I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat. Rebecca West

The word brings up a lot of different meanings for different mentalities but it is a simple word – complicated by controlling groups trying to dictate to women how they “should” be in their bodies, spirits and lives.  I say, it’s time for women all around the world to define what is right for themselves.

There is still balancing needed – very much needed – and I would even say – desperately needed – in order to right the course of our planet.  Following the principle of yin and yang, within the yin, there is a little yang, and within the yang, there is a little yin – but when we look at the balance of power in the world, we see that women’s voices are not represented enough and more men are needed to stand up to speak on behalf of womens rights.  It truly is in their best interest to do so.  We really need our partners for global change to happen.  WOMENS voices, in all their feminine glory – need to be heard from the grass roots right on up to the political realm.  Women do things differently and it is this difference that is missing from the slipping vitality of our planet.

So, today, let us reflect on our voices, on a grand reclamation of our Feminist selves,  and on shifting this planet so that everyone can benefit from a healthier world.

Do you think the world would benefit from greater levels of female energy – or are we ok as we are?

Please feel free to leave a comment.

Click the link below for an insightful perspective on where women stand these days…

http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/doczone/video.html?ID=1827955896

Here’s to a better planet, for us all but especially for the generations that are to inherit it.

Boldly, with Love and Hope,

Nancy

And 2011?  Well, it could be shaped into a productive, prosperous, happy, healthy and Loving year – or not.  I choose door #1 – the not-so-easy door.  Why?  Because it means being a lot more vulnerable.  Everybody starts off from a different point in life.  Some of us were steeped in a healthy, Loving and supportive environment but, unfortunately, most of us were not.  Part of the reason why we don’t live as fully as we could is the residue that remains, even after all those years.  Holding back comes from fear(s) – and, often, clusters of them, uniquely tailored from our own experiences, disappointments, and pain.  With that in mind, it is hard to be really vulnerable, but as the following excellent TED talk by Brene Brown explains, it is the key that opens the doors to a fuller life.  Have a listen and give it some thought.  Leave a comment if you like.



Thanks for stopping in!

Sprinkling some Love,

Nancy  : )

Last week-end I had a rare opportunity to participate in an assertiveness training workshop and it was such an eye opener!  I highly recommend this kind of training to everyone because we often forget how to really communicate with each other about our wants and needs, or to help others express theirs to us.  The course was small – only 3 participants (including yours truly) – and the teacher was wonderful.  Dr. Dan Sydiaha has decades of teaching experience and is an expert at delivering the material.  What a great opportunity to attend, particularly with these class dynamics.

It is astoundingly common that most people do NOT know their rights, and if you don’t know them, you can’t own them.  It’s not like most of us have never read them.  On the contrary, I had read them long ago but there is something about timing that allows the “right” information, at the “right” time, to really permeate one’s consciousness, particularly through this kind of experiential learning.

Being in chronic situations where one is asking over and over again for something (a need, a right) and not having it acknowledged, respected or fulfilled can really jump the needle up on the stress-o-meter. Also, having been in a work-place where bullying was going on, I can attest to how badly these skills are needed right now – in order for people to function at peak levels.  Being in unhealthy situations can really wear one’s Spirit down and re-owning one’s rights can act as an empowering re-set point.

Here is a link for you to learn, or reacquaint yourself, with your personal rights… click HERE. Take your time and focus on reading each one and how you feel after you’ve finished the list.

Consider how many times in one day yours were transgressed, or that you may have transgressed someone else’s.

This is a local act, with global implications!  Think of some of history’s leaders who completely obliterated the rights of thousands/millions of people – what if they had been respected as children and taught to respect others’ rights as well?  In Rwanda, 800,000 people were murdered in one month, Cambodia’s Khemer Rouge, led by Paul Pot, murdered two million people and I don’t have to remind you about Hitler.  Yes, I consider it — that far reaching — so if we want to be the change – we must take responsibility for that and learn — role model this to/for our children and all the world’s children.  Life is easier when we do not oppress ourselves, or others!

Know Your Rights!  Click here to read them!

Here’s to a healthier world!

Love,

Nancy

~ Finding our heart's space

Do you realize that there is a great present in your future? Well, there is!  Let me explain.

