EDEN
Farrell Steve
Shaping the Future with Bold Leadership
COOLING OUR PLANET; New England’s battle with Climate Change by Dr.
HEALING MUST BEGIN WITHIN STRESS, ANXIETY, & HEALING by
Susanna Schroadter by Dr. Bradly Nelson
Rob Moir
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EDEN
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For Personal Transformation ONNECTING With Ancestors C
“Every book is a quotation, and every house is a quotation out of all forests, mines, and stone quarries, and every man is a quotation from all his ancestors.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Who is She? Who were they? Who are we? Who am I?
These four questions form the basis of an exploration into one’s mother-line or varied ancestral history when addressing trauma or a core wound. We are connected to our ancestors womb-to-womb through the alchemy of our DNA, the embryonic fluid we steeped in, and often, wound-to-wound.
In my book, Transforming the Mother Wound – Sacred Practices for Healing Your Inner Wise Woman Through Ritual and Grounded Spirituality, I explore how our ancestors can be wise allies and part of our personal transformation.
Our stories and the stories of our ancestors are stored in our collective memory. Stories can empower a shift in human consciousness – so often, the stories of our mothers, grandmothers, fathers, and grandfathers have never been honored, have been silenced, or we’ve had no access to them. In my own journey through the mother wound, I found that giving voice to my stories and those before me cleared a path to knowing myself better. This knowledge offered a much-needed perspective as the lens of my understanding widened and helped me shed the stubborn shame which often comes with trauma or childhood wounds.
Recently, I discovered information about my birth father, which led me to information about my birth mother and completed an inquiry brewing in my heart for many years. I’ve added a photograph of my parents with me on my first birthday to my altar. I also have a picture of my maternal grandmother on this same altar. A bundle of letters sent by her sit on my bedside table, to converse with her at dreamtime. The stories she told me in these letters warm my heart.
There is a grounded sacredness that filters through my thoughts and my beingness as a result of being supported by my ancestors. In my prayers and meditations with them, I can hear their whispered love – a true blessing when I’m feeling lost or melancholy.
An Ancestor Tarot Spread
Explore connecting with your ancestors through a tarot spread. Tarot cards are a natural conduit for the spirit of an ancestor to come through – the archetypes within a tarot deck easily call forth other realms. You can use a favorite Oracle deck as well. I like to set an intention before pulling cards to keep things on course. Spirits can be cheeky!
When you call in ancestors, state that you are calling in only those who genuinely wish to support you on your path. You may wish to meditate or sit in stillness before you begin this practice. To stay in your body during this meditation, place your hands at your heart center, feet on the earth or floor and breath deeply into your lungs. When communicating with spirits, grounded and centered is best.
>Light a candle
>Lay your tarot or oracle deck cards face down one to seven as you intuitively pull them
>Turn them over and attune to the cards
>Ask these questions or others you think of:
> What is your name and relationship to me?
>What life lessons can you help me with?
>What wisdom do you have for me today?
>What sign will you use to signal your presence?
>What gifts have you passed on to me?
>How can I honor my ancestors more?
>How can I become a better ancestor?
>Listen for the answers. Trust what comes through, write it down, and add it to the meaning or message of the card itself.
>Thank your ancestors for their messages and wisdom
>Brew some herbal tea and share with your ancestors by intention
You can also pull an ancestor tarot spread to communicate
with a living ancestor if a physical conversation would be difficult and you have specific questions you would like to ask. Don’t be surprised if the relationship shifts; inter-realm communication can be powerfully transformative.
Sometimes, an ancestor may come through in your meditation whose name you can’t place in your known history or within your lineage. This may be an ancient ancestor, from other lifetimes or a very distant past. I’ve found these connections especially interesting. Often, they also connect me more deeply to age of the matriarchy, moon mysteries and the Great Cosmic Mother.
Our ancestors represent more than the shared trauma that can filter down through generations; they teach us about courage, resilience, creativity, and the ability to dream wildly.
An Ancestor Altar
Our ancestors can be a magical and mysterious way to connect to past traditions, wisdom, healing and support.
The interesting thing about ancestor work is that while we are in it, we are also cultivating our own role as an ancestor.
That immediately brings about the awareness … what kind of ancestor will I be? What legacy do I leave behind for those who will call upon me for support?
When this realization came to me, one day, as I spoke to an ancestor, it helped me to be in greater awareness of how I lived my life, what I would be remembered for, and, would those who follow me would be able to add my photograph to their altars or call on me with trust?
Ancestor work travels in all directions, from the now to the past and future. It affects those who have come before us and those who are born to us, as well as our creative efforts. The Wise Woman approaches it with respect for those she calls upon, respect for those who come after her, and respect for herself.
Ancestors can sometimes live through us, projecting their energy from the Other-World, as seen in our habits and beliefs. Therefore, when we free ourselves from the patterns we do not find supportive of our life journey, we free the ancestors and provide them with rest, and also free our descendants from continuing the cycle. It is profound work.
One can either create a physical altar to their ancestors (see below), or they can treat their body as an altar, which is an incredibly beautiful way to do ancestor work.
If your body is to be the altar, then the commitment is to be conscious of how you treat your sacred container, to heal the past sufferings of ancestors, to literally wear your own healing as you become the living altar, and to humbly serve your descendants by example.
If you choose this path, you are engaging in an alchemical process of transformation. It is humbling and inspiring.
We can celebrate our ancestors daily, weekly, or twice a year at Beltane and/or Samhain – however you wish, there is no right or wrong way.
They may visit you in your dreams or in your meditations, in how you cook or how you love. Allow for them to come through in the way that they are best at, and how you ‘hear’ them best.
You may be a reincarnation of one of your ancestors… explore this if you feel any resonance to this. Alternatively, a descendant of yours may be the reincarnation of one of
your ancestors, or they may show themselves in several people in your family. Our children also connect to ancestors that we have no lineage to, through their other parent. It is an intricate tapestry, and something to ponder.
A Physical Altar to the Ancestors
>Add a photo or photos of those you wish to hear from, work with, or learn from.
>Add a dish of water and replenish it as needed. You may notice times when the water is gone quickly or slowly, when you feel a real connection or none at all. You may ask a question and hear absolutely nothing back. Try to enter into this without expectations. See what evolves. Trust in silence and your own, sometimes very faint, intuitions.
>Light a candle and offer gratitude for the traditions and wisdom of your lineage.
>Craft a prayer to your lineage: Gratitude for the birthing of your lineage, gratitude for your life, a question that needs answering perhaps, or simply a request for more wisdom.
In these times, it is becoming more and more important to lean into the traditions native to us. We so often look outside our own culture for inspiration. But honoring our own ancestry and traditions can be more authentic to ourselves. Wise Woman digs in her own past for secrets and magic that is inherently hers.
In which way would you like to work with your ancestors? A separate journal dedicated to the ancestor can work like a portal. It may include your recorded dreams – you may be surprised what opens up in your life as a result of calling in the ancestors.
To forget one’s ancestors is to be a brook without a source, a tree without a root. ~Chinese Proverb
Monika Carless is the author of Transforming the Mother Wound (Hay House) and The Dark Pool Trilogy. She is a mentor to Earthkeepers, Creatives and those on the Wise Woman Path. Monika lives on Vancouver Island with her partner of many moons, her cat and five chickens where she leads a life of simple pleasures. Her heart song is guiding women to their sovereignty and fearless authenticity. Learn more at https://monikacarless.com/ Transforming the Mother Wound is available worldwide through links on this page: https://monikacarless.com/work-with-me/ healing-mother-wound/
Stop Overthinking? How to
Do you find yourself caught in a vicious cycle of compulsive thinking? Find out what Sadhguru has to say about being stuck in the mind and how one can come out of it and become more conscious.
Sadhguru: The moment you get identified with something other than what you really are, the activity of the mind begins. You
cannot stop it. Have you tried? You entertain yourself and just pass life. Do not entertain yourself. Just sit down for 24 hours and try very hard to stop the mind. You will see where it will take you. In three days, you will be in madness. This is like you ate bad food, and now there is gas. It will not help if you try to hold it. You should just stop eating bad food.
You have wrong identifications, and once the wrong identifications happen, the mind’s activity goes nonstop. You cannot stop it, no matter what you do. It is just that if it is within a certain limit, you think it is normal. It is not normal. You are in socially accepted levels of madness. Everyone is the same way, so you think it is okay. But you do not know the joy of simply sitting here without a single thought on your mind. If I close myself up for four to five days, those four to five days, I do not have a single thought. I do not read anything or even look out of the window. I simply sit without a single thought.
Suppose you started looking at a glorious; your thought disappeared for some time because something much bigger was happening. Or you got involved with something that you considered as important; at that time, the thought disappeared for some time. Those have been the most beautiful moments of your life.
If you get in touch with something bigger, the smaller things naturally evaporate. The source of life that is functioning within you is a far bigger phenomenon than the thought process. Because you never came in touch with that, this thought has become so important. In other words, if your thought is very important, it means that somewhere in your distorted perception, the creator’s creation is not important. Your own creation has become very important. You do not pay attention to the
creator within, nor his creation, but you are busy with your own creation. Isn’t this the worst sacrilege towards the creator? Not even for a moment has your attention shifted to the source of life within you. If you know the blissfulness of just being able to simply sit here, not thinking or doing anything, just being life, then life would be very different.
Getting in Touch with the Source of Creation
When it comes to the outside world, different human beings are capable in different ways. But when it comes to interiority, all of us are equally capable. It has not happened because you have never paid attention, not because it is difficult or unapproachable or because you are unqualified. Every human being is equally qualified for inner nature. For external work, whether you want to build a building or, cook a meal, or do something else, each one of us is differently capable. But when it comes to inner realities, all of us are equally capable. It has happened to one person and not happened to another simply because one has not paid attention; that is all.
People have come to these conclusions that spiritual process is very difficult because they keep doing the wrong things. With the outside world, you have realized that unless you do the right thing it will not work. The same is true with the inside. On a certain day, a tourist came to a village close by and asked,
Once you see life the way it is, not the way your mind is reflecting it, then you will see everything is just so small. What your mind can do, what the world can do, is so petty that you can just play with it to the extent that you wish. If you do not wish to, you can just withdraw. Both are conscious.
Infrastructures to Raise Human Consciousness
Experience Yoga in its classical form at Isha Yoga Center Los Angeles and Isha Institute of Inner-sciences. Established by Sadhguru, the centers serve as powerful spaces for inner transformation and raising human consciousness. Located in northern Los Angeles County and Tennessee, the centers offer an array of yoga and meditation programs in a vibrant and conducive ambience.
You are invited to Free Yoga Day, a monthly open-door event a t the center. On this day, we offer a variety of free sessions dedicated to educating and empowering individuals to take charge of their well-being through simple but powerful practices sourced from the Yogic tradition.
Learn more at ishausa.org/la
“How far is IshaYoga Center?”
The local village boy said, “It is 24,996 miles.”
He said, “What! That far?”
The boy said, “Yes, the way you are going. If you turn around, it is just four miles.”
You are looking in one direction and trying to be spiritual – now, it is a very long way. You have to go across the universe and come back. If you just turn around, it is right here because what you are looking for is within you, not outside of you. No one can deny what is within you except yourself. Can anyone deny you entry to your own interiority? If it is not happening, you must understand that you have not created the necessary willingness. There is no other reason.
Are You Out of Your Mind? Right now, do not try to suppress the thought. The biggest mistake has been that people have told you, “Control your mind.” Once you try to control your mind, you are finished! Let us say that right now, you are practicing Shambhavi Mahamudra. If you do the process, it will create a certain distance between you and the body and between you and the mind. You do Shambhavi and simply sit – your body is here, your mind is out there, and what you see as “myself” is somewhere else. Once this distinction arises, now there is no struggle with the mind.
Once you are out of the mind, there is no problem. If someone tells you, “You are out of your mind,” do not you feel insulted? It is the greatest compliment that they can give you. They are telling you, “You are a Buddha.” Buddha means he is out of his mind. People think being out
of mind is madness. It is not madness. Madness is always of the mind. If you are out of your mind, you will be one hundred percent sane. That is the end of madness. Now, you see life just the way it is.
Once you see life the way it is, not the way your mind is reflecting it, then you will see everything is just so small. What your mind can do, what the world can do, is so petty that you can just play with it to the extent that you wish. If you do not wish to, you can just withdraw. Both are conscious. There is no more compulsiveness in you. The moment you start witnessing the very source of creation, all compulsiveness in you is gone; now everything is by choice, and life becomes beautiful.
Life becomes beautiful not because of what is happening but because you are choosing to do it. Nothing is beautiful or ugly. If you choose to do it and you involve yourself, everything is beautiful. If it is imposed upon you or it is compulsive, then everything is terrible. The same goes for mental activity. If this was conscious, you could have played with the mind, which is quite a wonderful instrument, but because it is compulsive, it has become stressful.
Cooling Our Planet:
New England’s Battle with Climate Change
by Dr. Rob Moir
Photo courtesy to Dr. Rob Moir
Many are drawn to the natural beauty of New England in the summer, where the ocean’s cooling effect provides a respite from the heat. Cape Cod, Cape Ann, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, Newport, and the coast of Maine are havens for those seeking refuge from the sweltering urban heat. Recently, however, the fabric of this climate is warping. Summers are increasingly hotter, and winters are unpredictably mild. These idyllic landscapes are under threat. With warming and stormier seas rising, we must understand the changes that are underway.
The excessive accumulation of greenhouse gases has disrupted the balance of heat entering and leaving our planet. This imbalance has led to a 1% increase in retained heat energy. Once, our skies were adorned with more than 50% white cumulus clouds, but today, their coverage has dwindled to less than 50%. The way
rainwater is managed has also changed. Instead of infiltrating into the soil to keep the land moist and recharge aquifers, excess water now runs off the surface, floods and erodes landscapes, and is directly channeled into the sea. This only exacerbates the problem.
We aim to achieve Net Zero Carbon emissions to restore our planet’s health. Reducing emissions, we strive to reverse the hockey stick graph of rising carbon, much like giving a patient with a high temperature an ice bath. We struggle to slacken the rise in carbon and need to tackle the visible symptoms, like rashes, scars, and hot spots on the land. To restore planetary health, we must replace impervious surfaces with vegetation and soil. Plants can help by absorbing more carbon dioxide and building more soil with carbohydrates. These carbohydrates create spaces in the soil that can hold seven inches of rainwater in just four inches of soil.
