I had lost course,\n\nbut now I have found -\n\nonce again-\n\nmy metaphysical oarsman.\n\nReady to paddle,\n\nfull steam ahead,\n\ninto the river of life-\n\nthe stream of existence,\n\nand the ocean of the universe.\n\nRow with me,\n\nas together….\n\nWe unlock the secrets;\n\nOf Being.\n\n\n

image credit: allposters.com

Yoga has been such an amazing part of my journey to wholeness and balance and I am so grateful to myself for making and sticking with my commitment to the practice. This week I was reading Yoga Journal and there was an article about having a home practice. I started my practice at a gym a little over 5 years ago and about 4 years ago I brought it home with a video that a friend had given me of Rodney Yee.

Rodney and I have a date now just about every morning for AM Stretch. I love this video because its only 20 minutes. Heck anybody can squeeze 20 minutes in right? “They” say that 20 minutes of practice several times a week is as good for you if not better than a full hour and a half practice.

So I’m reading this article and it’s talking about different sequences you can try and different times of the day that you can practice and how having a home practice can seem a little daunting at first to most people because they just can’t figure out how to do yoga with out a little help and guidance from a teacher.

This is why I love Rodney, he’s with me every morning – by now I’ve actually memorized the entire video. He’s consistent, always there and he’s my favorite way to start the day. The thing that’s nice about doing the same video every morning is I really get to see where I’m at. Some days I’m not on the mat at all and I catch myself doing my leg stretch about 10 seconds ahead of Rodney – this would be a day where I’m ahead of myself. Other days I listen to my body and give myself extra time in Down Dog – this is where I’m really in touch with what my body needs. Then we have days like today. The funny thing about home practice is of course you are doing it at home!

So here we go starting out with a little relaxation to get present:

Rodney – “Surrender to the Earth”

Upstairs – CRAAASH (“Sorry Ms. Wyldfyre – I dropped the chair”, says Nate my son’s buddy who slept over)

Now we move through the relaxation process and we are really cooking – moving our legs left, and right, stretching the arms out to the side, now we’re in bridge pose. What a great morning! Moving along now we roll over into cobra, now back to the mat, now updog – What’s that? Updog????

Kack, Kack, Kack – It’s the sound of my 17 year old labrador making vomit on the floor – quick off the mat, run to the kitchen, shoo the cat away, grab the paper towels! Bend, stretch, squat, wipe, run for the rubbish barrel, Ack out of paper towels – shoo kitty get away from the there, wipe some more, ok all cleaned up! Now where were we?

Oops – missed Downdog, missed Lunge, missed Supported Chair Pose – God Rodney’s already back on the floor, no standing poses today.

Alright, lets get focused and back on the mat again – Staff Pose into the twist, moving right along twisting to the left, twisting to the right, cleanse those toxins, now cross legged, now up on the pillow for the final forward bends and prepare for meditation.

Closing the eyes, feeling the head right over the chest (WOOF!) , focusing on the breath (WOORF!), feeling the eyes relax back into the head (WOOF! WOOF! WOOF! Pukey dog wants in but he’s going to have to wait) Now entering into 2 minutes of meditation to center the mind (WOOF! WOORF! WOORF!) (MEOW, MRow – now Kitty is joining the chorus).

And me? I’m in the silence. Centered, balanced, focused, and serene – WHAT??? My 2 minutes is up? Thank you God for Yoga, for Rodney, for Kids and Cats and Dogs and Life. It’s all good. Wonder what my practice will be like tomorrow…….

Have a great day!

Amethyst Wyldfyre is a multidimensional shaman, healer, artist, author, blogger, performer, speaker and psychic who lives and works in the Merrimack Valley of NH. She can be reached through her website or blog for more information. She can also be followed on Twitter at @AWyldfyre. (This article was originally published online in my blog at Gaia.com in 2007 – my good old dog has since passed – I still workout to Rodney Yee only now I have 3 more tapes that a dear shaman friend gave to me so I have a little variety – they say that’s the spice of life!)

