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Believe Energy Healing Reiki Uncategorized

Be Open… or Not.

One of my classic B-isms: Not everything is for everybody.  Reiki is such a strong example of that.  It’s subjective.  It’s situational.  It’s suited for some, or from some and not for others, from others or between others.  Like a massage—what feels good for me might not be what you need.  Or choosing a meal from a menu—you and I probably don’t order the same thing(s).  And it’s all good.  You don’t have to like what I like.  I don’t have to find peace on the same path where you wade through yours.

I met with a first-time client this week.  When I tell you that animals pick up on and respond to our energies, this family could be the textbook case.  The matriarch of the family presented some specific questions and issues she wanted me to address with her companion animal.  Before I could explain to her that Animal Reiki doesn’t necessarily work that way (your animal is not filling out a questionnaire or being hooked up to a lie detector), she then changed all of her questions and purposes.  Her energy was like a bouncing rubber ball, pinging off of every surface, sometimes with grace and sometimes with force, trying to communicate what she thought we needed to attain from our time together… I wonder why your cat is an anxious little guy?!

I share this anecdote as a lesson: Be open.  Or not.  Reiki, like anything else, doesn’t suit every being or every situation.  But if you do want to try giving or receiving energy work in Reiki or in another capacity, please exhale and let it flow.  Energy work is not to be micro-managed (and this is coming from the queen of micro-management!).  There’s an openness, an exchange, a flow that needs to be accessible for the energy to work its magic.  It’s not for everyone.  There are some days that I, as a practitioner, am not in the best head-space to give or receive either.  Like I said before, it’s subjective.  But it’s damn powerful.  So don’t focus on feeling “ready” or looking for the right time, place, set and setting—just be open.  Be open to the magic, to the possibilities.

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August 28, 2016
Bunnies Reiki Uncategorized

Rituals

I describe myself as highly routinized. For my own good, I’ve loosened up a bit over the past few years and more markedly, over the past few months.  I do attribute my massive success (and I define success as happiness and daily bliss) to my habits and patterns.  This way of life, as rigid as it can be sometimes, just comes naturally to me.  It’s the way my system was programmed.  Even my downtime, my free time has rules to it.

I start my days by stepping outside and taking a few moments to be present.  Up until very recently, I would start my days by grabbing my phone, starting the cycle of checking and obsessing.  I’ve worked to replace that habit with taking myself out to the deck and listening.  Some days, I do find myself on the screen before I’m on the grass but this part of the routine is a work in progress.  Starting the day by taking a few moments to just breathe and be outside sets a different tone—the intensity to do, to go, to be somewhere else drifts away.  Try it.  A gift I got from my meditation coach and friend.

I come in from outside and flick on the diffusers, usually Thieves in the bathroom and today it’s a combination of tangerine and orange in the kitchen/living room.  The oils have become just as integral to my routine as coffee.  On work days, I hop in the shower; on non-work days, I feed boys, then fed myself.  Breakfast is a piece of Ezekiel toast with peanut butter and a dark roast coffee with sugar and MCT oil. Work days: I eat, ready, dress and leave.  Non-work days: I eat and shuffle between housework, Rescue work and catching up on completely junk television.  I check my phone too often (working on it!) and I beat myself up for not reading more.  I always say: the more you read, the better looking you get.

I’m profoundly a morning person, so whether it’s formal work or not, the best of it happens early.  The day flows methodically.  Accomplishments abound.  Even the downtime is structured.  But it works for me.  Example: I don’t leave the house on Sundays.  The bunny-daddy started that tradition.  If there’s an absolutely unavoidable exit of the house on a Sunday, another day of house-arrest is substituted.  Adding this to the rituals has made me carve out time for self-care and a clear boundary that I can’t overload myself with more “stuff” for anyone or any institution.  It’s my day around the Manor.

My days round out with a short Reiki session for each of the boys and I’m always in bed early.  I need a lot of sleep.  It’s just a fact of who I am and I’m grateful to know myself and meet those needs.  And yes, even the extended vacation on the horizon from the day job will be filled with structure, routines… the rituals that make this success continue to flow.  It’s difficult for me to “do nothing,” sometimes to the point of torturous, but that’s something I’m working on for sure.  I need to give myself permission to just be, to restore.

Adding to the routine this summer: more outside time, more books, more quiet.

Subtracting from the machine: checking my phone as much as I do, negative self-talk when I do “nothing.”

Now, go do something for you.  Get outside.  Or come wash my dishes so I can…

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Take some time to relax!

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June 12, 2016
Bunnies Energy Purpose Rescue Uncategorized

On Purpose

I thought I was going to write about something completely different today… But as I sat down, clicked the diffuser on and powered up the laptop, I realized I hadn’t tore off today’s calendar page.  I have a Dr. Wayne Dyer page-a-day calendar on the mess I call a desk.  I usually tear the page in the morning, but I didn’t today.  I did it just now.  And it says: “Purpose is about giving to yourself unconditionally and accepting what comes back with love, even if what comes back is not what you anticipated.”