Green infrastructure, such as permeable pavements, rain gardens, rain barrels, cisterns, green roofs, and Miyawaki forests, which are replacing city concrete lots, also improve water quality. More water in the ground enables plants to continue growing and photosynthesizing, drawing down more carbon. Plants intentionally release water vapor when it is hot to evaporate and cool the microclimate. An hour before dawn, when the land is coolest, plants release water vapor that condenses to warm the microclimate with the morning dew. Meanwhile, restoring wetlands, salt marshes, and seagrasses, in addition to storing carbon, absorbs storm surges and acts as flood barriers.
Water slowed in vegetation and soil, and there were no longer puddles on the surface to be warmed by extreme summer temperatures. Heat energy from the land is flushed to the sea. Last summer, sea surface waters warmed by two degrees Fahrenheit in both Boston and Portland, Maine.
Paradoxically, it was not a particularly hot summer, with average temperatures of 70 degrees. The sea’s face was not warmed in 2021, yet the average temperatures were
73.7 degrees Fahrenheit. The hot waters recorded this summer were a result of the highest rainfall totals since 1955. Warmer weather with climate change warms the land, which warms the rainfall that flows to the sea. On a hot day, when it rains, the temperature drops, and the rain falling on the ocean is the temperature of the clouds, not the air. The air temperature cools when it rains, so rain on the water transfers little heat energy. We can cool the ocean by holding back and slowing the water running off the land.
The Gulf of Maine, the waters off Boston, Portsmouth, and Portland are bounded by Cape Cod to the south and Nova Scotia to the north. It is a sea beside the Atlantic Ocean, separated by Browns Banks and Georges Banks, connected by a 60-mile-wide deep water channel. The water in the Gulf of Maine is less salty, at 34 parts per thousand salt, compared to the Atlantic Ocean, at 36 parts per thousand salt. The decrease in salinity is due to all the freshwater flowing from off the land. Warm freshwater spreads out across the sea surface because it is much less dense. In winter, little water flows from rivers and the land.
The Continental Shelf Water, at 54 degrees F, rises to the surface to warm the region.
With a little spadework, we can put the cool back into the planet, the green back into our landscapes, and enjoy nicer summer days by the sea once again.
Climate Change is a global problem. This is indicated by 420 parts per billion tons of atmospheric carbon dioxide for a total of 800 billion tons of carbon worldwide. Great strides in restoring the climate would be achieved if the carbon dioxide burden was reduced to 350 ppb, to a worldwide volume of 700 billion tons of carbon dioxide. We look to vegetation, a diversity of plants, pollinators, and herbivores to reduce the atmosphere by 100 billion tons of carbon to restore the balance. Worldwide biomass amounts to 564 billion tons of carbon. Fortunately, whenever plants photosynthesize, they push a third of the carbohydrates as liquid carbon to feed soils. (Grasses contribute half of their manufactured carbon when not disturbed by quick-release fertilizers.) Worldwide soils, therefore, weigh in at 2,800 billion tons of carbon and bind carbon in humus for thousands of years.
We need to increase vegetation and soils by just 3% to win the battle with climate change. Enough to draw down 100 billion tons of carbon. The land will hold more rainwater, flood less, and result in less stormwater erosion and choking sedimentation. More water will be available during dry periods. Vegetation will flourish
with adequate moisture for longer periods of time to draw down more carbon dioxide and better-moderated microclimates.
To live away from water, plants have the agency to release bacteria and fungi into the air. Water vapor nucleates around these organics to form mist and white cumulus clouds that reflect heat away from the ground. When the mist is created, the condensation causes a fall in pressure that acts as a biotic pump to draw moist air from the ocean to the plants. Plants reduce the energy gathering over oceans by releasing bacteria and fungi into the air. Conversely, when a stand of trees falls, with more energy, the ocean storm fury rises.
Smart climate change reduction actions start at home and in neighborhoods with greener, more natural, and more attractive landscapes. By restoring the balance of greenhouse gases, cumulous cloud cover, verdant green landscapes, and the hydrologic cycle, immediate benefits are provided locally to all in the region. With a little spadework, we can put the cool back into the planet, the green back into our landscapes, and enjoy nicer summer days by the sea once again.
Dr. Rob Moir is a nationally-recognized and award-winning environmentalist. He is president & executive director of Cambridge, MA-based Ocean River Institute, a nonprofit providing expertise, services, resources, and information unavailable on a localized level to support the efforts of environmental organizations. For more information. please visit www.oceanriver.org
Photo by
S
TEVE farrell
Transforming Ideas into Reality
Steve Farrell is a visionary leader and innovative thinker whose work has left an indelible mark on today’s world.
Steve has consistently pushed the boundaries of what’s possible, blending creativity with practical solutions to drive transformative changes. In this interview with Steve, we invite you into his inspiring journey, uncovering the passion and principles that fuel his relentless pursuit of excellence. Discover the insights and wisdom of a true pioneer and how Steve continues to shape the future with his groundbreaking ideas and unwavering commitment to making a positive impact.
When I say conscious living, I’m talking about being conscious of that, not only conscious from the standpoint of our mind but wisdom center of our soul.
In what city were you born?
I was born in Hawaii on Oahu at St. Francis Hospital. My dad had gone to the Naval Academy, and when I was born, he was in the Navy on submarines. We frequently moved between the East Coast, Maine, where they harbor those submarines, the West Coast, Vallejo, and Hawaii.
When you think back to your childhood, what stands out?
My family was awesome. There were six of us siblings plus our parents and a dog. My growing-up experience was fantastic. We had this little home, only 1,388 square feet. At the time, I thought we were growing up in the upper middle class. I don’t know where I got that from, but that’s what I thought, and so to me, life was great. Even though my parents got divorced when I was in 6th Grade, and I would see my dad less frequently, I talked to him regularly on the phone. I wouldn’t change anything from my childhood.
To this day, my brothers and sisters are all incredible people. Over Mother’s Day weekend, I was in Southern Virginia, with my two brothers and my mother, who’s now 91.
Growing up, what did you aspire to become?
I didn’t think a lot about what I would grow up to be. As a child, I loved the outdoors and had a rich life outdoors with nature and animals. Eventually, I went to college to become a veterinarian because I loved animals. I thought, “Wouldn’t it be incredible to be a veterinarian and spend all day with animals?” That was my naïve thinking when I first started college. The reason I say naïve is, of course,
that’s a pre-med focus, which means math and science, and that was not my thing at all. I was much better in the humanities, subjects like English and history. Political science ended up becoming my major.
How did your upbringing shape the person you became in Silicon Valley and the one you are today?
I had a lot of part-time jobs from an early age, including being a newspaper boy. My parents instilled in me the hard-working theme of buckling down and applying myself. Another part of it, which I bring up in my book A New Universal Dream is that in the ‘70s I was reading The Washington Post about emerging CO2 emissions and thinking, I’m young and don’t have a hand in how the world runs, but I was thinking, “I’m sure there are adults everywhere reading these very same stories. We’ve got to be getting our arms around this here now and figure out how to reduce our CO2 emissions and take good care of this planet.”
It was quite a surprise as I was growing up that we weren’t paying attention to this.
When did you move to the West Coast?
We were living in Northern Virginia, Washington, D.C., and right out of college, I was called to move to San Francisco for work. The move was rather jarring because I was so well integrated into my lifestyle back east, so moving to San Francisco at 21 and not knowing anybody wasn’t easy. It was at that point that I realized life was a little more challenging than I was accustomed to. It took me about three years before I really started feeling at home on the West Coast.
You seem like a positive person. I’m definitely a glass-half-full person. That’s my outlook now as we’re here with these challenges on Earth. I’m very hopeful. I believe we’re on our way. I know we’ll get to these things, but I’m very hopeful and very positive about the future that we’re creating.
When did you realize you’d be embarking on an incredible spiritual journey that would change your life forever?
I grew up in the Catholic church as an altar boy, which was quite restrictive as a church back in the ‘70s. But I did have this other relationship with the God of my understanding that was quite different from that restrictive one. My other relationship with God made me feel loved and supported, that the wind was at my back, and that even the call to move to the West Coast felt like a Divine thing.
When I read Conversations with God in the mid-’90s, that was huge. It whacked me over the head in a positive way because there, the God of my understanding was actually speaking to me and bringing more color and depth to all of what I had already felt in terms of explaining life and the revolving door between non-physical and physical and that we are all one, that our thoughts are creating our reality, that there is no punishing or judging God. That was a massive new pivot for me. During my spiritual journey, through that process, I came into a whole new self-identification where I realized that I would no longer identify as Steve Farrell as this body born from Linda and Joe and here for this limited lifetime.
I moved to this new self-identification that my parents had delivered me. They were the airport terminal from the Divine, from where we all come as daughters and sons of the most high with all of those same properties: everlasting life and unlimited potential. That then colored my whole worldview and, ultimately, how I would spend my life.
When I started Humanity’s Team with Neale Donald Walsch in June 2003, that was an even more substantial stepping-stone I was now
committing my whole professional life to this work, which we now call the Conscious Journey in Humanity’s Team. In this work, we see people all over the world who are conscious and who are stretching into more and more levels of higher consciousness.
It’s all been about my journey and supporting people on this conscious journey. Ultimately, what the conscious journey is about is that all the basic needs of people and the planet are met. The existential crisis is healed. There’s alchemy. We remedy the sixth great mass extinction. The conscious journey creates this delicious life for us individually, but then when enough of us, the 8% to 10% of us, are living this delicious life, there will be a tipping point, and from that, a whole new way of living on the Earth.
You grew up Catholic. What do you say to religious conservatives who don’t like you using the word God? Or atheists who don’t acknowledge a God. How do you speak to them and convince them to listen?
Let me speak to it in two ways. I will start by addressing them with a lot of compassion. We started Humanity’s Team in Europe, where God is a very loaded word. A lot of compassion is needed to accept their feelings because the reason they don’t like the word God is they’ve been spanked and judged and thrown all over the place in so many horrible ways that it’s become a loaded term they don’t want anything to do with. After all, this is where the Crusades and Roman Inquisition took place that created so much pain and suffering. I get it, and I have compassion for them, and how they’ve had to deal with that, how they maybe still are dealing with it.
There may be substantial trauma in their life from this term God. I would begin by saying to them, “Let’s use another word.” As we know, science and spirituality bridge in a more and more complete way. This means we can use interchangeable words The Universe, cosmos, love, and life, can be interchangeable with God and the Divine. Even with an atheist,
I will share that the important thing from my perspective is that they can understand what science is saying. For example, Nassim Haramein sounds like a preacher, but he’s a physicist. He says we are inseparable from the universe. He says you’re sovereign to the universe, to the cosmos, which is to say, there’s no cosmos, there’s no universe without you, inseparable. From the science of that, the posture you can walk around in, the self-awareness, the compassion, the self-empowerment that can come from that are incredible.
I want that for all people. To study the science of it. If you don’t like the word God, come to understand this unified field is a term that a lot of scientists like to use for the cosmos and universe.
If we get that and start living into that alone, that we’re inseparable from that, that we’re a key, there’s a puzzle piece missing without you, then the kind of life that you can live in terms of your self-image and empowered life is amazing. Because if you’re sovereign to something, you’re incredibly loved by it, that it’s inoperable without you. This is the thing, for people to be able to live into this, what they’re bringing as a contribution to the whole unified field: cosmos, universe, life, and love.
This is the first and most important thing people can bring into their daily practice, live into that, and ultimately have a delicious life. The key thing I want for every person on the planet is that they can live a rich life from this understanding. And where God or the Divine aren’t seen as terrible terms. Then, you can start bringing in spiritual properties, which can enhance this further because we feel our everlasting life and the love of the Divine. We understand we are actually never alone because there is no separation. And where this can be a part of your daily practice, where you’re loving, letting in the extent to which you are incredibly loved by the one which I call God or the Divine. At this point, we can embrace our relationship with the Divine.
If we could get the whole planet to understand your message, there
would never be another war. Yes. You are exactly right. Meeting all the basic needs of people and the planet. This includes an end to war, only clean water for everybody, stewarding the planet, women and family empowerment, and no human trafficking. There is more, of course, but this gets us started. These would all be remedied. It’s not pie in the sky at all. It was Albert Einstein in 1921 who said that the greatest illusion in the world is the illusion of separation. Then there is the quote where he goes a little deeper and says there’s this optical delusion that we suffer from that creates this prison for us and causes us to create affinity just for those closest to us, our family members. He says our job has to be to free ourselves from this prison. That’s some pretty strong language. He goes on to say that we should embrace the whole of humanity, the earth, nature, and its beauty, which is exactly what Humanity’s Team is up to.
The words “conscious living” get thrown around a lot. What is conscious living? That’s such an important question because it is being thrown around.
Consciously, what is this? As we know, there are mystical teachings going back to Plato and Hippocrates and before. Now, there’s all the science everywhere supporting these mystical teachings. The book Conversations with God was radical in the ‘90s when it came out. It’s not so radical today. You realize, in some ways, it’s a summary of what the mystical teachings were and what science is affirming.
There’s actually very little in there, notwithstanding the Ten Commitments and not the Ten Commandments. That’s new. There are a few other things as well, there is no “right” and “wrong” for example. Most of it is actually our teachings that are already out in the world. You often hear about reading literacy and math literacy. There’s such a thing as spiritual literacy. Spiritual literacy is where we deeply understand through taking the time to go through courses. Humanity’s Team offers lots free courses that describe a deep connection between all of life in the universe,
With Ken Honda
“ It’s a hopeful message that we’re well on our way and have already covered a great distance. You could even say the hardest part of this journey is behind us. Now we just need to deepen this journey for ourselves, invite and engage others, which is what we’re doing here...
that everything is deeply connected and interrelated and interdependent. Indeed, this is what science is bringing it back to, that there’s one global consciousness of which we are all a part of. When I say conscious living, I’m talking about being conscious of that, not only conscious from the standpoint of our mind but wisdom center of our soul.
When we understand that we’re one, and it’s not just a logic center of mind thing, but rather something we’re living in, and that we’re embodying and expressing. It’s a different way of living in the world with this open-heartedness. We’re basically nurturing life, as is our highest priority. We’re conscious of this; we’re conscious of the science, and we’re conscious of the mystical teachings. It’s not just in our minds. It’s that we’re embodying and expressing those. We’ve moved that down into the fullness of our daily living as individuals. That’s what conscious living is, where we’re really living in the fullness of that.
