Category: Inspirations

  • Change is a Process – Are You Ready for It?

    Last week we looked at the initial stages of change – pre-contemplation and contemplation. In both of these early stages, we are unaware of our need for change, or may be resistant, or we may have tried to change but were unsuccessful for various reasons.

    Today, we will explore the later stages of the change process. What does it take to make lasting change?

    3.  Preparation for change. At the point when we finally prepare for change – which typically can be anywhere from 2 hours to 3 months (but can last up to 6 months) – we have begun to set intentions to change behaviour in the next 6 months. We may have already made some small behavioural change or we may have tried over the past year and were unsuccessful.

    In preparing for change, a common challenge in this stage is getting clear on our intention and focus for action. Our contemplation must be meaningful or we migrate back into pre-contemplation. Though change is not a simplistic process, constant re-migration to pre-contemplation and contemplation without ever getting to action is simply a waste of energy, creativity, and is a behavioural addiction to procrastination, excuses or a mental attachment to fear.

    I’m quite amazed at how often I hear people speak about wanting to change a behaviour or complete a goal and then choose not to get the help and support they need to accomplish it. Why do we think we have to do everything ourselves? What is the issue of asking for help and getting support to change? All kinds of stories are created excusing them from standing up and living their destiny in a creative and loving way.

    Surrounding ourselves with beneficial support and having a spiritual practice that sustains us through this time of new action can be the medium of our success or failure. Making mistakes is not a bad thing. Nor is failure. Often failure provides us with information and insight about where our strategies are not aligned with our values or about the truth of what we really, really want. The issue is, as I see it, is that we are ashamed of ourselves if we fail and so we don’t ask in case we don’t succeed. That way, no one has to know.

    The other thinking process I hear is, “I’m not going to spend money on the help I need. It’s too expensive.” Usually, when I question further, money is simply a front, a smoke screen for the real issue, often one of inadequacy of some kind. The amount of struggle that can be created by these inner shadows of shame can bring about such distress in what is already a challenging task – that is, to change our behaviour!

    4.  Taking Action. Finally, we begin altering our behaviour or social situation. We take action and action and action and over a period of 6 months we are at a place of low risk to the old behaviour. We establish substitute behaviours that bring more health and meaning. We often begin to open up to others in a new way. We find strategies to avoid or counter expected high risk situations. And we take pleasure in rewarding ourselves.

    The really cool knowing here is that the Universe shows up the moment we start moving toward change! It creates space that allows us to discover that change is an impulse we need to follow to dissipate our pain and gain the wisdom of a new way. And once we take our insight and move into action, the universe shows up in amazing ways to support, encourage and fulfil our intention.

    5.  Maintenance and Integration. With discipline, repetition, focus and loving action, we can maintain a new behaviour simply by repeating what we did in the action phase of change. Change is. We can’t stop it. It will come. It is our attitude and understanding of change that can help us be more graceful in the midst of it. Even if we stumble through change, having a spiritual practice and an awareness of what we need to navigate our transformations, we will be graceful.

    What change is upon you this season? The leaves are letting go. They are not resisting it. If you imagine being a leaf on a tree right now, about to fall – what is it that needs to fall away? What do you need to let go of to move more freely and gracefully through change? What’s stopping you from making a change you know you need to make?

    Change can be very difficult. I know that as much as we want the pain to stop in our lives, being and living the change that opens the path to pleasure can seem arduous and even too fearful to contemplate. However, if you experience conflict in your intimate relationships, in your work, with your friends and it seems to be repetitive, then perhaps you may wish to contemplate change where you previously considered change unnecessary.

    Where are you in the process of change?

    Remember, you don’t have to do this alone. Speak with someone you trust, have a bold conversation with someone who can support you with change (wherever you are at), and seek the empowerment and awareness of Great Spirit – these are just a few ways to get you changing. Let go of that which no longer serves you.

    As always, I am available to support and guide you in your process of change. Call or email me and let’s get started…

    Namaste,
    Shirley Lynn

  • Change is a Process – Set Yourself Up for Success

    Like the ever-changing seasons, we too experience change and transition throughout our lives. For some of us change is easy – an “easy come, easy go” kind of mentality. For others of us, change is incredibly difficult and is resisted with much fervour.

