Blog Archives
Nature & the Nature of You
You might notice one of the themes that consistently shows up in my blog posts is that of Nature in one form or another. Whether that’s all the time I spend immersed in outdoor adventures daily, the garden journey I’ve been nurturing, cultivating the simpler ways and more Nature-based living all around, the animals I encounter and their messages, animal communication in general, or of course the journeys with my dearest companion and wisest guide, Astrid, who happens to reside in a rabbit’s body this life – Nature is at the heart of it all.
This theme has also included what I feel is one of the most vital missing pieces, which is that of embodying and knowing your own natural essence and nurturing a return to that basic nature that includes and does not negate or condemn the human body. I’ve spoken often about how increasing time not only spent in Nature, but getting to love and understand the miracle of your body’s awareness and how key it is to reclaim all of your parts (shadow projections, as well) will support becoming a more fully conscious, empowered and integrated human being, not to mention provide so many benefits to your well being all around.
It’s basically, and at the base level, about remembering the nature of who you are. 🌿
The farther we stray from natural awareness and being, the further we lose our humanity.
Nature has been sharing awareness with us for ages, but she speaks in a language only your heart will hear and your instincts will understand.
When your heart is closed or you weigh heavily in mind and thought alone, it will be difficult to ever hear.
Over-thinking can lead to fear and anxiety.
Trusting in your heart and instincts can lead you to harmonious alignment.
You can choose whatever direction you prefer to go in, but the question is, are you really choosing with conscious awareness?
I chose this photo, taken by KC when she was visiting, to go along with the theme of this post because it reflects the essence of what I’m expressing here with me so deeply immersed in Nature and being the nature of me that you almost can’t distinguish where each begins and ends.
This was taken the day I found my faery crown and wore it for the rest of the hike. It becomes part of the tree behind me and all of the branches seem to be reaching into and from my crown, while my foot nearly looks webbed and shifting beneath the water it merges with. I’m feeling right at home in this perfect little nymph haven of the lake and more at home than ever in my body, at this current space and time, by embracing all of the elements within.
But this didn’t happen overnight and the journey still continues. It came with consistent devotion to making that conscious shift. It came with an understanding that the best things I would ever learn, need, or receive would come from listening to and dedicating time for the elements that had long gone neglected. It came from tipping the scales to regain what I lost and spending the majority of my time in Nature, moving my body, being with my body and learning to navigate more by her instincts and what was being reflected to me in the environment – in essence, aligning with natural harmony.
It’s about reclaiming parts we’ve forgotten, letting the ancient knowledge within our DNA whisper louder, and not being afraid to stand our ground like the trees do, despite the weather and terrain – legs rooted to the navel of Earth’s wisdom while crown and hands open to our vast Cosmic origins.
This continues to be my journey, but it has made all the difference and I believe is what will continue to make a bigger difference in terms of the dynamics playing out.
It’s where I remain devoted both in personal integration and in shared relationship to Nature all around me.
And I’m grateful for my garden that is part of this journey of integrated embodiment and conscious awareness. It continues to evolve, much as I do and I am grateful for the growing relationship and understanding I get to nurture through that.
This includes the intimate knowing of every plant and flower and every creature great and small.
They are me and I am them.
Here are some looks at current garden reflections.
As you can see the wildflowers continue to bloom in radiant succession.
Depending on the angle and lighting it all takes on a whole new perspective and mini world, which I LOVE!
And then there’s the new field of beauties on the rise.
I’m in love with the little carpet of mini wildflowers on the side yard that I seeded this year.
Look at how they’re reaching happily for the Sun and by Autumn’s end will be quite something, with next year matching my garden. Yay!
This new area, I only just started to work with, has truly captured my heart.
Listening to and working with the wild that was already there and adding in some more magick in between is really beginning to explode with joy and become what I had hoped – a faery wonderland!
I love the blend of raw and imagined merging together.
Look at that glow, lighting up the flower faeries, as they share their joy and life essence. I love captures like these that reflect the experience I have when I’m out in the garden alone. There is so much enchantment here!
And I love the surprises that bloom everywhere in between.
I’ll save garden yummies and plant nanny updates for another post, but everything’s doing really well and Astrid continues to enjoy delicious harvests, while I enjoy adding to my dried collection of delicacies for the faery kitchen.
And here are a few of the forest friends I get to play with daily.
