Footloose and Facebook Free

Today is the last day of the liver cleanse which I followed in this first week of 2017. It was a perfect alignment that it arrived in the mail just in time to be a "New Year's cleanse". In mid-December, I experienced several evenings with a mild, dull pain under my right rib cage. The final evening that I felt it coming on, it escalated to a full-blown gall bladder attack. My best guess is that I had a hefty gall stone that was trying to pass through a tiny duct, and it felt like a miniature taste of what childbirth may be like (am I yet to experience this). I went in and out of being able to move or speak properly because of the level of pain that came when waves of contracting organs were literally squeezing me. It was one of the times I can most relate to an out-of-body experience.

It was so unpleasant that I knew I needed a full liver detox to do my best to flush out any other unwanted toxins or tidbits. So if you're feeling like your liver needs some lovin', visit Global Healing Center's online store and order yourself up a liver cleanse kit (actually, I just went to the site and it's out of stock... a lot of liver lovin' is happening apparently...but they have a spot where you can leave your contact to be informed when it's back in stock!). It requires minimizing food intake to particular fruits and veggies (and a few nuts) for 5 days and a very structured daily routine of drinking some potions too. Oh, and a lot of toilet paper. A lot. Like, buy some shares.

I quit Facebook!  It feels sooooo good. I feel free and happy and connected to real humans more than I have in a loooong time. I am focusing more on Me and the people who are right here in my community. For those loved ones far away...we have phones. Skyping. Letters in the mail. Emails. Photo albums. In-person reunions. That's what my 2017 will be full of. This week has been loaded with many of these already. Yahoo!

I closed my Facebook account on January first. Then we decided to have a movie night, which we don't do often. We chose to watch Snowden. We knew little of what it was about. Wow. Was it ever relevant! If you aren't familiar with who Ed Snowden is, he is a former CIA agent who leaked info about the lack of privacy around our information that we all share on computers, email, social media and cell phones. It is a real eye-opener. Make it your next movie night and be ready to learn a lot. We sure did. (The government may be flagging this blog right now. *shiver* Oh well. Maybe they will learn something new by reading it?) Click here for the link to the movie trailer.

We rang in the new year with a plant medicine journey around a campfire under a starry winter sky. It was perfect and relaxed. It reminded me to have fun and take time to laugh and enjoy the simple things: the hidden bits of magic and the special souls who weave their way through our lives. 

Our lovely friend, Christine, and myself have recorded a handful of episodes of our consciousness-themed chat show that we call "Walking the Path".  Each episode, we select a topic and then press record. We completely wing it each time and it's so much fun. I am really excited to share this one with you. It's my favorite so far. They all have nuggets of good info and wisdom in them. I even feel like I learn a whole lot from them!

Speaking of wisdom, I am into a few amazing books this week. Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom by Dr. Christiane Northrup. It's brilliant, and even though it's from 1998 it is highly relevant now (with some outdated details). She weaves together science, physiology, spirituality and reality in a beautiful way. Very vulnerable and real. 

I was recently given a vintage pocket-sized copy of The Prophet by Khalil Gibran. The first time I read this gem was in 2011. A friend offered it to me when I was wading through some very rough tides. It blew my mind and heart wide open. His poetry is magical love alchemy on paper. I can't wait to dive in again!!!

Lastly, but not least, I will re-mention the Gene Keys book and evolution system. It continues to excite me and helps me to focus on the divine essences of many people, including myself. 

www.genekeys.com  You can learn more about it, and get your free gene keys profile here.

I have been accepted into a summer yoga teacher training program in my Pennsylvanian hometown, at the Himalayan Institute. I am so excited for this opportunity!!!  It's been a long time coming (13 years to be exact). Ommmmm sweet Ommmmmm. 

Ps. This is a must see clip - partly humorous... but mostly how I see social media. Thanks friend, for passing this along!

The Road Less Traveled

I could feel these words ready to burst forth when I climbed into bed last night. I was humming a song called "Take Me Up" from a live performance of a Canadian band called Oliver Swain and the Big Machine that I had just returned from. That particular tune paints an image of going up to space to live life elsewhere with aliens. It's a strangely beautiful symphony. I was feeling uplifted and vibrationally charged with love and music. 

