Mosaic
FREE
Mind, Body and Spirit Magazine 49th Issue
Under © Oksana Zhelisko — www.zheliskoart.com
WINTER 2009
INSIDE
Mosaic Interview: Dr. Steven Farmer
Heilkunst Physician Reconnective Healing® Are You a Liver Person? Melanie’s AHA Moment
Network Care for Stress Acupuncture Renews Sound Therapy Heals Intention Focused Therapy
Soul & Personality Tarot Cards Understanding Natural Laws Dr. Steven Farmer Interview Larisa Sembaliuk Cheladyn’s Art
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I Love Mosaic That’s also why I publish Mosaic. Because I know there will be an article in Mosaic that will have a bit of information, even if it is only one line, that will help someone change their life. That is the power of words and stories. So when we are going around the table at the book club dinner, sharing what we loved about the book, I am entranced. There are the people who loved what I loved and I love hearing why they loved it. ☺ But then, there are the others… the ones who loved something that I didn’t even notice or remember. Now, those are the ones that I really enjoy hearing about because I get to reevaluate the book and its gifts. It’s like meeting someone for the second time and noticing something admirable about them that you just didn’t see the first time.
by Connie Brisson The first novel I can remembering reading was in Grade 5 about a girl living in a Siberian steppe. A steppe, in case you didn’t know, is a dry level grass-covered treeless land in regions of wide temperature range especially in southeastern Europe and Asia. Was that description painful or what? So was the book. Thankfully, I later discovered that books could be magical. Through them I could enter into worlds and gain knowledge I would never be privileged to otherwise. Whatever I want to know, I can learn through someone else - in a book. So when I was trying to come up with an idea of a fun Mosaic get-together, I thought of a book club. I love to read books but, because I’m busy, I don’t always make the time to include that in my life. I thought that a book club would be a good way to ensure that I read at least one new book a month to introduce new ideas and information into my mind. Then, because I also love delicious food and going out for dinner, I thought it would be fun to try out a different restaurant in Edmonton (and area) every month. And so, Mosaic’s Delicious Book Club began in May 2008 and we’ve been reading books and eating great food ever since. There are TWO things that I really love about the book club. The first is that I have met some really, amazing people (you know who you are ☺) who I would never have met if it hadn’t been for these dinners. They’re like friends now and I look forward to seeing them at each dinner (and miss them when they can’t come).
Having said all of that, there is a bit of reality to the dinners. We are often in restaurants busy with other people around us and then there is the music. I don’t control either. So there are often dinners where the actual group sharing is minimal and most of the visiting is done with the people directly around you. Then there are other times when it’s easier to talk as a group. Because reading the book is not a requirement, my intention in creating this monthly get-together was really for you to be able to meet other like minded people and to enjoy an evening out. This book club was not meant to be an intense literary discussion but a fun way to meet new people and see old friends again while talking about the book and many other things. Also, I would like to invite anyone who has read the chosen book and wants to share what they loved about it, to do so on my website at www.ilovemosaicmagazine.com under ‘Let's Hear From You.’ That is the perfect forum for your inspired insights where many people can benefit from your opinion. Our next dinner will be at Louisiana Purchase, 10320 - 111 Street, on November 11 at 6:00 p.m. We’ll be talking about Eyes of an Angel by Paul Elder (Hampton Roads, 2005). Email me at mosaicmagazine@shaw.ca if you want to join us. To keep informed about other upcoming book club dinners, Catherine Potter’s monthly astrological updates and more feature articles (about mind, body and spirit topics) that aren’t printed in the magazine, go to www.ilovemosaicmagazine.com and sign up for our bimonthly ezine that will come to you as an email. EAT, READ, LOVE! Three things dear to my heart. ☺
The second is that I LOVE hearing the things that people loved about the book because there’s always at least one thing in what we’ve read that stands out and can be life transforming.
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Mosaic
Contents
Mind, Body and Spirit Magazine Ltd.
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Walking my truth led to my healing home by Donna Reilly
#209, 10715 - 124 Street Edmonton, Alberta T5M 0H2 Edmonton: Fax: email: web:
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Network Care helps many conditions by Dr. Robin Browne
780-447-3667 780-452-2917
mosaicmagazine@shaw.ca www.ilovemosaicmagazine.com
Publisher, Editor, Design & Layout
CONNIE BRISSON
Design, Layout & Production Co-ordination
CAROL PYLYPOW
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Soul Stories
Creating Spirit Pots to hold the soul by Carleen Brigley
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The Heilkunst alternative to health by Tammie Quick
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My ‘AHA’ Moment
My AHA came from healing the past by Lisa Bernhard
Advertising For advertising information contact Connie Brisson at 780447-3667. Deadline for ads is one month prior to publication dates. Payment is due promptly when ad is booked. Mosaic Web-Site See www.ilovemosaicmagazine.com for information about Mosaic, current rates, ad sizes and distribution locations. Web-site by Earth Spirit Creations Website Design. General Information Mosaic Mind, Body and Spirit Magazine is published four times per year on the 1st of February, May, August and November and is distributed in Alberta. We reserve the right to refuse advertisements, articles or art. Publication of any article, advertisement or art in Mosaic Magazine does not constitute the publisher’s endorsement of (or assumption for) liability for any claims made in the advertisements/advertising information or for the information, views and opinions of the individual article writers.The responsibility/liability for the accuracy of all their claims, statements and information rests entirely with the advertisers and the article contributors themselves. The contents of Mosaic should not be used/taken as medical advice but is meant to provide information only. Consult your doctor/health professionals in regards to your health issues. Always research information and service providers found in Mosaic for yourself. Be responsible and safe. Mosaic reserves the right to edit articles for clarity, content or length at the editor’s discretion. No part of this magazine (articles) may be reproduced in any manner without the permission of the publisher. No external flyer inserts allowed. © Mosaic Mind Body and Spirit Magazine Ltd., 2009. Subscription Rates Send cheque for $20.00 (for four issues) payable to Mosaic Magazine with your name, address and phone number. Please indicate which issue you want to start with.
COVER ART Artist: Oksana Zhelisko Title: Under Contact: www.zheliskoart.com
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Your Gut Feeling
Are you the typical ‘Stomach Person?’ by Peter Melnychuk
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Skye’s View
Your soul and personality tarot cards by Skye MacLachlan
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Esoteric Explorations
Understanding and applying natural laws by Catherine Potter
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My own path to inspired business planning by Liz Garratt
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My dream of a better world for children by Dianne Block
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Mosaic Interview with Ger Lyons by Connie Brisson
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Mosaic’s Directory of Services
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Mosaic’s Marketplace
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Mosaic’s Calendar of Events
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Artist’s Gallery
Weaving myself into blank canvases by Oksana Zhelisko
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Con Amore
“There but by the grace of God, go I” by Connie Brisson
Next Issue: FEBRUARY 1,2010 Deadline: JANUARY 4,2010 Winter 2009 — Mosaic Magazine
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Walking my truth led to my healing home step into your own power and reconnect to the true essence of who you really are. When we learn to stay in the flow of higher frequency energy, it gets easier to speak our truth, walk our truth and live our truth. Through this awareness I was able to manifest my dream and passion of owing a healing centre. But first, I needed to work on my past beliefs and reconstruct my thoughts to resonate with my desires, not letting outside influences affect me. I also had to realize that these challenges were some of the greatest gifts in my spiritual growth and I am truly grateful for every step that I had to take to get here.
by Donna Reilly Reiki Master & Teacher Opportunities to ‘walk our truth’ come in many ways. All of us, at some point in our lives, experience something that triggers the opportunity for us to discover who we really are. We may not always jump on the first opportunity and so they continue to come. But the minute we really start questioning things, it instantly opens up the universe. It was when I lost my mother in 1998 that I realized a shift in my life had to happen. Even though I had an unique ‘out of body’ mystical experience at 24, it was my unusual spiritual encounter with an angel just a few days before my mother crossed over that intrigued me to seek out the world of spirit and to become a Reiki Master/Teacher. I truly believe ALL therapies are a form of energy work and the key is not the modalities itself, but learning to
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A few years back I started to talk about how I would like to own my own healing centre. I began to talk about it quite frequently to my friends. Then I realized I needed to change the vibration of the energy on these thoughts from “I would like to…” to “I now have a healing home.” And it’s not just about the words - it’s also about believing and feeling it, and knowing in my heart it would happen. I also discovered that I had to surrender to the ‘how and when’ to create this new energy into my life. I began to have dreams and visions of this house and then I realized one day this particular old house of my dreams was located right here in my community, in downtown Fort Saskatchewan. I drove downtown and parked in front of the house and said: “That’s my house, my future home for healing!” I continued to say this every time I drove by it, even when there was someone with me in my vehicle. They would say to me: “When did you buy it?” or “Is it for sale? How are you going to afford that?” I would just reply: “No, it’s not for sale. I haven’t actually purchased it yet. I’m not even sure at this moment who owns it, but it’s going to be my healing home.” iLoveMosaicMagazine.com
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Well! You can imagine some of the reactions I got! Yes, these were some of my challenges, not excluding my own internal stuff as well. But when I went inside myself, into the centre of my heart and stayed grounded, I was able to connect to my highest infinite source of unconditional love energy, allowing me to surrender any attachments. It was then revealed very clearly to me as to the steps I needed to take in purchasing this house. I did a land title search, but the owners were not local and no phone number was available. Then one day, one of my friends (that I had told about my house) told me there was a ‘For Rent’ sign with a cell number on the lawn. I quickly got the number, called and explained what I wanted to do. I didn’t expect a call back too soon, since I’d heard they had turned down other prospective buyers. Yet to my surprise I got a call two days later to come and talk. And from that moment on, everything just started to fall into place, into perfect divine timing. Again, it reminded me how important it is to live in the moment, be in the now and one of my favorite sayings is: “Let go and let God.” All of the events that then took place were stepping stones for me to work on my intentions, trust, faith, surrendering, walking, speaking my truth and following my dreams. After purchasing the house I was extremely excited and so filled with gratitude. Then my existing renters gave me notice and my human side (ego) instantly put up another ‘For Rent’ sign. I didn’t really want to do this yet I knew new renters would help pay the mortgage. Shortly after someone came to see me for a treatment (at the location where I was renting business space) and said: “Your space has beautiful energy, but it wants to expand.” I replied: “Funny you should say that because I just bought a house and was planning on expanding.” She answered: “What are you waiting for?” and in that moment I knew what I had to do! I had to “let go and let God.” I pulled the ‘For Rent’ sign out of the lawn and gave notice to my existing business location. I put my complete trust and faith in the universe/creator for the guidance I would need to take the next steps. I had already decided that I would renovate the upstairs and get myself (and whomever was suppose to join me) into the main floor by August 1st. On June 29th I woke up in the middle of the night and clearly received a message that I would still rent out the basement suite and with my sense of humor I asked: “Could you please send me a handyman as this place needs a lot of work!”