Purpose

Yesterday, I spent part of my afternoon covering an extra shift of “bunny chores” at our main foster home.  Clean, vacuum, feed, love, repeat. Another volunteer, Nicole, who is beyond generous with her time on a regular basis, joined me for some extra help.  We both have typical “day jobs” with the standard Saturday and Sunday off.  We both have significant others, significant families and significant relaxing to do.  Now, I can’t speak for Nicole, but I felt more alive, more in my truth for those 2 hours yesterday than in most moments I have at “work.”  Tending the rabbits is my Purpose.  Sometimes I get gentle bunny kisses out of it and of course, I relish in the amazing feeling when we help make a family complete through adoptions, but what I really “get” out of what I do through Rescue isn’t in this dimension.  At all.  Nicole and I haven’t talked about it, but I can sense that she “gets” it too.  She’s an Earth Angel, whether she knows it yet or not.

After those chores wrapped up, I headed over to set up an education visit.  A family contacted us about their rabbit, whom they perceived to be “aggressive.”  Note: unless you are Romaine lettuce, a rabbit is not aggressive toward you.  The family thought they needed to rehome him, but I sensed from their email that they were open to trying to make things work—this wasn’t the typical “We don’t want this thing in our house anymore” dumper email.  I offered to have volunteers visit the family, check out their set up and offer some care and handling advice.  When I put out the call for help on our end, Lisa and Jo were amongst the ones who offered.  Lisa and Jo successfully rehabbed the “aggressive” Captain so I knew they were the right volunteers for this visit.  I am ever so grateful that I was able to get this education visit started and leave Lisa and Jo to do their magic.  Sometimes, Rescue can feel like a one-woman-show (with NO disrespect to my fellow volunteers!  You know there are far more tasks to do than there are volunteers to accomplish them!).  From what I hear, the visit went well; the family is relieved and armed with techniques to care for their bunny boy.

If you would have told me that this is what I would do with my free time in my adult life, I would have recommended you seek help for your crazy thoughts.  But even just writing about this stuff awakens my heart, uplifts my energies, makes every cell in this 5’4’’ frame shake with power.  I feel so blessed to have found my Purpose.  I’m proud of myself for being open to it, for taking the opportunities afforded to me, for saying yes whenever I can.  Yours is out there, I promise.  I didn’t invent mine; I didn’t seek it out.  It found me and I let it fill my soul.  Hop your path, binky into your truth… on Purpose.

And I just realized, that’s Magnify Your Purpose wafting from the diffuser.  Powerfully delicious.  Have a fulfilling week, darlings.

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May 22, 2016
Believe Bunnies meditation Purpose Uncategorized

Hop the Hop

I advise everyone, yes everyone, who asks for coaching, mentorship or just plain advice from me to meditate.  And yet, my practice of meditation is less than consistent!  Since I was on vacation from my “day job” this week, I took the opportunity to talk the talk AND walk the walk… or should we say hop the hop!

My meditation coach and treasured friend Debbie describes meditation and mindfulness as “paying attention on purpose in the present moment non-judgmentally” using the body and all sensory systems.  Start as simply as her directive of “Just Sit.”  That’s where the magic happens.  Believe in the potential or not… you know it’s worth a try!

Debbie trained at The University of Massachusetts Medical School Center for Mindfulness under the direct guidance of the incredible Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, so there’s plenty of legit science behind all of this spiritual practice.  Accompanied by fellow Rabbit Rescue volunteer Nicole, I attended a talk Debbie gave this week at Turn of the Corkscrew in Rockville Centre.  Armed with my notebook and my renewed commitment to my own practice, I soaked in all of the goodies from Debbie’s wise words and guided meditations.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and its approach to a mediation practice fits well into my human experience.  It’s not the type of practice where you have to run off into the woods with no shoes on and clear you mind completely for hours to reap benefits—quite the opposite.  Debbie reminded the attendees throughout her talk that mindfulness meditation is an exercise to strengthen our brain.  And just like any other muscle or body system, the brain needs work to see progress or change.  You aren’t going to lose weight by eating differently for one day.  You aren’t going to get sick abs by exercising for one week.  It’s all a practice.  In this case, it’s a practice of “lifting emotional weights.”

And this practice is one that helps us to “respond skillfully rather than react,” which is an invaluable skill for me in both my day job and in Rescue.  I receive emails, many of which seem or are urgent, and calls about cases that are literally life or death situations for abandoned rabbits.  If I react, I’m in an ineffective panic.  When I remember to breathe, then respond skillfully, cases are appropriately prioritized and more lives get saved.

Toward the end of her talk, Debbie said, “It’s not about getting rid of stress—it’s developing a new relationship to it.”  And that’s a refreshing truth that I think will resonate with a lot of you reading this.  No matter what passion and path you are hopping, walking, trotting, whatever, stressors are real.  Obstacles appear and sometimes persist.  A meditation practice, even 2 minutes a day, can be the key to surmounting those stressors.  And since I advocate so heavily for the practice, I will hop the hop with you.  Just sit.  And as Debbie says, “Trust in the wisdom.”