    Did you know that we never just change? There is a whole process to change that is necessary or it won’t happen. In the next couple of weeks, I will be sharing the Stages of Change with you. Understanding how change happens gives us better insight into why some changes are so hard and yet others are fairly easy and painless.

    1. Pre-contemplation is the stage of change where we have no intention to change. We may not even know where or why we need to make a change. Perhaps we don’t even recognize that one needs to be made. Other times, we know change needs to occur, but it’s just off the radar because it is so low on the priority scale. Because it’s not even on our radar, there is no contemplating a change to occur in the next 6 months. This stage has an unknown length of time. If we do not have the awareness of what we need to change and our mindset is closed to hearing from others of how our behaviours impact them, this stage of pre-contemplation can create huge frustration, hurt and betrayal for people around us. Especially if we never see the negative impact upon others or our environment of our relationship patterns, our habits, our behaviours of conflict or even our shadow orientations.
    2. Contemplating change happens when we begin to recognize that our behaviours and relationships cause us greater pain than they do pleasure. At that point, we begin to be open to letting go of what no longer provides pleasure and we begin to contemplate change. Even so, this stage can last two weeks to several years as we seriously consider making changes of behaviour within the next 6 months. However, we may not yet be convinced that change is completely necessary – our pain is not that bad – and the pleasure of change may not be worth our perceived pain of change. In fact, we may barely even be aware that our pain is connected to our behaviour. Fear is common in this stage as people vacillate between awareness, denial and the realization a significant change needs to happen.

    The reality is that our souls manifest change in a timing that our egos cannot control. So if we are not awake and in tune with our soul essence, we may not be aware of the flow toward change with which our soul is leading. The process of change can then feel abrupt and forced upon us, rather than the gentle course of contemplation and preparation before action even takes place. Not listening deeply has a huge price on our lives.

    I believe that spiritual practice and nurturing our spirituality prepares us to remain resilient, creative and patient in the process of change. Surrendering to change that our soul is manifesting is simpler and easier, though not less challenging.

    Where are you in the process of change this fall? Are you getting ready to make a change? Or are you still in the mindset that a change is unnecessary or too risky? Do you need more time to sort things out?

    Remember, you don’t have to do this alone. If you want someone to walk your process of change with you, call or email me to set up an appointment and we’ll get you started…

    Namaste,
    Shirley Lynn

  • Creating Peaceful Relations: Celebrating our Animal Companions

    In the Catholic tradition, St. Francis of Assisi (patron saint to animals, merchants and ecology) is well renowned for his prayer “make me an instrument of your peace.” I believe it captures the essence of cultivating harmony in relationships and gifts us with a way to develop the attitudes and behaviours for peaceful relationships.

    St. Francis is equally known for how he interacted with animals, the four-legged and winged ones; the world of plants, water and trees. You might think of him as an environmentalist mystic who called all creatures his brothers and sisters, including the sun (brother) and the moon (sister). St. Francis is known to have communicated with the animals. On one occasion his communication with a wolf helped to bring peace between a village and this wolf where each creature was honoured and respected.

    October 4th is known as the Feast of St. Francis, and today many Christian congregations have adopted this day as the time to ask for God’s blessing on animals – from pets to farm animals to wildlife. This special ceremony is called the Blessing of the Animals. Frequently, people bring their animal companions to church to participate in this special blessing and to celebrate the many ways they enrich our lives. It goes something like this:

    “Blessed are you, Lord God, maker of all living creatures. You called forth fish in the sea, birds in the air and animals on the land. You inspired St. Francis to call all of them his brothers and sisters. We ask you to bless this pet. By the power of your love, enable it to live according to your plan. May we always praise you for all your beauty in creation. Blessed are you, Lord our God, in all your creatures! Amen.”

    I am not Catholic nor have I participated in a faith community that has honoured or celebrated our animal brothers and sisters in such an intentional way, but I do feel that St. Francis’ message and way of being in this world is still relevant and serves to encourage and show us how to enhance and respect all our relations.

