence of your own life. In that moment the only life that matters is your own. That is your empowerment, the understanding that your own life matters.

There is peace in the breath.

When you balance anything from the place of being able to value your own life you establish your connection to the Divine. In that connection is gratitude, vitality, inspiration and more aliveness in this life awareness. The deep breathing that supports greater life awareness will bring with it sanctity, surrender and solution.

There is peace in the breath.

In that peace there is forgiveness too.

(my morning ramblings from August 27th ... from the lessons "remembered" from yesterday's challenges. I am grateful.)

GET UNSTUCK !!!

Shake it loose, let it go, walk away, move along, face the shit, clean it up, make a change, ask yourself "WTF"?

Then ... breathe deeply, really deeply more than many times ... and aim at authentic, honest, vulnerable, creative, LOVE, ease, health, vitality, CONSCIOUSNESS ... compliance, resilience, devotion TO SELF, forgiveness OF SELF, LOVE (yes more of it) and then more LOVE.

Get out of the old way, get out of your own way. Get out of the way .. here is one for you, you are not in the way as life goes on leaving you behind. You are only in the way of yourself.

This was prompted when I saw the visual images of the Twin Towers, billowing smoke above the NYC skyline. I was initially perplexed, I had to double check to see what I was seeing. Our media ... designed to stimulate our "follower/sufferer/victim" collective. Because so many of us are STUCK in the "follower/sufferer/victim" ways.

NINE YEARS ...

Globally ... not now.
Nationally ... not now.
Regionally ... not now.
Locally ... not now.

CENTERED in the HEART ... now ... how have you changed for the better?

Here is another one ... now ... how have you resisted change, change for the better? What are you still doing, still supporting (acting as a life support system for something dying, something that died long ago) that you know you should get "unstuck" from?

GET IT OUT ... GET IT OVER WITH ... GET UNSTUCK ... MOVE ON !!!

For you !!!

gearing up ... again

The dream world ...

We are heading into another series of the "Revelation Dreaming - Dream Medicine" workshops and my soul and psyche are already on task. I detailed my bedroom last week for the dream altar energy and for a clear table for my dream journal and all of my dream potential to come to be ... again and again and again ... always getting better, going deeper, wider, higher, clearer, and so much more, there is always so much more ... yes!

These workshops are the most incredible vacations, other world destinations, life style realizations, great life manifestations ... living the mundane EMANCIPATIONS ... living the world of profound fascination, falling asleep with magic incantations ... to set you up for astounding creations ...

I AM IN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

flatlined emotions ...

In a dream last night I was walking through a dark room when I noticed someone sitting in a chair in a corner. The person was slumped over in the chair, with no vital energy in their being. Their only activity was that they were tapping on their heart, small rhythmic taps like the ones people use for EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique).

At first I couldn't tell who the person was, due to the darkness of the room and the posture (being slumped over) that the person was sitting in.

I asked the person what they were doing. The person said "my emotions have stopped, they stopped so long ago I cannot remember what emotions really are". I asked the person why they were tapping on their chest and they said "I am hoping to get my emotions started again, so that I can feel something. I think that my emotions have flat lined".

I told the person that tapping on the chest was not going to work in turning on the emotions again. I told the person that facing life, in an upright posture would turn their emotions on again. The person said "it was necessary to turn off my emotions at one point in life, it was necessary to make it through, through life, through pain".

I told the person "flat lining emotions is a tendency, not a necessity", and when I said this the person finally looked up and at me. The dark, shadowy room crumbled away, with everything in it falling into a large void, including the person in the chair. Everything turned to a golden yellow glow around me and the sun was shining brightly after that. I could feel warmth in place of the cold of the dark, shadowy room. I was left standing on nothing, perched on energy with my feet directly below me like I was hovering in the air.

I looked for the person, concerned that they had fallen into the void. I could see the person laying on a shoreline, like they had been washed in the water, up onto dry sand. The person stood upright and walked away, pushing their hair out of the face and standing taller with each step that they took.

This dream really stuck with me.

Tendency: a natural or prevailing disposition to move, proceed, or act in some direction or toward some point, end, or result: an inclination, or predisposition to something:

Necessity: something necessary or indispensable: food, shelter, and other necessities of life. the fact of being necessary or indispensable; indispensability:
an imperative requirement or need for something: the state or fact of being necessary or inevitable: an unavoidable need or compulsion to do something:

Tendency ... a choice.