Again that same day, I got a call from my realtor and she apologized to me, saying there was an error in the final paperwork and she had a $2000 cheque to drop off to me that day. Wow! This just kept getting better! Then I was looking at the washer and dryer in this house and knew they would need to be replaced soon. Within a few days, I got a call from my daughter who knew someone giving away a washer/dryer (in good working order) for free. I just needed to pick them up. My gratitude level was just soaring! Thankfully my husband helped me with the renovations and it couldn’t have been completed by my deadline date without him. His expertise was instrumental and the renovation/transition went smoothly for the most part. And the end result? Well, you’ll just have to come see for yourself. This healing home has so much unconditional love energy flowing through it and around it, it’s impossible not to feel it the moment you walk up these steps. It was a pure labor of love. My intention was to create an environment where people could come for healing and feel a sense of calmness and peace both around them and within themselves. This whole experience was an excellent opportunity for me to evolve mentally, emotionally and spiritually and I hope it has inspired you. This wisdom (that lies within us all) comes when we choose to stay on our paths with faith, trust, compassion, love and understanding, not allowing outer influences to deter us from what we feel is our purpose. Then we can accomplish whatever it is that we desire. I couldn’t agree more with Michael Bernard Beckwith’s definition of surrender (from his article in Mosaic’s online ezine): “Trusting in each step of the dance, we must each walk in the direction of our unique romance with the infinite” and of course most importantly: “Each of us receives this guidance in the language of our own heart.” Donna Reilly is a Reiki Master/Teacher with Hypnosis training. Visit her new healing home at 10005 - 103 Street, Fort Saskatchewan or call her at 780-221-8286.
The very next day I got a call and guess what? Two of my new renters were carpenters! As I started to work on the renovations I realized I was a bit tapped out financially. I choose not to panic and in my thoughts I just said: “I sure could use a few thousand dollars just to get this going.” Still I felt this reassurance in my heart that I was doing exactly what I was suppose to be doing and that everything would work out. iLoveMosaicMagazine.com
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Network Care helps many conditions Network Care is a powerful chiropractic method that helps all kinds of conditions. It uses a specific sequence of light touches along the spine to reorganize your nervous system, thereby bringing your body back into physical and emotional balance. Every week my patients make amazing discoveries about their bodies, their health, and their ability to change their life. A 57-year-old man came to my office with a sore low back and pain down his leg. He was impressed with how soon the pain transformed from sharp and intense to just a slight ache. It shifted away from his leg and centered just in his lower back - then it was gone. After a few treatments he was surprised that he now could sleep through the night as he had always been a restless sleeper. He said he had more energy during the day and discovered that things that had bothered him about some of his co-workers just didn’t faze him anymore. When he told me that his shoulder also felt so much better, I reminded him that he had only previously mentioned his lower back pain to me. He said he never told me about his shoulder because he thought it could never get better! When people connect and release an area of stored tension/stress in their body that they’ve carried for months or years, the changes are profound.
Similarly, I saw another patient (a single mother) make a great leap forward last week. When her breath and awareness connected to the place where she usually felt only numbness, she instantly experienced a release of emotion. The intensity of her feelings was less than a minute. Before that visit she often looked like the weight of the world was on her - tired, with a slight frown and puffy, tired eyes. The moment after her ‘release’ she looked ten years younger. Her eyes were bright, she was smiling and had a radiant glow. When we carry stress in our body we tend to look ten years older than our biological age, never mind the damage it does to our bodies.
Holy Night © Bernadette McCormack — www.bernadettemccormack.com
by Dr. Robin Browne Doctor of Chiropractic
I’ve seen many patients over the years with chronic conditions like fatigue and even cancer. Network Care treatments can help these people by adding life to their years. When you’re always tired it’s difficult to keep up with any lifestyle changes. People with chronic fatigue can’t push themselves too hard without feeling much worse. Cancer patients who aren’t responding well to treatments are often depressed or ‘shut-down’ from dealing with fear and ongoing pain. With Network Care treatments for these patients, breathing improves first and that opens the door to more energy and concentration. Because Network Care rewires how the body handles stress, these kind of patients will often start to feel hope. Any or all of these improvements help them change their life and their health. That’s the power of Network Care. Robin offers Network Care at New Strategy Wellness Centre. It’s exciting how easy wellness can be. To get started today call 780-429-0023.
Note: This information is for educational purposes only. It is intended to supplement your current health program and not to replace the care of a doctor. For diagnosis or treatment of any disease please consult a licensed physician.
I certainly saw this with my cousin. Her husband died suddenly in a tragic accident the year before. She had just started a new career in nursing before he died, but had not worked since due to the trauma and stress of the past year. I invited her to try a Network Care treatment. After three light touches to her spine she sat up. She told me after the second touch she thought her heartbeat was linking up to her breath and by the third touch it did. This profound experience motivated her to find a Network Chiropractor where she now lives and she credits the Network Care treatments as essential to helping her get her life back.
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Soul Stories
Creating Spirit Pots to hold the soul These pots were born out of my need to be selfcontained and whole within myself. Creating these small pots anchored me in the present moment and connected me with something primordial—somewhere safe and peaceful. I consider them sacred containers that house authenticity. As I experimented, I followed the inner voice telling me to continue making my ‘Spirit Pots.’ I slowly and mindfully began to create these pots that fed my spirit, trusting the creative process to take me where I needed to go. I loved creating each one-of-a-kind piece. I knew I was tapping into something magical. The curving lines mirrored my own feelings of flowing with what I could not control. The spontaneous patterns came from deep inside of me, a way to safely experience and release sorrow, regret, anger, tears. It was as if these emotions moved through me and were absorbed into the clay.
by Carleen Brigley Artist / Potter When my life broke open after a relationship ended, I felt like parts of me were spilling over everywhere. I felt very lost and vulnerable. I knew my choice was to run or finally learn how to hold on to my authentic self. I had experienced such a crossroad before, where I had allowed distractions to keep me from facing my pain and grief. This time I was determined to deal with it in a different way and I decided to try art therapy. The assigned theme was ‘self-contained’ and the medium clay. I had been a potter for years, making functional pottery in a signature sapphire blue. But here, I found myself working with clay in an entirely new way. I rolled the clay into strings and then coiled them into vessels. As I made one after another, I began seeing them as parts of a village. Each was unique, unrepeatable and complete. With their universally smooth inside and original surface, they reminded me of people—of their outward idiosyncrasies wrapped around common needs and longings.
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Before firing, dried clay is fragile; bumps can break it, water can reduce it to mud. Firing clay in a kiln releases all moisture (tears) from it, making it more stable and able to receive glaze (colour). The outer patterns are what remain of its past - scars, wounds healed over. Thus, these pots exist as a metaphor for the alchemy of human pain and experiences that make us strong. The functions of the Spirit Pots are many: burn sage or sweetgrass, purify stones, hold holy water, burn full moon releasements, personalized baby and wedding gifts, or keeping them in view to remember the sacred within life, that we are all part of something divine that can transform anything back into beauty. My intention is that the Spirit Pots bring you stillness and peace of heart and mind. Here’s a beautiful story that I include with each Spirit Pot. In early Hawaii, children received a bowl at birth called a Kalabash. Each child was asked to place a stone inside the bowl for each hurt, slight, moment of anger, jealousy, and so forth. At night children were encouraged to reflect on each stone and then release them from the bowl, allowing them to begin each new day with spirit restored. Spirit Pots are available at a Sense of Serenity, 10342 - 81 Avenue, phone: 780-439-3131. Email Carleen at purplecatpottery@hotmail.com or visit carleenbrigley.com for future Spirit Pot workshops where you can create your own.
