You show up every day and bring your special, unique energy to this game of life we play.
Hi. I want to take a moment to connect with you and tell you how much I appreciate your contribution. You show up every day and bring your special, unique energy to this game of life we play. Your hopes and dreams and experiences and the way you look at life all add up to create a frequency which is individual to you, and which is broadcast out into the planet adding to the richness of the story. So when you're feeling tired or frustrated or hopeless just take a moment to remember that. And then allow that feeling of your unique contribution to settle into your bones...because there is nobody exactly like you on the planet, and that is something to be celebrated.
0 Comments
There is a change in the weather. This morning the wind came up and blew our Summer away, ushering in the cooler air of Autumn. The heavens were a brilliant blue and the clouds were full of shapes, mostly horses galloping across the sky. I do not regret the cooler weather setting in. There is a freshness that comes on the breeze. A last hurrah, as we rush towards the shortening of daylight hours. The now mist covered mornings giving way to the sunshine warmth of Autumn afternoons. This change in weather revives me and spurs me to action. I find it grounding and stimulating, after the wilting heat of Summer. I love the long days of Summer, but I prefer the mild Sun of Virgo to the blazing Sun of Leo.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I would have to agree with that. Words can not do justice to describe some experiences. They can not even begin to do justice to describing the Washington State Peninsula near my home. Even photos can't really show the incredible beauty which lies in this area, where Wild Pacific Coastline, Temperate Rain Forests, and Alpine Mountains can be found within this 3600 square miles that is Washington's Peninsula. And I can not begin to express my gratitude that so much of this land has been left unspoiled. It is my dearest hope, that it will remain so for generations to come. Thanks to the generations that came before us who had the foresight to protect this land.
It's Friday and so I want to take a moment to focus on one of my favorite things. This is a good exercise for me because when I get to busy, I forget to notice what I really connect with. Those things that really bring me back into my body and into the present moment. So one of my favorite things is watching the Sun set over the Pacific Ocean. One of the things that makes it so great is that people will line the beach and just watch. It's like mass hypnotism or some kind of community meditation. Everyone seems to be in awe, and they stop what they are doing to engage in this incredible illusion that the Sun is slipping into the Sea as we, on the Earth rotate away from our view of the Sun. It is something that we share in common with people all over the Planet, and down through the history of Human kind. So it is without doubt one of those miraculous occurances that I haven't engaged in for far too many years, but it made such an impression on me, that I still count it as one of my favorite things. I'd like to invite you to think about one of your favorite things today and to connect with the sensory memory of the experience. What did you-or do you still-notice about that? How did it-or does it-impact you? You can share here if you like. Have a wonderful day thinking about your favorite things.
It's really hard for me to be objective when I'm trying to come up with something to post on this site. I work in a field where it really helps to believe that anything is possible. To believe that miracles happen. And that perspective can shift reality. And naturally because I have those beliefs, my life is full of the types of experiences that words don't do justice to. Whenever I speak to my friends about my latest "break through" or fantastic experience, or whatever my take is on the nature of reality at any given moment, I can speak with enthusiasm, and sincerity. They KNOW me. I don't have to choose my words carefully because I know that my friends "Get" what I'm saying. And I know that they are having similar amazing experiences. And we can share these things and get really excited that the Universe is such a marvelous playground. For instance, yesterday I wrote about my lovely experiences "playing with the weather". And in writing about it, I might not have made it clear why I was even telling that story. The reason I tell stories about things like that which actually do happen to me, is because I want you to know that, what we as humans might consider to be miraculous, is just a shift in perspective away from where we are at in any given moment in our journey. I LOOK for miracles. I EXPECT them to occur. They make life fun, and magical and interesting. And even though the miraculous occurs at every moment of the day, in every day of my life, I don't spend every moment of my life NOTICING them. Because I just don't. Am I saying this right? Am I making myself understood? What I want to say is this. Every moment of your life is a miracle. And every moment spent engaged in the reality that is planet Earth, is a miracle. But you and I...we are occupied with playing the role of being a human being by the name of (your name here) , and so we miss an awful lot of the miracles that just occur in every given moment. The way I notice that something really special is happening, is when I am fully present. I am fully engaged with my experience, and that includes all five senses and my emotions. And I am in the moment. That's the time when I NOTICE miracles are happening. It's just a matter of practice. NOTICE. Practice NOTICING. You will be greatly rewarded. And believe. BELIEVE that ANYTHING is POSSIBLE.