    In the coming week I invite you to give a special blessing to your animal companion. Share a message with the bird outside your window. Imagine listening to their message back to you and imagine that you hear and understand it. Bless the tree that provides shelter and perhaps nourishment for that bird.

    Honour and respect all your relations. And like St. Francis, see and treat your animal companions – indeed all of nature – as a mirror to the Sacred. We all belong to Creation! We all deserved to be blessed. Share a blessing and take yet another step in creating peaceful relationships.

    Namaste,
    Shirley Lynn Martin

  • Elmira Women in Business

    This year I began meeting with a small group of women who also are business owners here in Elmira, ON. We get together every other month, not to compete with each other, but to support and learn from each other. I value the experience and diversity within this networking group. In September 2014, Feathers, Rainbows & Roses was the showcase business. Check it out at Elmira Women in Business.

  • The Gift of Community: A Place to Belong

    Recently I attended a funeral of someone with close connections to our family. His life came to an end after several years of treatments, followed by months of steadily declining health and eventually his last days in a hospice surrounded by family, friends and supportive staff.

    During the eulogy, one daughter shared how their father in his later years had changed from a physically and emotionally reserved man to one who gave “the best bear hugs”. It awed and inspired me to hear how this family had used their time so wisely following the initial diagnosis to resolve and heal many old hurts and misunderstandings. They attained a deeper level of connection and acceptance and intentionally created more loving interactions with each other.

    What particularly touched me at this funeral service was the strong sense of belonging to a community. I was among a large gathering of people who all cared deeply for this man’s family. As the family walked into the sanctuary I could feel our powerful communal embrace enveloping them. Clearly, this community was united in supporting each of them in bearing their pain and loss. It was a beautiful and sacred moment.

    Later I reflected on what a gift it really is to belong to a community that embraces and supports you as you move through life’s ups and downs. Those of us who are connected to communities (of whatever kind), have probably experienced something similar. I contemplated how isolating and lonely it would be to not have the love and support of others when you need it most. This too is something that some of us have experienced – when we have felt let down by our community.

    How or why does this happen? Perhaps the answers are as varied as we are but I suspect that some of it has to do with how much time and effort we put into creating and nurturing community around us. Community can be equated to a bank account – if you never put anything in, there is nothing to draw from either when you need it.

    It can be easy at times to put our communities (intentional/chosen or inherited) “on the back burner” when we are busy, distracted or experiencing various stresses in our individual lives. We get caught up in these immediacies, perhaps at the expense of spending time within our communities. I am not advocating for putting the needs of everyone else ahead of your own – I too have witnessed and experienced the consequences of such self-denial – but I am suggesting we evaluate how we balance our own needs alongside those of our chosen communities.

    As a society, we place great value and acceptance on satisfying our own needs and desires. Perhaps this is inevitable because of the speed at which we move through life – forever chasing that shiny ball of wealth and self-interest. But I would like to believe that there is still a place for and desire to connect with others – whether it is with those we share commonalities (ie. location, ethnicity, religion, profession, a common interest, lifestyle, etc.) or with those about who we know little.

    Being connected to others outside ourselves helps to satisfy our innate need to belong. One definition of belong that I like is to “fit in, be suited to, have a rightful place, have a home.” Isn’t that what we all want more than anything else?

    To what communities do you belong? Do they add value to your life? Do you add value to the community? Who is with you through life’s ups and downs, your joys and sorrows?

    If you need help finding the right balance in your life or evaluating which communities add value to your life, book an appointment with Shirley Lynn today. You deserve to feel and know where you belong.

    Submitted by Lucy Martin

  • Creating Peaceful Relationships: Where Do I Belong?

    Recently, I enjoyed a weekend visit with my brother and his family. Upon our arrival, my 3½ year old nephew helped carry my bag to my room and immediately began asking about ‘the special game’ I had promised to bring along. Since it was dinner time, I said we had to wait until the next day when it would be sunny and warm. He chatted eagerly and enthusiastically with Lucy and me, sharing all the recent news and events he thought we might deem important. And so that night, I went to bed surrounded by family and my nephew’s excitement as he explores the world and relationships that are his life.

