Category: newsletter intro

Have you looked at the sky the last couple of nights? It’s full moon time! The full pink super moon arrives Tuesday, April 7. Of course it is not actually pink; the pink moniker refers to the time that the pink phlox—one of the first flowers of spring—begins to bloom. Full moon time always feels like sort of a springtime or renewal for me, reminding me that I can reach toward the light for nourishment like a flower. I tend to have more vivid dreams and more intense meditations starting about 3-4 days before the moon is fully full. Through […]

I don’t have too many memories from childhood, but this one is vivid. I was five years old. Nikki, our 2-year-old black German Shepherd made a harrowing scream/howl sound from the backyard. My mother rushed outside to find her collapsed on the patio. It gets a bit cloudy here, but I think the dog either died there or my mother called someone to come stay with my little brother and I while she rushed Nikki to the vet. In any case, our precious pet was suddenly and tragically gone. When my dad came home from work that afternoon, I remember […]

Last week, a friend sent me an article written by a channeler who says he connected with the Coronavirus. Then on Saturday, I was on a Zoom call with a local woman who channeled Source energy. What each had to say was surprisingly similar. You may not believe in this kind of stuff. It’s even stretch for me to imagine that someone connected with a virus. But their messages got me thinking. What if the Coronavirus is not our enemy? What if it is trying to explain that slowing life down is the bigger medicine our world needs right now? […]

A short time ago, I began working with the idea of being comfortable in discomfort. I’m certainly getting an opportunity to practice now! Over the past few weeks, I have run the gamut of feelings from skeptical, shocked, angry, exhausted, overwhelmed, vulnerable, heavy-hearted, isolated and fearful. But I have also felt prayerful, peaceful, joyful and hopeful. It’s possible to have two kinds of feelings at once: comfort/discomfort. Mostly I’m trying not to worry because I know it doesn’t make one bit of positive difference. “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength,” said Corrie ten Boom, a […]

When I was 17, I almost drowned. I was swimming with my family at a California beach and got caught in a current. At first I panicked, fighting to get my head above water, thrashing “ass over elbow” as my father would say.  Then somehow a sense of calm came over me, and I began rolling in the water. I felt like those yin-yang images of dolphins with their backs curved into an upside down “u” shape, flowing in a circle. Like a mantra, I was saying to myself: “I’m drowning, I’m drowning, I’m drowning.” No worry, no struggle, just […]

Have you ever had a really special moment, but not realized it until the moment was over? It happened to me last week.  I was privileged to take a short trip with my family to Mallorca, Spain, and on our last day we decided to visit the Sanctuary of Lluc in the Tramuntana mountains. In a small chapel behind the main sanctuary there is a Black Madonna statue, La Moreneta, considered the patron saint of the island. I am intrigued by Black Madonnas as an aspect of the Divine Feminine, and I have long wanted to see one. They are […]

I got a simple yet powerful lesson from nature last week. My friend Maria (walkinginspiritus.com) is working to become a nature coach, and I have agreed to be one of her practice clients. We met at a park and walked along a wooded path while she asked me thought-provoking questions. Then she invited me to wander off the path to discover some answers. My instructions were to go toward what called to me and to do what my body felt like doing.  As I moved off trail, I had to slog through deep snow, and I felt an old leg […]

At a recent Qoya retreat, I had the opportunity to practice seeing with my “heart eye,” an energetic tool from the Inka tradition taught by Elizabeth B. Jenkins. You can read more about Elizabeth and the practices in her book, The Fourth Level, at elizabethbjenkins.com. My understanding of seeing with the heart eye is that it allows one to move out of the energy of judgement and into the energy of compassion. Compassion. Doesn’t that feel so essential right now?  At the retreat, looking through my heart eye into the heart of a dear friend was both spectacularly beautiful and easy. […]

I listen to lots of music. And every once in a while, a song lyric will stop me in my tracks. Last week, it was this hook from “Flower in the Gun” by Michael Franti & Spearhead: We could be the healin’When you’re feeling all aloneWe could be the reasonTo find the strength to carry onIn a world that’s so dividedWe shall overcomeWe could be the healingWe can be the flower in the gun This song came to me as I was pondering the idea of Living in Love—the theme of this week’s Valentine’s night Qoya class. In the ad […]

I received a facial roller for Christmas. In case you don’t know what it is, the premise behind it is that you roll the healing stone over your skin to help ease the appearance of lines, wrinkles and under-eye bags. Does it work? Let’s just say no one has told me I look 10 years younger. But my roller is made of rose quartz—stone of universal love. So, each morning I move it over my face and tell myself “I love you.” And, even though it feels a bit awkward, using it in this way works wonders!  I believe our […]