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The Heilkunst alternative to health Recently a patient called to see if Heilkunst could do anything for a throat infection. Her son had just gotten sick and many kids at school had been diagnosed with strep throat. I told her to bring him in. Understandably she was a little nervous about having strep throat treated with Heilkunst, using homeopathic remedies. After all, haven’t we all been warned that untreated strep throat can lead to Rheumatic Fever? Yet Doctor Robert S. Mendelsohn, M.D., author of How to Raise a Healthy Child In Spite of Your Doctor (Random House, 1984) writes: “During a quarter of a century in a pediatric practice that had more than 10,000 patient contacts a year, I saw only one case of rheumatic fever. The disease is rarely seen except among malnourished children living in the crowded conditions associated with desperate poverty.” It’s important to remember that in a life or death situation, we should always head to the local emergency room. However, many of the acute situations that pop up daily, can be handled by your Heilkunst physician. And they’ll be handled in a gentle way that cares for the body and respects its natural attempts to heal itself. I asked the boy (with strep throat) if something had happened that upset him recently; “Maybe someone angered you and you wanted to yell, but didn’t?” It turned out that he and his sister had argued three days earlier, but because they had to catch the school bus, he just swallowed his anger down. This was key information to curing his throat infection!
didn’t make it into the medical texts. One such theory comes from Antoine Bechamp who told us that our bodies are pleomorphic (shapeshifters)! Let’s apply his theory to my young patient… Boy gets angry at his sister, but is unable to express his anger and swallows it. His life-force knows that it must get rid of this energy and so it immobilizes a fever in order to burn the energy out. It also knows that there will be cellular die off from the heat and so it awakens the (already present, shapeshifting) strep bacteria in the throat and instructs them to switch to their ‘active’ phase in order to eat the cellular die off that will invariably follow the inflammation. Boy gets a fever and sore throat. Mom takes boy to a medical doctor. A bacterial infection is diagnosed and antibiotics given. The antibiotics kill the bacteria in the throat and affects the symptom control centre of the brain, so that the boy thinks he feels better. The antibiotics have efficiently destroyed a part of the boy’s body and suppressed its natural attempts to heal itself, effectively creating a larger toxic load for it to deal with the next time. Mother and Child © Lorraine Shulba — www.lshulba.com
by Tammie Quick DMH, DHHP
Or Mom takes boy to a Heilkunst physician. The underlying disease state (anger) is identified as the reason for the symptoms (fever, sore throat, lethargy) and the appropriate homeopathic remedy(s) given. Two days later the boy is back at school and feeling great! For more information on Heilkunst and homeopathy, and a whole lot more, please visit Tammie’s website at www.quick-health.ca or call (780) 221 - 6127. Note: This information is for educational purposes only. It is intended to supplement your current health program and not to replace the care of a doctor. For diagnosis or treatment of any disease please consult a licensed physician.
After a brief examination and a thorough conversation to discern all of his symptoms, I sent my patient home with a clearing dose of Staphysagria (remedy for anger/frustration/victimization), a dropper of homeopathic strep (because like cures like!) and some other remedies to make him feel more comfortable. While our modern medical system is largely based on Louis Pasteur’s germ theory (that the human body is completely free of organisms and only gets symptoms when it has been invaded by a bacteria, virus, or fungus), there have been other theories that make more sense, yet iLoveMosaicMagazine.com
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My AHA Moment
My AHA came from healing the past EFT is an incredible healing technique that recognizes the connection between the body’s energy system, the emotions and overall health. It’s a bit like emotional acupuncture but instead of needles, you use your fingertips to stimulate acupuncture meridians. Tapping on certain points along the meridians smoothes out disruptions and allows the energy to flow freely releasing physical and emotional challenges. Before EFT I never realized how powerful the past was. I had no idea that I could carry a multitude of childhood hurts, false beliefs and negative messages with me into my adulthood and that they would cause physical and emotional problems in my adult life. Often we don’t know what our false beliefs are or where they’ve come from. They were unwittingly passed to us from parents, teachers, siblings, neighbours, grandparents and others.
by Lisa Bernhard EFT Practitioner In January 2006 my life changed forever. A long standing physical ailment led me to seek out an Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) practitioner. I had heard of EFT from my naturopathic doctor (and researched it on the official EFT website, www.emofree.com) but nothing could have prepared me for the changes I was about to experience. My first EFT appointment was so amazing. I expected to ‘tap’ for my physical condition but oddly enough (to me), we spent the whole time tapping for emotional issues. By the end of the appointment I felt a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders. In that session we tapped for a specific painful memory I had. When we were done, I was amazed to realize that I could now tell her the story with no emotional charge at all. I had no idea how much a past painful event could still affect my life today. It was an AHA moment for me!
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With the help of my EFT practitioner, we plucked away at the false beliefs, negative messages and seemingly harmless incidents that I experienced as a child and adolescent and after a few short months, a lifetime of these painful feelings were erased and I felt emotionally healed. Things that used to make me cry literally make me laugh or I don’t even notice them. A pervasive feeling of anger is just plain gone. I laugh all the time and feel overwhelmed with joy. With EFT, I was amazed to watch my present day relationships change. I saw people differently and reacted (or didn’t react) from my genuine self, not from the perspective of a wounded child. The people around me hadn’t changed; I had changed. I have healed emotionally and physically and have broken down the blocks that have kept me from expressing my true self. I have more confidence, self-respect, peace and joy than I ever thought possible. I have healed important relationships and released unhealthy ones. Perhaps, most importantly, EFT has provided me with the vehicle by which I can live out my life purpose - to use my natural God given talents to help people to heal themselves. Lisa Bernhard is an Emotional Freedom Technique practitioner offering individual healing sessions, in person or over the phone, as well as group sessions. www.eftblossoms.ca or 780-475-9658.
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Your Gut Feeling
Are you the typical ‘Stomach Person?’ by Peter Melnychuk Visceral Manipulation Practitioner, LMT Are you a ‘Stomach Person?’ Goal oriented, always busy, almost hyperactive at times? A worrier? Prone to heartburn and indigestion? Do you have pain above and below your left ribcage? Fragile self-esteem?
We might inherit a weak stomach from our ancestors, but we often compromise the hand we are dealt by making poor dietary and lifestyle choices. Eliminating offensive foods from the diet can help immensely. So can physical exercise, especially the cardio type, which helps discharge the extra energy and anxiety that might be otherwise shunted to the stomach/duodenum.
The stomach and duodenum play critical roles in our digestive system. A ‘liquidy’ mixture arrives from the mouth and esophagus into the stomach to be churned and mixed with hydrochloric acid. The digestion in the stomach is completed in a specific order - carbohydrates are the first to be relayed to the duodenum, then proteins, and finally fats. The duodenum continues the process, adding alkaline components (juices and enzymes from the pancreas, as well as bile that has been transported from the gall bladder) to the chyme from the stomach. It is here that the absorption of nutrients and minerals begin, to be continued and completed in the small intestine. Emotional Tendencies - The stomach is an organ governed by one’s relation to the outside world; it is the organ of relationships. Dr. Barral also speaks of the stomach as the organ of appearances: the stomach is about what you do, your social image, whereas the liver is the organ of how you are, your deep inner self. In contrast to the ‘Liver Person,’ who tends to dwell in the past, the ‘Stomach Person’ exists in the future. Stomach people are ambitious and tend to set lofty goals for themselves. They are more sensitive than most about selfimage, and are driven to achieve certain levels of success and recognition. There is often a great fear of failure. They can be insecure, often since childhood, and are particularly vulnerable in situations where they feel unsupported. As such, they can have a history of trouble with their superiors. They may be charming and seductive, but also envious and a little unstable. Strong frustration can manifest immediately in the body of a ‘Stomach Person.’
Guy with Coffee © Denise Lefebvre — www.deniselefebvre.com
Visceral Manipulation (VM) originator, Jean Pierre Barral, found these tendencies and symptoms most frequently in clients whose stomach is their weak link (and/or its downline partner, the duodenum). His precise and gentle VM therapy has proven to be extremely effective in the promotion of healing in those with a dysfunctional stomach/duodenum.
In most cases the gentle precision of Visceral Manipulation Therapy is extremely helpful for those with a weak stomach/ duodenum. Some get immediate physical relief. Others respond more gradually, and heal physically and emotionally over a series of sessions. VM therapy wins the client a heightened awareness of both their body and their inner self. As this is integrated, the client can resolve what it is they are trying to avoid in their tireless quest for success and achievement, and move toward the present moment and their true destiny. Peter is a Visceral Manipulation Practitioner and VM Teaching Assistant for the Barral Institute. He is also a Certified Chi Nei Tsang Instructor and LMT. Check out www.unwindthebelly.ca. This article is the fifth in a series summarizing information in Jean Pierre Barral’s Understanding the Messages of Your Body (North Atlantic Books, 2007) Note: This information is for educational purposes only. It is intended to supplement your current health program and not to replace the care of a doctor. For diagnosis or treatment of any disease please consult a licensed physician.