    The next day we finally got to play ‘the game’ – the squirt game as it became known – super-soakers filled with cold water from the hose. We ran around the yard, squirting, chasing, screaming, laughing, interspersed with bits of 3 year old ‘trash talking’ to challenge the stakes to become more and more wet. The game became a standing afternoon tradition during our stay.

    Fifteen years earlier, Lucy and I played this same game with our other nephew and niece. In fact, we frequently remark how playing with our two nephews is a deja-vu experience. The pleasure of playing with them and building meaningful relationship is both a joy and a delightful responsibility.

    Knowing where I come from and where my roots are is a strong family norm. We can decide what we want to do with them, but we understand where these roots are and what they are about. I notice my 3 year old nephew already being quite clear who is who in his family, who belongs, including his old Chihuahua dog and who are neighbours, friends or community members. My older nephew and niece have heard stories of our youth, of my long-deceased father. They never knew my father in person, but they know him through stories and pictures. They know they are his descendants. My younger nephew will also hear some of those stories and will know his grandfather through the mannerisms and decisions and values and virtues his own father practises and instills in him.

    Knowing our roots helps us know where we belong. It helps us clarify where home is. When we are clear where we belong, we can better find our place in the world, our place in our adult world beyond the family of our childhood. If we are unclear where we belong or never felt like we belonged because abuse, adoption, trauma, tragedy, neglect, immigration, etc, in our family of origin has not been resolved, we tend to carry a deep confusion in our psyches, creating blocks and confusion in our key adult relationships, whether at home or at work.

    As my nephew is learning that he belongs to our family, not only through birth, but more importantly, through love, he is developing a conscience which will help him navigate the parameters of this most important reference group – his family. According to Family Constellations Systems theory, three key reference groups help form our sense of belonging: family group, social environment and ethnic group, religion and culture we have grown up in, respectively.

    Without us being necessarily conscious of this ‘equilibrium of belonging’ that we are navigating, we are constantly asking these two questions: “What do I have to do to belong?” and “What do I avoid to prevent being excluded?”

    The fear of exclusion sits deep within our psyche and we are hardwired as vulnerable children to choose belonging, regardless of the rules, behaviours and norms we take on, rather than choose autonomy. Belonging, as children, is an matter of survival! To belong and to bond with our family, we are required to stand behind our parents and be loyal to them. Can you see where conscience comes into play?

    In this last quarter of 2014, I invite you to explore your relationships and where you are creating peace in core relationships and where you are blocked or sabotaging yourself from doing so. Return to your goals and commitments for 2014 and evaluate the results you have attained this far. What yet needs your attention to create more peace in your relationships, whether at home or at work?

    As you take your next steps for this last quarter, reflect on these questions:

    • Where are the places or groups I belong?
    • What do I have to do to belong in these groups?
    • What do I avoid to prevent being excluded from them?
    • How do these choices and behaviours limit or expand my conscience in love?
    • What needs to be transformed or change?
    • Where does love need to flow again so I can increase my peace?

    I know this may be a difficult inquiry for some of you. It can be helpful to have additional support as you explore these questions and further pursue your journey toward greater inner peace and peace within your relationships, whether personally or in your work. This may be the perfect time to consider a soul coaching partnership with me to help you get unstuck and find the right movement to reflect what makes you whole, balanced and more peaceful.

    Namaste, Shirley Lynn

  • Creating Peace in my Garden

    As I am writing this, CBC news is in the background. Disturbing current events in Ferguson Missouri, Iraq, Ukraine, Gaza, Israel and Liberia all reinforce how elusive true peace can be.

    I have been questioned why I listen if it disturbs me; however, for me being aware of the violence reminds me to be deeply grateful for peace. It is similar to needing to experience the dark so that I can better appreciate the light. It also motivates me to work for peace in my relationships and in my environment. I may not be able to bring about meaningful change in any of these distant situations but I can affect change/peace in the space I inhabit. I reflected on this as I was gardening today.

    Marys Garden4I have spent the summer wrestling with the weeds in my flower and vegetable gardens; weeds that had too much freedom in the past few years; weeds that never took Shirley Lynn’s workshops on boundaries.