This is one of my life medicines: musical magic.  

Another recent dose of musical medicine from Nahko and Medicine for the People. Amazing.

 

Plant medicines have also been a varying part of my entire life (as for most of us) , though many of us don't even realize this (yet). Now, in the last two years these beautiful beings have taken the honorary copilot seat in my life. (Or maybe I am the copilot with the poorly folded, crumpled maps?!) Either way, we have been having a beautiful journey together so "who is leading who" doesn't feel much like it matters. Back to this topic shortly...

I had been trying to push aside the nagging message that I kept receiving to disentangle myself from the virtual reality of Facebook. It has come and gone many times in the last few years. The idea of being "connected" to those that I love is what has kept me involved. That and the fact that I have been using Facebook heavily to promote our cacao ceremonies and my crafty crystal headband creations that are for sale (and my other businesses prior to that). {Insert business plug} www.etsy.com/ca/shop/OpenAriseCreations is how you can find the magical headbands!!!

Well it's happening! Finally. I have officially announced to the world of Facebook that as of January 1st, 2017, I will be freed of its temptations until it makes sense to use it (if ever). This has punted me into action to find new ways to promote what I'm offering and to go back to basics with my communication techniques. This is a retrain-the-brain exercise and I'm trying to be very patient with my transitioning skills. Old habits can be so tricky to shrug off! (Please subscribe to this blog on the top right of this page if you're interested to keep up with our uncharted adventures. You can also reach us at oneworldwellness@yahoo.CA)

On this road less traveled I am already excited to be discovering what is possible without this cloud of new technology that we have been thoroughly trained to rely on for almost everything in life. I have known that less technology is the key to furthering my personal awareness of self and the endless streams of magic that swirl around us all. If we are focused on screens of all shapes and sizes then our amazing senses are not as trained to the subtleties of the universal play of existence. So many of us have been and are in denial about the way we live and communicate as a culture. I feel it becoming a massive divider, not a true connector. 

Plant medicine is all around us. 

Back to the plants. I'm sitting in a beautiful veggie garden where we are housesitting, soaking up some sunshine, which is not a readily available medicine in this darker, wetter season on Vancouver Island. 

I feel more relaxed and freer by the day. Life has given me so many opportunities to explore the infinite realms that are teetering on the edge of my discomfort. My sphere of comfort and acceptance continues expanding each time that I relax into the flow of the river of Life. Plant medicine journeys of various types have been guiding me to places of awareness that I never imagined possible. Awareness of my self. My thoughts. My words. My actions. My beliefs. My relations. My surroundings. It is a strange seat of awareness to sit in. I feel as though I am walking a winding path between the reality of our "normal" global society as an average collective, and then a wildly magical and beautiful reality that I know is the natural state of being for all of Life. It's wonderful, although at times, challenging. I have only met a few others (so far) who seem to have been navigating a similar path. We happened to cross paths which has given us all reassurance to keep going. It can feel a bit lonely at times, having few people who can relate to me in my current state of awareness. As the days pass, I notice more and more humans past and present (mostly musicians, authors and other artistic types) are revealing themselves as familiar friends of this journey of collective love and cosmic awareness. I am practicing (key word) deep patience and acceptance with myself and all others. I often have no words to describe even the simplest experiences of daily life in this "between the realms" reality. Simple conversations have become a bit challenging for me. The question of "how are you doing today?" has become a funny one.  Being with others together in a collective space of loving intention is what feels pertinent and crucial NOW and always. It's a fun experiment. That much I know.

This guy knows the path that I speak of.

Tanner and I have become the rocks in the river for many friends and acquaintances throughout our parallel journeys together. Wherever we find ourselves, people seem to gravitate toward us to seek shelter and support in our presence. We are not gurus or spiritual teachers or anything you can label. We are just like everyone else but perhaps we just approach life a bit differently. "Human beings on another fucking journey"-Nahko haha. Well said. 

 

*drumroll* The secret Rx for happiness we use is this: 

*Let go of our fears (or prove them to be just-plain-silly), one by one. 