The task here is to be true to your vision while paying attention to what the current reality is showing you. It is not about pretending. It is about facing reality as it presents itself to you while simultaneously holding a higher vision. In other words, you deal with the reality of your life while simultaneously holding the vision of a different life. This is the art. The Hathors/Tom Kenyon from The Art of Jumping Time Lines http://tomkenyon.com/jumping-time-lines I often refer back to this quote when I'm faced with an unpleasant "current reality". When I read or hear about something that strikes a chord in my heart…one of the many things which spurs me to activism, like any one of the many corporate "crimes" against humanity and the planet we all share. Or like the destructive behavior people engage in. Even when I "believe" in my heart, that it's all part of a story we are telling…a game we are playing with the Universe, I still find myself reacting to the story. But when I REMEMBER, then I play the game in a more conscious way. I actively participate in writing the story. Ha! At least I think I do. Some of the people I know talk about manifestation as if all you had to do was block out the unpleasant things in life, and only see the good to have your every wish fulfilled. In my version, that would only work if you were the only BEing in existence - I'm talkin' in the Universe. All these other BEings that are in your life, are all part of the same fabric. It only looks separate. These other BEings are you and you are they. So you can filter the unpleasant stuff, by refusing to see it, but it is still going to be there somewhere until you deal with it. By changing your perception. And yet it's all valid, right? How you play the game. How I play it. It's all valid. There is no wrong. There is no right. I used to play with the weather…I didn't know I was doing it, but I was. I spent a year driving back and forth over the cascade mountains between Western and Eastern Washington. I would drive over and work for 2 or 3 days out of each week, and then I would drive home. Even in the winter, up to 2 days before I would get into my car, my family would start giving me weather reports. "It's snowing in the mountains", they would report, with concern in their voices. To which I would laughingly reply, "I'm not going today. Anything can happen by Thursday." I love that drive. The Cascade Mountains are incredible. They are breath taking. I was so enraptured it was a kind of ecstatic experience. Every Thursday morning, I would leave my home and begin my drive, knowing that I had to get over. Knowing I could not afford to be delayed. And I would drive over KNOWING that when I reached the mountains, no matter what the weather was like, the road would be passable. More than that, it would be benevolent. And every Thursday I would reach the summit and sail over on a bare dry road, with the Sun glinting off of the snow covered mountain countryside. And I would rejoice to be driving over that snow covered faeryland. My heart would literally send up geysers of stars at how beautiful it all was. And then I would arrive at my destination and call my husband to tell him I had arrived. "How was it?" he would ask. And I would tell him how wonderful it had been, and sunny and gorgeous. And he would say, "That's impossible! I've been looking at the cameras on I-90 the whole time and they show that it's been snowing." It got to be a tremendous joke between us, and a fun game that I played with my family on both sides of the state. They would tell me the weather report and I would say, "It will be OK." and it would be too, and I would tell them how beautiful the drive was and they would just shake their heads and grin. Because how FUN is that?! I think my perception about the joy and love of the drive through those incredible mountains might have had something to do with it. I was really engaged with that experience, rather than fearing what might lay ahead. And because it happened every time, I got so used to it, that I would've been really surprised if I had run into difficulties. I no longer make that trip every week. But it's been a quite a year! I've been involved in a new game. The game of "Pull Your Head Out Of The Sand And Look Around At What The Dickens Has Been Going On In The History Of The World In Your Lifetime." That's why I support the occupy movement and similar ideas, because the game of change is a really great game. I have been learning that the only way to manifest great change, is not by just closing our eyes to the things we don't like, and not by getting upset and seeing the enemy all around (although, that's an easy illusion to give into), but "by holding true to your vision while paying attention to what the current reality is showing you." And it can't be done by one "separate" individual. It must be dreamed into existence by consciousness, and then acted upon by many BEings, who carry that dreaming into the game. So what about this game? My version of it goes like this. The fabric of the universe or "the field" is exactly that. It's our playing field. I visualize it looking like a grid or a web or something like that. But it's our game board, right? Except it's not two dimensional, it's multi-dimensional-- and we're playing on the level of the third dimension. I think the idea is to engage in an imaginative way, to play this interactive game. I feel like the Universe is not only alive and responsive, but it is actually us. The body we live in, and are a part of. The BEing that people think of as God?