“Like” Debbie’s page on Facebook, please.

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Tater Tot meditates too!

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May 1, 2016
Believe Purpose Rescue Uncategorized

Feel and Focus

On Friday evening, I sat amongst a diverse yet like-minded group at Yoga Journal Live to hear Gabby Bernstein’s talk entitled True Power.  When I explain who Gabby Bernstein is to people, I call her the Marianne Williamson of the younger set.  If none of this is resonating with you, stop reading this and go turn on Super Soul Sunday on OWN or make a quick trip to the library or to smile.amazon.com, pick Long Island Rabbit Rescue as your charity of choice, then treat yourself to some powerful nonfiction by either of the aforementioned ladies.

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Ms. Bernstein sharing her True Power

As in my nature, I took a lot of notes during Gabby’s talk (Metatron is my guide and he’s known as God’s scribe so it all comes naturally to me).  As I review my scribbled pages, the phrase “You can dictate what you feel based on what you focus on” is shining at me this morning.  You hear a lot of the same refrain from acquaintances, colleagues, and family members about being so busy, too busy, overwhelmed and overbooked.  But it’s all about choice and focus for me.

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Always prepared to take good notes

I work a traditional Monday to Friday job, I coordinate a non-profit organization (that logs far more hours than my “job” does) and I have responsibilities and appointments, social and non, that filter through the days as well.  At the day job, I can certainly feel busy, stressed, uncomfortable, drowning, fighting a losing battle at the most extreme of times.  Now shift the focus, make the choice…  Yesterday was a typical Saturday for me, as I handled a steady stream of Rescue emails, managed the group’s social media accounts (except Instagram, that one I’ve thankfully delegated out to the squad), handled phone calls and texts from volunteers who themselves are managing some complex rescue cases, completed two outstanding home visits for potential adopters, had lunch with a treasured friend, did three loads of laundry, food shopped… but guess what, loves?  I felt completely alive, blessed and happy through it all.  Not for a second did I choose to feel busy, stressed, or overbooked.

This is not a brag-post.  This is a message that you can do it all, have it all and be it all if you “embrace the light” as Gabby reminded the 700+ attendees at her talk on Friday.  As soon as I embraced my life’s purpose, the moment I found my truth, I left behind those crazed feelings of drowning through all the things I had to do.  I can now have a packed day of smiles and movement.  I shifted from my former refrain of “I have so much to do” to my divine inner monologue of “I feel completely alive and on my mission.”

Gabby told us to “reach for what we believe in right now.”  I believe that my work in rescue has saved my life as well as helped to save countless animal lives.  I believe that every cell in my body vibrates and functions at its full and glowing potential when I’m doing my rescue and Reiki work.  I feel the best I’ve ever felt because I’ve chosen to focus on what drives me instead of focusing on what society/family/whoever told me I should focus on.  I’ve magnified my purpose.  I choose what feels right and so much more of what is right has flowed my way.

Busy, lazy, productive, slow… these are all perceptions.  Perceive, feel, focus and be whatever you truly want.  Let that authentic purpose come to you.  Your truth is gorgeous, just like you.

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April 10, 2016
Believe Healing Purpose Reiki Rescue Uncategorized

Directions

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My healer and Reiki master Lisa Lotus Blossom Journeys hosted a workshop and meditation yesterday about Archangel Metatron (he’s the 11:11 guy, to keep it simple). Much of Lisa’s shared wisdom was about expanding our “spiritual GPS” so I’m left today thinking about how I got “here” in this spiritual space. I’m not conventionally religious at all and I don’t think we need to label ourselves or limit ourselves. Maybe today I don’t believe in a “man upstairs” concept of a god but maybe tomorrow I will—I’m all about the fluidity there. As I’ve been getting in touch with and opening up my gifts (we all have them—stop depriving the world of yours!), my “spiritual GPS” has rerouted quite a bit. And not just in the concepts of beliefs or morals or rules but in my purpose and path and daily moves.

I can’t think about my spirit or spiritual connections without the animals, of course. Up until we brought Peanut and Tater Tot home, I was NOT an animal person—talk about rerouting that life GPS. Over the four years those boys have been hopping around our living room, the shifts and turns have emerged—rescue and Reiki being the main two, for now. I was conditioned, as many of us are, to go to school, start a career that provides benefits and a potential pension and live very much within society’s conventions. While that never felt right, (and sometimes felt literally painful), I followed that path and did some amazing work on the way.

Lisa said yesterday: “I believe in the direction I’m getting.” We talked a lot about shifts, changes and departures, about letting go of what you thought something would look like or should be. Yes, it’s scary to deviate from convention. It’s intimidating to take a risk, regardless of the perceived weight or potential impact of the risk. But I’m open to turn, to curve or to even blaze a trail at this point. I may not know what it looks like yet, but I do know that I’m walking away (walking… not yet sprinting…) from what “everyone” says “you should do” more briskly than I ever have before.

Listen to your guides. I’m blessed that Metatron is my main guide—he “means business,” like Lisa says about him and he’s behind our transformations in life. Engage in the transformation.

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February 21, 2016