Physical Tendencies - Heartburn; acid reflux; hiatal hernia; indigestion and bloating (especially after sweets or alcohol); stomach aches (pain above, below, and behind the left ribcage); ulcers; acid breath in the morning and afternoon; nausea; lack of appetite; certain left sided neck pain; certain left sacroiliac joint or left shoulder pain; chronic left side sinus complaints; pains between the shoulder blades, especially on an empty stomach. iLoveMosaicMagazine.com
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Skye’s View
Your soul and personality tarot cards This issue we continue with anthropologist, Angeles Arrien, method of determining which tarot cards reflect your personality and soul lessons / gifts. These cards are determined by your birth date. For a recap on how to determine which card you are and tarot cards 0 - 14, go to www.iLoveMosaicMagazine.com, In This Issue and click on Your soul and personality cards article. 15 - The Devil (If your birth date adds up to 15). These individuals have a practical side that focuses on productivity and manifesting results. Yet they are also compelled by the bigger questions such as their relationship to the universe. They need to incorporate humor to balance their more intense side. Their shadow involves getting too caught up in the material world. 16 - The Tower (If your birth date adds up to 16). Tower people experience many ups and downs in their life. Yet it is often these tumultuous events that allow their talent for rebuilding to shine through. Out of the chaos is born greater balance, beauty and inspiration. Their shadow side involves becoming too intense and arrogant, alienating themselves from others. 17 - The Star (If your birth date adds up to 17). Star people are divided into two groups - those who shine with charisma and those who hide behind a cool exterior. They have a great need to be involved with work or a cause that inspires and challenges them. Others look to them for guidance and acceptance. Their shadow side involves being too concerned with how others view them.
19 - The Sun (If your birth date adds up to 19). Sun people have the ability to motivate and inspire others. They often have a childlike side and enjoy simple pleasures. They need to set clear boundaries as others will often be drawn to their light and drain their energy. They are natural leaders. Their shadow side involves making poor decisions where partners (romantic or work) are involved, leading to the dimming of their own light when the partner is around.
The Sun © Roxi Sim — http://www.7th-house.com/pearlsofwisdom.html
by Skye MacLachlan Feng Shui Consultant
20 - Judgment (If your birth date adds up to 20). Throughout their life these individuals often have great bursts of awareness or epiphanies. They are intuitive yet rational. They have a need for balance. Family, career, friendship and creativity are equally important in their life. They must learn how to use their personal power and influence for the highest good of all. Their shadow side involves denying their intuitive side and focusing solely on the rational mind.
21 - The Universe / World (If your birth date adds up to 21). Universe people are natural visionaries. They love to travel and experience the diversity our earth has to offer. They have many interests / gifts and must learn to focus their energy. Personal freedom is very important to them. Many are ecologically minded. Their shadow side involves caretaking others rather than following their own dreams and vision. Skye has specialized in Feng Shui for the home and business for 30 years. She teaches Feng Shui, Tarot, Dreamwork and Gem Therapy at the Northern Star College of Mystical Studies in Edmonton.
18 - The Moon (If your birth date adds up to 18). Though Moon people may have many acquaintances, they only reveal themselves to a few close friends. They are naturally magnetic and others are drawn to them. Many of them will be strongly intuitive. Part of their purpose is to bring light into the darkness, revealing hidden mysteries. Their shadow side involves a fear of expressing their feelings and problems with addiction.
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Esoteric Explorations
Understanding and applying natural laws by Catherine Potter Astrologer and Hypnotherapist When we understand the natural laws of the universe and work with them, we can apply their simplicity and elegance to our lives. In part two of my series on understanding and applying natural laws, I’ll focus on the Law of Cause and Effect and the Law of Conservation. (Last issue we looked at the principles of ‘Unity of the Universe’ and ‘Interconnectedness and Relationship.’)
When I really began to understand the Law of Cause and Effect it was a defining period in my life. It was both liberating and empowering. I didn’t even mind owning up the ‘oops’ I had created (there definitely have been a few). This leads me to the Law of Conservation. In essence the Law of Conservation is the implementation of effortlessness. Sometimes people get a bit confused with this law. Does it mean not doing anything or getting other people to do it for you or does it mean giving it over to the universe and let it do it? For me it is the suggestion to stop struggling. We see the Law of Conservation everywhere in nature - no energy wasted on being anything other than what is, in this cyclical, everchanging, birth/death dance of cosmic creation.
To review, Webster Dictionary defines natural law as: “a body of law or a specific principle held to be derived from nature and binding upon human society in the absence of or in addition to positive law (governmental authority).” Part of our human evolution has been learning to live in close contact with each other. Out of necessity man-made laws evolved. “Do this” or “don’t do this,” or suffer the consequence of getting kicked out of the tribe, imprisonment for crime or eternal damnation are the rules of society.
Flying Dream © Iryna Karpenko
As our clarity and awareness grows we naturally tend toward governing our behaviour based on our own internal moral compass. Until that internal shift happens we rely on external rules to tell us how to behave. Probably the best known natural law is the Law of Cause and Effect and karma. Karma is not about being rewarded for doing something good or punished for being bad. Karma is simply the tangible experience of some action taken - cause and effect. There is tremendous freedom that comes from knowing that whatever is happening in one’s life (positive or challenging) we had a part in creating it consciously or unconsciously. Our external manifestations are us experiencing the ripple effect of the proverbial pebble dropped in the pond. Some ripples are immediately felt and others move through time and space to be experienced at a later date. Cause and effect in action. The following is a simple (not always easy) formula to follow: A+B=C. As an adult, take responsibility for what you have manifested in your life + be mindful about what you say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to in the present = consciously accepting being a cocreator of your life which leads to freedom and empowerment.
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Here are a couple of suggestions on how to implement the Law of Conservation in your life. Be Yourself - Don’t justify or defend your right to be or put someone else in the position of defending their right to be. This alone frees up tons of your energy when we stop trying to ‘get people’ to get us, our beliefs or dreams or visa versa. Remember the Law of Cause and Effect - Accept that what we are experiencing is the result of past action and our current actions will bring either the same or if we make a change, a different result. iLoveMosaicMagazine.com
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These two things alone will help you move through life with more ease and experience the Law of Conservation - elegant effortlessness. Here is the homework part of this article. Imagine you are explaining these two laws to a child. How would you help a five to seven year old understand these principles based on some experience in their life? Often we can be brilliant when we take on the role of teaching someone else, which of course allows some untutored part of our self to grasp it. Keep it simple. It is only our head that complicates these elegant principles of nature. In the past when I was integrating these laws into the programs I taught, people would love them and inevitably ask if there was one book on natural laws I could recommend. At the time I couldn’t recommend a book as my information had come from many sources. However I now recommend two books: Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra (Amber-Allen Publishing, 1994) and for people who want to integrate these laws into their yoga practice: The 7 Spiritual Laws of Yoga (John Wiley & Sons, 2004) by Deepak Chopra and David Simon. For those of you who enjoy finding these gems in various sources, you will find them sprinkled throughout esoteric material and books on philosophy and theosophy. These laws are in the oral and written teachings of every spiritual discipline, earth based religion and organized religion. In some material you have to dig a little to get past man-made laws. Enjoy! An Astrologer since 1986, Catherine is also a Hypnotherapist and Meditation instructor. She brings her unique counselling and teaching style to The Northern Star College of Mystical Studies. Call 780-447-3667.
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My own path to inspired business planning by Liz Garratt Inspired Business Consultant One might assume that someone with a career as a Business Planner would have meticulously planned her way to where she is today. But my career has been anything but predictable. Indeed, my entire business career has been more serendipitous than something I ever ‘planned’ for.
Of course I panicked, but my fears were soon lifted when I was awarded a contract with a new organization formed to help women in business. I became the Business Coach for the Edmonton area. This was my next training ground and where the ideas for ‘Inspired Business Planning’ were born. This position offered me more than I could ever have ‘planned for!’ The sheer volume of clients afforded me a learning that I could not have received any other way. I began to observe and learn a lot about business and business planning. I saw that a solid business plan does not guarantee success and I began to question the definition of success.
Looking back over the past 25 years, I see how my work has taught me so much about business and even more about myself. At 46 years old, I now see how I have weaved together and integrated the two. This is what Inspired Business Planning is all about.
There were no management consulting firms in Slave Lake but I did have a few contacts there from my last job. Soon, I had a number of contract opportunities in front of me and I ‘fell into’ owning my own business (yup, no plan again). During the next seven years I began to discover who I was as a consultant - building confidence in my own style and knowledge. In 1994 my husband was transferred to Edmonton and I had just given birth to our second daughter. I decided this was my time to stay home for awhile and enjoy being a mother (that was the plan). Once again, the universe had something else in mind for me. Within that first year, my husband and I separated and I needed to go back to work to support my family.
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Urbanite © Oksana Zhelisko — www.zheliskoart.com
My first job (after graduating from Business Administration at N.A.I.T in 1985) was with a small Management Consulting firm in Edmonton. There I had the most incredible learning experience any business graduate could ask for. Because the company was small, we worked together on every project. I learned all about business planning, economic development, organizational and community development and so much more. I could not have ‘planned’ for anything better. After three years, my boss accepted a position in Ontario and I accepted a marriage proposal and moved to Slave Lake.