Necessity ... an imperative requirement.

Emotion: an affective state of consciousness in which joy, sorrow, fear, hate, or the like, is experienced, as distinguished from cognitive and volitional states of consciousness. any strong agitation of the feelings actuated by experiencing love, hate, fear, etc., and usually accompanied by certain physiological changes, as increased heartbeat or respiration, and often overt manifestation, as crying or shaking.

Turning off emotions ... by choice not by necessity.

The back route ... ceasing the opportunities for joy, sorrow, fear, hate or the like or the love that bring emotion.

Still processing.

today while shopping ...

Today while shopping I noticed a display of beautiful journals, more beautiful journals to choose from than I had seen in a long time. While looking through them to see if there was one that I couldn't live without, I was approached by a very sweet man. This man asked me if I was going to treat myself to a new journal. I told him that I was considering it. He asked me if I am a journal writer or if journal writing would be a new adventure for me. I shared with him that I teach journal writing as a sacred practice, as a way of tracking dreams, as record keeper for all forms of rites of passage ... life is a continuum of rites of passage. He was impressed and delighted that I was a journal writer.

He shared with me that he had recently given one of his nieces a new journal to track her life. He gave the journal as a high school graduation gift. He said that he told his niece to start a journal now, so that when she wanted to write her memoirs they would be easier to remember. He told her that she should get out and have a good life, a life worth writing about. He said that he told her that she should only write about the good in life and never about the bad.

I had much to share with this man, as I too believe that we should only track the good in life. I shared with this man about my "ah ha" when my grandchildren were born ... that I must only write the good and the loving and the special things in my life, because one day my grandchildren may read my journals. I told the man that I realized that I want to be known for having lived a life worth living.

This man agreed.

He then asked me if I noticed that when I only started writing about the good, that more good came into my life? I let him know that my entire life changed for the better and that I am so grateful that I took the time to record the changes, the good and only the good, the day to day ways that my life has improved.

It was so amazing to talk with this man. He was such a kindred spirit, it was almost like I was talking to myself at times. He was such a messenger.

So here it is ... for the kabillionth time ... do you use a journal?

Yes. Good ... now try tracking only the good things that happen in your life.

No. Good ... start today and track only the good things that happen in your life.

Report back to yourself in a month, in a season, in a full round of seasons.

Oh and if you want a good journal, Lassen's in Ventura has some beautiful journals for you to choose from.

I purchased a beautiful journal with a stained glass, style image of Mother Mary on the front cover. I usually use an artists journal and have one that I load daily with only the good. I call my artists journal my "dream catcher" ... thanks to the inspiration from "JVM" years ago, when he gave me my first "dream catcher". I've caught so many dreams over so many years, that they have all started to come true.

So the reason for the Mother Mary journal is this ... I am going to start my memoirs. The Memoirs of ... The Memoirs of ... The Memoirs of ... I know, and you may find out later.

from 9 years ago ...

this is a night

reeling in the effects of core blasting confusion, frustration
more than need be taken on by my gentle soul,
what is the cause of this? you know, don't you
divine external structure
places music in my ear
ah, listening to the delight of a primal bass groove
it is she - the me, the only offer for my immediate gratification

this is a night

listening loud
I can't hear my mind scattering endless nonsense
my soul cries
as a fierce storm rolls off of the desert
my heart. that love, passion
is a note away, away. always away

this is a night

listening loud
it gives my body an expression
matching the movements that
I would love to place on someone

this is a night
one that causes angels to watch closely to see what humans do

this is a night
one that causes angels to watch closely to see what falls out of abandon

this is a night
one that causes angels to watch closely to see what humans create

this is a night
one that I would capture a soul like you
and I would stretch you to comply with my desires

Written on a hot night at summers end 2001

The Essence of My Rich Soul

I’ve help birth the sweetest of babies
I’ve sliced open the assassin’s throat
I’ve hung on the edge of crumbling buildings
I’ve seen the strangest things just float

I’ve raged inside as my tribe died
to circle in later to scalp more than a few
I’ve kissed a hundred men and women
I've needed moisture from the morning dew

I’ve witness senseless, brutal killings
I’ve seen entire villages set free
I’ve done all of this just watching
as my dreams come play with me