(The top half of this post was originally published in December of 2007 on Applaud Magazine’s blog)

As is customary at this time of year we all take a few moments to say goodbye. Saying goodbye to the year past, saying goodbye to the frenzy of holiday preparation and celebration, saying goodbye to habits that no longer serve. As the year wound to a close I had to say goodbye to an old friend too. My labrador retriever – Blackjack was assisted to cross over last Thursday. Blackjack was what you’d call a “good old dog”. He was a loyal companion and friend, a good watch dog, a guardian and playmate for my son and a true and kind member of our family. At 17 1/2 he lived a long and mostly healthy life. He ran, jumped, played and kibbitzed right on up to 15.

Then he started to slow down a bit, he got a little grey around the edges, he lost his vision. Many people told me after he lost his ability to see that he should be put down but I refused to do that. He was still generally healthy, found his way around the house and the yard well enough and was an integral part of our family life. My boy James was insistent that he should live to die a natural death and so this was a most difficult rite of passage for him. In the last year I knew that time was short. Last Christmas Eve I didn’t think he’d make it through the night and I stayed up late opening sacred space and showing him where the rainbow bridge was. He surprised us all by staying for another whole year! Finally the end drew much nearer. He made it through this Christmas and then went rapidly down hill.

When he couldn’t get up anymore, stopped eating and drinking and had to be picked up to go outside we knew it was time. I opened sacred space before we left the house, called in all of the spirit guides, spirit animals and energies of light to make the way clear and obvious for his spirit, opened his chakras and showed him the rainbow bridge to the other side. It was a tough decision to make but the right thing to do. The vet (Dr. Stephen Frye, Clark Veterinary Hospital in Nashua) was incredibly compassionate, gentle and kind. He helped us to say goodbye in a way that was filled with dignity, grace and the ultimate kindness. Blackjack has already come to work with me in my medicine work, to dance in my dreams and will always be a guardian spirit and friend for my son and our family. While saying goodbye is never easy to do I’m incredibly grateful to Dr. Frye, to my husband Ross and to the lovely Marie Glover at Animal Heaven (in Hollis NH) who made this experience the best that it could be. Goodbye Blackjack and hello once more. May you journey joyfully to your home star and illuminate the path for those of us to follow. Your faithful friendship was a magical gift. With all our Love – Amethyst, Ross and James

December 28, 2008 – When I was contemplating what to write for One Consciousness today I was brought back in time to this time last year and found that I had this lovely article written about a loyal and true friend and companion and felt it was fitting to share in his honor with the readers here.  The whole subject of loyalty has been “up” lately in my life. Most importantly I’ve been getting the guidance to remain loyal to myself – sometimes this can be quite a challenging thing for us to do – our loyalties are torn – we are spread thin – there are so many priorities.  I invite you to use the final days of 2008 to take some time in sacred space and to come back to the center of who you are.  As you do this you may find that some of the activities or people that you’ve been giving your loyalty to aren’t serving you and the greater good any more.  You may find that as you clear your mind, body, heart and Spirit that you are being called to a higher level of loyalty and you may need to apply all the teachings and practices that have brought you thus far to make the changes that are necessary for your growth and evolution right now.

Ayni Despacho Photo from Four Winds Sanctuary Project Site

We just held a despacho ceremony (a ceremony from the Peruvian tradition of shamanism) at our home last night in honor of the new moon followed by fire ceremony.  This despacho was very interesting – we were guided to place many, many prayers in to this gift bundle for Pachamama (Mother Earth)  around what needed to die for us as this year comes to a close.  After all of our group had placed in their prayers I received guidance to lay down over this arrangement of kintus (prayer bundles made with leaves and flowers) a layer of incense & purifying herbs, followed by a layer of “clouds” (made from pieces of cotton balls stretched out) onto which we then placed our prayers and planted the seeds for our becoming.  It was most interesting because it was like two despachos in one – one layered on top of the other with purification between the two.  Take this sacred time to lay down and put to rest what needs to go in your life – purify and cleanse and prepare the canvas/blank page/soil for your seeds, your intentions, your dreams for yourself, your family, your community and your world.  Be loyal to the higher calling.  Let it be.