This chubby chipmunk is much larger than any other around here and he took it upon himself to make a delicacy out of my incredible hybrid lilies, taking down a couple of the stalks on his own to eat the petals. This was my huge plant that had grown over 56 inches – likely was at 58 when I removed the tops of the last stalks he bent, to enjoy the flowers he left behind, indoors. This hybrid kind is obviously not toxic, as he’s totally fine and I still see him around long after he’s eaten quite a few lily petals.
Dave actually came down to my office and we watched together as he climbed up the stalks like a tree and sat there enjoying his meal while other little ones were running and flying about.
He said, “wow, it’s like a nature show down here.” I said, “yes, everyday there’s something new happening and much to-do about everything.” The perfect mirror and world for Astrid and me.
The other joy has been seeing Strawberry around so much, nearly every day now. She looks really healthy, despite not having all of her fur anymore. Her face and eyes reflect so much wisdom when I see and talk to her and they speak to quite the being who resides inside. She is one of the elders here and I cherish her presence so much. It’s no surprise she found her way to me and inside Wonderland with Astrid and me when I took care of her.
I noticed that she had been trying to remove these towels we had under some things on the deck for protection from scratching it, tearing holes little by little in them, but making slow progress at removing any part of them.
I realized she wanted to have the towels for her nest – likely to stay warm at night and the upcoming Autumn and Winter seasons. So, I decided to put out a small little white towel where she was pulling at the others. The next morning it was gone. I recently put out two more small pink ones for her and she did in fact come back for one of them. I believe she’ll be returning for the other soon and that all makes me happy. I envision her cuddled up in them for a long Winter’s nap.
You may recall that I took care of her and got her cleaned up and nurtured when she needed it (after getting stuck in the epoxy in our garage) and now I’m helping to care for her again, out in the wild.
It was human-made things that damaged her fur in the first place and so it will be by human hands that help and a human heart that listens to her needs. In this way I feel we are sharing a conscious, symbiotic relationship now. We are connected for life.
I then also bring that beautiful, wild, and sacred Nature essence inside, surrounding myself with reminders of the cycles of life, the divine connection that is shared with all, the wisdom within everything, and the sacredness of all things and parts of who I am.
You may recall the nest mobile I started creating a few years ago. Well, it’s certainly grown!
I have many a bird, wasp, and bee hive nest (parts and wholes) adorning this tree of life indoors that I’ve created from all the beautiful little homes of amazing sacred geometry and architectural genius I found on the ground and brought home to cherish.
And most recently, we finally put up the powerful staff I made for the Autumn Equinox day retreat gathering a few years back that Laura and I hosted here, which includes some of the most potent Nature adornments I’ve found over the years.
It reminds me of one I used to have from many lives and Moons ago.
The birthing of this creation was quite the undertaking, as I strung everything together with great intention, piece-by-piece. My huge way of honoring the sacredness within all of life and reclaiming these wild, raw, primitive and ancient parts of my and Earth’s lineage.
It is quite the power piece and the way we hung it makes it easy to remove and replace when ever I want to use it in sacred ritual.
I’ve wanted to put it up, but we just never got around to it. Then, it naturally aligned for it going up on the potent New Moon in Cancer we had on the 9th of July.
I didn’t plan it, but it was perfect and it activated a lot of things once it was finally in place anchoring energies.
And I also bring Nature’s wisdom and gifts through channeled creations I’m inspired to make and sometimes offer over the years.
Most recently it was the Cosmic Curiosity Chests that called to me. As you might recall my sharing, they “invite you to engage parts of yourself more consciously and consistently, to explore, be curious about, or open a dialogue or connection with parts of yourself through the invitation of each spirit energy they embody. In this way they activate an initiation of sorts into a Cosmic dance for you to merge into your human experience so that the two become One. The magickal then is integrated into your daily life as a natural ritual, rather than being separate. This is one of those ways to live the magick.”
This also reminds you not to forget any of your parts, and so I included gifts from Mother Terra herself within each ritual bundle to reflect the nature of you.
It’s been an honor to see each of them off to their cocreators. More than half have journeyed to their heart homes and I look forward to seeing where the last 5 – Cosmic Woodland Faery, Earth Guardian, Blossom, Mermaid, and Dream Weaver – will fly off to.
You know I enjoy wrapping and shipping them off, just as much as I do creating them.
I have some upcoming new sacred Nature creations I’m going to be working on for our home in the coming weeks, too – something I’ve also long been wanting to create – and there’s potential I may open up to creating custom orders if they speak to you too.