Tell me about the Galileo moment. Now, in a sense, there is where we are, we’re having a Galileo moment. Galileo, in the early 1600s, was a scientist, physicist, and astronomer based in Italy. Back then, the church and the whole world believed that the Earth was the center of the universe. This was canon, a deeply religious and scientific belief. That is until Copernicus and then Galileo came along with their research, which shows that it’s just not true.
We’re in a solar system. We revolve around the sun. We’re at the edge of the observable universe. We’re not at the center at all. He was in a whole lot of trouble for that, under house arrest at the end of his life, and was almost killed. Essentially, what happened is you had one man who stood up and carried the load for all of us so we could live into a truthful reality and not a false reality. Now, in a sense, today, this is where we are, we’re having a Galileo moment. What I mean by that is we’re living under this false reality that Einstein and Schroeder and David Bohn, Plato, and Hippocrates, the list goes
on, where science is affirming that we’re not separated selves at all.
Of course, there are more mainstream news articles coming out now sharing that everything is deeply interconnected, interrelated, and interdependent and that, in fact, there is just one consciousness. Erwin Schrodinger, Nobel Prize for Physics in 1933 said “quantum physics thus reveals a basic Oneness of the universe.”
Basically, it’s saying everything deeply affects everything. There’s an energetic entanglement that exists between all things and there’s no such thing as a truly separated self. Returning to the Galileo moment, the way we all grew up, is that it’s a me, me, me reality. It’s a separate self of I want to do this, and I think I might like that and so on. We’re not thinking into and living from the expression of the connectedness or the Oneness of which we are a part, which is a “we” more than a “me” thing.
If we look at these ills in today’s world, there are so many people who are challenged, plagued with anxiety, fatigue, and a lot more including depression. It is the illusion of separation that causes this. If we weren’t feeling alone, if we felt a part of this connected universe and loved, we wouldn’t be feeling those things at all.
The problem here is we don’t have a single Galileo who can stand up and carry the burden for us, that can clear this whole separated self-problem in today’s world. It really is going to take all of us. This is what our personal awakening is. This is what our conscious journey is, where we realize it’s a false narrative, that we’re a separated self, this “me” thing. Our own personal awakening, our own living into that, and ultimately, our own open-heartedness and service. Instead of one person in the early 1600s, now it will take 8% to 10% of the planet, that’s 800 million people, to create this huge shift, the shift of the ages that has been prophesied over time. It’s a Galileo moment. One person can’t do it. Today, it’s going to take 800 million of us to do it.
How are you bringing more awareness to Humanity’s Team?
We are in a massive movement right now to create public awareness. Next, I will be going to the Cannes Film Festival to talk to these different impact funds. Then there’s someone at an organization who has committed to me that he’ll get me on a TEDx stage, and I’ll have a minimum of 50,000 views.
I’m going to do that, and we’re going to go far and wide with that. Then, beyond that, we have a massive public awareness thing going on with podcasts I’ve done in the last year and podcast-staged events, anything and everything we’re looking at because the number one thing that we’re focused on right now, which is the basis of your question, is public awareness. We’re celebrating Global Oneness Day for its 15th year in October. One donor came in and said, “Okay, here’s some money. Go to the United Nations and get Global Oneness Day on their calendar. They have the International Day Of Peace.”
tional programs and outreach to help draw attention to ultimate reality as we now understand it - there is no true separation of anything from anything. We’re on a mission.
Did you ever doubt that Humanity’s Team would not succeed?
There was a time years ago that I openly share today, when we had no revenue, no way to compensate our team, no way to pay expenses. The odds that I put on its ability to survive were only 5% to 10%. I don’t think I was reading that wrong, but a miracle happened. We created a masterclass that was an enormous success.
We brought in a science-based masterclass with Gregg Braden, Bruce Lipton, and the HeartMath leaders, Deborah Rozman and Howard Martin. Nothing had ever come to the scene like that, and it was a wild success. We were a small organization at the time, and we had 1,300 people enroll in it. That gave Humanity’s Team the shot in the arm to create this whole new day that allowed us to scale and grow into who we are.
It’s not just Humanity’s Team with its summit, but the whole world, like International Day of Peace. We met with two ambassadors from the U.N. this week. We are positive and hopeful that we are going to get this on the U.N. calendar like the International Day of Peace. This is significant because when we come from Oneness, we are united, we work together, and we implement the 17 Sustainable Development Goals that are so important. We’re already reaching out to the president of the United Nations to see if he wants to champion this thing.
The Eden Magazine is thrilled to do our part in helping spread your message. Thank you. In all these campaigns we’re working on, we connect the dots between today’s world and what’s going on and the whole aspect of raising consciousness, which Einstein said so beautifully, “No problem can be solved at the current level of the consciousness that created it.” We’re investing all of our organization in public awareness campaigns, educa-
In what ways can Humanity’s Team contribute to fostering a more conscious and compassionate global community, especially in today’s challenging times?
Let me tell a story that will get at the answer to that. It’s a story that was told to me that I’m repeating. Imagine we’re walking along a river. We’re noticing that there are more and more bodies that are coming down that are damaged, hurt, and even that have already transitioned. Also, other life forms from the planet are damaged, hurt, and in need of aid. The first thing we’d do is say, “This is horrible,” and then we would go about administering first aid for these people and things that were coming downriver. We would support them and create healing. Then we would say, “My God, what is upstream?” What’s the causal factor that is creating all of this destruction that seems to be getting worse? We wouldn’t stop by giving first aid on the shore. We would go upstream to find the causal factor that was behind all this. That’s what Humanity’s Team is doing. We must do something about this.
We have become the largest global streaming platform for consciousness-raising, masterclasses, and transformational education. It’s called Humanity Stream+ and has all these live programs. There’s this huge community that we’ve created where people come in and watch live programs, sometimes more than one a day, go through video training, come to our global oneness summit, and watch our free programs. It’s a true community that supports people who are living consciously. We can stretch and deepen our own conscious living. I look at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Women Empowerment, Families Empowered, ecology, and Jeff Bezos Earth Fund and think we’re probably the most effective channel for all of these organizations because we’re going to the causal factor that addresses the source of these problems the organizations care so deeply about.
What is your idea of the American dream today?
This is the American Dream at its basis. It started as something positive for the whole earth, promoting equal opportunity and equal education.
Then it morphed into something different. It began to focus on big business, fame, fortune, and power over people and the planet. There is nothing wrong with creating big business as long as it is conscious. We can create businesses where there is a need, but we must ask, “Will this business nurture homes, communities, countries, and the world around us? Is it going to have a positive impact?” Then, of course, that’s fantastic. Humanity’s Team has a conscious business program and a team that supports people launching these businesses that can grow into large enterprises. They are here to help support people and the planet. What’s happened is
the American Dream has lost its way. Many businesses are not pointed in a healthy direction. The focus is just top and bottom line, just revenue and profit. Businesses like this can become like a locust, adding no real value at all. I started two companies in Silicon Valley that each grew to $75 million in revenue, but I walked away from technology-based entrepreneurship because I was called to something else. My still, small voice guided me to another direction for my life. It said, “You’ve got other things that are more spiritual or conscious in nature where you can make a contribution. You have to close doors to let new doors open.”
Do you plan to invite politicians and religious leaders to collaborate with you?
I look forward to speaking to religious leaders, politicians, technology elites, and financiers. My focus is public awareness and getting in front of any audience, especially audiences that can have real reach and impact. What we’re talking about has no boundaries. You can have any political orientation or religious orientation. I can bring this to a level where I don’t see it contradicting all these other beliefs. People ask me, “Are you a Christian?”
I say, “Yes, Jesus was surely sent by God. I’m probably a Buddhist, too.” I believe Buddha was sent by the Most High, same with Christ and the same with Abraham, Moses, and Solomon; I believe in all of them. I don’t have an exclusivist understanding where I think this one was the only one and that which goes against their teachings, Jesus was the most loving, compassionate, healing, and giving soul the world has ever seen.
Humanity’s Team is a nonprofit. How do you keep the humanities team thriving and successful? And how can people who are reading this interview help?
We have a raising global consciousness campaign ongoing right now. We just had a donor walk in the last 48 hours with a $40,000 matching grant. I will raise that $40,000, and then we must fully develop this fast-start team to raise global consciousness for 800 million people. There’s another sum of money larger than that we are raising to begin a massive public awareness campaign and scaling project to support our mission. Consciousness-raising requires that we raise capital, and in a hurry. We can go to any stage, speak on any stage, virtually or physically, take people through this whole vision, take them into the budget, the allocation that we’ve created for this 21-year-old organization.
We call ourselves shovel-ready in the sense that we have a mature team. We’re now the largest global streaming platform for consciousness-raising masterclasses and transformational education, and we want to expand it. We’re already translating new masterclasses into 75 languages but there is so much more we can do and need to do if we’re going to get to the tipping point by 2040.
We invite people to go to changinghumanitysfuture.com to read about that initiative and volunteer financially or contribute or help in any way possible.
Is there a place you’d like to travel to?
My honest answer is that I don’t have a place I’d like to travel to. I don’t feel the need to travel anywhere unless it’s to head someplace to bring awareness to what we are doing. I was on my knees in prayer this morning, saying, “Don’t let me close my eyes for that last time until we’re at the tipping point.”
Where do you call home?
Boulder, Colorado. I have been there since 2007. I love it there.
How do you spend your time when you’re not working?
I’m married and have two young adults, a 19-year-old and a 22-year-old. I love
my family and my dog. We spend a lot of quality time. Living a balanced life is part of living a conscious life. There are strategic things going on seven days a week. My prayer, which is not a prayer of Supplication is more of a prayer of belief. We have 800 million people join us in a new renaissance where we unite to live consciously on Earth.
Do you have any parting words for our readers?
We have such a bright, beautiful future when we pull together. Humanity’s Team’s goal is to have 8 billion people interconnected globally, where we can come together and see the simplicity, even as there’s complexity in what we’ve been talking about. There’s this basic human operating system driven by our soul, with that still small voice where we’re guided and where we start living in this connected state, which science affirms is true.
When we are mature, we see our connection and we become responsible to each other. Then, we take positive action to support the whole. We are on a mission to unite humanity so we may create a compassionate, sustainable, and flourishing earth for current and future generations.
It’s a hopeful message that we’re well on our way and have already covered a great distance. You could even say the hardest part of this journey is behind us. Now, we just need to deepen this journey for ourselves, invite and engage others, which is what we’re doing here, and then come into these abundant lives and create this whole way of living beautifully on the planet in a very simplistic and sustainable way.
I invite people to stay hopeful and avoid falling into a sense of despair, fatigue, or deep isolation. Please don’t do that. It is a false narrative. We don’t want to live in an illusion of separation. We’ve got a lot of free programs that explore conscious living on our website, humanitysteam.org. We’re engaged in something that is helping us to live a more beautiful life. We can do this. We are doing this. Let’s be hopeful. Let’s be positive. Let’s be contributors, and let’s get this job done. Kids are being born onto the planet; they deserve this.
“Fame and fortune don’t sound so bad. We say, “Let’s go create these massive businesses.” There’s nothing wrong with that either, as long as they’re conscious, and it’s not just filling a hole where there’s no current business.
Special thanks to: Steve Ferrell Photography by: Benjamin Buren Alive Studios: https://alivestudios.com/ benjamin@alivestudios.com CALLOUT BOXES
Book Review
Show Me Heaven is an inspiring and heart-wrenching memoir that captures the resilience and determination of a woman who refuses to be defined by her circumstances. It is the moving and inspirational true story of Donna Taylor. The book chronicles Donna’s journey from a childhood overshadowed by abandonment, poverty, and hardship to her quest for a better future.
Just as she seemed to be turning a corner, fate dealt her another blow, leading to a severe psychotic breakdown and the diagnosis of bipolar disorder. Taylor’s portrayal of her battle with bipolar disorder is candid and enlightening, shedding light on the realities of living with a mental health condition. Her openness about her struggles and determination to manage her illness is both heart-rending and hopeful, offering a nuanced perspective on the challenges of mental health.
Facing the stark reality of mental illness, Donna was on the brink of giving up. However, her story takes a hopeful turn as she chooses life over despair. This book is not just a
tale of survival; it is a testament to the human spirit’s ability to overcome the bleakest circumstances and find light after a lifetime of darkness. Donna’s journey from mental and emotional despair to becoming a beacon of hope for others is a powerful reminder of the strength and resilience within us all.
Taylor’s narrative is compelling, drawing readers into her world with vivid descriptions and raw honesty. The challenges she faces are daunting—abandonment by her father, living in poverty, and the constant struggle to survive. Yet, what stands out is her unwavering resolve to overcome these obstacles. Her story is one of survival and triumph as she works tirelessly to change her life’s trajectory.
The memoir is both heartbreaking and uplifting. Donna does not shy away from the painful realities of her past, making her eventual successes all the more poignant. Her journey is a testament to the power of hope, perseverance, and self-belief. Throughout the book, she emphasizes the importance of education, hard work, and the support of those who believed in her, illustrating how these factors can help transform lives.
Show Me Heaven is not just a personal story but a universal one, resonating with anyone who has faced adversity and dreamed of a better life. Donna’s writing is straightforward and engaging, making it easy to connect with her experiences and emotions. Her story serves as a powerful reminder that no matter how difficult the circumstances, it is possible to rise above them and create a brighter future.
Show Me Heaven is a must-read for anyone seeking motivation to overcome their own challenges and achieve their dreams.
Donna’s courage and determination shine through every page, making this memoir a compelling testament to the strength of the human spirit and the possibility of hope and recovery, even in the face of mental illness.
its dramatic mood swings from the soaring heights of mania to the crushing depths of depression, BPAD is a severe yet enduring mental health condition. However, like navigating a ship through stormy seas, with the right self-management strategies and support, one can steer towards a reasonably normal and fulfilling life.
My journey has been nothing short of a rollercoaster ride, marked by intense emotions, challenging periods of adjustment, and profound moments of self-discovery. Yet, despite the turbulence, I remain steadfastly optimistic about the future. This optimism is not born out of naivety but out of resilience; it is the light that guides me through the darkest nights and the anchor that grounds me during the highest tides.
Donna L Taylor is a 55-yearold qualified financial adviser, living in Reading, Berkshire with a severe and enduring diagnosis of Bipolar Affective Disorder.