Amethyst Wyldfyre is a multidimensional shaman, healer, artist, author, blogger, performer, speaker and psychic who lives and works in the Merrimack Valley of NH.  She can be reached through her website or blog for more information.  She can also be followed on Twitter at @AWyldfyre.

Herb - Our 1st (tiny) Living Tree

This year I’ve become so much more conscious about how much my choices effect the world that I live in.  I’ve also become more conscious about my actions being in alignment with what I say/think/feel that my values are.  So as we got closer and closer to Christmas I really began to feel challenged around the idea of getting a tree.  I’ve always had a tree – it’s part of the tradition that I grew up with.  But how could I in good conscience support the practice of cutting down a tree just so I could have something to decorate, look at for a few weeks and then throw out.  I just couldn’t do it.  So I avoided up until last week the whole thought of a tree at all.  I’ve had numerous twitter conversations with eco-friendly and consciously aware people about the whole tree thing and even too about the idea of sending out cards and how that affects our environment – I’m still wondering what the carbon footprint of a Christmas card is and how many are sent each year….

Anyway I was on my way back from a visit to my fave crystal shop in Milford, NH (The Quartz Source – a magical place indeed if you are ever in the neighborhood) and stopped for some Hunza Raisins at Earthward a local Health Food grocery.  They are located next to a greenhouse and there right outside the door of the green house – in answer to my prayers of how to have a tree without killing one – there sat Herb.  Herb is my tree this year.  He told me his name, he showed me where he wants to be planted and he was delighted to come home with me.  He’s lovely and small and sweet and a bit prickly to decorate.  He’s found a temporary home (no more than 7 days inside they said) right beside the fireplace.

Son James came in and said “That’s LAME Mom” but he’ll get used to the idea and I hope will make it a tradition that he brings forward to his family someday when he’s older and everything that I do/say/believe isn’t so LAME to him anymore (13 is an interesting time!).  We decorated Herb last night – after dinner and before going out to remove the almost 2 feet of snow we received to welcome in the first day of Winter.
Here’s what Herb looks like fully dressed for the season!

Herb - Dressed for the Holidays

Hope you enjoy your holidays and give some serious thought to all the “traditional” things that you do – it’s important to shine the light of your awareness on not only what you do but why.  Sometimes a family tradition can be set aside because it just doesn’t make sense any more.  You can honor what came before you – learn from it and move on to create something new.  You don’t have to be stuck doing the same things over and over again just because “that’s the way we’ve always done it”.  Change can be a wonderful, good and true experience.  Learning to not only navigate change with acceptance and grace but to become a change initiator when the time is right is a lesson that we can all benefit from.  May you find peace in your heart and joy in your spirit not only during this “Season of Peace” but through each and every day that you receive the breath of life on your Earthwalk.  With great love and much light – Happy Holidays to all who celebrate in every tradition and every religion – the returning of the Light.

Amethyst Wyldfyre is a multidimensional healer, artist, author, speaker,  performer, soul path and psychic development coach who talks to trees, stones, clouds, animals and snowflakes in addition to members of the human family!  She can be reached through her website or through her blog.

by LaSara Firefox, MPNLP

When it comes to the delicate matter of belief, there are creative ways to answer our children’s questions without taking the magic out of it all.

When my oldest daughter was about five, she asked whether Santa Claus was real. Her dad and I her told that Santa is real to those who believe.

Is love real? Is hope real? Is magic real? Is faith real? We can’t touch or see any of these things, but most of us do believe in at least a few of them. In some cases, we can feel them. In others, we see proof of them appearing in the physical world.

I, for one, still believe in Santa Claus, and always will.

I believe that Tibetan Lamas reincarnate with full recall of their previous lives. I believe in Knights in shining armor, and Princesses in towers. (As much as it irks my post-riot-grrl self to admit it!)

But I do believe. I believe in faeries, and faerie tales, pookas, ghosts, saints, and goblins. And I believe in Christmas miracles. Just like I believe in God,with It’s ineffability, and the many faces It wears.

Jitterbug Perfume by Tim Robbins has one of the best descriptions I’ve seen of the human relationship with deity. Basically, the premise is this: the gods depend upon our belief in them to survive. Our belief makes them real.