    As I am trying to create order I am becoming aware that not only have weeds overstepped their boundaries so have my flowering perennials. Historically, I have felt guilty for digging up and composting flowers so have either let them grow unchecked or have divided and re-homed them. However, I don’t struggle with the same guilt when it comes to those I deem as weeds. What I am realizing though is that my approach has not lead to creating a peaceful environment in which each plant has an equal opportunity to flourish and succeed … even in my gardens, the survival of the fittest is being played out!

    To establish the peaceful order in the gardens I desire, I need to take corrective action. To have a greater chance of eliminating the invasive plants, I need to dig up the whole plant and get the entire root. If I don’t it will pop up again, maybe not this year, but it will come again.

    Isn’t this how it works in relationships as well? If I am at odds with someone, if there is tension and I choose to either let it go or I half-heartedly try to fix it, the issue will pop up again. When I take corrective action in the gardens I do so with a goal in mind. I know what I am wanting to achieve and I think creating harmonious relationships works the same way.

    I am reading I Am In Here by Elizabeth Bonker and Virginia Breen. (a mother and daughter). It’s about the journey of a child with autism who is nonverbal but communicates by using a letter-board. I will close with her comments and a poem she wrote as a nine year old:

    “I do not believe violence is the answer to any conflict. People are different, but all people want to be treated fairly and shown respect. I believe war could be eliminated if people followed these rules.”

    Peace

    If we all try to get along the world would be a happy place.

    Everyone could have their space.

    War could disappear without a trace.

    That is my wish.

    And mine too. If we could truly understand what nine year old Elizabeth understood, the evening news might sound very different.

    Submitted by Mary Martin

  • Creating Peaceful Relationships: Getting your Ducks in a Row!

    For me, this summer has been incredible in that the humidity has largely been at bay – a blessing to me and our animal companions! It’s also been a summer for contemplating and interacting in ways that connect me more intimately with Nature.

    What has struck me as I’ve been attuning myself to Nature is the Natural Order of things that seems to go in cycles. Well, of course it does, you might think. And yet, that our Earth is so out of balance highlights just how out of order we are and how un-creating with peace we have been in our relationship with Nature.

    This thought has been roaming around in my mind: an order that is being imposed from the outside will remain superficial; an order that comes from the inside, however, will have a deep impact.

    Seeds come before the plants. Plants come before the fruit. Spring precedes summer which precedes fall. Moisture must ascend before rain descends. Grandparents come before parents who come before children. It cannot be otherwise. It just is. This natural order which unfolds in cycles is the blueprint of Nature. It keeps things healthy and alive and indeed, even evolutionary.

    Our souls follow this blueprint too and when we are connected and attuned to our souls, we return to this internal order of recognizing what and who comes before us and what and who comes after us. For example, when parents forget they come before the child with all the responsibility of coming first, the child will often compensate, leaving their place of the child to take over the parent role. We all recognize this relationship is out of order with many inherent consequences. Yet, bringing order back to our lives often involves step by step actions of courage because in that re-ordering we actually find our balance and our place in the world. It means acknowledging ‘what is as it as’ without wanting or wishing that a new order can be created. Parents precede children, in any species.

    Here are two parables about natural order unfolding, helping a desired outcome to occur with ease and with the least resistance:

    1. When ducks sit on the edge of a river bank, they often sit scattered and in any form to attend to their feathers and bodies. When it’s time to move, they all get in a row and begin their journey.
    2. Imagine you are on a teeter-totter, sitting on one side while the other side is empty. Clearly the side you are sitting on is on the ground (Point A) and the other side is in the air (Point B). Imagine that Point B is where you want to go to realize a personal goal. Now imagine beginning to climb the teeter-totter towards the centre leverage point and toward Point B. Here’s the crux … just as you get close to the centre, the leverage point, the teeter-totter gets very shaky and feels ever more challenging to balance. What do you do? Return in fear to Point A? Or keep going past the shakiness and perceived imbalance to the other side where a new sturdiness comes as the teeter-totter shifts and now Point B becomes the grounded place?

    What can we learn from this? That only when you take action do all your ducks begin to get in a row. You do not have to have all your ducks in a row before you take action to start what excites you. Following what happens naturally and respecting the natural order of what comes first and what comes next in the way you strive to accomplish your goals supports your success with the path of least resistance.