I also began to see another trend emerge. I noticed that clients would arrive full of energy, passion, possibility and excitement, feeling ready to create something wonderful. As they would move through the planning process and into business, I noticed these energies fade. Months later I would be witnessing a much different person than the one I first met. I saw that the traditional business (planning) model often takes people further away from who they are and what they deeply desire. While I loved my work, these observations began to weigh on me and I iLoveMosaicMagazine.com
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knew I wanted to do things differently. In order to do things my way, I needed to move on and leave behind all that this place meant to me. I left to form a new business/partnership with two other brilliant women. We were filled with passion, possibility, determination and confidence that we were going to create something new! We worked and had a great time developing our own business plan. We received financing and opened our doors - ready to move mountains, create meaningful change and build a successful company (that was the plan)! Once again, the universe had something else in store for us. What had plagued so many of my clients, now fell upon us. Little by little we were pulled away from our plan, our vision, our passion in our attempt to make our business a success. We said ‘yes’ to people and projects who did not really want (or understand) what we had to offer. We adapted our services to ‘fit’ what we thought others wanted. We questioned and second guessed our ideas and ourselves. As we moved further away from our dream, so did we move away from our confidence, clarity, passion and energy. Eventually, I moved far enough away that my body stepped in and said: “Enough!” At this time, I was unable to see the learning and gifts from this situation, but now I do. It was there I learned the importance of creating and sustaining a business (work) that is in alignment and harmony with who I am. I was incapable of doing it any other way. So after much angst, disappointment, disillusionment, grief and shame, I said good-bye and moved on.
I am my #1 client. I have promised myself that I will honor who I am and what I care about as I move back in to the world of business. I have designed and created many practices, tools and structures to support me on this path. They are working for me and for my clients. In March, 2006, I created Harmony By Design Inc., where I specialize in Inspired Business Planning. I now bring forward all I have learned about traditional business planning, combined with what I have discovered about myself and my style of consulting. Inspired Business Planning is my way of bringing these two worlds together to create something that feeds my soul and helps others. Once again, the most incredible, inspiring and courageous clients have shown up to walk with me on this next leg of my journey. We continue to pioneer our own path to a new world of business - a world where success comes from ‘showing up’ in authentic ways and bringing every aspect of our business and work into alignment with who we really are. While I may not know exactly what is ahead of me, I absolutely know the universe has a magnificent ‘plan’ for me and I am ready and willing (full of anticipation and possibilities) to see what is in store for me. New travel companions are always welcome! To learn more about Inspired Business Planning, call Liz at Harmony by Design at 780-467-5026 or check out www.harmonybydesign.ca
The next leg of my journey was dark and painful - but no less significant and profound. I was certain that the message in all of this was that it was time for me to find another line of work. I clearly was not meant to be working in the business world any longer. To add to the complexity of the situation, I had recently remarried. I was pretty sure that my husband had fallen in love with this confident, empowered, energized ‘can do’ woman and I was not feeling connected to any of that. I felt a lot of guilt and shame about this. On the other hand, this was the first time in my adult life where I could lean on someone else. My pride made this difficult, but my health (physical, mental, emotional, spiritual) left me little choice. It was during this time I learned to accept and love myself. I realized that I hadn’t ever done that. While I had learned and grown professionally and personally, I had always hidden a lack of confidence and a need for approval from others. It took me over a year to pick myself up and feel ready to venture out again. When I did, I stepped cautiously and gradually. I was gifted the opportunity to work with a couple of groups (former clients) during that time, who helped me see there still was a place for me in the business world. I began to play and experiment with new ideas and gradually these ideas weaved together to form Inspired Business Planning.
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My dream of a better world for children by Dianne Block As a young child, starting at age seven, I dreamed every night (for three years) about picking up unwanted children from ditches. I would tell my Mom and she would say: “It was a dream, honey. Nobody throws children away.” Well, back in the 1950’s and 1960’s nobody knew that they did. One night I was having the same dream when I found a briefcase full of money and I knew I would be able to look after all those children. Then the dream stopped. I grew up, got married and divorced, and had four beautiful children (three boys and a girl). Then in 1989 I was in a terrible car accident and had a ‘near death experience.’ During it, I walked and talked with God and then chose life to come back and do more. In 1999, my baby girl (and my last child), married, leaving me with empty nest syndrome. On a Tuesday night I prayed and cried, wondering what I should do with the rest of my life. I was unable to work due to the brain injury from the car accident and my children had always been my focus so I asked God: “What now?” In an audible voice that I took to be God, he asked: “What has been the best part of your life?” “My children,” I answered. Then in my mind’s eye I saw World Vision movie stars helping children in Africa, in the poorest countries of the world, and I knew that these children would love me and need me.
other children. Fifty years after the fact, God made true the dream I had as a child. After almost 10 years I am on my third house in Malawi, each one larger than the last, to accommodate more children and I still have some of the children from the beginning. Dixon was six or seven years old when he was found naked, bleeding, raped and screaming in the street 500 miles from his home. The Police thought he was bewitched and put him in jail. The Catholic nuns brought him to me and he is now finishing high school. The family of a newborn child walked 17 miles to find me after the baby’s mother died in childbirth. She had not been nursed or even had so much as a sip of water. She now has a loving home in Canada. There are children dropped off to me with full blown AIDS, TB and malaria but so far we have had only one death this year. Ralph was eight years old and weighed only eight pounds. He looked like Humpty Dumpty. I held him in my arms as he died. Robin, at one year old, weighed four pounds and was abandoned in a hospital where she was neglected. She was HIV positive and had TB but she is now 4 years old and thriving despite her illnesses. There have been mostly hard times but I choose not to dwell on those. Some of them are too painful to remember or talk about. I consistently surprise myself at what a strong woman
On Wednesday I went to the Immanuel Lutheran Church Alpha Supper (near my home in Stony Plain, Alberta). I learned the Youth Group was going to Africa and I asked if I could go along. Soon after I bought my first (of many) tickets on my credit card and went. I worked at an orphanage in Malawi and while I was there I came upon an abandoned baby (about 1½ years old) sitting in a ditch. It was like those dreams from my childhood. In May 2002, with only $75 Canadian, I started my own orphanage in Malawi for this abandoned baby and a few
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I have turned out to be, but with God all things are possible. One day I was walking the four corners of our yard with several of the children, praying for safety, when all of a sudden I felt like I was really home - where I belong. With the donations from wonderful, caring people and my own money, I look after up to 50 children with a staff of 14. The house has running (cold) water, electricity (when it works) and we use candlelight at night.
I started The Agape Orphanage Foundation and the Earth Angels Care Center Malawi to provide a safe and healthy environment for these orphaned children. It is a federally licensed, registered charitable, non-profit fundraising organization. It provides a secure home with food, fresh water and basic education for orphans in Malawi with 100% of all donations go directly to the children. Therefore every dollar makes a huge difference. The children that come to us are truly helpless when they arrive. They may have been brought to us by a parent who is dying of HIV/AIDS, a relative too poor to feed one more mouth or the Police. Some are sick themselves and although they may suffer the same fate as their parents, we do what we can by giving them a home, food and medicine if needed. Once they have shelter, are fed and healthy, it is time to feed their minds. With your help we will educate each child to a grade 12 level. They will learn to read and write and while
Gingerbread Quilt © Carol Breen
During this economic downturn a bag of rice has gone from $40 to $95 a bag. It takes between $3000 - $4000 a month to run the orphanages. But here I am - a woman past middle age with a brain injury, limited education and restricted resources - yet I feel like I’ve been chosen to do God’s work. It’s as if God is telling me I am one of His people like the fisherman or Mary Magdalene.
doing so, they will develop a sense of self worth. Providing adequate education will mean that someday these children will be the teachers, health workers, builders, spiritual leaders, and business people of their community. Their education must not separate them from their culture. Their education must build a respect for who they are and where they come from and build in them the desire to improve the world around them. My dream continues. I dream of having a farm, run by the orphans themselves, being self-sufficient with no welfare mentality and an attitude of empowerment so they can carry on the work when I am gone. Every day is a new experience and a new challenge to provide the basics of life to these children. Yet my dream is coming true with the help of people like you. If you feel drawn to, please donate to these children who need your help so much and know that your money is going directly to them to better their lives. If you have the same dream I have - to save as many children as possible - then help if you can. To learn more or to donate please go to www.agapeorphans.com or email info@agapeorphans.com or Dianne@agapeorphans.com Interested people can make donations via PayPal using their credit cards.