Anyway, that's my version of the game. I was at a loss to come up with a topic for today's blog post until I saw today's article published in the NY Times titled : Stanford Scientists Cast Doubt on Advantages of Organic Meat and Produce. The NY Times article of the Stanford study reads, "They concluded that fruits and vegetables labeled organic were, on average, no more nutritious than their conventional counterparts, which tend to be far less expensive. Nor were they any less likely to be contaminated by dangerous bacteria like E. coli." My response to that initial statement was this. I haven't been buying organic for the last 12 years because I think the food is more nutritious or has less E. coli bacteria on it. I've embraced this as a way to Support Sustainable Farming Practices Reduce Pesticides and Hazardous Chemicals in the Environment (ie. our water supply) Fight the Acceptance of GMOs introduced into the Food Supply Support Local Farmers (ie. our neighbors/our community's small rural businesses) And let me just say that the use of the word "Conventional" to describe unnatural and modern practices of using pesticides and chemicals to grow foods is extremely objectionable to me. I would argue that thousands of years of natural, organic growing practices would be considered the proper use of the term "Conventional For me the question becomes one of sustainability. One way I look at this issue is like this. It is an investment in my health, the food supply, and the soil and water resources of this planet. I do spend more money buying organic food. And I have been spending more money on groceries since 1999, when I began shopping organic. But I have been investing in my health. I have been investing in the health of the planet. I can either choose to spend money supporting the cause of organic food, a situation in which I win. Or I can choose to spend money on medical bills down the road, a not so enticing offer. I think the investment is minimal and the return is priceless. This study seems like a distraction to me. It takes emphasis off of the real reasons to buy organic food and support sustainable farming. It also tends to be a bit misleading, as many of the findings in the study did support the claim that there ware significant higher levels of certain nutrients beneficial to health in the organic produce. Taken from the NY Times article are these quotes, which lead me to believe that the study was not without agenda. "One finding of the study was that organic produce, over all, contained higher levels of phosphorus than conventional produce. But because almost everyone gets adequate phosphorus from a wide variety of foods, they said, the higher levels in the organic produce are unlikely to confer any health benefit." --NY Times "The organic produce also contained more compounds known as phenols, believed to help prevent cancer, than conventional produce. While the difference was statistically significant, the size of the difference varied widely from study to study, and the data was based on the testing of small numbers of samples. “I interpret that result with caution,” Dr. Bravata said." --NY Times "Other variables, like ripeness, had a greater influence on nutrient content. Thus, a lush peach grown with the use of pesticides could easily contain more vitamins than an unripe organic one." --NY Times I will include here a link to this article so you may read the whole piece for yourself, if you wish. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/04/science/earth/study-questions-advantages-of-organic-meat-and-produce.html?_r=1&smid=fb-share
As someone with animal family members, I really appreciate having a good veterinarian. Many of the vets I have found over the years have been very willing to work with me. They listen to my questions, they address my concerns, and they are willing to educate me, or point me in the right direction to get information. My cat friend Zoë, had already undergone surgery for bladder-stones, and had been living without further difficulty for almost seven years, when she started exhibiting those same old symptoms, as if her bladder was blocked. I was determined that I would not be reactive this time, as I had been in the past. Rather than rush her to the emergency, (Naturally it was the middle of the night--isn't it always?) I started doing Reiki on her and we both slept comfortably until morning. In the morning, I made an appointment and I did some BodyTalk with her, and then we went in to see the vet. They did tests and X rays, and so on, and then sent us both home. They said it was a mystery, they couldn't see anything wrong. There didn't seem to be any stones, but they would have labs done. She seemed better to me, but just to be certain, I had my friend Lyn Poppie do a session on me for Zoë. The next day, they wanted me to bring Zoë back for some more tests, which came back negative--as I knew by this time they would. So two visits to the vet and over $300.00 later the mystery was still unsolved. But after two BodyTalk sessions and some Reiki, my darling Zoë was her old self. I made the choice to take Zoë to the vet, because I wanted her to have the best of both worlds. What was really wonderful about having the energy medicine tools, was that I didn't have to be panicky. It took the emphasis off of finding a solution through the vet's office. Their inability to find a problem gave me proof that she was healing, and her body was resolving the issue with the help of energy medicine. And as far as I could tell, she didn't seem to be uncomfortable after the first Reiki treatment. With energy medicine such as BodyTalk and Reiki, I don't have to know what the problem is from an allopathic perspective. I don't need to have a diagnosis. All I needed to know to help Zoë was that she was having trouble peeing. (How basic is that? Most people can recognize--that's not good). I didn't have to know why she was having trouble, only that she needed attention. I'm not a veterinarian. I have great appreciation for their expertise. But I also have great appreciation for my skills and tools with energy medicine. It's a great relief to me to have both options. If you can't see Zoë very well in this picture, never mind...that's the way she prefers it. And now meet my friend Lyn Poppie. Two years ago, I met her at a class we were both taking in Seattle for BodyTalk. I was thrilled to find out she had just moved to my town, Olympia. At last! Another "BodyTalker". And speaking of having the best of both worlds, Lyn is also a registered nurse with training in nutrition. You can learn more about her at this link http://www.bodytalksystem.com/practitioners/details.cfm?id=3438 I'm one of those people who have animals in my family instead of kids. For my husband and myself, animals are our family. I remember years ago having a