    As you consider the fall and where you are on your path of what you wanted to accomplish this year in creating peaceful relationships, what needs to come back into order? Are you clear on this order? If you are not clear and going in circles or continuously facing the same issues, what new and courageous step are you prepared to take?

    We are about to enter the last quarter of 2014. I urge you to make the most of it. Make peaceful relationships your priority.

    Namaste, Shirley Lynn

  • Creating Peaceful Relationships in Community: “Hello, my friend, it is good to see you again”

    Six years ago, I made the decision to visit my mum and sister in Cape Town at least once, if not twice a year because of mum’s inability to travel. I headed south and bought a little apartment in the community of Hout Bay, twenty minutes outside of Cape Town. The beach in Hout Bay is surrounded by mountains and has been a source of major revelations for me, as has the unique community the mountains enfold.

    Hout BayAbout three years ago, on a beautiful Sunday morning, I headed to the beach and greeted the car guard who had been a constant presence every time I visited. In South Africa, car guards keep watch over vehicles to help avoid break-ins. I normally walked for about an hour, but on this particular day, I was gone for three hours – there were dolphins playing and I saw a sea otter. When I got back to the car, the guard said, “Madam, I was worried about you, you have been gone so long.” I really got that he cared about me. Subsequently, we greeted each other enthusiastically when I returned but didn’t interact on a deeper level.

    In November last year, I arrived at the beach and said, “Hello, my friend, it is good to see you again.” He looked at me and said, “Madam, my name is Junior.” I was at a loss for words. I had known this man for six years, he had looked out for me and looked after my vehicle and I had never once thought to ask him his name. Shame on me!

    Just before Christmas, when I arrived at the beach Junior didn’t greet me with the same upbeat energy. I said, “Junior, what’s up today?” He said, “My daddy died yesterday. I have to go home to DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) for his funeral – I have to be there to bury him.” To get there he had to hitch a ride to Johannesburg (equivalent Toronto to Nova Scotia), take a bus north and finally a small aircraft to his village. In all, he thought it would probably cost R2,000.00 – he earns about R100.00 per day. He did not ask me for money – just told me the facts.

    I met a friend on the beach and told her his story. She said, “Why doHout Bay 2n’t you go on Hout Bay Organized and see if there is anyone willing to donate money towards his trip?” I had not heard about the site, but joined that afternoon and posted a request for help. The response was overwhelming and the following day, between my contribution and that of other Hout Bay residents Junior had about R1,500.00 towards his trip.

    It was through this site that I heard about the 50c Hangberg Feeding Project. Four times a week local restaurants, residents and grocery stores feed the children of Hangberg (a depressed area adjacent to the harbour) at the Angels of Mercy Orphanage. The children pay 50c if they can afford it and if they can’t they are given food anyway. Then there is DAWG, a local non-profit animal care facility helping animals of IY (the local township where people live in abject poverty).

    One day I drove over the mountain and saw huge flames licking up into the sky above IY. A granny had fallen asleep with a pot over the fire in her shack. Many people lost all their possessions, but what struck me was the outpouring of support from the community. Food, clothing, bedding and furnishings were donated, temporary accommodation and building materials provided. One woman donated wood siding to her maid to replace her shack. She learned that her maid had sold the wood and was incensed. Someone else commented, saying, “You gave the wood to your maid, it became hers. She chose to sell the wood, rather than build a new home. That is her prerogative. How do you know what she considers to be important – maybe she needed food more than shelter? Once a gift is given, control over the gift is relinquished.

    I also recently got to interact with three other car guards – Rob, Richard and Mel. They are all alcoholics who live ‘rough’ but each have two dogs and worked around the restaurant area guarding cars. One evening I said to Rob, “Your dogs are well cared for.” He said, “They are my priority – they eat before I do.” Richard and Mel were both admitted to hospital recently and Rob is looking after all the dogs, finding it very difficult in the wet, cold Cape winter (he lives on the mountain in a tent). The community donated food – someone even donated coats for the dogs to keep them dry. It is heart-warming to know that countless Hout Bayans are helping to take care of those less fortunate than themselves.