“In the grand tapestry of human experience, few conditions are as misunderstood and as enigmatic as Bipolar Affective Disorder (BPAD). Known for
Living with Bipolar Affective Disorder has taught me the importance of balance and self-awareness. It has forced me to confront my limitations and to recognise the value of selfcare, medication, therapy, and a strong support network. These elements form the cornerstone of my self-management strategy, enabling me to lead a life that is as close to ‘normal’ as possible.”
Currently an employee at the local psychiatric hospital, in which she was once an inpatient, she says: “I enjoy the simple things in life – spending time with family and friends, listening to music and watching movies. I particularly enjoy travelling overseas to see new cultures.”
Excerpt from Show me Heaven
Healing Anxiety,Stress, &
How emotional baggage causes stress, and how to release it
By Dr. Bradley Nelson
One in five U.S. adults suffers from an anxiety disorder, making it the most common mental illness in the country, and prescriptions for anti-anxiety medications are on the rise. Stressful events and circumstances are linked with depression, anxiety, and anger that can increase the risk of illness, research finds.
For many of us, stress has become a daily reality in our lives. So, where is all this stress coming from?
At its most fundamental level, stress is an imbalance of energy inside us — partly conscious and partly subconscious. The energy that we spend focusing on negativity and fear is directly proportional to our stress level. Fortunately, this is something we all have conscious control over.
There is a lot going on in the world and in our lives that can trigger stress. Yet many of the stressors we feel today are triggered and exacerbated by emotional baggage
from difficult experiences we have faced in the past.
When you have an intensely difficult experience, the emotions you feel should fade with time. But sometimes, they’re just too much for you to handle, and your body holds onto that negative energy in the form of what many call “emotional baggage.” We call these emotional energies trapped emotions, and they can lead us to unconsciously choose certain feelings, thoughts, and expectations that compound rather than relieve our sense of stress.
Studies demonstrate the interrelationship of thoughts, emotions, experiences, and disease. While significant emotional trauma may be an obvious source of chronic physical disorders, more pervasive are the effects of far more common experiences. Heartbreak, disappointment, anger, frustration, and the full gamut of normal reactions to life can create trapped energies that affect us physically and mentally months or even years later.
An energy healing modality, the Emotion Code is designed to help people identify and release trapped emotions. In the Emotion Code, we ask questions concerning the presence and location of trapped emotions in conjunction with muscle testing. Our muscles respond either strongly or weakly, indicating yes or no to the questions.
Your subconscious mind is intimately connected to positive and negative energies. By testing your muscles’ natural response and resistance to these energies, you can uncover the emotions that may be keeping you from full emotional healing and release them forever.
When you feel yourself getting stressed out, anxious, or worried for any reason, there are simple practices that you can do to help you feel better. Here is a quick, calming breathing exercise to try:
1. Get in a comfortable position and put one hand on your heart and the other hand on your abdomen. You can close your eyes if you’d like.
2. Inhale for about four seconds through your nose. For some of us, this may feel like a pretty long breath, but we should do our best to breathe slowly.
3. Hold your breath for seven seconds. This also may feel like a long time, but it is important to slow your respiration and heart rate.
4. Exhale from your mouth for eight seconds.
Mindful breathing exercises like this one are designed to give your nervous system a break and help to reset it. It essentially tells your body and your nervous system that you are not in any danger, and gets you out of the fight-or-flight response that is triggered when you feel stress. This is important for your
physical, mental, and emotional health, as chronic stress has been linked with all kinds of health problems, including weakening the immune system and damaging the heart.
Taking a few minutes to breathe deeply when you feel tense and constricted can help you shift out of stress mode. Adding gratitude to the practice can help even more. Research by the HeartMath Institute has shown that regularly taking time to count your blessings and feel gratitude improves health and wellness, including heart health. Our heart and our brain are connected, and practicing gratitude improves the communication between the heart and brain, as well as the rest of our body.
So, when you are feeling stressed out, take time to savor a sense of gratitude as you slow your breathing and heart rate. For lasting relief, try energy-healing techniques such as The Emotion Code or The Body Code to help you identify and let go of emotional baggage. Your subconscious is ready to let you know where the problems lie and what is needed. These modalities provide the necessary interface between the conscious and the subconscious mind to give you that access.
Using these techniques can help restore peace to your subconscious and correct physical imbalances, too. This can lower your stress level by helping you understand the underlying causes of negative emotional choices and nagging, as well as negative thoughts.
Removing underlying causes of stress can also help your physical body to heal and function optimally. This can provide you with more energy to fulfill your commitments, and the increased joy that comes from living in a state of acceptance, forgiveness, and peace.
Veteran holistic physician Dr. Bradley Nelson (D.C., ret.) is one of the world’s foremost experts on natural methods of achieving wellness. He is the creator of The Emotion Code, The Body Code, and The Belief Code and the CEO of Discover Healing, a holistic education platform that provides training and certifies practitioners worldwide. His bestselling book The Emotion Code provides step-by-step instructions for working with the body’s energy healing power. His latest book is The Body Code: Unlocking Your Body’s Ability to Heal Itself (Feb. 21, 2023, St. Martin’s Press). For more information and a free Emotion Code Starter Kit, visit EmotionCodeGift.com
TAKEHIKE A
aSydneyWilliamsencouragesreaderstotake gettinghikeandexplainswhatcanbegainedfrom outsideandexperiencingnature…andit’snotallsorefeetandblisters….
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GThroughout this article, I’m going to be encouraging you to go for a hike, and I want to be clear here: Please don’t think you have to take off on a grand hiking adventure like I did. If you don’t have access to hiking trails or if you’re just starting out and aren’t ready for a big hike yet, it can be as simple as walking around your neighborhood and building from there. Maybe you have a different activity of choice, like rock climbing, running, kayaking, fishing, gardening, riding your bike, or paddleboarding. Perhaps you’re where I was back in 2016, ass firmly planted on the couch but knowing you’re ready to take the next step.
The main thing is to move your body, somewhere outdoors, free from the distractions of this hyperconnected world we’re living in. At the very least, leave your headphones at home, save your favorite podcast for another day, and tuck your phone into your pocket or backpack. By removing the points of connection to technology and the expectations of the society we live in, we can more clearly hear our inner voice and pay attention to the signals our bodies give us.
HIKE YOUR OWN HIKE
“Hike your own hike” serves as a reminder to honor your process. We all start somewhere, and if you’re brand new to this like I was before my first trek on the TCT, I invite you to take an analytical approach to your first few hikes. Pretend you’re a scientist, and each hike is an experiment. We’re just out here collecting data so we can make more informed choices in the future. This is helpful for everything, including trying out new gear, exploring new trails, and hik-
ing with others. If you try on a pair of shoes and they’re uncomfortable, exchange them for the proper size. If you’re attempting a new (to you) trail and you find yourself running out of energy faster than you thought, make a note of the distance that was comfortable for you and dial back the mileage on your next hike. If you’re hiking with a group and find yourself pulling up the rear, back of the bus, last in line, resist the temptation to feel like you’re less than the faster hikers and revel in what your body is capable of.
On and off the trail, comparison is the thief of joy, and we can have a much more pleasant experience if we allow ourselves to move at our own pace, in our own way.
WELCOME TO YOUR TRAIL OF LIFE
If you haven’t discovered this already, one of the things you’ll quickly learn is that hiking is a lot like life. There are ups and downs, twists and turns, moments of absolute bliss and beauty, and many moments of struggle. You can start to connect the dots between what happens on the hike and what is happening in life. Reflecting on how the lessons learned along the way help you to blaze your own trail to self-love. They say hindsight is twenty-twenty, and we can only connect the dots backward, so we use the Trail of Life to understand where we came from, how we got to where we are today, and how we want to integrate our experiences in the future. In my time facilitating healing journeys in nature for folks from all walks of life, one thing has become clear: When you know where you’ve been, it’s much easier to move forward with an open heart.
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UNPACK YOUR TRAUMA PACK
We each carry an invisible backpack full of our experiences on this Trail of Life. I lovingly call this my trauma pack, and for the first three decades of my life, I had no idea I was carrying all of this extra weight. In fact, it wasn’t until I started backpacking in 2016 that I was able to slow down enough to tune in to my inner wilderness. As a result, I was able to feel the weight of everything I’d been avoiding. It was heavy.
We’re all walking around with our own traumas—and they can be triggered by many different things. There are activities and rituals that helped me unpack
its contents and tools I used to lighten my load. Some of the items in my trauma pack are toxic relationships, body image issues, verbal and emotional abuse, suicide, cancer, sudden death, chronic illness, and sexual assault, to name a few.
The items in our trauma packs may be different, the weight of what you’ve been carrying hasn’t crushed you yet. No matter how heavy the load has been, I invite you to take off your trauma pack. Feel the burden lift from your shoulders. Roll out your neck. Unclench your jaw. Take a few deep breaths. Settle into a space that feels cozy and safe. You’ve made it this far. You can do this too.
You can’t rush through this. You can’t heal everything all at once, nor should you try. Settle in, double up on your patience, and commit to the journey. You’re worth it.
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WHAT YOU’LL NEED
Before any adventure, it’s good to do a gear check. There are countless websites, books, courses, and other resources that can point you in the right direction. In the world of hiking and backpacking, they’re all going to say approximately the same thing. You’ll need a backpack to carry everything for your journey: shelter, water (and/or a way to treat freshwater), food (and a way to prepare it), a sleep system, and the right clothing and footwear.
Noticeably missing from these packing lists and gear reviews are the skills you already possess that are critical for your enjoyment and success. You won’t find these items in the store but rather in your mind, body, and spirit:
Curiosity: When embarking on any new endeavor, self-judgment can run rampant if it remains unchecked. The antidote to judgment is curiosity. When things get hard, and your inner critic starts barking orders and insults, take a few deep breaths and ask, “What does Little Me need right now?” When judgment rears its ugly head, tap into the curiosity that came easily as a child and watch your entire world transform.
Self-Trust: As you embark on this journey, I encourage you to trust yourself above all else, even if you’ve never felt safe doing so. Trust the messages your body sends you when it hurts.
Trust your instincts if something on the trail or in your life sets off alarm bells. Trust your inner knowing about what is right for you at every moment. One way to practice this on the trail is to listen to your body when you feel like you need to use the restroom. When you gotta go, you gotta go, and finding a way to relieve yourself instead of holding it is one of the quickest ways to reestablish the trust you have in not only your body’s signals but also your
brain’s capacity to take action. Patience: This process isn’t pretty. You’re going to make mistakes, say things you don’t mean, and probably lose some relationships along the way. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wished to go back to my preheating days, blissfully ignorant of my pain and how it was impacting every facet of my life. You can’t rush through this. You can’t heal everything all at once, nor should you try. Settle in, double up on your patience, and commit to the journey. You’re worth it.
MINDFUL MILES
The Mindful Miles —start connecting the dots on your own Trail of Life, and they can turn any activity into an opportunity for self-discovery, personal growth, and healing. When our brains get squirrelly on a seated meditation, we return to the breath. We utilize these prompts in the same way to ground ourselves on the trail. If you’re out on a hike and you find yourself getting distracted by the physical sensations you’re experiencing or the thoughts that come up, simply return to the prompts to refocus your attention. If you find your mind frequently wandering or fixating on one thing, make note of any thoughts or sensations in your body. If your brain is busy like mine, flitting from thought to thought like a hummingbird, paying attention to every single one can feel exhausting, but stick with it.
Using Mindful Miles as a grounding practice for your hike will help you identify a couple of things:
- If you’re able to focus on the question, then you’ll learn something about yourself.
- If you get distracted, making a note of which thought comes up is another data point to consider. If this repeats itself, you’ll have a record of it and can use this as an opportunity to dig deeper and ask yourself why it’s coming up.
Sydney Williams is the founder of Hiking My Feelings®, a nonprofit dedicated to the healing power of nature. Williams has 15+ years of marketing experience and is a former competitive skydiver. She has been featured in HuffPost, Psychology Today, U.S. News & World Report, and on the SXSW stage. For more information, go to: https://hikingmyfeelings.org
We turn not older with years but newer every day.
~ Emily Dickinson
The Piraha from Brazil have been described as among the happiest people on earth. Could their intriguing attitude towards sleep be the reason? They prefer to nap rather than sleep through the night. I am in no way suggesting here that you should cut back on your sleep - as a good night’s sleep is vital for your holistic well-being - but I am drawing your attention to their absolutely fascinating belief about what happens to your personality when you sleep.
According to the Piraha, if you sleep for more than a few hours, you actually wake up a different or new person. You are no longer “you” anymore. Piraha who sleep longer than a few hours often change their names because they believe the person they were yesterday has “died” and is not the same person who wakes up in the morning. They even refer to the person they were yesterday as “him” or “her” —in other words, a previous version of themselves.
The Piraha may be on to something both profound and real here. Science proves that when you fall asleep, your body isn’t just resting— it is regenerating. Your cells repair and renew, and your brain also recalibrates, meaning you wake up every morning renewed and different from the person you were the day before. Every night, when you fall asleep, the person you were that day “dies.” You are reborn physically and psychologically every time you wake up.
So, in this sense, every single day of the year is your “birthday.” Every
morning heralds the dawn of a new cosmic year for you.
Using this cosmic year deck can remind you of the importance of making each day of the year count. And what better time to remind yourself that each new day is a miracle than right now, with Spring in the air? The season of green shoots, new beginnings, and the start of a new astrological year, with headstrong revolutionary Aries leading the way.
In the morning, before your day begins, tune into the vibes of the cards for the date, month, astrological sign, and moon phase aligned with your new day. Simply spend a few moments meditating on the visual representation and accompanying text wisdom on the back of the card. Allow it to help you become a more aware and deeply evolved version of yourself than you were yesterday.
Let the cards remind you to always wake up filled with gratitude for the new day and the opportunities to fulfil your potential that lie ahead. Those twilight moments between sleeping and waking are powerful because your brain is highly suggestible then. Let your brain know you are truly grateful for all that you are and all that you can be.
In essence, using this Cosmic Year deck isn’t just about discovering your birthday potential; it’s about making the most of every single new day of your life. A daily reminder that every new dawn is a unique and glorious miracle, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be born anew again and reach as high as you can for the sun, moon, and stars.
Theresa Cheung has been researching and writing about spirituality and personal transformation for over 20 years. Her bestselling books - two of which are Sunday Times top 10 titles - include The Dream Dictionary from A to Z and 21 Rituals to Change Your Life. Her other Laurence King titles include Dream Decoder, Runes for Modern Life, and Angels for the Modern Mystic
For more information about Theresa Cheung, please go here: www.theresacheung.com.