*Take chances: some little, some BIG. 

*Trust in the MAGIC (thanks Carien). 

*Ask for what we need. 

*Say how we feel.

*Be ourselves. If you don't know who you are, do whatever it takes to get to know the essence of YOU. 

That's it. Perhaps you will try this for 2017...we all have the wisdom within.

I love writing. The space between these blogs has grown uncomfortably huge. I intend to write more often again. I should have more freed up time coming without FB. 

Until the next time the words are bursting forth....I leave you with these two lovely tunes. The lyrics are as lovely as the sounds. EnJOY!

https://yaimamusic.bandcamp.com/album/pellucidity

https://yaimamusic.bandcamp.com/track/gajumaru-2

Truth Warriors are Us

I'm finally taking a sweaty moment here to start this new blog post while we are pulled over in the baking mid-day sun at a state border stop between Nayarit and Sinaloa. The guards informed us that we can't take any fruits into this state. We have been existing on a 80% fresh fruits diet for quite a few months, so to us this was very unwelcome news. So when they tried to open up our car and take it all to the trash can, we sat here instead, for at least a half hour eating mangos and bananas. We also splurged and purchased our first jumbo jackfruit this morning. I didn't even get to take a photo of it. We dug out a knife and cut it open just to try a taste before handing it over to the fruit police. They explained that there are too many pests and fungus that can be spread to all of the fruits in Sinaloa. Fair enough. I think that most people conform and hand over everything and just drive away. Not these two vegan fruit fiends! In the last week alone we have tried three new fruits: Starfruit, jackfruit, and guanabana (which I have seen all of in Asian markets in Canada but never tried). Not to mention fresh cacao fruit and seeds. Yum. The sheer acreage of plantations and the heaps of fruit on the Pacific coast has been completely mind blowing.

Thousands of forests of coconut palms. Miles of mango trees. Fields of piñas, papayas and lime trees. They are trying to feed a very hungry planet here!

So now that I wrote that all down, let me back up and recap some really beautiful and intense experiences. Some of the more intense days of this entire 5 month road trip, actually. 

Our next stop on the South Pacific coast of Mexico was Puerto Escondido. We had some cacao ceremonies booked at a healing and wellness retreat center there. We were also asked by the owner to see how his new team of volunteers was doing running the place. The long and short of it was that the team was having a tough start. This place requires a lot of time and dedication. It also requires, like everything that we do everyday, clear communication with others. 

There was a second round of intense waves slamming the whole pacific shoreline those first few days that we arrived in Puerto. It felt a bit reflective of the energy in the wellness center. People getting tossed to and fro in the waves of miscommunication.

We recognized that possibly a cacao ceremony for the team and the three guests might be a useful tool to create more openness and unity. So the eight of us convened on the beautiful rooftop palapa one afternoon and for several hours we created a sacred space of connection and communication. It was like magic. People arrived all flustered and exhausted. They left uplifted and full of gratitude. Mid-ceremony, a funny little seed blew onto the floor in front of me. It was like a disc of clear rice paper with a small heart-shaped seed in the center. It was a tiny confirmation for me from the universe that these cacao ceremonies are planting seeds of love across the planet. We are all planting seeds each moment. With every interaction. More love seeds, please. 

We really enjoyed the team at the healing center. They were from Mexico and Canada. Such awesome young people full of passion and hope. We enjoyed sunrise meditations and early morning yoga each day that week. We shared buckets of mangos from the street outside the house. We shared vegan recipes and then ate more mangos. At the Saturday market we were able to purchase our first fresh whole cacao pods! So pretty, and tasty too.

I really appreciated the conscious manner that team meetings were held at this wellness center. One person spoke at a time without interruptions. We all encouraged each other to speak the truth and to express our truest feelings. It was very tough for some of the group to share openly and to receive what others had to say. There was some major intensity but also major growth for all involved. Including us. So after a week of these morning meetings, we were dubbed the Truth Warriors by the staff. I accept that title, as one of many, and plan to continue assisting others to bring out the truth for the betterment of all of humanity. 