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Mosaic Interview with Ger Lyons October 19, 2009 Connie: I’m excited to be talking to Ger Lyons today. Ger is a Global and Spiritual Healer, Metaphysician and Seer from Ireland. He’s done many things, including Traditional Chinese Medicine, Acupuncture, Pranic Energy Healing, Bio-energetic Healing, Quantum Energy Healing, Breathwork, Sacred Tantra and is a Reiki Master and much more. Ger now offers Core and Cellular Transformational Healing workshops around the world and will be here in Edmonton on November 19 - 25 for three-day or six-day workshops at Village Lifestyles. You can go to www.awakenyourspirit.ca or www.gerlyons.net for more information. Welcome, Ger. Ger: Thank you, Connie. It’s great to be here. Thank you for having me on. Connie: I’d like to start off by hearing your personal story. What got you started on this spiritual path? On your web site I read it started with a bee sting at age eight. Tell us that story. Ger: Yes. That was kind of a bizarre thing. I was a young kid, eight years old. I was on holidays in the south of Ireland, the place that we normally went with the family. I was just in a field playing. I was on my own one day just wandering around the place and I felt this bee sting, this really bizarre and very intense sting in my leg. I’d been stung many times before. There are lots of bees in Ireland. So I recognized it as a bee sting. It was very intense, very painful - the whole rush of blood and emotion and swelling and pain… I looked down and there was no bee and there was no sign of anything there; like my body and skin had reacted and everything, but I actually hadn’t been stung. I could feel this kind of well of emotion and fear and all kinds of stuff coming up and it didn’t seem to be mine. It was a really, really strange experience, Connie. I went home afterwards, back to the trailer, the caravan we were staying in and realized that my brother had actually been stung by a bee on the leg, on his left leg exactly where I had felt it. He had reacted to it really badly and it was like his whole leg had swelled up. It was a really serious thing. So I had a realization at that stage, one of many, that it was actually his experience that I was experiencing. I was miles away at the time. I was nowhere near him. We’re not twins. We’re not particularly connected or anything and from a twin point of view, in age we’re a couple of years apart. It was really, really strange. It went on from then. From that experience I realized there was something a little bit different with my experience of reality and my experience of awareness of what was going on in life, what life was all about and how things worked and how the universe actually is and how it works. How could I possibly know or be able to feel or sense that - my brother’s experience? One thing led to another after years and it got more and more intense. That was like about the first experience that I
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remember of awakening into that reality, but as the years went on, as I said, it got more and more kind of extreme and intense until it became almost overpowering and life became very, very strange, Connie. It became very bizarre and unusual. So yes, that was like the start of it and it just went on from there. I developed things from there. Connie: Does this gift run in your family? How did you know what to do with it? Ger: Well, I had no idea what to do with it or what it actually was or what I was experiencing. It doesn’t run in my family as such. My dad’s lineage comes from the Druidic bloodline going back thousands of years in Ireland, so there is that line that is quite strong and quite alive and quite active energetically. Other than that my mom is very psychic. She has a lot of insights and intuitive knowing about things. We were never able to get away with anything when we were kids, which was a bit of a nightmare, but it was hilarious at the same time, so there is that. I do come from those two backgrounds, but I had no idea what to do with it, Connie. It was really unusual and I didn’t understand it. I had no idea what it was, where it was coming from or how to deal with it, how to work with it or what was actually going on. When I was 15-years-old … I met my first spiritual teacher, spiritual mentor and healing teacher. He was an old, elderly gentleman from Ireland and a traditional local healer from the place we grew up in at the south coast. Everyone thought he was nuts. Everyone thought he was off his trolley, so to speak. In those days, this was back in the ‘70s in Ireland, things were very interesting, shall we say. He was amazing. That man taught me an incredible amount of things. I remember the first time I went in to see him. He brought me into his room and he took me over to the window and he told me to look out the window of this room. He said: “Look. See all of that stuff out there.” I said: “Okay.” He said: “See those cars on the road and the traffic lights and all of those people and all of that carrying on out there?” I said: “Yes.” He said: “That’s not actually really there.” I was going, “Okay.” He went on from there. I was looking at him and I was going: “Okay. Either this guy is a psychopath or he’s brilliant.” Luckily it turned out to be the latter. He was amazing. He was an incredible teacher and an amazing healer and a metaphysician. He knew all of the medicines … principles, the ancient knowledge and wisdom of how the universe of energy and intelligence works. He was just an incredible character and he was both, born gifted and learned as well himself. He was amazing. Working with him from the age of 15, he brought me an amazing understanding of what was going on and I was able to learn what it was, what was happening and how it was happening and that it wasn’t actually a pathology or anything wrong in my head or energetically; that it just simply was a gift and that it was there for a purpose and how to work with it. That was the key thing. It took me years after that as well learning how to work with it and operate it through systems of healing where I’d be able to work consciously with it and functionally with it to help people. That took another amount of years as well and led me to studies in Chinese Medicine and a lot of different traditional medicines in many different places, many different countries and cultures. It just set me off on an amazing journey into that mystery of metaphysics and energetic healing iLoveMosaicMagazine.com
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and energetic medicine and all of that. It was quite a journey from then on. Connie: On your web site you talked about being tortured and how you transformed that trauma into a positive experience. Can you tell us about that? Ger: Yes. I can talk a little bit about that, Connie. It was a long time ago… I was living in Belfast in Northern Ireland for a number of years and I worked with the conflict and the peace process up there, shall we say. Things sometimes got hairy and got a little bit difficult and challenging. There came a point one time where I had a lot of information. I knew a lot of things from working with the people up there, so that information was valuable to certain people and basically to cut a long story short, I was taken at one point and kept in a room for six days. They tried to extract the information from me. It was a very, very, very, very intense and pretty horrendous situation, Connie. Yes. I was electrocuted and beaten to a pulp, to within an inch of my life basically and left very, very, very, very, very badly damaged indeed. So it took me a lot of time to heal that. It took me a lot of time. It took me about four years before I could really, really get a handle on that. My internal organs were burnt out and my skin was destroyed. It was pretty intense. It was quite intense. But what it did was it drove me … incredible pain, like physical pain in the body drove me to amazing depths within myself after that. It drove me to have to survive and have to deal with it and move on and search at the very, very, very bottom of the barrel, the deepest level in myself, to try to come to terms with it first of all, because I was not the same person after it, and to heal it.
Life © Oksana Zhelisko — www.zheliskoart.com
That’s one of the things I often say (in workshops and to people who are in trouble or who have serious, serious situations going on, which are very, very painful), is that the greatest pain that we experience can be the most powerful engine that drives our search for healing, our search for God, our search for the divine; basically, our search to get better and to get to reach down into the deepest, darkest places when life becomes very, very, very deeply dark and get the jewels at the bottom of the barrel, so to speak. You know? So it was a very intense experience, but very, very intense growth came out of it and an amazing amount of wisdom was learned. I basically witnessed myself being completely traumatized on every level and through that witnessing, I began to understand how my body dealt with it first of all, how different parts shut down, different parts of the mind shut down, different parts of the emotional body and the energetic systems and how the body actually dealt with that pain, both emotionally and psychologically and physically. It was amazing, because I was conscious enough. I knew what was going on and I witnessed it and I could feel everything. I’ve always been able to do that. I’ve been able to feel everything inside my own body, so I could feel how it happened and what the internal organs were doing, what all of my energy systems were doing and how it shut down and compressed the trauma down into the body and then numbed it out and sealed it over so, basically, I would be able to survive. iLoveMosaicMagazine.com
It was just an incredible experience from many, many different levels. When something like that happens there are two ways to go. I chose the path of life and love, so to speak, and healing. It’s very, very easy to go the other way, to go into revenge and go into the other direction, but I chose and made a conscious decision to not go there and to go down the healing path, which was an amazing journey. It’s brought me so many gifts, Connie.
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Interview continued from page 23 The last few years I can see the perfection, even though I would never, ever wish it on my worst enemy and I would never, ever want to go through anything like that again. But I suppose you make the most of these things and you get the wisdom from it. You get the knowledge. You get the experience. That experience is absolutely pure gold, because those experiences of how trauma operates and how I learned over the years to heal it and deal with it and completely regenerate my whole body, that experience is completely gold, that knowledge and that wisdom that I gained from that. So I think everybody can make a choice as to which way you want to go with that in those situations. I think everybody has the ability. Everybody has this ability to go deep down inside and get that gold. It pushes you right back into you, way beyond death and way beyond pain, right back into your most basic source self. And when you have to access that, that’s the point where I think we access God and we access the divine and a much, much higher aspect of ourselves, which operates from a much, much higher place, which is where the healing comes from. Connie: Was it during that time or after that time or due to that incident that you developed or learned how to develop what you do now, the Core and Cellular Transformational Healing? Ger: Well, that experience magnified and amplified in a way what I do now. All of my life, from a young age, I have been working energetically with healing and with all kinds of systems, as I said before. I suppose the depth of what I do now and what I carry now and how the work has developed has come very much from that experience, yes. Connie: Can you explain to us what exactly that is Core and Cellular Transformational Healing? What it is? How does it work? Ger: It works very simply, Connie. There is a transmission of light that comes. Just from a practical reality point of view, if people come to a workshop or a session or something, what happens is we just sit facing each other or in a workshop situation we just sit in a circle. I use a little bit of music at the start, just to create a very safe and sacred space for people. Then I say an invocation. It’s like a prayer, but a prayer with intention that’s completely active and alive and plugged into a very high transitional energy. That prayer or invocation at the start opens up the entire space
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and it brings through a very, very powerful stream of light or like a transmission of energy where there’s a very high intelligence coming through it. When that comes through it melts into the body into whoever is present. It melts into their bodies and it starts unraveling and releasing and melting through basically anything that’s not based on itself, Connie. So pretty much anything that’s not coming from a place of love or from our own innate inheritance, our divine nature as beings of light and love and the divine, which we carry inside of each one of us. Anything that’s not based on that, for example, any old trauma or old patterning or programming that really doesn’t serve us, all of that will be gently pushed out of the body by the stream of light and by the intelligence of the energy coming through. So I guide people through a process of transformation with that, basically communicating with that intelligence. It’s just like a consciousness, just like another person, just as if we were talking to another person. It’s totally conscious and intelligent, the energy, so when we communicate with it, it basically does and acts on what we talk and what we pray or what we invoke. Everybody becomes completely plugged into that transmission and when they leave the workshop they can bring through that themselves. It’s like an induction or an introduction. I suppose it’s just as if I introduce you to a friend of mine and then after you go away, you and my friend can now contact each other any time you want. It’s like an introduction, when people come to the workshop, to a very high transition of energy and a healing consciousness that comes through with it that does the work. Once they’re introduced to that they can go home and they have that as a friend, as an ally for the rest of their lives if they wish to communicate with it or not. During the course of the process there’s a very deep embodiment of that energy. It starts to come through more and more and more. The more people sit in the energy and sit with that stream of consciousness coming through, the more it just keeps opening and opening and opening the body and the cellular memory and the cellular structure. Any tightness or sickness or disease or anything that’s there cannot actually stay and survive in the body with that light coming through. It has to release.