Recently, I was invited to a 2-part workshop with Ti Caine and Sherri Nickols which was quite an inspiring and transformative experience!  In the process that Ti does, “FutureVisioning,” we were asked to imagine ourselves into the future.  When there is a lot of trauma, loss, stress, or a string of (seemingly) unfortunate events, it can be challenging to look into the future because we are stuck and mired in the old stuff.  How can we be present, enjoying time TO-DAY, if we are having a hard time processing yesterday’s stuff and maybe feeling less than hopeful about tomorrow?  Well, there is a way to lasso the different “time zones” and resolve what is needing resolution so that the present is, well, a big, bright beautiful present!

The future creates the present. Lazaris.

Think about that for a moment.

Those who write their goals/dreams down will have a far better chance of actually attaining them than those who do not.  Similarly, if we have a foggy or less-than-sparkling view of the future, then that is what will be created.  When we anchor in our vision of the future, it takes care of the present.

After much frustration with manifesting what I want in life, it is apparent that building a bridge to our highest heart wishes is crucial.  A good place to start is with a vision board.  Gather some magazines and cut out any photos that “speak” to you.  Other items can include something you craft/write yourself to add.  The sky’s the limit with this so let your creativity flow.

If you have some time to do the Futurevisioning process with Ti, I highly recommend it.  Sherri has a great site and I highly recommend signing up for her newsletter.  It was a Blessing to meet and work with both Sherri and Ti.  I am including links to reach them at the end of this post, if you want to find out more.  If you have any questions, feel free to send me a note.

The point, in being here, is to have a fun, connective and soul-expanding time.  We are meant to be free, to grow and thrive.  Whatever I can do – to help you do that – I will do!

Remember who you are:  a chip of the old omniscient, omnipotent Goddess/God Block!  I am just reminding you!  : )

Love,

Nancy

Click here to —-> Check out Sherri’s site

Click here to —-> Check out Ti’s site

I’ve been through a lot of tests/lessons in my life, some of which I  wondered how (and even if) I would make it through them.  Undoubtedly, you have too.  Loss of the people we love can trigger old grief, unhealed, dangling events from childhood that call for attention.  There are so many layers in life that emerge as we grow.  I think they only come when they come because that is when we can deal with them.  If we don’t address them then, they will emerge again, until that layer is resolved.  The best we can do is feel them, understand them, let them speak to us and give to ourselves the very thing that was probably wasn’t present when they occurred:  compassion and Love.  Excellent investment = a journal. Write, write, write – even if it’s a sentence or two each day!

In the meantime, it’s easy to get off track with exercisingbecause the mind/emotions are so engaged, but it’s important to feel strong and flexible.  I did an amazing dvd yesterday and wanted to recommend it to you because it is so free-ing to do it!  Click on the link to find some info. on it…  Shiva Rae – Yoga Trance Dance.  Good stuff if you like to dance and like yoga, but you’re not at the hard-core toes in your ears level yet! : ))  I also find that investing a bit of time to move my body helps me to make better, healthier choices later on.  In what ways do you support your body, your temple? 

Love, 

Nancy  : )

The revised guidelines exclude having to do the pulmonary part because it has been found that most people have high enough blood oxygen levels that it can be omitted.  The cardio part is of most importance and the aim is the same – to circulate blood throughout the body (especially the brain) for the failing heart.  Interestingly, it was found that some people simply would not step in to help if it involved putting their mouth on the other person’s mouth, leaving people to perish without the critically-important immediate help!  Every minute of no help equates to a near 10% decrease in their ability to survive.

But, how do you know if you are going fast enough to pump the blood around?  One hundred beats per minute is the measure to hit and that’s pretty fast!  Well, it appears that The Bee Gees will forever be your co-partner in saving lives because of their huge hit “Staying Alive.”  Just get that song going in your mind and compress to the beats…. Uh, Uh, Uh, Staying Alive…..  That’s good stuff!

Check out the revised technique here… 

Life is precious.  Please pass this info. on to others.  And, if you didn’t notice the hyperlink to our BeeGees buddies above, click HERE.   It’s okay to get up and dance around – it was a good album! 

Hug Life, Love Life!

Nancy

Here is a lovely poem that helps us look through our child’s eyes and I mean our child as in the one that stays within our own heart and Soul – the child we “used” to be.  Read along and remember how different our perspective is as adults now.  Why?  Because we’ve built walls and won’t listen to each other’s hearts, having been “stung” before (so, that must mean we’ll get stung again, right?  Better put up a wall!!)