It is so important to me that Nature is a daily part of the experience, as I truly believe that if we desire answers, we’ll receive them in conscious communion with Her as a mirror to know ourselves, and we’ll gain greater clarity for the pivotally crucial choices life is presenting to us right now.
Happy August to everyone! May this be a month for gentle transformations that bring even greater conscious awareness.
Here are some beautiful August fields from yesterday’s hike down to the lake.
Everything was so lovely and full of life – a perfect reflection for Lughnasadh celebrations.
Even the one remaining duckling from the mallard couple we see at the pond had grown, and we were happy this little one had made it.
I did bury a tiny bird I found along our hike and discovered some lizard skin in my planters that had been shed.
Nature demonstrates with grace, how life goes on and the wheels continue to turn.
My #1 Wellness Tip & Other Non-Negotiables for Well Being
We hear a lot about self care and well being these days being top priority, especially for those of you not used to providing yourself a healthy dose of it in your life. This includes sensitives, empaths, healers of any kind, out-pourers of energy, care-givers, anyone in service positions within any field, and simply any of you who self-sacrifice, overwork and overdrive yourself, don’t feel deserving, and don’t make the time for it.
When we are in a state of well being, we are more productive, have greater inspiration and motivation, create and connect from the heart, and are able to give more to others and anything we desire to assist.
However, if we don’t make wellness a priority, it simply won’t be our consistent experience and now more than ever that isn’t something I’m willing to compromise. How about you?
I found it helpful to create non-negotiables in my life that help me to pinpoint the really key and important things I feel are most valuable to me and make the most difference for me, and then make sure to focus on those. I find that much more supportive and productive, rather than deeming everything high priority and running myself ragged or discouraging myself into an all or nothing state of being that usually turns me off of doing anything because I think it’s impossible to do ALL of those things. You know that feeling I’m sure.
You can create non-negotiables in any area of your life to help you to know what is a focal must for yourself and what things aren’t really that crucial. In this way you can be more open to compromise or finding some kind of middle ground with the rest and come to see what things really make the difference for you – not every single little thing.
So, while I’m talking about things that are non-negotiable for your well being right now, you could make a list of these to help you with the relationships, friendships, business partnerships, job, home, goals, etc. that you want to draw into your life.
I personally saw the benefit in that when I started making my non-negotiable list for a relationship, which made me realize what really isn’t that important and let me focus my time and energy on what was. Having differences is healthy and creates space for evolution. Sameness on all levels can equate to stagnation and boredom. So knowing what is fundamental for you and what really doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things, is super eye-opening and life-changing. It also invites more exercise of your heart when you open to understanding other viewpoints, being more compassionate and unconditional, and not being attached to every little thing as if it’s life or death. You discover the true nectar of life that enriches and weaves a bond of connection that has longevity.
But back to wellness, as with things in the world right now, being at your optimal and knowing what boosts your energy levels, keeps your aura high-vibed, and strengthens your immune system are vital.
I shared this just under one minute video on Instagram a couple of weeks ago, but uploaded to my YouTube Channel to be able to link it in this post. It cuts off at the end, but you get the idea I think. It’s a little live action “me” snippet doing my chosen activity for the day for body, heart, mind, and soul vitality. I love how at 15 seconds, when I emphasize “essence to beam through,” the light beams across my face in an upside down arc or rainbow. Gotta love those energy alignments. 😉
Here’s My #1 Wellness Tip:
As you can see, this is me being me, doing my favorite thing for well being – hiking. Spring is here in the mountains and that means tons of forest bathing, vigorous exercise for this faery every single day. I love all outdoor activities all year round (hiking, biking, kayaking, snow shoeing, skiing), but hiking is my favorite.
Moving your body in nature is not only amazing on every level for you and incredible for your immune system, but it’s free! Soon the wildflowers will be blooming and their scent will add more amazingness to the pine air my lungs are breathing in.
Hiking or outdoor activity/exercise didn’t use to be a priority in the earlier part of my life, but I experienced first-hand the huge difference it made for me on all levels and came to understand how moving the body is so essential to our well being. When you couple that with doing it outdoors, then you amplify the effects. Energy wants to move and so if you’re someone who sits most of the day or doesn’t get a good blood-pumping into all parts of your body, with deep breathing, and maybe even a little sweat, then you likely may experience challenges on one or other areas of life. Stagnation, blocks, anger, resentment, stifled emotions, mental clarity, good sleep, digestion, etc. can all benefit from some kind of movement. Even a simple walk or doing stretches outdoors could make a big difference.