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Connie: I was reading Sherry Olson’s book, Core and Cellular Transformational Healing, One Woman’s Journey to the Divine, (2009) and she talks about feeling this very profound transmission of healing energy come through her at your workshops. Is that a common experience for all of your workshop participants? Ger: Yes. It is pretty common, Connie. Everybody experiences it in a different way or in various different ways. Some people’s experiences are very, very intense. Sometimes it’s a very subtle experience for people. Sometimes the release and the transformation can be quite rapid and immediate. Other times it’s a process and a journey of exploration and discovery for people in their own growth process and where they’re at with that. It’s not like a structured formula where people come and this will happen. It’s more like people will come and the energy will come through every single person in that room without a doubt, 100%. It’s like wherever they’re at, whatever they’re ready to let go or deal with or work with or look at will be exactly presented to them as is. It will push on anything that they’re ready to let go, any aspects of their life that maybe don’t serve them any more or any aches or pains or headaches, any physical sickness or disease or any kind of old programming or pattern that may be creating a sickness or a disease. All of those configurations will start to dismantle and break down and leave.
THERE’S MORE! To read or hear the rest of GER LYONS’S INTERVIEW go to www.iLoveMosaicMagazine.com
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Mosaic’s Marketplace ANGELS
EDUCATIONAL TRAINING
CONNECTING WITH THE ANGELS - Spend the day in the loving energy of the angels. You will have the opportunity to connect with and receive messages from the angels using various techniques. You will also practice receiving and giving messages to others. For upcoming dates contact Maureen Bracke, Angel Therapy Practitioner® trained and certified by Dr. Doreen Virtue, 780-479-5011, angelreadermaureen@yahoo.com
ALTERNATIVE TO MASSAGE CERTIFICATION - Gentle, soothing, hands-on training aligning physical body with meridian and chakra system. January - April 2010. Two days a month. Contact marilyn@empressbridge.com, www.empressbridge.com, 780-434-8079.
ART AFFORDABLE, ECLECTIC, UNIQUE ARTWORK for home or office. Rent or purchase from a large range of batik, canvas or styrofoam paintings. Contact Monika Dery at monika@onceinabluemoon.ca or www.onceinabluemoon.ca
BECOME AN AYURVEDA SPA SPECIALIST - Learn Indian Head Massage, Ayurveda Facials, East Indian Abhyanga massage, Chakra and Crystal Aura clearings and Indian hand and foot treatments. Join us in Lethbridge in November or January for private training or in Toronto in December. Contact Andrea Olivera at info@ayurvedictouch.com or call 416-504-6049 or 403320-0290. See more details at www.ayurvedictouch.com HEALING & HEALTH
ASTROLOGY CATHERINE POTTER’S ASTROLOGICAL FORECAST for 2009 is now available for you to read on-line. Go to www.iLoveMosaicMagazine.com and click the ‘Newsletter/Ezine’ tab. Catherine is also featuring mini astrological forecasts each month in Mosaic’s Newsletter that comes to your inbox. Sign up today at Mosaic website, www.iLoveMosaicMagazine.com SAMANTHA KANE-KENNEDY is a Professional Astrologer with 39 years experience. Her caring in-depth consultations instill a deep sense of peace, turn complexity into simplicity and make the impossible possible by understanding that unique mystery … the tapestry of your soul! www.sam-star.com, samstar@telus.net, 250382-8443. BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES WORK FROM HOME and be your own boss. No parties, inventory or RISK. Visit www.womenswealthandwellness.com/k-sky - Karen Urusky. COACHING SOUL COACHING PROGRAM - This six week program, including the 28 Day Program to Discover your Authentic Self, will take you on a spiritual journey to find meaning and sacredness in your everyday life. You will take an honest look at yourself, face fear, release old negative patterns, get motivated and step boldly and joyfully into your future. Contact Maureen Bracke, Certified Soul Coach, at 780-479-5011. CRYSTALS SACRED STONES Personal Growth Jewelry - Need more inner strength or love? Help with abundance, negativity or breaking old patterns? These unique gemstone crystal bracelets are designed to help you transform aspects of your life. Sacred Stones bracelets come with a researched keepsake card that explains the exact issues and person it can help. Sacred Stones bracelets go through a special cleansing/blessing process and are associated with a sacred Spirit Helper (goddess, god, angel, fairy or animal) with mystical abilities. Special orders are also available. See our Sacred Stones ad on page 2 for store locations or email sacredstones@shaw.ca to get the right one for you. Check out our website at www.sacredstones.ca to learn MORE about how these amulets can help you.
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FORT MCMURRAY’S ananda center for balance is now open! Services include relaxation and pregnancy massage, reiki, yoga and laughter yoga. For more information, please check out: www.anandacenter.ca; or call Heather at 780-747-3857. HUSBAND & WIFE FITNESS LIFESTYLE COACHING COUPLE are passionate about teaching others how to become “ageless.” We are a very fit, mid-50’s couple and as our clients will attest, our Ageless Fitness and Health program is a more holistic approach to wellness. Our workout programs can be completed in an hour, with minimal equipment, in the comfort of your home. We can also provide nutrition food plans for those interested in fat loss/maintaining or increasing lean muscle and healing inflammation, caused by stress and poor nutrition. To see us and what we’re about, visit our website at http://misfit2.tripod.com/agelessfitnessandhealth or email us at ageless_fitnessandhealth@hotmail.com or telephone 780469-4227. MEDITATION RAJA YOGA MEDITATION classes in association with the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual Organization. Free as a community service. Day and evening classes. Information: 780-425-1050, www.bkwsu.org MOSAIC MAGAZINE DO YOU WANT MOSAIC MAGAZINE available at your office or event? Get bulk amounts of Mosaic Magazine to give to your clients at the following locations: ASCENDANT BOOKS (10310 124 St), A SENSE OF SERENITY (10342 - 81 Ave), CRIMSON QUILL (8 Perron St, St. Albert), LIFEFORCE (101 Signal Rd, Fort McMurray), NAMASTE (#216, 2016 Sherwood Dr, Sherwood Park) and WHERE FAERIES LIVE (10991A - 124 St). GET MORE MOSAIC ON-LINE by signing up for our ezine newsletter that features MORE mind, body and spirit information, not available in the magazine. Featuring unique articles, details about our monthly Mosaic Delicious Book Club Dinners and Catherine Potter’s monthly Astrological Forecasts. Go to www.ILoveMosaicMagazine.com and sign up today! While you’re there, post a comment telling us what you LOVE about Mosaic for your chance to WIN free tickets to upcoming big events. We’d love to hear from you!
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Marketplace continued from page 29 PSYCHIC ARTS LOOKING FOR LINDA WOZNICA? She’s now giving her fabulous tarot readings and Kirlian Photography readings at A Sense of Serenity (10342 - 81 Avenue) most weekends. Book your appointment at 780-439-3131.
Lodge is located just SW of Edmonton outside of the urban city lights, nestled on the bank of the North Saskatchewan River with abundance of natural surroundings. www.RiverLodgeRetreat.com or 780-963-3873. SPIRITUAL GROUPS & SERVICES LIFE ENRICHMENT SUNDAYS - Consciousness of Oneness celebrations with jubilant music and Science of Belief lessons at 11:00 a.m. In the natural light filled auditorium at 4936 - 50 Avenue with teacher/coach Jaclyn Darby. A joyful way to raise and maintain your total well being consciousness. Also customized wedding ceremonies. On the web: www.life-enrichment.ca Phone: 780-462-4491.
REIKI LEARN AND EXPERIENCE the beautiful healing energy of Reiki with Myles Corbett. Classes offered through the winter. Contact Myles at myles.corbett@shaw.ca or www.reiki.meetup.com/461/ LOOKING FOR REIKI in Fort McMurray? Reiki treatments available. Call Marianne at 780790-2024. RENTAL SPACE BEAUTIFUL HOLISTIC SPIRIT SPA in South Edmonton has rooms available daily, weekly and monthly. Fun yet kind and caring atmosphere. Reasonable rates. For more information contact Garrette at garrette@shaw.ca
Roswitha Fichtner River Lodge
UNITY CHURCH OF EDMONTON - Union with God through celebration and spiritual education. Helping to enrich lives spiritually with Sunday celebrations at 4:00 p.m. Also classes, workshops, movies and meditations. Located at 13820 - 109A Avenue. Rev. Yvonne is also available for weddings, funerals, memorials, christenings, blessings. For more information go to www.unityofedmonton.ca or call 780-477-5351.