    If Junior had not reached out to me, and I had not used the social media available to me, I would not have learned about the amazing work that is being done in The Bay. If I had not shared how good it was to see him and to explore being ‘his neighbour’, I would not have been privileged to know him on a deeper level. I would not have heard the many stories involving people who give to those in need in this little community. If only every community, in every town or city, in every province or country could contribute as generously to their neighbour, the world would truly be a better and more peaceful place. I experienced compassion from Junior and I learned to be his neighbour in a heart-full, non-judgemental way.

    Who are the neighbours you need to know by name? What actions of compassion and non-judgement just might open the door to an unexpected gift of community and peaceful relationship? Share with me the joy of this discovery and practice of creating peaceful relationships in simply knowing my neighbour’s name.

    Namaste,

    Janice Naisby, Editor at Homes and Cottages Magazine.

    Written for Feathers, Rainbows & Roses

  • Creating Peaceful Relationship with Oxygen

    I attended the same gathering of Reiki practitioners as Lucy (see previous blog Open your senses, Nature is calling…), seeking to appreciate and become more knowledgeable and intimate with Nature. It is a project we are exploring as a budding community and as you can imagine, Nature is surprising us at every turn.

    This past year, we at Feathers, Rainbows & Roses have been exploring, contemplating, practising and learning new skills to enhance the experience of ‘creating peaceful relationships’. Not only do we need to cultivate these relationships with our family and friends, but equally important, we need to cultivate this kind of peaceful exchange within ourselves, our animals and also with our environment. Too frequently we forget to include the essential dynamic of our surroundings and of Nature in our discussions of creating peace within and peace within relationships.

    In this gathering, I chose to study a picture of an oxygen atom. It was a beautiful picture that drew me into exploring the nature and consciousness of this single atom on the periodic table … a 10th grade chemistry lesson that at the time was dry and without meaning. However, this time, my intention was to listen and experience a connection with this atom of O2, to step into its energy field, so to speak.

    Instantly, my energy began to expand. With every breath I could feel O2 intensifying and expanding my field. I spent 5 minutes just being with oxygen, just concentrating on this atom and all it was offering me about itself. My cells began to feel more full and my brain clear. It was an incredible moment.

    After a few moments, I thought to myself, “wouldn’t it be nice to explore hydrogen now too.” I went to put down the picture of O2 and to my surprise, I couldn’t let it go. I couldn’t put it aside. I began to realize I can’t ever put it aside until that moment my soul leaves my life and transitions back to spirit. Who knows how oxygen operates with Spirit, but I trust it does in some way.

    In a most miraculous way, I experienced the way oxygen is LIFE. It doesn’t just give Life, IT IS LIFE! I knew this information from 10th grade Chemistry, but to experience such knowing from the inner being of my cells was indeed a moment of radical awareness. Much more than knowledge! From this simple exercise, my awareness is deeply expanded and I have a new ally and friend in life … Oxygen!

    I didn’t realize I needed to be at peace with oxygen, however, if I never develop full awareness of what gives and affirms my life, how can I really experience peace? How can I be truly grateful for life, because I lack awareness of what all gives me life.

    This summer weather in Ontario has been a wonderful gift, at least in my terms of summer weather. Each time I step out and breathe in the oxygen provided in the community of hydrogen and summer scents, my gratitude and sense of inner peace is grounded and more deeply anchored within. Connecting with oxygen to some may not answer the world’s issues, but we are doing so much to zap oxygen from our environment.

    The concept of a golden rule, in which we do to others only what we would want others to do to us, can be found in one form or another as far back as the civilizations of ancient China, Babylon, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. It has also been called an ethic of reciprocity which can be found in all cultures, in all world religions as well as in the philosophies of humanists and existentialists. In short, it’s one ethical code that most of humanity can agree on.

    I wonder what would happen if we consciously and collectively applied this golden rule to a single atom of Oxygen everyday of our lives. I think a miracle just might occur and we would have peace in our hearts and peace on the planet!

    So breathe deep and have an oxygen-blessed summer!

    Namaste, Shirley Lynn

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