Welcome to Our Contributor Writers’ Neighborhood
A Guide to High-Vibrational Living
By Polly Wirum
Photo by Resat Kuleli
Life and Death eckoning With R MY MOTHER’S
One of the greatest delights and mysteries in life is the ability to experience the wonderment of love. We feel hope in love. We thrive in the bloom of new love. We often get caught up in the daily care of love. At some point, we will likely know the loss of love, and just as powerful is finding peace in the absence of love. I am going to share with you a story of a complicated search for love that took place in the shadows of my early life.
In this blog, I am reckoning with my mother’s life, death, and the lack of love in our relationship. Please be aware that parts of this story may be triggering for some to read.
Working as a labor and delivery nurse, I witnessed births where the babies were prayed for and welcomed into the most loving arms. I saw scared, but committed mothers and I observed mothers that should never be taking a baby out of the hospital. Most of these moms figured parenting out, and life unfolded just the way it was supposed to. After all; ups, downs, tears, and laughter make great life stories.
In some ways, I am a realest. I love plans, hard work, physical endurance, and commitment. Possibly even more, I love miracles, karma, God, high vibrations, and everything is possible.
I also discovered a way of being that expanded my ideas of our universe and my spiritual beliefs.
I can say with certainty that it was the Grace of God that I survived my childhood. It is crazy, mind boggling to look at my childhood and see who I am now, or maybe it is not.
Most of my childhood was on a small farm in Northern California, where we grew our own food. I said goodbye to my childhood long before I turned 18 years old.
The first homes I knew were a mix of sunshine, nature, animals, and trauma. There was an absence of nurturing, safety, or protection for myself and my three siblings.
In the Beginning
I was the third of four children born into a family that did not know kindness. My father traveled around the world in the Merchant Marines, and my mother stayed home. After moving to a house that was completely off the grid, my parents got a divorce. I do not remember much about this time except the donkeys, chickens and stories of alcoholic rages that held threats of murder. I was around three when we packed up because my mother found a boyfriend of sorts.
By my fifth birthday, I saw my father annually. My mother married her boyfriend, who was a horse trader 30 years her senior. Our basic needs were almost met, even when we briefly lived in a condemned house. I can remember the floors that were uneven, mushy and gave way when you walked on them. Ivy grew up on the inside of the bedroom wall. The separation between inside and outside; light and dark were almost indistinguishable.
I remember having half a sleeve of saltine crackers and sardines for lunch at my kindergarten picnic. I remember my mother reading to me once. I remember one of my three siblings being forgotten at a rest stop when he was
too young to say his name, but he cried when his bare feet touched the hot pavement. I remember too many things to share today, but they are an important part of who I am and how I learned to form relationships and navigate life.
I watched my stepfather die of a heart attack when I was in fifth grade. From that point on, my mother raised four children by herself. To survive, she supplemented her child support payments by selling raw milk from cows we milked by hand. Our home life was less chaotic, but it was not welcoming, kind or forgiving.
Spending time outside with the cows, horses, and goats brought me peace. Sitting on the ground next to them was calming. Resting my forehead on their flank while I milked them is one way I discovered stillness. The animals were good company. It is why I am a vegan today.
During our collective childhood, more than one child was sexually abused. One of my siblings committed suicide. We were surrounded by anger, neglect, and uncertainty. I still know the feeling of trying to pull my mother’s attention and energy into a happier place.
The harshness of my family home made it easy for me to believe in God. I am not sure why, but I can remember praying to be the best I could be at a young age.
This prayer did not help me in my adolescence. I dropped out of high school and moved out of my family home when I was 15 years old. I made plenty of bad choices that involved alcohol and drugs.
I think God, my angels, and my guides worked overtime to get me out of that downward spiral. Just after my 18th birthday, I got a job in Yosemite National Park, and my life shifted. I found a new way of moving through the world.
Eventually, I graduated college and had a family of my own. During this time, my relationship with my mother was cordial. Sadly, there was a lack of respect on both sides. As an adult, she mostly provided me with a yardstick for comparison of how I did not want to live.
Logically, I know my mother never felt loved or experienced ease in her life. She enjoyed talking about morbidity, tales of death, and violent life scenarios. In the past twenty years, she shared her ideas of what she wanted done with her body after death. This often included wild animals helping her body decompose.
Ultimately, my mother was in love with all things related to suffering; because of this, we would never see the world in the same way. I made peace with this long ago.
Her health began failing about eleven months ago. Forty-eight hours ago, I learned she was using Death with Dignity. I received a text with her chosen day to cross over. I received a follow-up text that included the time she would take the elixir that would help her sleep and eventually die.
Ironically, my mother’s planned death is one of the only empowered decisions that I am aware of her making.
The end of her journey on Earth is possibly the richest and most rewarding experience of her entire lifetime. She is finally allowing herself to be nurtured and cared for. She has two people with whom she shares a bond during this time. They are not her children or family of origin.
And so, I find myself sitting on a plane, preparing to watch my
mother’s body become lifeless. At first, my emotions were a mix of grief and gratitude; now, I am mostly ok with the unfolding of events.
I feel a sense of freedom. I can write a book about the crazy things in my life and how it shaped me. This will be only from my perspective, as my siblings and I do not talk much and only one will join me at her bedside. It is easy for me to see how hopelessness, unforgiveness and unkindness is not always left behind; and what happens if you hold onto sharp pieces of life.
It is true that I feel that, by the grace of God, I survived, but I also discovered a way of being that expanded my ideas of our universe and my spiritual beliefs. Would this have happened if I had not experienced an early life that offered no maternal love, boundaries, or expectations?
My mother’s passing probably went better than she had planned. At 9:36, she was given anti-nausea and anti-anxiety medicine. She was comfortable as she said her goodbyes. She verbalized her desire to end her life by this method. At 10:24, she was given a bitter mixture that would make her tired, and eventually, her breath and heart would no longer keep her body alive.
At 12:38 she was pronounced dead by two nurses.
I am still sifting through my thoughts, memories, and beliefs, but I can tell you I prayed for her to find her animals, brother, son, and parents on the other side. I absolutely believe that at the end of her life journey, she cleared a karmic lesson. I am relieved our Earthly story is over.
Polly Wirum is a psychic, life coach, and writer. Years ago, she experienced a health crisis that led to a complete spiritual and life transformation. When she thought her life was crumbling, the universe was easing her grip on everything, distracting her from the truth. The healing helped her discover the beauty of a joyful and uncomplicated life. It is here that she connects with wisdom and magic. She shares this with her clients through life’s coaching psychic readings and spiritual retreats. visit Pollywirum.com
Photo by Katerina Plotnikova
Are these essential parts of our spiritual growth? Drawing boundaries and holding life inventory
What are boundaries?
We can describe boundaries as a selfcreated line, like this invisible mark, that not only helps us recognize toxic and disrespectful behaviour but also helps us with saying no to things we are not interested in doing. Boundaries communicate to the world what we are comfortable with and what we are not. There are many boundaries in our lives, including mental, emotional, financial, sexual, moral, and spiritual boundaries, that we can establish with those around us. I have been reflecting on this topic lately, as it is a topic that recurs with clients, and it is something that I continue to experience and still practice for my well-being. Today, I want to discuss drawing boundaries around friends and family.
For the longest time, I have been a people-pleaser, and there is undoubtedly a direct connection to my childhood traumas where my lack of boundaries is deeply rooted. Having a father who was emotionally disconnected and who
could not meet my needs, I spent most of my life trying to please the people I loved. Time and time again, I would run myself over by ignoring my own needs in exchange for the needs of others, especially those who asked for my help. Being needed by others fuelled this feeling of lack—that is, the absence of being seen, accepted, validated, and loved by my father.
As an empath and compassionate person, I am naturally a giver and empathetic towards the needs of others. However, I struggled to draw a healthy line with saying no to people, even if I truly did not want to do something. I felt I would disappoint them, and they would judge me like my father did. What did not help me was that my mother had culturally raised me to prioritize everyone else’s needs over my own. I was taught that being generous and good meant putting others’ needs first; if not, then it meant I was being selfish.
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We live our lives with serenity and peacefully, without this constant need to pretend to be someone we are not or begrudgingly do things we don’t want to do just to keep and maintain appearances.
The reality of tending to the needs of others was that I experienced exhaustion and deep disappointments. I kept giving and trying to please others, but it seemed never enough. People always needed more and demanded more. These were friends and family members, and drawing a line while feeling this sense of obligation was very challenging. I also felt depleted around certain people. I had shut my inner wisdom to please others and go along with what was expected of me, but I was inevitably denying my own needs. It was when I chose to dive deeper and understand why I was feeling this way that I discovered there was a severe imbalance in my life.
Part of my inner work was recognizing the roots and understanding that I was missing a big piece in my puzzle: self-love. I was actually teaching people how to treat me and be dependent on me. I loved everyone and was kind to others, but I did not love myself or value myself enough. I was not kind to myself.
How could I expect others to honour me, my time, or my needs if I was not honouring myself in the
first place? Self-love is essential to creating and building boundaries in our lives. Boundaries will reflect our self-love and self-respect. The more we dive into our self-discovery and build self-awareness, the more creating boundaries will become organically part of our spiritual growth and spiritual practice.
When you always say YES to others, are you saying NO to yourself? This question changed my life and my perception of things.
Drawing boundaries with people we may not know seems more straightforward, but holding these boundaries to family, friends, and loved ones is highly challenging, as they are usually accompanied by a guilt tag. I found that despite people feeling exhausted and energetically depleted by the demands and expectations of their friends and families, these people believe that they cannot escape. They fear that creating boundaries will disappoint their loved ones and that they will be judged. Even though they might feel obligated and bitter about catering to those around them afterward, the fear of being judged and not understood by their loved ones keeps them in this negative loop.
There is disappointment, fear of judgment, and a negative charge for carrying on these conversations with our loved ones. Although our loved ones might be uncomfortable with the lines we are drawing, sometimes beautiful breakthroughs result from them. People who love us and support us will respect us for creating healthy boundaries. They might need help understanding initially, but they will always want what is best for us. Only the ones who benefit from us not having boundaries will fight, push back, or enable the guilt trap. I learned that not all our friendships are lifers; some are only there for a season in our journeys.
In our journey, we need to do a life inventory. To be balanced and healthy, we must pay attention to what we eat and exercise. We know this, but we also must examine what we ingest and expose ourselves to. Our well-being is affected by the people we surround ourselves with. Are the people around us supportive? Do they align with who we are now in our journey? Do we feel inspired and elevated around them, or are we drained and frustrated?
When we get in touch with who we truly are, we nurture this deep sense of love for ourselves and hold a higher level of self-acceptance and self-respect. We will trust our inner compass, this inner voice that gives us a sense of direction and helps us recognize unhealthy places, situations, and people who threaten our mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being. When we cultivate self-love, we will learn to trust and listen to our inner wisdom and allow our inner compass to guide us through these situations.
As we grow and evolve in our healing journey, we learn to recognize the residues of our core
beliefs, patterns, and adaptations. We realize that the lack of boundaries, for example, comes from these patterns, and as we heal each layer, we let go of what no longer serves us. As we build a stronger sense of self and nurture this connection, we will learn to love ourselves enough to say no to others and say yes to our needs.
We become more aware of our needs and how essential it is to honour who we are and what is needed for us, even though some people may not understand us.
Boundaries are a great way to teach people how to treat us. I have learned from my personal experience and others who share similar experiences that when we practice self-love and self-care, we no longer allow others to disturb our peace.
Respectfully, we remove ourselves from any situation that does not benefit us. It is not selfishness but an act of selflove.
We align ourselves with our truth and authentically while living freely without pretending or wearing a mask for others to see.
We live our lives with serenity and peacefully, without this constant need to pretend to be someone we are not or begrudgingly do things we don’t want to do just to keep and maintain appearances.
Holding inventories in our lives and drawing clear and healthy boundaries are a beautiful testimony of our spiritual practice. I believe they are a direct mirror of our spiritual growth. They are undoubtedly a precious act of self-love.
Love and Light
Émilie Macas is a transformational holistic educator, Reiki Teacher and trauma counsellor, mindfulness and Chopra meditation educator, certified life coach, author, and motivational speaker. Émilie has owned a private practice for over a decade. She continues to empower others to adopt a spirit of raw truthfulness, guiding them to their inner wisdom and empowering them to connect with their inner pharmacy.
By Nikki Pattillo
Let There Be Love
We have an innate sense of interconnectedness in which we feel like nothing is separate from us and everything is an expression of our togetherness and is dynamically connected by the concept or feeling of love. Buried deep within our interconnected oneness, is a unique love that we hold within our souls—it is so powerful it is the only feeling we feel while in spirit.
When we live in conscious awareness of our intrinsic oneness and we bring this love into a consciousness both within ourselves and with those around us, it becomes our light. This is the light that shines within each and every one of us on this planet. Our divine consciousness of love tells us that nothing is separate, that we are all one and connected to each other through our compassion and more importantly, our love.
Photo by Houcine
Ncib
Through the power of love, we can be a light and spread our light by focusing on our intention. Each of us is important, and the power of love can be continuously manifested all around us.
This energy and awareness of love is within each of us, is each of us. When we turn away from the ego and its desires, we know that we are love, and a divine light beats within our hearts. In the dynamic that interconnects our love, we can realize that we are all multidimensional living organisms of both light and love. It is important to understand that we are all the spiritual lifeblood of the planet, and we need to honor this connection to life.
Love is also the intrinsic healing energy that binds all of humanity. We should live in love with others and for others without expecting repayment. We should forgive hurts against us and love everyone with no distinction between friend and foe.
For our soul, coming to this planet is like traveling away from our home to a foreign land. Some things seem familiar, but most seem strange until we have a chance to get used to them, especially the unforgiving conditions found on this tough playground we call Earth. Our home on the spiritual plane is a place of absolute peace, total acceptance, and complete love, where we are able to instantly manifest anything and everything we want or need at any given moment. As our souls leave the spiritual realm, we no longer have easy access to these unique gifts, and this can be a tough adjustment for our souls while incarnating here on this planet.
While on Earth, we must learn to cope with intolerance, anger, and sadness while searching for joy and love. Along the way we must not
lose our integrity, sacrifice goodness for survival, or acquire superior or inferior attitudes to those around us. We know that living in an imperfect world will help us to appreciate the true meaning of perfection.