The power of belief is an important gift we must safeguard and instruct in our children. Without belief, we are cast adrift on an endless, meaningless sea. Belief offers a rudder when nothing else makes sense. Belief is what we build our lives upon.

I will never tell my kids that Santa Claus is not real, because I myself believe in Santa.

My oldest daughter is now 11. She started our Christmas festivities by saying she no longer believes in Santa. And then complained when she didn’t feel the Christmas Spirit flooding her as we trimmed the tree.

I talked to her about faith.

(Article continued after break…)

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Sometimes it has been hard to have faith that Santa will come. I admit it; I test The Spirit from time to time. A couple of years ago I made one such test. It was my first Christmas post-divorce. I had no one to give my Christmas list to. No one to tell what I hoped to find under the tree.

That year it was hard to find my belief in the Spirit of Christmas. I prayed to the universe to enforce my faith.

I wanted proof that Santa was still real. I wanted Indoor/outdoor, Ugg-like slippers. It was what I wanted.

It was a deal between me and God, and God knew exactly what was required to prove my faith.

I know, it’s kind of petty.

But come Christmas, I did get gifted a pair of slippers. My sister didn’t buy them for me, but for another family member. When they didn’t fit the growing girl, my sister asked me to take them instead – she didn’t want to go to the trouble of carrying them home on the plane and exchanging them.

I whispered a thank you to Santa, and reminded myself that sometimes God works in mysterious ways.

So does Santa. He still makes miracles occur, or at least the belief in him does. I didn’t know my sister was bringing slippers for the nieces. She didn’t know I wanted them, either. But he did. And he delivered.

Throughout my life I have seen miracles of Christmas faith occur, large and small.

Movies are built on the theme of the Christmas Miracle. But even off the screen, I have seen food banks fill, at least for one day, with more than enough to feed the local poor. I’ve seen people open their doors to strangers so they would have somewhere to be on Christmas morning. I’ve seen communities pull together and provide gifts for children who would have otherwise gone without.

To quote the words of song writer Red West, popularized by Elvis, “if every day could be just like christmas, what a wonderful world this would be.”

As a Mystic mama, I don’t feel like a liar, hypocrite, or as though I’m misleading my children by allowing them to believe in a power that makes thier child-lives a little more happy, a little more bountiful, a little more hopeful, a little more magical.

The Holiday spirit does exist. It’s palpable. It acts in the world. Call it the power of faith, or Jesus, or Santa Claus, or generosity. It’s an invocation of some sense of love for our fellow man.

Regardless of the name we give it, it sustains. It acts through each of us, bringing miracles to bear.

Kind of like God.

About the author:
LaSara Firefox, MPNLP, is a coach, trainer, and author. LaSara helps clients find balance in their lives, and alignment with their personal and family-held values. She teaches and coaches internationally. She’s wife to an outstanding man, and mom to two brilliant girls.

You can find out more about LaSara at http://www.lasarafirefox.com. While you’re there, be sure to check out her December coaching special – the VERY affordable Body, Mind, and Spirit Renewal program.

(Feel free to share this article, in its entirety. Please leave the document intact, and links active. THANKS!!!!)

Friday is the Day to Create Peace

Friday: Creating for Peace

Today, come up with at least one creative idea to resolve a conflict, either in your personal life or your family circle or among friends. If you can, try and create an idea that applies to your community, the nation, or the whole world.

You may:

• change an old habit that isn’t working
• look at someone a new way
• offer words you never offered before
• think of an activity that brings people together in good feeling and laughter.

Second, invite a family member or friend to come up with one creative idea of this kind on their own. Creativity feels best when you are the one thinking up the new idea or approach.

• Make it known that you accept and enjoy creativity.
• Be loose and easy.
• Let the ideas flow and try out anything that has appeal.

The purpose here is to bond, because only when you bond with others can there be mutual trust. When you trust, there is no need for hidden hostility and suspicion, which are the two great enemies of peace.

Please support my intention for peace by going to Intent.com. Then create your own intention to add the power of your intention toward peace in the world. Share this message with all your friends to create a tidal wave of peace for the planet right now.

~| Deepak Chopra