And remember that trees are hugely beneficial to you – pine trees especially, but all trees are magnificent supporters of wellness. So even just being out forest bathing for 20 minutes can produce positive changes in the body. Spending time among trees and breathing in their phytoncides helps improve the immune system.
Whatever you enjoy doing that either gets you outside and/or moving is super beneficial. Be it a walk, gardening, yoga, meditation, physical therapy, dancing, sitting at the park, painting, writing, enjoying a picnic or meals on your balcony or in your backyard, building something, breathwork, walking your animal companions, camping, more vigorous outdoor activities, you name it. The addition of physical movement, exercise or therapy of some sort aids things like heart health and lowering blood pressure, muscle strength and balance, increase life span, improve brain function, mental clarity, and sleep, weight management, helps with joint stiffness/pain, and reduces feelings of depression, anxiety, and stored up emotions in general.
Everyone is different and will resonate with different amounts of exercise, types of exercise, activities, etc., but for me daily outdoor exercise is a non-negotiable.
I also learned that particularly for me I need much more of this than perhaps others do because of the astrological make-up I was born with that needs a supercharged outlet for physical activity, movement, and expression in a certain way or else I’ll see the effects manifest as a result of repressing that energy. I didn’t even have to know my astrological chart to figure this out because I felt the difference when doing or not doing it, but the chart made sense of it and highlights it’s part of my make-up. You might know this for yourself, too, or you could take a quick look at your own astrological map for life.
I also know that I put out a lot of energy into all that I do or send into the world – some of you are likely nodding to that as well in resonance for yourself – so I need that supercharge that nature immersion and physical activity provides me to replenish, refresh, revitalize, and realign myself – overall helping me to reflect my truest and strongest radiance or soul emanation.
This is why I do a lot of outdoor things to include the exercise activities, but also gardening, yard work, sun bathing, or simply enjoying the beach, a picnic, or sitting on our deck reading.
So what are some of my other non-negotiables for well being?
You already know my #1 and here are the rest of them in no particular order:
- Spending time with my husband and lots of time physically and emotionally connecting with Astrid, my rabbit soul companion, and the kitty babies, Sweet Pea & Boojum
- “Me” time
- Eating nourishing, creative, and fun vegan meals and drinks (no alcohol, drugs, or mind-altering substances of any kind)
- Daily intermittent fasting – I’ve been doing this now for nearly a year and a half and intend to continue indefinitely
- Getting at least 8 hours of sleep a night
- Listening to, trusting, and backing up my intuition
- Dealing with emotions when they come up
- “Whatever time” to do something I find fun on any level, luxuriating, or simply relaxing
- Creating peace in any situation and keeping an open heart and mind
- Practicing daily gratitude
- Doing what I love, but also seeing the gift in what ever I do
These are MY non-negotiables, but aren’t necessarily what you might deem a priority for well being. I have found these to be key to feeling balanced and maintaining my energy and vitality, as well as keeping my well full for giving.
Would you like to reclaim and reflect your soul radiance?
If so, then what can you commit to as non-negotiables for your well being that make the biggest difference for how you feel and show up in life?
Once you’ve identified what they are, then make it a priority to be accountable for them. No one else is going to do that for you. Work one step each day toward believing you are worth it and then start implementing a routine that can become your new norm for wellness. Your body and soul will thank you.
Spring is in the Air ~ Refresh, Updates & Celebrations
Although it was a busy week, I seized some time in nature as a way to both celebrate being home and to balance out my days.
Alongside some gorgeous weather, we also received a fun welcome back snow of a few new inches that added an extension to our Winter fun we enjoyed on our trip, and made up for missing out on the snow that came while we were gone.
The three days of hikes above the lake, lakeside, and in our backyard forest creek area were perfect ways to support and tune into the energies.
You can definitely feel and see Spring in the air and a refreshing new wave of energy sweeping through.
To further amplify the new Spring energy, I got myself a refresh hair cut on the 11th, on the 12th I celebrated the 20 year anniversary of my legal name change to Tania Marie (when I made my middle name my last), welcomed in the Pisces New Moon on the 13th, and then immersed with the beautiful group we had for our online Intuition & Reiki class yesterday, on the 14th, when Daylight Savings Time began.