There is also a poignant and beautiful connection between our heart and divine unity. All our experiences in life can affect both our heart and, therefore, our oneness. When we make the connection between love and oneness, it is easy to see that if someone loves, we all feel love. If someone gives, we all give. If someone is hurting, we all feel hurt.
Each of us is blessed with a unique and innate sense of interconnected oneness and love of life that can be used to help make the world a kinder, more loving, just, and beautiful world in which to live. This connection teaches us that we can and must unite our hearts in love, and in pursuit of noble consciousness, we must act with love, give with love, and relate to each other with love.
Love has an incredible power to heal and transform the world around us and bring deeper meaning to our lives. Some have forgotten the basic understanding of love and how to generate and nurture it. If we all learn ways to practice love, we will know how to heal the anger, sorrow, insecurity, sadness, hatred, and loneliness in our lives. Love is also the basic nature of an enlightened individual. We all have the capacity to look and listen to and with others so that we know what to do or what we may offer to bring happiness to ourselves as well as others.
We all need love in our lives to be happy and at peace; there is no exception to this. We are loved by the universe whether we realize it or not. In order to be loved, we have to love, which means we have to understand. For our love to continue, we have to have love, give love, and be love to everyone and everything that is among us, between us, and surrounds us on this planet.
The ability to see everyone as equal, not discriminating between ourselves and others, is important while feeling and expressing love. If we shed all discrimination and prejudice, and remove all boundaries between ourselves and others, we can connect our hearts through higher consciousness. We also need to be aware of the suffering of others and retain our understanding, calmness, and strength so we can help transform the energy of suffering and bring love into this process through compassion.
Love is in everything. The energy of love is available at all times with everyone and everything on this planet. Love has millions of ways of expressing itself, and each way is just as beautiful as the next.
We are all extremely powerful beings, and what we express, say, and do shapes our world. To take any actions or say any words from a space of love can change any and all dynamic situations. Every thought that we have, every word that we speak, whether it is silently to ourselves or aloud to others, either adds to or takes away from the light of humanity. There are no insignificant thoughts or words—each one has energy and an effect. When our thoughts and words come from a place of unconditional love, which means that they are without judgment, they spread light and increase the light and vibrational frequency on the planet. But when they come from fear or anger, they take away from this light. Yes, our thoughts and words do make a difference, and each one is important. Each person is as important as another in spreading the light to others. Even our smallest judgmental thoughts have an effect on our world and all living things in it. A time has come in our lives to release
negative and non-loving thoughts, feeling, and actions. We must forgive and learn how to love other souls unconditionally, without judgment, and with compassion. Sometimes spiritual paths are messy and there is a need for forgiveness and compassion to all people we interact with and all mistakes that are made along our paths.
By learning ways to practice love, compassion, and joy, we will know how to heal the illnesses of anger, sorrow, insecurity, sadness, hatred, loneliness, and unhealthy attachments. It is said that love, compassion, and joy are the heart of a spiritually advanced person. They are the three aspects of love within ourselves and within everything and everyone.
Love is a canvas that holds all our true colors. It never rejects any paint, no matter how dark or light the color is. It gives the freedom of choice in what colors we choose to make part of our life portrait. But even deeper, love is these colors, too. When mixing colors together, new ones appear as old ones disappear. This represents the fluidity of love and the fluidity of life, as everything is constantly changing. Love encourages us to accept this fluidity openly and consciously with an open heart.
Love can become a boundless radiance glowing from within each and every one of us. As such, love may flow from us equally toward all beings or it can glow freely without needing to be directed to anyone.
Through the power of love, we can be a light and spread our light by focusing on our intention. Each of us is important, and the power of love can be continuously manifested all around us. We can take this powerful feeling of love and use it wisely, for each of us has come to spread our light to the world. It is only through love that we can give and receive this light with its higher vibrational frequencies.
Love is everything. Love is in everything. Love is about everything and for everything.
Nikki Pattillo graduated from Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas and began her career as a clinical and molecular biologist. As a child, Nikki was psychic, conversing regularly with her angels and guides, but it wasn’t until she was in her 30s that she accepted her gift. She is now an international author with Ozark Mountain Publishing. She authored Children of Stars: Advice for Parents and Star Children, A Spiritual Evolution, A Day in Spirit: A Spiritual Calendar for Teens, and A Golden Compass. She has been featured on BRAVO and The History Channel and writes numerous magazine and newspaper articles to help raise awareness and consciousness of environmental and spiritual issues.
By Zee
GET IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME
What most of us wish not to remember is that humans didn’t start life out this way. In reality, it began the same for all of us: a long flight down an even longer road; the signpost read, you have reached the entrance to Destiny Road. Enter at your own peril, and we so enthusiastically did. Yes, folks, believe it or not, one and all were delivered by the high-flying stork and dumped into this one and only magical world of inescapable consequences and our human dualities everlasting.
What is really magical and amazing in this world of ours is the number of immutable natural laws. Within their guidelines, we have been indoctrinated to function, and they are on us. The one law to remain mindful of, which contributes something to everyone every day, is none other than “cause and effect.” You have to respect and love this great, important law, and why? It is because causality’s energetic forces are reversible. Just let that sink in for a moment; it’s super important as a reversible change agent! One of the many marriages made in duality-heaven. One does not exist without the other.
Due to the current, everywhere world-crises, it appears that ownership may be a thing of remembrance. Governments were unable to maintain their viability as populations exploded, sold off their assets to private enterprises, and gave up their controlling powers. Are they the next extinct dinosaurs? Visionaries saw the writing on the wall and hired the smartest of us. Corporations now have it all. As has
previously been stated, understand that growth is one of the all conquering constants. Therefore, we can observe in our alive duality system that governments are heading down the scale while corporations have climbed up the scale.
One has to ask, as the world changes around us, do humans have a space or place in this divine apparition? As we may have previously dreamed, it appears not. Is this our truth within the whole shebang? Absolutely, if both current situations retain their continued motion of growth from strength to strength and weakness to weakness.
Explain poverty.
Corporations, businesses, and entrepreneurs are allowed to have permission to create and develop what is wonderful and destructive to human life. Leaving humans today as always, with the real elephant in the room, a constant within all cultures. What association, authority, which human, what power has the gumption, to turn the unjust into a virtuous projection? What is worthy of this supposed species of higher intelligence as a human creator? Articles abound condemning capitalism as the blame for all our world problems. Yet the facts are definitely related to human thinking, and the behaviors of certain individuals are the real cause of all issues. At the same time, capitalism is only a processed by-product of function. Under the cover of this scapegoat, they thrive.
They create, enforce our unawakened inheritance.
Today’s thinking appears hopelessly out of date. Could this be the truth of it? Has humanity at large been railroaded by “out of the box thinkers” who have contracted their skills out to organizations that seek only dominance as the end game? Competition has reached a growth ascension on a grand scale, thanks to our current human induced challenges inclusive of one’s need for survival sustainability. Pucker up buttercup, your role-play is that of your continued addiction of consumption. They grow, and we learn to adapt our survival mechanisms. It is another match made in duality-paradise. Life is good.
Like any system, organization, or individual who is the Sole Authority and can not be challenged, is called “SOVEREIGN” and acts accordingly. It’s our accepted consequence, gifted to all generic humans thanks to man-made laws.
How did we get to this result of human devolution?
Elephants are on the increase, appearing right across the broad spectrum of human interaction. That’s a big statement to contemplate as we stand in line asking for a coffee made with one of 26 different types of milk. Yes, we are creative when it comes down to what is the next best niche within all markets. It’s a wondrous attribute to this human species and it’s creator abilities. Just add bold green letters to the word sustainable on the front of your product, and you will be on your way to elevation heaven.
What is Green, It’s just one of many colors!
For those of you who still remember how to think for yourself, you may be aware of statistics stating that all human thinking and behaviors are established somewhere in the range between 4 to 7 years of age. These patterns are
repeated through out one’s adult life. What could one possibly do with this extremely important piece of knowledge?
Being creative as we are, we could jump heavily on this bandwagon of reputable knowledge, and a big thank you goes out to ……... Now, we have the youth of today. The wonders of creative imagination was unleashed, let loose, directly targeted on our innocent. Where were the powers of protection, where are they now? Did we all contribute? Is it only the youth of today that are acting lazy and useless on the front line?
If life has a purpose, is it singular or plural? Or does it also imply finding a purpose from a spiritual aspect, a perspective in wellness, the meaning of love or possibly mindfully discovering how to unleash the unfolding of one’s foundational self? Combining all together is the creation of a unified self, functioning as one single living-purpose.
Self-ownership is up to you and only you. This is your earthly constant inner-source, which never changes! Consider whether you are a positive or negative person. You may think you are not negative in the ways you interact in relationships and life. Any time is a good time to contemplate. So why not, in this now moment, ask, is your life living a positive reality, and what choices can you improve?
To empower your current reality, consider how you define positive while remaining mindful that CHANGE IS INEVITABLE.
Community is extremely important. Not knowing oneself can, over time, instigate a position of how an issue may pass the point of no return. Saying sorry doesn’t cut it anymore, as all misguided intentions eventually become the reversed effect sitting back on your doorstep.
Photo by Gabriel Meinert
One’s path may appear broken, yet there is always another path to circumnavigate any issue. For now, allow time to build yourself back into the driver’s seat.
Make a promise to yourself if you are lagging behind, feeling flat all the time, or unable to move forward due to issues of confusion or a sense of loss. If so inclined, start by consistently doing something beneficial for yourself. Yes, you may think the past seems insurmountable, and this may feel true for you, but blame never overcame any issue. One’s path may appear broken, yet there is always another path to circumnavigate any issue. For now, allow time to build yourself back into the driver’s seat.
One’s personality, when factoring in how we react and respond to living in today’s chaos, may orchestrate a new direction and a change of the guard, so to speak. Causes are many, either way these changes usually show up in our emotional behaviors with an intensity varying from person to person. The resulting consequences create cycles within cycles. Affecting all relationships and connections as they flow upstream towards one’s new empowering challenges or downstream into dark, problematic, seemingly unfixable issues.
Embrace your Warrior.
Coming full circle, let’s talk about one of the greatest sales pitches of all time. “Being of Service”. How can one define such a statement when it has been put through the wringer a million times, resulting in a diluted promise supposedly from the heart and then some? No doubt there are a few humans full of heart who don’t need to be educated about their lost meaning. This overused statement, sadly, has
created so many consequences that have invaded our singular and collective human futures and yet still breathes as a positive projection. What is missing?
Can water be for sale? How did “in those we trust” who swore an oath to protect give away the right to life? Water for sale is a sin! Wellness appears as a never-ending process of eliminating last year’s products for the shining new stars, sprouting tomorrow’s promise once again. Discoveries upon discoveries encapsulate our senses to join the fountain of youth. It’s the unfolding permeated attachment we seek to acknowledge one’s fixation as a material existence.
Contribution.
No one is exempt from contributing their energetic projections in a unified field. It’s a law that exists within this earth’s domain. One’s state of mind is a pure source interacting with the unseen. All learned or unsolved lessons are our unfoldings into personal and collective enlightenment. It’s our silent, unspoken gift towards humanity’s natural evolution. This is our human challenge: get it right the first time. This is not conceptual. When one acknowledges one’s inherited place within this universe and self, the realization explodes all of one’s imagined beliefs. Thus, igniting a unification, unnoticeable at first, as a gentle smile slowly drifts across one’s face, it then erupts as all of life’s imagined complexities instantly converge into simplicity. Welcome home.
Transcendental Voyages: Roaming the World and Reimagining the Self
By Jan Wakefield, M.A.
Love is a Fluid and Living
Thing
Comfortably nestled in my ample seat, I remained in a trance as the plane ascended, wheels tucked into the underbelly of the aircraft with a familiar whine and distant clunk, the gorgeous turquoise waters of Cancun spread from a small strip to a vast sea, and cloud cover finally obstructed my view out the window. It was then I realized my face was drenched with tears. The transformation of the week finally bubbled up from my formerly broken heart and christened my cheeks with all the blessings of a deeply transformational meditation retreat at an exquisite all-inclusive resort in Riviera Maya.
The allure of Cancun often conjures images of turquoise waters, pristine beaches, and vibrant nightlife. Yet, beyond the sun-soaked sands lies a realm where history whispers through ancient stones and the spirit of a lost civilization lingers in the air. My journey to
Cancun was not just a pilgrimage into the heart of the Mayan world, a quest to uncover the spiritual and historical treasures of Chichen Itza; it was also a journey to my own inner world that was just as rich with history, mystery, spiritual connection, and awe.
Until that moment on the plane, I had not fully realized how much life had crushed my spirit and how many years I’d spent trying to repair it, yet somehow always managing to avoid it. I had let repetition and uninspiring choices become the unconscious foundation for decades of my life. My copious adventurous experiences, including this trip to Cancun, were not constructing the foundation of my life. Instead, I was going through the motions in the hopes that my adventures would arouse passion in me.
Prior to the meditation retreat, I visited the sacred sites of Chichen Itza, the most renowned of the Mayan ruins, a UNESCO World Heritage site that stands as a testament to the ingenuity and mysticism of the Mayan civilization. The pyramid’s precise alignment with the sun during the equinoxes, creating the illusion of a serpent descending its steps, is a striking example of the Mayans’ deep connection to celestial cycles. This place wasn’t just a city; it was a sacred center where the heavens and earth converged in a harmonious dance.
I’d chosen to attend the meditation retreat in Cancun to break free from what had become an uncomfortably comfortable life of boredom in my career as a professor. I resigned from my position, and the very same day, I flew to Cancun for the meditation retreat. The retreat was an exquisite dance of love, surrender, experimentation, madness, and internal compression paired with external chaos and marked by a pace at which an Olympic athlete would balk. The hours trained us to repeatedly flex the muscles of the mind and body. Just when we thought we could anticipate what was next, our minds were blown again by connection to the unknown. By day two, the truth became crystal clear. It is only possible to have a new experience
when we are no longer fixed on external patterns and repetitive thoughts of the past and future.
During my journey inward, I was reminded of the Mayan ruins, temples, and sacred sites I’d visited before the retreat started. The Mayans’ sacred sites were functional and represented their profound connection to the land and the cosmos. Their cities were not just places of habitation but sacred spaces meticulously designed to honor their gods and the natural world. The Mayans understood that their lives were intertwined with the cycles of nature and the movements of the stars, a wisdom that resonates deeply even today. It was easy to see how the Mayan people could transcend into mystical realms. The stillness, magnificence, and magical quality of the surrounding land transported me to an otherworldly place, and the temple was my inner world.