If we aspire to make this planet a better, more peaceful place, it is imperative to talk to one another, resolve issues, approach relationships with honesty and respect.

I will continue this thread of thought with the next post and, in the meantime, please read the poem and remember how an innocent heart views the world.

To a Child

The greatest poem ever known
Is one all poets have outgrown:
The poetry, innate, untold,
Of being only four years old.

Still young enough to be a part
Of Nature’s great impulsive heart,
Born comrade of bird, beast and tree
And unselfconscious as the bee –

And yet with lovely reason skilled
Each day new paradise to build.
Elate explorer of each sense,
Without dismay, without pretense!

In your unstained, transparent eyes
There is no conscience, no surprise:
Life’s queer conundrums you accept
Your strange divinity still kept.

Being that now enthralls you, all
Harmonious, unit, integral,
Will shed into perplexing bits –
Oh, contradiction of the wits!

And Life, that puts all things in rhyme
May make you poet, too, in time –
But there were days, O tender elf,
When you were Poetry itself!

— Christopher Morley (1922)

Until next time, work on yourSelf, for that is all there is you can truly share in the world.

Love,
Nancy

aka…

bacon, baksheesh,  banknote, bankroll, beans, benjamins, berries, big bucks, bits, bones, boodle, bread, bucks, buckshee, c-note, capital, cash, cabbage, capital, change, cheddar cheese, chicamin, coin, coinage, cream, currency, danegeld, dinero, dividends, dollars, dosh, dough, ducats,  lucre, f bills, finbacks, funds, gelt, gold certificate, grand, gravy, green, greenbacks, jack, kale, kitty, legal tender, lettuce, loot, mammon, mazuma, moolah, Oscar, pap, pay, payment, pecunia, pesos, pile, plaster, pounds, shillings and pence, proceeds, purse receipts, ready money, ready cash, rhino, rivets, roll, scratch, silver, certificate, smackerals, smackeroos, specie, spondulicks, sugar, sum, tithe, treasure, wad, wampum, wealth, wherewithal.

These are just some of the terms used for money and I’m sure you’ve heard or spoken a few of them yourself.

Most of us have spent our lives worrying about, not  having enough of, hating it, spending it, saving it, investing it, earning it, blowing it, giving it, receiving it, or hoarding it.  It is only a tiny fraction of the world that was born with lots of it, but even they had to make sure they didn’t lose it!

For me, money often equated to stress because there wasn’t always enough.  One thing I have learned is that it does follow movement and flowing energy.  The ebb and flow of the mind and body will often show up externally, and the realm of money is not missed.  Think “down” thoughts a lot – poof, watch your money go down (unless you have enough to hire someone to manage it for you).

What else can be expected but to form subconscious beliefs about money when wealth is not a reality in one’s family, when parents fight over it, when we go without because there isn’t enough of it and where society paints it with so many negative connotations (“money is the root of all evil”)?  Well, those are places I’ve been and one of my missions is to finish re-constructing my relationship with money because there are many more perspectives/realities about it than my own and, frankly, I don’t believe we were born to be enslaved by it.

While what I grew up around affected my perception of money, the daily ebb and flow of emotions, particularly feelings of rejection, belonging, purpose and even Love, have a pronounced impact as well.  Bruise those areas and it’s easy to knock the money block into a seized-up situation and, because we are unique individuals, each person will have their own list of emotional triggers.

I am an explorer, seeking out solutions that “stick” so that I have a holster of tools to use when I need to change a situation that isn’t working or move through places that need healing.  Helping others to do the same feels natural and good as well.  I did use EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) some time ago, but it didn’t work 100% for me because I found the necessity of using specific scripts restrictive.  Well, it was a breath of fresh air to be invited to a series of interviews this week that focused on releasing money blocks.  Pamela Bruner, an EFT practitioner, did a great job interviewing experts and I had a few AHA moments which, to me, is like an ever-patient Divine kiss on my cheek and a hearty hi-five!     In case you haven’t heard of EFT, it is a very simple system that works on energy meridians in the body (akin to accupuncture but without the needles).  Sometimes, energy gets blocked/trapped along these lines and we don’t feel so great.  That’s where unblocking and EFT comes in.

I feel a bit of a renaissance with the EFT practice because of how Pamela has adapted the practice to focus on the emotions and not so much on a script = Freedom!  Taking care of what I am feeling by shifting old stuff makes room for new, good stuff and more energy!  It feels great.  Here are a couple of videos from Pamela.  You may be pleasantly surprised if you give it a whirl, or two!