After class, I received a text from our friend that joined us skiing over my birthday. You might recall that I helped her with her skiing, which was a huge evolution for us both. Well, she texted me some photos of her skiing this weekend with that beaming face and smile of hers, along with hands up in celebration!
Her text read, “I came to Mammoth skiing with my friends and I went down the blue run! It was all thanks to your ski lessons that I was able to join them. Thank you again!” And concluded, “Thank you for opening up the opportunity for my enjoyment.”
AWWWWWW! So, so happy for, and proud of, her. What a perfect New Moon kick off!
And to top off celebrations, at onset of yesterday’s class we took a moment to cheer each other on with the life changes taking place for several, and honored some fellow soul family that have been part of classes in 2020, but were not present yesterday. We acknowledged the incredible upgrades and leaps they are making since going through their full round of Reiki classes – one who is embarking on opening her own hair and wellness salon where she’ll offer Reiki, and another already teaching HER first Reiki class in just nine days beginning with Reiki Level 3 instead of 1! We even had a birthday girl amongst us, whose birthday is today – a very dear soul to us all whom I’m sending out extra beams of love to with this blog. The nature photos here are for you sweet MMM because I know how much you love them! 🙂
My heart was overflowing! I love these beautiful souls so much!
It’s an incredible gift to be able to witness the powerful souls in human bodies that I am lucky enough to support and co-create with, and yesterday’s class was no exception. We are blessed to have the souls that we do on Earth at this time. It fuels much continued hope for me.
I’m feeling much gratitude for a beautiful class. Every joining of souls in these kinds of way is indeed an activation on larger levels.
Thank YOU!
To add to refreshing energies and blossoming beginnings, things are still transitioning with my focuses, work load, and personal space. It’s Spring cleaning time, after all, right?!
So, yes there’s a bit of cleaning, reorganizing, and realigning going on with my office, bedroom closet, and garage shelves, as well as completing all current projects, sessions, and classes so that I will be clear for the next wave of focuses anchoring in.
These are some March reminders to take into account, as I ready for those changes:
Last call for March sessions – I won’t be offering Intuitive Energy Guide Sessions or Reiki Healing Attunements after March. I’ll be taking a break with these to have more time to infuse elsewhere.
Custom Sacred Tattoo and Intentional Art Designs, of course, have already been put on hold – I’m still finishing my last three projects, but then taking a break with these as well.
I did temporarily reopen The Magick Rabbit Etsy Shop, when I returned, for the upcoming Spring and Easter season, but there are no new items currently in it.
I’ll be teaching the last new class of 2021 on March 28th – in just two weeks! There’s 3 spots left if anyone still is interested in joining: Crystal Healing & Reiki ~ Deepening through Integrative Healing Sessions
And last, March 20th – just five days away – is the last day to get applications in for the Mentor Muse 1:1 Immersives. I’m finalizing current ones and scheduling free phone consults so we can align the perfect fit for three people I’ll be working with over the next five months. So, far one spot is full, with two remaining, as I continue processing. I made a personal video thank you on social media to everyone who has been interested. I wanted to share it here, but was unable, so I am extending my personal gratitude to those of you who you who have felt called to step into this new space and who have chosen me to walk this path with you. It’s a huge honor I don’t take lightly and which is why I’m also taking this through layers of initiation so that everything is aligned.
Wishing you all a beautiful start to the week, as we ready for Spring Equinox!
Ask Astrid Fridays ~ The Rabbit’s Corner: Nurturing Well-Rounded Experiences
The ever-wise Astrid joins us today for a share about wellness derived from a balance of varied experiences we invite into the dance of life with us. It’s also about how living from the source of love in your heart, opens doorways to accessing your multi-dimensionality. The result – greater feelings of wholeness and well-being.
It feels like we’re constantly receiving the same theme messages over and over, but the truth is there aren’t any really new messages or ideas – there’s simply different perspectives they come through or evoke and different, perhaps more aligned timing they speak to us.
Because of these, the present landscape feels seeded with greater potential for openings, as a vast majority of the collective continues to slow down and is faced with more contrasting experiences.
Briefly, I’m happy to report that Astrid continues doing extremely well, her toe injury from losing her full nail has been non-existent since we arrived to our location of the last nearly three weeks, and she increasingly exhibits a deepening of joyful exuberance and loving connection that have added both comic relief and socialization sweetness.