In meditation, it was only me and my fellow retreat participants in a dance through a similar otherworldly place. Our sacred space was not a temple, just a massive ballroom. On our inner journey, the scattered stars of potential experiences came together in energetic constellations that we could potentially weave into new narratives.
We practiced with each other, and I formed a magnificent connection with one of the retreat participants. This beautiful person gave me the space to be imperfect (if not totally broken, insecure, and fraught with awkward coping mechanisms) and held me with love and patience as I cartwheeled through time and space to arrive back in my body with a completely new experience of myself. Together, we broke down the labyrinth of walls we had constructed in our minds to give us a sense of security. We discovered the walls were ultimately cells in which we felt trapped and helpless. No matter how much we wanted to change in the outer world, those walls kept us securely fixed in predictable outcomes. It helped me to journey within and then share those experiences with another person along the way.
Toward the end of the retreat, our meditation guide’s lilting voice took us on a journey to the mystical. It was a process of creating coherence between the heart and the brain. All week, I had been inching my way toward the goal of truly getting there, yet I kept falling short. This
time, I stopped trying. I was exhausted and decided to just listen and follow the guide’s directions. I was too tired to keep up the effort, so I just let the music and words take me along the river of possibility. Eyes closed, mind awake, body resting, and focus on the breath; I slipped outside of space and time. My body dissolved into nothing, and I was consumed by pure love.
It turns out falling in love is different than what I expected. That seamless telescoping process of merging the inner and outer worlds is what love feels like. It is a harmony of internal and external realities, fluid construction and deconstruction of experiences that constantly change us into greater experiences, and it is merging with the expansion and contraction of the mystical and corporeal worlds. Maybe the Mayans felt the same thing through the grandeur and mystery of Chichen Itza. The intricacies in construction, placement on the land, and connection to celestial brothers and sisters. Love is a fluid and living thing. When we immerse ourselves in it, we are whole again.
A lifelong traveler and educator, Jan Wakefield sees the world as a vast opportunity for expanding her understanding of the human condition. For her, travel equals transformation. Jan’s passion for travel and decades of experience as a personal transformation coach are the foundation for her international retreats, where people release who they once were and embrace who they want to be through meditation, relaxation, and a gentle return to self. In addition, Jan plans to visit all 195 countries in the world and share her experiences with readers and audiences worldwide. For more about Jan’s transformational retreats and programs, visit http://jan-wakefield.com
By Susanna Schroadter
Healing Must Begin Within
The Catalyst for External Change
Photo by Darius Bashar
In a world where so many seek external validation and material success, it’s easy to overlook the profound importance of inner healing. We often believe that manifesting an event, money, or a relationship will solve our happiness problems. We often believe that once we have the right partner, the right job, or enough money, our lives will reach the goal of completeness. However, that is a misconception held by many. The truth is that true happiness and fulfillment cannot be found outside oneself; these vibrations must be cultivated from within our own hearts and beings.
For those on a journey of self-reflection and personal growth, the realization that our most significant transformations begin in our hearts and minds can be both empowering and liberating. Inner healing is not just about addressing past wounds but also about embracing a holistic approach to well-being, where the inner landscape shapes our outer reality.
As Eckhart Tolle states, “You attract and manifest whatever corresponds to your inner state.”
The Power of Inner Healing
Inner healing is the work and practice of making peace with our past, understanding our true selves, and nurturing our emotional and spiritual well-being. This process involves:
• Self-Reflection: Taking the time to look inward and understand our emotions, thoughts, and behaviors. It is about recognizing patterns that no longer serve us and making conscious decisions to change.
• Forgiveness: Letting go of grudges and resentment,
whether they are directed toward others or ourselves. Forgiveness is a powerful tool that frees us from the chains and bondages of past hurts and allows us to move forward with a lighter heart.
• Self-Love: Cultivating a deep sense of love and compassion for ourselves. As we begin the journey of acknowledging our worth, celebrating our strengths, and being gentle with our weaknesses, we transform our inner landscape.
• Mindfulness: Practicing mindfulness in its myriad of forms allows us to stay present and grounded. It allows us to understand our reactions to various situations and develop healthier responses.
Why Inner Healing Matters
When we prioritize inner healing, we create a solid foundation for a fulfilling life. Our inner state influences our relationships, careers, health, and overall happiness. Here are some reasons why inner healing is a catalyst for outward change:
• Authenticity: “Authenticity is not something we have or don’t have. It’s a practice – a conscious choice of how we want to live. Authenticity is a collection of choices that we have to make everyday. It’s about the choice to show up and be real. The choice to be honest. The choice to let our true selves be seen.” - Brene Brown.
• Acting from within enables us to live authenticaly. When we know and accept ourselves, we can show up in the world as our true selves, attracting genuine connections and opportunities.
• Resilience: “Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls: the most massive characters are seared with scars.”Khalil Gibran
• Inner healing builds resilience. It equips us with the strength to face life’s challenges with grace and wisdom, knowing that we have the inner resources to overcome them.
• Empowerment: “True self-empowerment is about recognizing our inherent worth and potential, embracing our authenticity, and daring to live boldly and unapologetically as our truest selves.” - Anonymous
• The process of inner healing empowers us to take control of our lives. It shifts our focus from seeking external validation to finding fulfillment within.
• Abundance: “Abundance is not something we acquire. It is something we tune into.”Wayne Dyer.
• When we heal internally, we open ourselves up to abundance.
Our positive energy attracts positive outcomes, making it easier to manifest our desires.
Building a Life Full of Love and Abundance
To build a life full of love and abundance, you must first create these qualities within yourself. You cannot genuinely love another person if you do not trust yourself enough to be vulnerable. Too many people are fighting for control in their relationships, not realizing the damage they are doing by not trusting themselves, their partner, and the Universe. Trust must first come from within. You must not feel the need to prove anything to anyone to access true vulnerability.
Financial Abundance Starts With Inner Trust
This principle applies equally to finances. You must understand and
trust that you will always be supported so that you do not operate from a place of lack. Lack begets lack. When you approach your financial life with a mindset of scarcity, you continue to attract scarcity. On the other hand, when you cultivate a sense of abundance and trust within yourself, you open the door to financial opportunities that align with your highest good.
Personal Journey: From Fear to Abundance
When I began my own business, I initially operated from a state of fear and unworthiness. I knew I had valuable information to share and a genuine desire to be of service, but I doubted whether people would value my knowledge or see me as capable enough to offer guidance. This fear held me back and kept me in a cycle of self-doubt and scarcity.
It was only when I started to integrate my lessons into my own life that I saw a transformation. By creating a sense of worth, abundance, and love from within, I began to experience rippling waves of success. Clients who were in vibrational alignment with me naturally gravitated toward my services. My healing journey had become the catalyst for both personal and professional growth.
The Healing Journey: A Path to Conscious Relationships and Abundance
The path to healing must begin within. This inner work is foundational for creating conscious relationships, achieving financial abundance, and experiencing professional success. By focusing on self-care, building selfworth, and trusting in the process, we set the stage for external changes that align with our true selves.
In conclusion, if you seek to improve your life, start by looking within. Heal the wounds that hold you back, cultivate a sense of worth and abundance, and trust in the journey. When you do, you’ll find that the external changes you desire will naturally follow, and your life will be richer and more fulfilling than you ever imagined.
Susanna Schroadter, once a practicing attorney and mediator, has has turned her focus to creating Sage, a safe sanctuary to allow others to heal. She offers consulting and strategy for those going into mediation or dealing with life altering events so that they may be empowered and advocate for themselves. Once those events have occurred, she also offers different modalities for healing such as life and spiritual guidance and energy work.
https://susannalitchfield.com/
By Dulce García-Morman, Ph.D.
LIFTING MEDUSA’S MASK
THE POWER OF THE DARK FEMININE
Photo by Katerina Plotnikova
There has been a lot of literature in recent years addressing the topic of the dark feminine. There are many slants on this and different ways to approach Her and today; I have chosen to honor Medusa, a goddess-demon that perhaps represents the darkest aspect of the feminine. I encountered this figure in my early 40s when I stepped into a spiritual path not of my own choosing but by those accidental meetings that can change our lives in a matter of seconds.
When we “choose” purposefully to experience a spiritual path or religion, it is a choice driven by the mind-ego. When we “are chosen” beyond our control, it is a choice driven by the mind-soul. In my purposeful choice to immerse myself in the traditional Catholicism observed by my family of origin for generations, I was fascinated and absorbed by the image of The Virgin Mary. I strove with all my being to be like her -the perfect feminine that endures, sacrifices, nurtures, and is a symbol of ethereal beauty and divine light.
Yet when I bumped into Tibetan Buddhism by accident and “it chose me,” I encountered something very alien to my catholic upbringing, something that challenged the love and light of Mary that I had worshiped since my childhood. The dark,
cavernous, musty, dank temples of Tibet, barely lit by smelly yak butter lamps, strewn with mice, and adorned with horrifying demon figures, were a shocking contrast to the uplifting, airy, elegantly lighted catholic churches and cathedrals that help us reach toward the heavens, and that took us a step closer to God.
In Tibet, I encountered something dark and messy, something that the rational mind could not conceptualize, something that was deeply and intensely felt in the gut, something unsettling that I knew I could never control, something to which I intuitively knew I would have to surrender into, something which took me away from the heavens and into the underworld. And I’ve spent the next 20 years wading through the mud of the darkness, trying to understand it, and deep down fighting the surrender it requires of me. In the process, I encountered dark figures like Medusa and Kali, with whom I’ve become familiar, first by reading their mythology and then by merging with them in my own cycles of suffering and liberation. The path to a free psyche requires a trip through the underworld, and once we begin to feel safe there, once the fear subsides, we can be certain that our shadow work is bearing fruit. The demoness is a great partner in the work toward individuation and toward the wholeness that can only be found when we realize that the saints and the demons are but two faces of the same coin.
I was first introduced to Medusa in the 1981 film Clash of the Titans, where Perseus must battle Medusa to rescue the princess Andromeda. I encountered her again in 2006, at the peak of my Buddhist journey, through a vision that was presented to me by my horse, Noble. I’m not sure how to describe what I experienced, but it felt like an altered state that took me over by surprise while casually hanging out with Noble one evening…. and there he was, suddenly rearing with a power and a fury that shocked me. In this vision he presented, Noble’s face was covered by a mask, and I could see snakes on the top of his head, with red eyes bulging through the holes in the mask. It felt like a terrifying rage had possessed him. He spoke the following words to me: “Behold this frightful image, feared by men from beginning-less time. Dare you look at this wounded soul, angered and betrayed by the folly of man? Dare you to remove the Gorgon’s mask and behold the reflection of your own face?”
I was so shaken by that experience that I began to research the myth of Medusa, the frightful monster that turned men into stone. Through my readings, I discovered a deeper truth, one that gave me additional perspective on this raging, dark feminine figure. The origins of her curse are important. There are variations on the myth, but essentially Medusa, an avowed priestess of Athena’s temple, was seduced/raped by the God Poseidon in the temple. Instead of punishing Poseidon, Athena was infuriated with Medusa for breaking the vow of celibacy. Athena punished Medusa by turning her into a mythical monster with which we are familiar today.
Athena has been said to represent a variety of things, such as wisdom and strategic warfare, in the pursuit of peace, strength, courage, and chastity. She is the symbol of justice and righteousness, all “higher” values
dominated by the intellect. Medusa, on the other hand, elicits terror with her bulging eyes, protruding tongue, and writhing snakes. She is a force of darkness, lust, and wrath, and there is nothing rational or noble about her. “As a Gorgon, Medusa represents a primordial force of chaos and destruction, embodying the untamed and unpredictable aspects of the natural world” (thisjungianlife.com).
Medusa was uncontrollable, so the God Perseus was given the task of killing her. Perseus managed to slay Medusa by using a mirrored shield to see her indirectly and avoid being turned into stone, a shield that was given to him by Athena. At last, temperance and intellect slay its opposite! Strangely, the winged horse Pegasus was born from a drop of Medusa’s blood after her beheading. Pegasus is a symbol of the creative spirit, of the soul’s ability to soar beyond the physical realm; he is majestic, beautiful, and immortal.
In recent years, there have been evolving takes on Medusa, including the idea that she represents repressed aspects of the psyche that need to be re-integrated into the self. Is she really a monster,
We rarely acquire these dark aspects by choice; rather, they are born of the necessity to adapt to the expectations of the social forces that try to tame us and make us fit into a mold of womanhood deemed acceptable.
or is she a symbol of female empowerment and resilience? She was unjustly wronged by Athena, the symbol of righteousness, who then has her slain to remedy the very monster she herself unleashed. Medusa is not a monster out of choice, but through a series of chaotic events over which she had no control; she was raped and then unjustly punished, banished to an island to live out her destiny as a wrathful and feared creature of the dark. I believe she suffered a deep betrayal.
When I had that vision of Medusa through my horse Noble, I remember trying to caress his mane to calm him down. I never made any attempt to remove the mask, though. Throughout the years, I struggled to understand how Medusa’s horrible face could possibly reflect my own. I wrote and published a very beautiful poem from that encounter and stashed the experience away until recently. My horse, Noble, was a special being; meeting him was the beginning of a seismic shift in my life’s trajectory. In fact, I will always look at my life as “before” and “after” Noble. It was like walking through a portal and into a 20year journey of coming home to the Self, after a desperate search for wholeness that began when I turned 40. That my horse introduced me to Medusa was such a teaching, one that would not become evident until much later.
Noble’s provoking comment about removing the mask to look at my own reflection is so clear now! Twenty years later, I know that Medusa is my shadow; she is every woman’s shadow -that aspect of the self that we reject and repress, the feelings, actions, and personality traits that fill us with shame. We rarely acquire these dark aspects by choice; rather, they are born of the necessity to adapt to the expectations of the social forces that try to tame us and make us fit into a mold of womanhood deemed acceptable.
The “righteous Athena” is everywhere, judging and punishing at will, from a place of authority that is usually not questioned until we hit the wall of mid-life.