conversation with someone about that. He astonished me by saying this..."It's JUST an animal. If your cat dies you can just replace it, you can't do that with kids." That is a statement made by someone who thinks that only people are conscious and that only people have individual personalities. If you've ever taken the time to get to know an animal, you know just how conscious and how present they are--and that they have distinct personalities. For me, this knowledge blossomed slowly, over the lifetime of a cat who we (Michael and I) called by the name of Wispy. Even now I miss him. Years after he transitioned on, and three cats later, I still remember him and my heart aches a little because I miss him. For me, it's a ridiculous concept that anyone you knew and loved could ever be replaced...even if that someone was "just" an animal. (Because there is no "just" anything, right? Energy is Energy, Consciousness is Consciousness, Spirit is Spirit...and most importantly, Love is Love--no matter what form it takes. How can any manifestation of that, be any less significant than another? (Anyway, that's what it looks like from where I stand.) We took such good care of him, and he was a part of our family for 14 years. And he taught me many things over the course of his life about animal/human relationships. As he got older, I would call him my Guruji. And then one night, we noticed he was having trouble breathing. It was new year's eve. It was almost midnight. We packed him into the car and made the trip to the animal emergency. We were told he had lung tumors, and he had chylothorax. So my plan became this...Keep him comfortable and support him until he is ready to die...AND find a way to heal him. I developed a very close working relationship with two vets, I was walking my tight rope tying to maintain the delicate balance of too much/too little intervention, I was compounding fresh medicine of Rutin daily and infusing it with Love and prayer, and he was comfortable and not getting any worse. But he wasn't getting any better either. And here is where I want to make a point. I didn't really know any energy medicine at the time. But I was SPENDING a lot of energy, just to maintain his health where it was, both in the form of my own personal attention and in the form of money. It was costing $1000. a month to maintain his comfort, and our nest egg was running out. What I discovered was that, as long as I could give him my undivided attention, he did really well. I probably would have gone on like that for a lot longer. But after 6 months of that, my mother told me she had leukemia, and then my attention became divided. For the next two months, I wore myself to a frazzle pouring all my resources into these two sick ones that I loved. And after those two months, Wispy died. But I kept going. I didn't have time to mourn, so I stuffed my grief down, along with my anger and resentment and frustration and guilt, and everything else I was stuffing down, and just kept going for another full year. And when I was finally able to stop going, it turned out I had made myself quite ill. So is this a story about someone who is willing to put all their resources into caring for their loved ones in times of extreme need? The truth is, it is a story about imbalance resulting from a skewed perception, and from over giving. This could be anyone's story. It's so easy to lose your sense of center, when you are dealing with the hard emotional challenges. Even the process of healing is a journey. All those months I spent trying to heal Wispy were a journey. A profound, sacred journey, from which I am still learning. I stand in such a different place than I was at in that time 8 years ago. My landscape is completely different. I can look back over that terrain and honor the process and the individuals who played a role. I can also look at myself, and see there is still some healing to be done around that experience. The reason I'm telling this story now is because I want to share some important lessons that I learned. First is this. Because I wasn't taking care of my own needs, I compounded the problem. I was using up my resources to help others and I wasn't doing anything to replace that used up energy. My reserves got lower and lower, and I didn't have enough to go around. That's not good for me, and not good for the ones I'm trying to help. Second is...I was trying some alternative things, but it was just mostly healing techniques I had read about. Nothing specific. I did have a Reiki Master come to the house. Once. I don't know what I was expecting. I didn't know anything about Reiki. It was pretty early on after we found out about the tumors and if I had known what I know now, I would have had her come back, and keep coming back. She talked about teaching me Reiki, but she didn't say, anything like, "You know, I think he would really benefit from some more treatments. What do you think?" I think there is a tendency among people in the alternative healing community not to want to barge into someone else's personal journey. And absolutely, I agree. But I also feel I have a duty to give people options and to educate them. When someone comes to me, whether they're getting BodyTalk for an animal or for themselves, after the session, I give them the option to continue. Speaking as a client, I would have appreciated having that option offered to me. After all, I ended up spending $8,000.00 using western methods. The investment for Reiki would've been minimal. The third point I want to make is this. I was absolutely traumatized from trying to deal with too many very serious issues at once. Also from losing Wispy and then not having a chance to acknowledge his passing and express my grief. And from not taking care of my needs or having any down time at all for about 18 months. I was a wreck. I could have really benefited from having some kind of energy work. It might have saved me a trip to the hospital and surgery. Life happens. Sometimes it's really great, and sometimes it's really hard. I really needed to know that I had options to offer myself some support and healing. I didn't find any of that until 4 years after losing Wispy. Now, this is what I want to share with you. I want you to know that you don't have to do things alone. I want you to know that you do have options to support you through your tough battles (or to help you find your center and heal after the fact). And mostly I want you to know that your healing journey is sacred. If you think you'd like to try BodyTalk, I'd be happy to have that conversation with you. I know you probably have a lot of questions, so let's talk and you can decide if this option is part of your healing journey.
I am Rita Tortorello and I can be reached at [email protected] . I look forward to getting to know you. |
Archives
May 2014
Categories
All
|