In the silence of my slumber
In the early morning light
I seen the darkest entities wonder
why I never seem to fright

I’ve run high above in the Moon light
and then been pulled to the Earth’s soft core
I’ve been called by God to enter
I’ve been pressed at Satan’s door

I’ve never stalled my dreams with boundaries
for these trips I would pay a great toll
for in my dreams I am experiencing
the depth and essence of my rich soul

(C) Laurel Lyons – Oneironaut
Inspired by the Lucid Dream Workshop
February 25, 2010

(Written with love, protected by Karma)

3:15 ... 3:16 ... 3:43 ... lost in time, so be it

Just that quickly the month is half over and I thank Goddess that I live by the sun and moon cycles and not the clock or the calendar. Yes, I do schedule by man's made organizers and reluctantly I do so. By New Moon I am only a week into it.

For the rambling, non-sense of this it was a strange week. I hit the ground running a week ago today (Sunday) and stalled in a vivid reality of aimless emotions by evening of the same day. I was glad that I saw that my emotions had no real direction and I adjusted accordingly.

I needed rest on Monday and got it, took it I should say.

I hit the ground running on Tuesday, even when a mild concussion smacked me good and hard, that didn't force its wicked ways on me until night time slumber sat in and I just continued to pause from there. OK it forced its ways on me, hard headed as I am. I just didn't go down to it, even with an ugly knot on my head and an irritating ringing in my ears (I hear "messages" and I just didn't hear this one).

Pause ... surrender ... cease ... hindsight.

Cease ... surrender ... pause ... full sight.

The concussion was like a concentrated mercury in retrograde kind of an ordeal for me. I was confused, disoriented, diminished (to a former self), emotional and exhausted. If I reached or it, it fell out of my hands. If I walked towards it I forgot why. If I figured it out, it changed its figures. I resorted to old ways (angst, frustration, overwhelm) that I thought were long gone from my softer, sweeter approach to life.

The brain - research on Friday informed me that the bump on the head, causing the concussion created the chemical flow of fear hormones in my body. That fear projected me to (and as I write the word projected I hear protected in my mind) the emotions that surround fear. The emotions that come from the brain injury, and its confusion and disorientation run wild in a wounded mind. The wounded mind cannot say stop until it is healed.

Am I healed?

But wait ...

So many people walk around like they are experiencing the after effects of a head injury. We see them all of the time, as they react from the fear in their bodies with extreme emotions, confused states of being from a wild, wounded mind.

Is it from the wild, wounded mind or is it the basic wounded heart? There are possible more wounded hearts out there.

Minor head injury.
Minor heart injury.

Source/Spirit has been working on me for the last two months, showing me the need to energetically work on the healing of the human from the over load of life long chemistry saturation. From the "nudge" of Source, I see it clearly in the beautiful, sensitive humans that come my way. I believe that my concussion was a great pivot point for me to see, a fresh ... refreshed view of the human chemistry system. After all, chemistry is energy ... energy runs in the body ... energy healing helps heal the body.

How did I heal myself from the concussion, and the greater need for healing of the chemistry of fear? I loved myself enough to nurture myself back to fearless.

Fearless.

Fear less.

Day twelve ... 3:15 Experiment

She is coming to me early, helping me sort things out once again.

In a dream I had been processing release, how to release and still hold on, but more than that, how to serve the highest good while honoring myself. Gayle came into the dream, walking around a corner into the room where I was standing. She looked great. Gayle asked me "didn't you learn enough from me?" She continued on to say "didn't you learn enough about unconditional love and the quality of detachment from outcome. Come on Laurel, remember". I started to cry in the dream and Gayle placed her arm around me and said "it's all going to be alright. Hasn't everything turned out alright?" Gayle then said "let's sit on your deck for awhile".

I woke up crying, to the alarm at 3:15 and I cringed. All that I could think about was letting go and how much it sucks to let go when you think that you don't want to.

Ah yes, surrender.
Ah yes, release.

"Don't worry about a thing, 'cause every little thing is gonna be alright". Bob Marley was in my room for a minute.

I remembered Maccan Harshaw, a wonderful woman that I encountered years ago. I could hear her southern drawl tell me "remember, some believe that the greatest strength comes from holding on. Others know that the greater strength comes from letting go."

Gayle and Maccan, such incredible women, teaching me.

I asked myself what I had to write about when it all seemed so clear.