While being displaced from her normal routines and realm on this trip, as well as having more confined spaces at times, could very well have made Astrid retreat into herself, permanently revert to triggered patterns from her past, or even worse – weighed on her physical well-being – quite the opposite has taken place. I’ve already written about how she’s been opening up even more and working through core fears, but today we thought to share some sweet photos and fun little stories to accompany her transformation because after all, a picture speaks a thousand words.
The reason she feels it important to share this, is because rabbits can be an extreme example for the same things we go through because of their sensitivities.
Rather than pull back, feel depressed, or become ill, Astrid has welcomed more layers of living to be part of her experience no matter the circumstances. She exercises, plays, has conscious introspection time, rests, eats and hydrates regularly, communicates, and engages connection by choice. All of which help her to maintain wellness and support an increased level of personal evolution for her soul in rabbit body.
She’s especially become fond of yoga, stretching, and meditation time with dad during the wee hours of the morning or in the evenings by the fire while watching a movie.
When ever dad gets the yoga mat out, Astrid makes a beeline to him and plops herself down right next to him, runs around or lays on the mat on her own, stretches, or engages Boojum to invite him to play on the mat with her.
In the mornings she sits quietly with dad during meditation or gives and invites loving connection to show that she’s creating space for this healing practice and supporting him with something she enjoys too.
This is all especially endearing to see, as she used to only engage with me and now she’s truly opened to the whole family.
Then there’s super Astrid exercise time to express her exuberant joy of life and being in body. This consists of her leaping, twisting, and hopping in place (called binkies), or racing around like a flash of lightning until she’s fully released the wave of energy spontaneously moving through her. One morning she demonstrated her amazing strength and agility running laps in and out of tight corners, then raced from one end of the room and did a flying leap over the 1 1/2 foot high, 3 foot long ottoman, ending with zooming right under our female cat’s body between her back and front legs, as she was mid-walking. She had me in stitches!
And of course the multitude of ways she shows her desire to connect, communicate, engage, and love from a vulnerable space that include anything from jumping on the bed with a good morning nudge to laying next to us while we are working, relaxing, napping, or reading, or running over and nosing us with desire for snuggles and kisses.
She also engages the cats by sometimes touching noses with Boojum, or hopping at them and stopping a few inches in front of them, then hopping or circling away in hopes they’ll follow her lead. Sweet Pea and Astrid are often found a couple of feet away under a bed or table sharing space silently. The females seem to engage on an intellectual level and when Boojum’s introduced it, it’s usually only about fun. 😉
There’s times she chews her wood, pine cone and cardboard, times she takes down her cardboard house and moves it elsewhere, jumps into or onto things, sits on a chair demonstrating her bigness, times she lays with and licks her amethyst or stuffed friends, times she sits tall and still like a Buddha bunny, and times for the new hard flop into a tranced-out deep sleep. The hard flopping is different for her, but oh so good to see. When a bunny flops on her/his side it’s a sign of complete and utter vulnerable comfort and trusting surrender to feeling safe and loved. It took her a while to do this from when I first took her home and then she only softly would, but now there’s the full-on free-fall flop.
The more she engages on a variety of levels, the more possible avenues of joy she creates and the more she derives comfort in all the parts of herself and what being in body has gifted her opportunity to experience in this life. And the more she nurtures a more well-rounded approach, the greater her well-being.
I’ve found the same true for myself and people I know through friendships or work – the more we open to the variety of ways our souls have ability to express themselves because of being human, the more we create wellness by providing open channels for energy to do what it wants most to do – flow through. And even if we have a restriction in one way, as limitlessly creative beings we can find other ways to channel energy.
For instance, Astrid can’t speak like we do, but she has found many ways to express how she feels through other kinds of sounds like grunts, thumps, teeth chattering (their way of purring), or through bodily movements like giving a quick shake to her head and ears with excitement, leaping in the air, racing around with joy, nosing you to ask for something or exchange a love message, following you and laying close to share connection, sharing a rare lick to demonstrate affection, tugging at your pant leg or sock to get your attention, or jumping on the bed to welcome the morning.
But as we know, balancing our lives remains an important aspect to wellness. If we are too out-weighed in one thing of any kind, we can create underlying blocks that express as feelings of resentment, anger, blame, sadness, frustration, boredom, etc. without realizing that we are limiting our experience of life by limiting how we choose to focus all of our energy. This can also start to create tightness in our bodies or other kinds of physical discomforts or challenges simply as a reminder to move our energy in a variety of ways. And movement doesn’t just speak to physical movement, but also creating outlets to channel the different parts of ourselves and energies so they don’t become stagnant.