After a week in Puerto, we drove to Acapulco. It was a pretty neat place with lots of VW beetles and a huge mercado in the early morning as we departed after our quick one night stay. They had so many flowers at this particular mercado. Beautiful. 

We then headed to Zihuatenajo. It's a beautiful city. We googled a vegan cafe where we planned to stop and rest while we got an oil change for our Truth Mobile. It was not a cafe at all but an amazing woman in her lovely home who was a raw foods warrior. Patti invited us in and made us raw vegan pizzas made with local and organic fruits and veggies. So amazing. We got that oil change and so much more. We were invited to stay at Patti's home after we saw the sprouted cacao beans on her counter. The cacao chat began and the rest was history. She took us to see our very first cacao tree just down the block from her casa.  We held a cacao ceremony at her home and shared many special moments there. We departed early the second morning and Patti was up making us vegan raw burritos to go for our road lunch. Wow were they amazing!!! I thought mine were amazing but hers were out of this world. It continues to amaze me at how dazzling we all become when we are living our true calling! When life calls you, answer! Don't take a message or screen your calls. Don't say you'll call back when it's more convenient. Just take the call and enjoy it!

We were stopped at checkpoints several times in Michoacan.  This is the state with some of the highest level of unrest because of drug cartels. We decided to trek through despite all of the negativity that we found online. We have heard so many negative opinions of Mexico and Central America since we began announcing that we were taking this journey last fall. We have not encountered a single situation that I would call dangerous or scary for over 5 months. Michoacan was heavily militarized and there were many checkpoints where we had to get out of the car for inspection and questioning. Which usually resulted in laughter.

The best part of these stops was that the soldiers would dig through our car asking what things were and we got to give them some free healthy living lessons! It was awesome. This state was also one of the most wild, uninhabited and beautiful that we have seen. High cliffs overlooking a blue wild ocean. Thick lush jungles covering winding roads for hours shaded us from the sun. We saw dozens of giant white butterflies flapping huge floppy, white wings and giving us the feeling that they were our tiny guardian angels. Two more days to go in magical Mexico. Magical.

"The destiny of the world is in your hands."

Living for love. Loving your life.

One of my passions is helping other people to help themselves. Maybe they're stuck in a quicksand career, in a relationship that just doesn't fit, or regularly finding themselves in a conflict with one person or another. Some folks just feel lost altogether and don't know what to do!

Well, recently, after a move to remote northern Alberta, I was feeling out of sorts. A friend gave me a book, which I enjoyed cover-to-cover, but one simple exercise stood out and it has shifted my life in a big way. I have shared my own version of this idea with a few close pals who needed a boost. I don't think there is a single person out there who's life won't change for the better from this idea:

Choose a quiet place to sit down with a piece of paper and a pen (dig in your junk drawer, you must have these somewhere! :). Make a list of everything that you LOVE. List the things that make your spirit smile, Or make you feel joyful and light-hearted, or laugh like a child again. Write down the things that make you feel like YOU!  Start with the obvious ones, then dig deeper. They can be anything from sunsets to biking, ice cream, butterflies, sports, visiting with pals, walking your dog or giving hugs. I have even been adding more things each week that I forgot that I love! (P.S. make sure you realllllly love these things and that they aren't things your partner loves or even worse, things you are obligated to do!) Some of these things may only be  achievable once or twice a year. Oh, and cover all seasons!

Ok. Once you have your list, post it somewhere that you will look at it every single morning. Now make it your priority to do at least two of these things (more would be amazing!) Every. Single. Day. I have been adding check marks next to the things that I do each day. This way I can see which ones I am doing (usually the easiest to fit in) and can see which of my loves I am still neglecting to gift to myself, and making them happen. 

In a matter of a few days, I felt more like myself again. I felt empowered, uplifted and free. Too many of us put ourselves last every day and eventually, we feel exhausted, grumpy, depleted and generally unhappy...even resentful! None of these things are beneficial to us or our loved ones. 

Make yourself your own priority. We all deserve it. I would love to hear how this idea has helped you in your daily life. After all, you're the only one who knows what you really need to be your most vibrant and wonderful self.  <3