These are the tapping points…

Here is a way to work through whatever emotion(s) you would like to shift, without a script!

Feel free to leave a comment about your results or if you have any questions! [superemotions file="icon_smile.gif" title="Smile"]

You are not your story.

A long time ago, I had a great loss in my life and it was incredibly painful.  When I reached out for wisdom and guidance, I found that very phrase shared with me.

You are not your story.

What is your story?  And, why do we tend to incorporate and wear the negative aspects more than the positive ones anyway?

Is your story one of injustice, abuse (sexual, emotional, physical…), lack, being victimized/used, abandoned, lied to?  Look at those words – how do they make you feel?  Juicy and alive?  No, ‘didn’t think so.

We can really feel the weight of negative words/experiences – they suck energy away from the Soul and dull the eyes.  Fortunately, when the weight is heavy enough, and we are tired of it, we can choose to relinquish the load.  There will come a point when life’s finite reality seeps in and we wish to live in a more abundant state.  And by abundant I mean – abundance of self-love, courage, assertion for that which you want to experience in life (a family, a home, travelling, etc. – fill in the blank).  There will come a time when accepting the old “story”lines just don’t work anymore and you will say “I want, and deserve, more” and that very shift will be part of the crucial elements that will manifest it.  Please take a moment to listen to this video, and follow the suggestion made in it…  It will only take a moment! (then scroll down because there is more to follow….) No peaking!   

Okay, hopefully, you took a moment to follow along to this beautiful meditation.  Can I ask you something?  While you were watching it, were you “there” in the places suggested or were you thinking about the past (your story)?  Chances are that you were present for all or parts of it and that is where you left your weighty story behind without even realizing it!  Now, the next step is to do it consciously!  And you can – because it will bring you more of what you DO want in your life.  Internal abundance!  We resonate richly from inside and it beams outwardly – and, one by one, the world becomes an ever better place!  “Be the change…”  <3

Love,

Nancy 

Ring, ring…

Earthly You:  Hello!….

Godly You : Yes, a big Loving hello to you! This is You speaking, on Spiritual steroids, and I am nudging you to listen to the hints I’ve been sending you, which you’ve been ignoring, dismissing, or laughing at!

Earthly You : Yes, I’ve felt something but they don’t make sense. How can I quit my job and go climb Everest-that’s crazy! I mean, I know I’ve always been interested in mountaineering but it doesn’t pay. In fact, it costs!

Godly You : Trust, you must trust, that fulfillment and wealth originates in the heart, not from the wallet. Do what you can to prepare and then follow your heart.

Earthly You : What?!! I’m hanging up now, Yoda!

Does this conversation sound somewhat familiar? I know I’ve had it a few times with myself. Well, not that one exactly but something similar. This matter boils down to an important issue: getting only 2/3′s of life’s pie, 2 parts of life’s trinity. What trinity? Well, the Heart, Soul and Mind. The heart informs the mind, which is first guided by the Spirit. If our minds have a bunch of static from false beliefs and such, it will override (shadow out) the Light of what we were meant to do in life. There is not only “one” thing we are meant to do either, because life is an evolutionary dynamic and change is its base. Perhaps, instead, we are lead through our special path by our hearts/interests/passions.

There is a simple but incredibly powerful tool that I came across a few years ago that illuminates where are hearts are really at. It’s easy to “think” them being somewhere, when in fact they are somewhere else completely. The tool is The Passion Test, found in the book that carries the same name “The Passion Test” (by Chris and Janet Attwood), and it can also be taken online. Once completed, it is difficult to go back to living tuned out from your heart. Every time we make a conscious choice to follow our hearts, we strengthen that way of Being. Wonderful things start to happen and things start to feel “right”. I am not saying there won’t be hurdles, but hurdles are much easier to get over when a deeper, brighter target (goal) is calling us from beyond.

Am I doing something I am passionate about? Yes, I love to share with others, write and work on-line. I have had many hurdles to overcome to be able to write this but they have only strengthened me. More will arise because they go hand in hand with growth and evolution – there as a readiness preparation for that new place I envision. Keep growing – keep changing – keep loving. If you would like information on The Passion Test, please click here.

Scroll down to watch an interview with Janet and Chris!

To a life of brilliant passions!
Nancy  [superemotions file="icon_smile.gif" title="Smile"]