Astrid could easily create literal “blocks” or blockages in her sensitive digestive system if she doesn’t keep moving energy and sampling the possibilities that opening her heart to more can provide.
Rabbits demonstrate the natural energetic flow that is so vital in the way that they must always have their systems moving in order to thrive, or how they need to move in order to help push through blocks.
If she lets fear, for instance, take over energetically….she can literally become debilitated. If she doesn’t eat or exercise properly…she can experience physical shut down.
So, she’s chosen to surrender to life no matter her circumstances, and with my loving support and encouragement, continues to experience a wider range of possibilities that more authentically reflect her multi-dimensionality.
Our hearts are incredible portals to amazing things. They are the source of more than we have yet to understand and by living from these amazing portals they provide us access to a myriad of experiences that would otherwise be limited.
Astrid’s multi-dimensional experiences used to be only limited to her inner world where she traveled both as a means of escaping the pain of her circumstances before her and the only option she had given those confined circumstances.
But once love found a way to open her heart through our connection, she realized that she no longer had to protect it nor keep her parts separate…she could channel and integrate her ethereal experiences through the enjoyment of actually being in a body now also capable of sensual enjoyments only the physical can provide. And whether that be opening to the feelings she didn’t think were possible to experience, engaging in ways she was afraid to trust before, or allowing herself to surrender into the body she always preferred hovering outside of more than being in it, she discovered that multi-dimensionality meant being able to have well-rounded experiences on every plane of existence.
I’m convinced that Astrid wouldn’t have made it much longer if we hadn’t met. As strong as she was, eventually the separate life she lived, in not being able to express her soul fully through her body, would have created a full detachment at some point. She was a butterfly living inside a glass container. Now she’s able to stretch those wings and access more layers of experience.
And this is what she wants to express to each of us.
We all have potentials of expressions beyond however we feel limited in the moment. By the nature of our being multi-dimensional, we have a multitude of ways to bring through our energy and the more we surrender to possibilities, the more possibilities we create. The more we open our hearts, the more the doorways of multi-dimensionality find an access point to weave through greater experiences of fulfillment.
Astrid, as a rabbit, may have needed someone to hold that space for her, but we as humans have greater possibilities that can come through other (any encounter, partnership, companion, friend, family member, loved one, teacher, or mentor) in the same way, or through ourselves holding that space for our inner child and essence.
But like Astrid, the more ways you move energy through you by opening to and engaging a variety of experiences, the greater balance and well being you will create because this mirrors your multi-dimensional essence, which is part of what we’re activating more of collectively. The smaller we play and the more limited place we play from, the more we separate rather than unite who we really are.
We each have layers to who we are. And these layers brought forth invite more to the table, individually and collectively.
Like Astrid is the loving, the playful, the wise, and the amazing – so too are you the loving, the playful, the wise, and the amazing you.
The Springs Los Angeles: Health, Wellness, Sustainability & Community Under One Urban Oasis Roof
It’s so awesome to continue seeing more and more conscious, multi-faceted places popping up and this one in Los Angeles is really cool. It’s called The Springs and it’s located in the Downtown Los Angeles Arts District.
The Springs is run by co-founders Kimberly Helms and Jared Stein, both from New York, who were set on creating the dream idea Jared had. They moved to LA two and a half years ago and within the first two years they raised the $1.3 million they needed and now are a huge hit making a profit after only their first 6 months in business.
Who said dreams can’t come true?
The Springs serves 100% organic raw vegan food in their restaurant and wine bar. They also have an organic juice bar, yoga studio, and wellness center that includes such services as gravity colon hydrotherapy, infrared sauna, massage, cranio-sacral, Reiki, acupuncture, nutritional and lifestyle consultations, and more! They also host live music, parties, and sound bath healings.
They aim to create “a hub for health-conscious consumers, wellness-seekers, and foodies, as an eco-vegan-mind-body-one-stop-shop.”
Health, wellness, sustainability, and community all under one urban oasis roof!
So excited to check this place out soon, now that I just learned about it.
For more about this awesome place please visit: The Springs
You can also read this article by Brooks Barnes, reporter in the Los Angeles bureau of The New York Times: A Place in Los Angeles for Vegans and Their Non-Vegan Friends
Tania Marie 