Open Your Heart with the Magic of Cacao

Whole Guatemalan Cacao Beans

I had no idea that the key ingredient to many people's sweet treat obsession could actually be so incredibly healing!  Cacao is the "raw" ingredient that is used to make chocolate.  In recent years, due to its high content of health-enhancing nutrients, it has been hailed as one of the "SUPER FOODS" and thus, its popularity has exploded.

However, what is not as widely known is that cacao actually has the ability to open our hearts to love and heal ourselves, and to strengthen connections with those around us. It gently guides us to see the truth of who we are and to guide us toward our higher calling. In our family, we also lovingly call it "truth serum". While under the magic spell of this beautiful brown bean, you simply cannot dishonor yourself. It seems to whisper to your heart. It's no secret why so many of us love chocolate. It induces a feeling of euphoria (especially the dark, rich, organic, fairly-traded stuff) that few other purely natural foods can create.  Imagine the feeling that savoring your favorite chocolate bar gives you and multiply that times a LOT!  This is what I feel when I drink a ceremonial dose of rich, flavorful, magical Guatemalan cacao medicine!

Cacao Truffles photo by Anaya Lea

In the past few months, I have attended a handful of these sacred healing Cacao Ceremonies, led by none other than my very special friend / unofficial-mother-in-law, Cori.  She has a beautiful gift with sharing her knowledge of plant medicines and music that when combined, creates a wonderfully warm and magical ceremonial experience. I have learned from her about the plant and it's healing properties. I have also realized how important it is for us to acknowledge the wisdom of all plants as our medicine and to thank the spirit of cacao for allowing us to work with it in such a pleasurable way.  Through the use of cacao, I have deepened my love for myself. I have deepened many friendships and exchanged laughter and tears with complete strangers over a cup of this heart-opening potion.

If the opportunity arises for you to participate in one of these ceremonies, I highly recommend it. There simply is no downside to a circle of loving human beings opening their hearts and sharing the joy of life and the love of chocolate while singing and laughing together! Muchas Gracias Cacao!

Chanting to the Spirit of Cacao photo by Anaya Lea

The Cocoon Phase

Images from Sugarboo Designs. 150 Love Notes booklet.  So lovely!

I just looked at my last blog post and it's been one month since I have had the inspiration to write. Whoa! That is the longest that I have gone without a post since I started this blog, just over a year ago. Hmmmmm...red flag?

This actually confirms something huge for me: that I was feeling uninspired which means that I was living a relatively uninspired period of my life. How sad is that? Can anyone out there relate to that feeling?  Yeah, pretty much everyone? Which brings me to the topic of this post... Why aren't we all living and speaking our passions and feeling alive and inspired every single day of this short gift called life? You can try to make up a million and one excuses, but do yourself a favor and don't bother. I will have a comeback ready for all of them. There is no good excuse...just our own fears getting in the way of our happiness.

I recently realized that the job that I was  working for only four short months was not getting me any closer to living my passions. Like most "jobs", it was a great way to meet new people, make a wage and keep myself busy- because that's what we all seem to think we are supposed to do. Don't get me wrong. I loved all of the people that I worked with and the connections with customers and sharing laughs and teaching and learning. And helping people. Helping people to love and empower themselves. That's what I really love to do. This may not come as a surprise to you.

The pieces of the puzzle have been showing up for me for several years but it has taken me until now to realize what they all mean.  I feel like I should have realized this a year ago when I began blogging to help myself and others to live a more authentic life. Or maybe I could have clued in when I opened a used clothing store and everyday, for several years, dozens of people came in to talk, not to shop. Well it's never too late to start living your passions. 

So. This is me announcing that I will be embarking on a journey to help others to love and empower themselves and live their passions. I know this has already been happening to some degree. Now I am making it my main focus. It's what I love to do. It makes me happy to see others improving their lives and giving themselves the love that we all deserve. I'm still not totally clear on how this will all come together, but I know for certain that it's happening piece by piece. 

I have been working with a book called The Passion Test. It has really helped me to differentiate my passions from my hobbies and goals. I now have a clear list of my top passions as of today. Passions change. Life is full of change. So make sure you aren't stuck in that life that you wanted 10 years ago, but that isn't suiting you today. It happens too often. 

The last month has been part of my cocoon phase. I have had at least 3 or 4 other cocoon phases in my life so far. It's what happens when something big happens in life that forces me to stop and look at the bigger picture.

 I stop doing the things that aren't moving me closer to peace and happiness. I sift out the people who aren't enriching my life. I make more time to do the things that I love. The things that make me ME. All of these things combined creates a cocoon-like state where I can be and know myself. Unadulterated. Uninfluenced. Unwaivered. Each time, I have emerged as a brighter and happier version of myself. A butterfly. Try it. I dare you.

PS. PLEASE contact me if you are seeking some soul guidance. Even if you are across the globe, I will be happy to help you to live your soul's passions. 

Alongthehearttrail@gmail.com

More Power...but not the kind you think.

Last night, reading by headlamp, I could hardly put down a new-to-me book that a friend recently recommended. It's called Anatomy of the Spirit by Caroline Myss, PH.D... and it's amazing. In a nutshell, it is about recognizing emotional and spiritual patterns in ourselves and learning how to correct them to avoid/heal illness and disease.
First thing this morning, I did a quick exercise inspired by the first few chapters. She talked about how we each give up personal power over a lifetime of everyday experiences, and how each of us can learn to regain our personal power to boost health and wellness. Here's what I came up with:

Things that Self-Empower Me
Exercise
Creativity
Nature
Reading books
Helping others with love
Staying informed
Growing my food
Learning new things
Listening to my intuition
Doing what feels right
Healthy cooking & eating
Honesty and clear communication
Surrounding myself with loving people

Conversely, here are the things that I find DEPLETE my Personal Power:
Fearfulness (this is a broad topic, amazing the subtle things we all fear)
Believing and/or sharing false information
Exposing myself to negative energy (people and situations)
Not respecting my body (ie. consuming foods that are not supporting my wellness)
Not speaking up about injustices or fallacies in our world
Undervaluing myself

This exercise was similar to the "Things That I LOVE" exercise, but also made me reflect on the things that I allow myself and others to do or say that are depleting my Personal Power.  I am certainly intrigued by my lists and hope to dig a little deeper to discover more.  I hope that this will be useful to some of you also.

It's SO interesting what humans will say and do to each other to steal each others personal power. Children learn this at a very young age through observation of the adults in their lives.  In Gary Zukav's life-changing book, Spiritual Partnership, he likens all human relationships as being like two weights on an old-fashioned scale.  We should all be working to keep the scales balanced, which means we don't see ourselves as "above" anyone else, and at the same time we don't undervalue ourselves and see others as "above" us. I also recall a passage in another book that was referring to the auras, or energy fields, around any two people interacting, and that there is a visual vacuum-like effect when one person is stealing power from another.  In the ideal human interaction, each person will be expanding the personal power of the other so that no one walks away drained or inferior.  Think about that the next time you speak to a stranger on the phone, stand at the checkout counter or have a flare up of road rage. Turn your thoughts around and give a little. It won't hurt you, and it could mean a whole lot to someone else.

"We all share a type of physical body that becomes ill or heals for the same reasons. We also share emotional and psychological crises common to the human experience. Everyone fears abandonment, loss and betrayal; anger is as toxic within a Jewish body as it is within a Christian or Hindu body; and we are all drawn to LOVE. When it comes to the health of our spirits and our bodies, we have NO differences." - Caroline Myss, PH.D.