Becoming familiar with the dark feminine is a beautiful journey and one that has impressive mythical figures to draw upon. I can think of Kali, Lilith, Medea, Persephone, and many more powerful female characters who have also been demonized for the immense power they possess. I was at first horrified by that vision of Medusa, but as I became more intimate with her story, I saw parts of my own story and the story of so many women emerge. Through writing this article, I have symbolically removed her mask from Noble’s face, and I have called out to my spirit horse in gratitude. Medusa’s untamed, wrathful, betrayed, transformative figure is indeed also my own! As you get to know her and, more importantly, “feel” into her, she evolves from a feared monster to a symbol of feminine power and resilience. Medusa and the dark feminine are powerful aspects of the female psyche, capable of destructive and creative power, embodying the cycles of death and rebirth and holding the tension of the demon and the mother without fear. The snakes that make up Medusa’s hair are not vile creatures; they are symbols of rebirth, transformation, immortality, and healing. And in the recursive figure of the ouroboros, they are a symbol of the continual renewal of life.
Now in my sixties, I have embraced the snakes in my own hair, thanks to a horse’s love and thanks to the resilience of the Dark Feminine that fights for the freedom of every woman’s psyche. Medusa has not displaced the Virgin Mary -she has been integrated into the multiverse of selves that I am. Virgins and demons are both sides of the unique coin that is every woman’s life.
Dulce García-Morman, Ph.D. is founder of Life-Is-Art Equine Assisted Learning & Coaching. She has facilitated learning and therapeutic experiences through the horse-human connection for the past 17 years. Dulce’s practice draws from different wisdom traditions and is strongly oriented toward a Jungian approach to the restoration of the authentic Self.For more information, visit https://life-is-art.us/
Photo
EATING HEALTHY
by Grace O
Enter the realm of wellness through the lens of nutrition. It’s a journey where every meal is an opportunity to nourish not just the body but the very essence of your being. Ginger Hultin, FoodTrients’ nutritionist and dietitian, illuminates the profound impact of a wholesome diet on our long-term beauty. She suggests embarking on a culinary adventure that promises to enhance your inner glow and outward allure. Eating a healthy diet can play a role in long-term beauty in the following ways:
• Skin elasticity, vibrancy, and color
• Hair and skin quality, fostering growth and resilience
• Energizing the body for an active lifestyle and maintaining optimal muscle mass
• Fueling vitality and zest for life, ensuring each day is brimming with potential
Which Foods Are Best for Aging Beautifully?
Grace O, founder of FoodTrients, has identified the following ‘superfoods’ as the path to staying beautiful and vibrant as you age. Choose these food categories to get access to the complex carbohydrates, protein, and healthy fat, as well as vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that can support your beauty.
l Vitamin A foods: carrots, tomatoes, red peppers, melon, fish, eggs
l Vitamin C foods: sweet potatoes, red peppers, citrus fruits, strawberries, tomatoes
l Vitamin E foods: almonds, peanut butter, pumpkin, wheat germ oil, sunflower seeds
l Biotin foods: nuts, egg yolks, oats
l Selenium foods: Brazil nuts, seafood, broccoli, soybeans
With each bite, you rewrite the narrative of aging, embracing a future where beauty and well-
ness dance in harmonious tandem. It’s time to savor the flavors of nourishment, paving the way for a more vibrant, age-defying you. These ‘superfoods’ are the ingredients for aging well, as well as creating delicious, irresistible dishes.
Radish Salad SERVES 2-4
Radishes belong to the same family of vegetables as kale and cabbage and offer some of the same disease-preventing benefits. The eggs in this bright, tangy salad provide protein and the carrots vitamin A and the tomatoes vitamins A and C. The recipe is from my first cookbook, The Age Gracefully Cookbook.
Ingredients
2 daikon radishes or 1 bunch red radishes, stems removed
1 cup seasoned rice vinegar
2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. sea salt
1/4 tsp. white pepper
2 chopped hard-boiled eggs
6-8 sliced grape tomatoes
2 medium carrots, scrubbed and sliced into coins
Procedure
1. Slice the radishes very thinly using a food processor or mandolin slicer.
2. To make the dressing, mix together the rice vinegar, olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper. Let stand and allow the flavors to blend for up to 1 hour.
3. Toss the radishes with dressing.
4. To assemble, arrange the sliced radishes on salad plates. Top with the chopped eggs, carrots and tomato slices, evenly divided.
www.FoodTrients.com.
photo by Matthew Fried
Is climate change hurting YOUR SKIN?
by Neha Pathak
As temperatures rise, sunscreen is just the first step in skin protection.
Photo by Gryffyn
Skincare has always been more challenging in the summer. And climate change has raised the level of difficulty, with frequent hot spells and more exposure to pollution from wildfires that can damage our skin, leading to premature wrinkling, skin discoloration, and sun spots.
It also means potentially higher risks for skin cancer.
Experts I spoke to say children, elderly people, and anyone living in areas exposed to a lot of traffic, wildfire smoke, or other pollution are particularly at risk. But a warming climate could take a toll on anyone’s skin.
In recent years I have even noticed increased skin care challenges for me and my family.
My 10-year-old daughter and her friends come home from summer camp at the end of the day with hot, prickly skin covered in small bumps along their necks and arms — a heat rash commonly caused by inflamed and clogged sweat ducts.
My 13-year-old finds that her eczema, usually calm in the summer, is more active than usual. Dry, irritated patches on her arms and legs keep her up at night scratching.
When I peek at my face in the rearview mirror while sitting in Atlanta traffic, with the sun beaming in through my windshield and exhaust fumes sneaking in through my car vents, I notice more fine lines and freckling as I age.
Daily encounters with environmental hazards can accelerate skin damage and aging.
“Our skin is a big environmental interface organ,” says Dr. Misha Rosenbach, professor of dermatology and rheumatology at the University of Pennsylvania.
He warns that skin troubles are poised to worsen in a world with escalating climate hazards such as soaring temperatures, widespread air pollution, and more wildfires. We can protect ourselves, but applying sunscreen is only the first step.
The science behind skin damage
As our largest organ, skin envelops the entire outer surface of our body. It has three distinct layers: the epidermis, dermis, and hypodermis. This complex network houses a variety of cells and structures that act as a formidable shield against germs, harmful ultraviolet — or UV — light, and environmental chemicals while helping maintain a stable internal body temperature and hydration level.
Exposure to intense heat, UV radiation, pollution, and smoke can break down the skin’s protective lipid coat, deplete skin antioxidants, and trigger a process known as oxidative stress. This leads to production of free radicals, unstable molecules that damage cells and DNA, cause inflammation, and can break down the collagen and elastin that are essential for maintaining our skin’s elasticity and firmness.
This inflammation can be more than skindeep. Problems inside our body linked to climate change and air pollution from burning fossil fuels, such as allergic asthma, certain autoimmune conditions, and infectious diseases, can manifest with skin changes like dry, itchy, broken patches of skin or uncomfortable rashes.
How heat damages skin
As global warming keeps causing longer stretches of higher temperatures and more frequent and intense heat waves across the globe, prolonged exposure to high temperatures can worsen dehydration, weakening our skin barrier and making it more susceptible to injury.
“As it gets hotter, people are outside more, wearing less clothing,” Rosenbach points out — which can increase their exposure to UV light and other environmental dangers, like air pollution.
Most of us know that UV radiation can cause skin damage, premature aging, and an increased risk of skin cancer, but heat in a warming world can damage our skin in other ways.
“Chronic low-grade heat exposure can contribute to skin aging and discoloration of the skin,” says Dr. Shadi Kourosh, director of the dermatology division of community health at Massachusetts General Hospital and an associate professor of dermatology at Harvard Medical School.
People with heat-sensitive skin conditions like rosacea and melasma, common skin conditions that cause raised discolored patches on the face, may also find their skin troubles worsening as temperatures heat up.
Kourosh explains that short-term intense heat exposure also harms skin health.
“There’s another level of heat radiation exposure that people might encounter from an occupational standpoint, like firefighters fighting wildfires. That thermal damage can actually increase their risk of skin cancer.”
From skin darkening, wrinkles, and premature aging to a potential risk for increasing skin cancer risk, the combination of heat and radiation from sunlight can harm the complex infrastructure of our skin.
Even with all of the risks, “our skin has amazing resilience and capabilities to improve if we give it the chance and put it in a healthier environment,” Kourosh says. She advises deploying multilayered skin protection strategies and finding ways to stay out of the heat if possible to give our skin the best chance to heal.
How air pollution damages skin
Burning fossil fuels in cars and power plants results in air pollution — such as carbon monoxide, tiny particles called particulate matter, and nitrogen oxides, which can interact with heat and sunlight to form ozone — that can damage the skin.
“They bind to the skin, and they corrode the protected lipid barrier of the skin and cause DNA damage, which can accelerate skin aging,” Kourosh says.
She pointed to research showing that traffic-related particulate matter plays a role in skin aging. Nitrogen oxides are linked with the formation of dark spots, and ozone is implicated in premature wrinkle formation. Studies have also shown that eczema development is associated with exposure to air pollution, specifically truck traffic.
In 2023, Kourosh says her clinic saw more eczema patients in Boston after air pollution exposure from Canadian wildfires over 300 miles away. This event prompted her to study the potential connection between skin health and pollution from wildfires and the chemical fire retardants used to combat them.
“Patients were coming into my dermatology clinics and saying that they were having eczema flares in the summer, which is unseasonable. And we found that the acute pollution events, like wildfires, were causing this. And this coincided with a spike in eczema visits.”
Kourosh points out that eczema worsens not just because of the direct impact of wildfire smoke on skin: “Breathing it into their lungs flares their asthma, which then in turn, because they’re getting this systemic immune response, triggers their eczema. So they’re really getting a double hit, these poor people.”
Prioritize skin health
Kourosh stresses that it is important for everyone to prioritize skin health. But she notes that some people are more vulnerable to skin damage, such as children and elderly people, who have weaker skin barriers and can be more prone to the effects of pollution.
“Socioeconomically disadvantaged communities, who often live in urban or industrial environments with higher baseline pollution levels, are also particularly vulnerable,” Kourosh says.
Rosenbach says many patients ask him about the best sunscreen to use that will not damage coral reefs. He is quick to reassure them that “the reason corals are dying is not because of sunscreen, it’s because of CO2 emissions leading to ocean acidification and global warming.”
Therefore, Rosenbach said, an important part of skin protection is also advocating for addressing the root causes of climate change and for the transition away from dirty fossil fuels. This can minimize the risk of even more frequent wildfires, higher temperatures, and poor air quality and protect ourselves and our entire community.
“Exposure to intense heat, UV radiation, pollution, and smoke can break down the skin’s protective lipid coat, deplete skin antioxidants, and trigger a process known as oxidative stress.This leads to production of free radicals, unstable molecules that damage cells and DNA, cause inflammation, and can break down the collagen and elastin that are essential for maintaining our skin’s elasticity and firmness.
Practical tips for protecting your skin
Three experts, including Shadi Kourosh, director of the dermatology division of community health at Massachusetts General Hospital and an associate professor of dermatology at Harvard Medical School, Misha Rosenbach, professor of dermatology and rheumatology at the University of Pennsylvania, and Randal Antle, a certified physician assistant at Dermatology Associates of Georgia, offered advice on optimal skin protection to promote skin health and limit the impacts on premature aging, skin breakdown, and skin cancer risk.
Hydrate: Drink plenty of water. Protective clothing: Wear lightweight, sun-protective clothing and accessories like wide-brimmed hats and UV-blocking sunglasses. Avoid tanning.
Guard against pollutants: “I recommend wearing a mask and sunglasses, especially during acute air pollution events. Mineral sunscreens containing zinc, titanium, or iron oxide can act as a shield against pollutants,” Kourosh says.
Kourosh says it is also important to have a good cleansing regimen at night to wash off pollutants, keep car windows up during high pollution, and invest in HEPA air filters to improve home air quality.
Maintain a healthy lifestyle: Eat a diet rich in antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables because this is the best way to absorb skin-health-promoting antioxidants. Limit alcohol, avoid smoking, avoid indoor tanning, and get enough sleep.
MORNING ROUTINE
Gentle cleansing: Use a mild, gentle cleanser to remove pollutants and protect the skin barrier. Avoid over-washing the skin, as it may damage the natural skin barrier function.
Moisturize: Strengthen your skin barrier with moisturizers. “Many emollients or moisturizers such as creams, lotions, or ointments, can
generally improve the skin barrier function of the skin. However, emollients that contain ceramides will replenish and improve the skin barrier most effectively,” Antle says.
Consider topical antioxidants: “In the morning for an added boost, a topical antioxidant such as vitamin C can be applied before your sunscreen to help fight against free radicals from UV exposure,” Antle says. Talk to your doctor about the best skin care products for effective topical antioxidants. Koroush points out that even though research suggests that topical antioxidants can theoretically help, “vitamin C, for example, is an incredibly unstable molecule — it denatures with exposure to heat and light — so a lot of products may be charging people but not doing an effective job.”
Daily sunscreen is nonnegotiable: Apply a broad-spectrum sunscreen daily and reapply every two hours. “Chemical sunscreen filters only protect against UV radiation. Mineral sunscreen filters, like those containing zinc oxide, titanium dioxide, or iron oxide, act as a shield and can protect against radiation and pollution settling on the skin,” says Kourosh.
EVENING ROUTINE
Don’t forget to rinse off: “It’s important to have a good cleansing regimen at night to wash off pollutants,” Kourosh says.
Skin repair: Talk to your doctor about the safest options for improving skin barrier function and repairing skin damage. Koroush points out that there is evidence that certain vitamin A-based compounds can help with cellular turnover and aid with skin repair. She cautions that a dermatologist is best suited to help you identify products that are safe and effective.
Long-term protection Advocate for clean air and lower carbon emissions: Remember that minimizing the risk of even more frequent wildfires, higher temperatures, and poor air quality can protect you and your entire community.
Neha Pathak, MD, FACP, DipABLM is dual board-certified in internal medicine and lifestyle medicine. She is on the medical team responsible for ensuring the accuracy of health information on WebMD and reports on topics related to lifestyle, environmental, and climate change impacts on health.
Pathak is co-founder of Georgia Clinicians for Climate Action and Co-Chair of the Global Sustainability Committee for the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. She is a Public Voices Fellow on the Climate Crisis with the Op-Ed Project and Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.
Pathak is a graduate of Harvard University and Weill Medical College of Cornell University. She completed her certificate in climate change and health communication from Yale School of Public Health. She lives in Atlanta with her husband and three daughters.
This article was originally published by YALE CLIMATE CONNECTIONS, It is republished here as part of The Eden Magazine’s partnership with Covering Climate Now a global journalistic collaboration to strengthen the covering of the climate story.