WEB DESIGN CANADIAN COLLEGE OF HEALING ARTS & Centre for Wellness at 6930 - 77 Street in Edmonton has office space for rent on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Please contact Loretta Mohl at 780-9105052 or email me at Loretta@CanadianCollegeofHealingArts.com DANCE PERCUSSION STUDIO at 7252 - 101 Avenue, Edmonton, has space available for meetings, movement, workshops, practice and teaching. Reasonable rates in a functional and inspiring environment. Contact Srutika at 780-485-2515, 780-433-4752 or email at dancepercussionstudio@gmail.com RIVER LODGE - a quiet, serene and peaceful Retreat Centre! Are you looking for a unique environment for your retreat? River
WEBSITES FOR HEALERS - HealerCrossing.com. We create personal and business websites. Our specialty is websites for health minded professionals. 780-982-7027. YOGA LOOKING FOR YOGA in Fort McMurray? Private and small yoga classes available with certified instructor. Call Marianne at 780790-2024.
Tell them you saw it in Mosaic!
Mosaic’s Calendar of Events NOVEMBER 7 or JANUARY 23, 2010
DECEMBER 13
Change Your Story, Change Your Life - There comes a time when you realize you are tired of your ‘old story’ and how it plays out in your life. Instead you want to live a new story. Is this your time? If so, please join Life Coach Mary Johnson and begin to write your new story and your life! Six hour workshop plus a follow up coaching session. Center 51 West. Contact Mary at 780481-6483 or e-mail mary@bridgeworksconsulting.ca
Mosaic’s Delicious Book Club Dinner - Join us at our next book club dinner. Details will be in our ezine.
JANUARY 13 Mosaic’s Delicious Book Club Dinner - Join us at our next book club dinner. Details will be in our ezine.
FEBRUARY 27 - 28 NOVEMBER 11 Mosaic’s Delicious Book Club Dinner - Join us at Louisiana Purchase, 10320 - 111 Street, Edmonton at 6:00 p.m. on WEDNESDAY, November 11 to talk about Eyes of an Angel by Paul Elder (Hampton Roads, 2005). Email mosaicmagazine@shaw.ca if you can come. Want to keep informed about other upcoming book club dinners? Go to www.iLoveMosaicMagazine.com, sign up for our ezine/newsletter and you’ll get regular email updates about upcoming book choices and restaurants. Hope to see you there!
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Basic Shamanic Workshop from the Foundation for Shamanic Studies on February 27-28. Contact Myles at 780-222-7671 or myles.corbett@shaw.ca
WEEKLY DANCE PERCUSSION STUDIO at 7252 - 101 Avenue, Edmonton offers a DRUM CIRCLE facilitated by master drummer, Bill Mitchell, on Tuesdays: 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. (drop in $15, package: $12 per session). New members are welcome to our performance iLoveMosaicMagazine.com
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groups “Heart Rhythms Women’s Percussion Ensemble” which meets Saturdays: 4:30 - 6:30 p.m. and “Oneness” (a co-ed group) which meets Tuesdays, 8:30 - 9:45 p.m. after the drum circle. An AFRICAN DANCE class will be held one evening: 7:30 - 9:30 p.m. or Sundays p.m. Contact Srutika at dancepercussionstudio@gmail.com or 780-485-2515, 780-433-4752. HEART DANCE - Move to world music sequenced for fitness and self expansion and facilitated by Srutika Garfinkle and other graduates of Core Connexion Transformational Arts. All ages and levels of experience are welcome. Only prerequisite: love of dance! Sundays from September through May (except holidays): 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. (drop in $15, package: $12 per session) at Dance Percussion Studio, 7252 - 101 Avenue, Edmonton. Preregistration is required for evening groups, 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. If interested contact Srutika at dancepercussionstudio@gmail.com or 780-485-2515, 780-433-4752.
Calling All Artists
Have your artwork featured in Mosaic. Email mosaicmagazine@shaw.ca
MONTHLY CANADIAN SOCIETY OF QUESTERS - Monthly Chapter Meetings in Alberta and BC. Ancient arts of dowsing, divining, questing/seeking and PSI. www.questers.ca EDMONTON ASTROLOGICAL SOCIETY meets on the 2nd Friday of every month (except July and August) at 7:30 p.m. at 3880 - 74 Avenue. www.astrologyedmonton.com WOMEN’S DRUMMING & GODDESS CHANTING CIRCLE Every first Wednesday at 7:30 pm, Edmonton. Self-care circle for adult women. Debra: 780-483-7310.
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All images are © Oksana Zhelisko
Artist’s Gallery
Weaving myself into blank canvases by Oksana Zhelisko
I didn’t pay too much attention to his words at that time. Only in 2002, when I graduated from State College of Decorative & Applied Arts named after I. Trush (in L’viv, Ukraine) and I was faced with my first solo exhibition, did I realise the truth of his words. My art show was a good example of well executed techniques and nothing else. Looking back, I realise that I was in search of myself and of my own style. And I did find it, a few years later.
Idle Gossip
I remember one of my college professors telling me: “To know all the techniques in the world is not going to get you far. An artist has to learn to think so that his work speaks to people.”
My work began to centre itself on figurative art and not merely just figurative art, but sacred images of women. The images of women in my work can either be strong or weak, happy or sad, and often impudent and glorious, yet always desirable. In the last six years I have been weaving myself into blank canvases, to be reborn into the bodies of my women. The hearts of my women are like labyrinths and puzzles with pieces of my own soul that are trying to reach an audience. And if one can stop for a minute and find a little echo of themselves in my paintings - then I have succeeded. For me, the sole purpose of art is to evoke emotions either in its joy or sadness. If art cannot be emotionally provocative, then to me, it cannot be called art. With my paintings, I aim to bring a little more of the beauty of emotion to my audience. The beauty of my art allows the world to appreciate and comprehend its own subtle complexities.
November
The Lady of Lviv
For more on Oksana Zhelisko’s art, visit her website at www.zheliskoart.com
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Con Amore
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(Italian) With heart and soul
“There but by the grace of God, go I” It was tragically sad news. When I recently heard that someone I knew from high school had committed suicide, it stunned me. I’m from a small town and while you don’t know everyone well, you do know them a little. I couldn’t help but think of what he must have been going through inside. I thought about his family, his wife, his kids and the enormity of it all. Then I humbly thought: “There but by the grace of God, go I.” I had to look it up, but that phrase comes from John Bradford (in the 1500’s) who was imprisoned over something trivial, and after witnessing a group of prisoners being led to their execution, remarked: “There but for the grace of God, goes John Bradford.” For me, that saying means that by the grace of God, I’m still here; that by the grace of God I came through some of the hardest times of my life, not due to cleverness or careful planning, but instead due to grace. There have certainly been times in my life that were very difficult, when I wasn’t sure how it could ever possibly work out, but it always did. Thankfully, looking back on it all, my life has always had elements of grace. I had a friend once who told me that she had a theory about life. Either the first half of your life was good and then the last half was challenging, or vice-versa. I told her, if her theory was right, the last half of my life would be endless days of bliss and joy. ☺ Certainly the second half of my life has been so much better, with Marcel and Gabrielle as the sparkling highlights. But the thing that has changed my life the most has not been my deep desire to fix everything including myself (because that has always been there), it has been finally finding a WAY to do it - a way to heal my inner wounds and find peace inside. When I grew up I didn’t feel that the universe was so friendly and I felt I had to continually toughen up to cope with what life seemed to throw at me. So after each crisis, I just learned to build a stronger armor so I would be even more prepared for the next battle. But I never felt free. If there was a better way to live, I didn’t know it.
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I was 37 years old when I finally came across CranioSacral Therapy and I instantly saw that this was a powerful way for me to release old memories, demons, patterns and I spent the next few years taking every course I could on it. One of the things that I really liked about CranioSacral Therapy was that I didn’t need to know what was wrong with me to get results. I didn’t have to have it all figured out in my head. Just letting my body gently release its stored memories, traumas and tensions was enough. I could immediately see and feel my life changing from doing this. The more peaceful my body was, the more peaceful my mind was and … the more peaceful my life was becoming. Sky Toss © Irene Klar — www.ireneklar.com
by Connie Brisson
CranioSacral Therapy was just the beginning for me. Since then Mosaic Magazine has been my doorway into so many other wonderful therapies and healing moments. I’ve been in many sessions and workshops where I knew that the practitioner or facilitator had ‘saved my life.’ Not literally in that moment, but in a future moment.
When I get an awareness and clarity (that a certain thought, belief, memory is what was holding me back and attracting my crap), it ALWAYS feels like someone has given me my life back. It is life altering because we are creating from these unconscious places whether we realize it or not. When you get it that the arrows your life is poking you with are only there to show you what you need to heal (and not just randomly falling from the heavens) the universe changes from being a battlefield where you need to protect yourself, to a friendly and supportive friend. I’m so very thankful for all the therapies and methods we talk about in Mosaic, because these therapies do save people’s lives in big and small ways. When we have no hope, when we think things can never change, then we are lost. I’ve been there; we all have. But when we heal ourselves and our pasts, the future is full of hope. “There but by the grace of God, go I” also means that I didn’t know what I was looking for to help me on my journey - it just found me. And by God’s grace, or the universe’s compassion, what we need DOES find us. Have faith.
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