Category: Uncategorized

For my birthday, I made a cake that was way too delicious. It was almost like an angel food cake, with raspberry jam and fresh raspberries between the layers, then frosted with whipped cream that had pulverized dehydrated raspberries in it. Yum.

If that cake sat around my house, I’d be wearing it on my hips before the week was out.

I took it to a neighbor’s house. Her hips could worry about it.

Saturday, I realized that she still had my plate. I sent her a text and set off to meet her midway.

“How are you,” I asked. She shrugged. “What’s up?” I genuinely wanted to know. She is one of the friendliest and kindest people I know. Before we met I needed someone to French braid my granddaughter’s hair because I don’t know how. She was dancing in the Nutcracker in a couple of hours, and I was in a panic. I pleaded in our neighborhood’s Facebook group and this woman came to my rescue.

“Life,” she said morosely.

“Want to come over?” I asked.

She burst into tears and nodded.

I offered her something to drink as I rummaged in the refrigerator. I found two grapefruit White Claw drinks. Where the hell did those come from? I don’t drink White Claw. I’ve certainly never bought hard seltzer. And two of them? I thanked my angels as I poured the drinks into glasses. Angels are the only explanation I can come up with.

We talked for a couple of hours. Her life was feeling chaotic and overwhelming. I hope I did more listening than talking. I think I did.

She finally stood up to leave. “Maybe this is why I kept forgetting to bring your plate back,” she said.

Or maybe it’s why I followed my intuition and took the cake to her in the first place. It would have been easier to take it next door rather than two blocks over. Or why I got the notion to ask to get my plate when I did.

Follow your intuition. You never know where it might lead you.

Betty

Our dog, Betty, is a social butterfly. She goes to doggy daycare twice a week to play Bite Your Face, Can’t Catch Me, and other canine games. When I picked her up Thursday, the owner of the place asked me what I do. Uh-oh. Would she think I was a kook?

Instead, she thought I was joking. Maybe because I don’t dress like the gypsy stereotype.

“But, like, how do you do it?” she asked, holding out her hand for me to read her palm.

“Dogs sense energy, right?” I said. “They know how everyone’s feeling. They even know what’s coming up next.”

She agreed. “They even know when they’re going to be picked up before you pull into the driveway,” she said.

I’ve had dogs who knew the sound of my car. Betty? She barks like an intruder is on his way in every time I drive into the garage. I’ve heard that dogs know when it’s time for you to return from work, that they measure the amount of your scent is in the air. As it diminishes, they know it’s time for you to arrive home and give them a treat.

We can’t exactly ask our dogs how they know these things. And we can’t get into their Cocoa Puff-sized brains to find out, but my theory is they use all their senses in a way that is similar to what I do when I’m working with someone.

I might hear music or suddenly remember a line of a song. I sometimes taste food or a drink. I can smell perfumes or nature or hot asphalt. I might see a scene or a color. I feel pain in my body as if it’s happening to me, sometimes quite violent things like a gun shot or a heart attack.

I put words to what I’m experiencing and that starts a conversation. While I’m talking, I’m also clearing the energy.

According to Deepak Chopra, “In its essential state, our bodies are composed of energy and information, not solid matter. This energy and information is an outcropping of infinite fields of energy and information spanning the universe.” As I sense energy, I remember that behind all form is energy. Clear the negative energy or the energy that doesn’t belong and the healing begins.

Everyone senses energy differently. Some people can see energy patterns, some people see colors. Some people get a deep knowing or sense of things, and some people just use their imagination. There is no right or wrong way to sense energy. And there is no right or wrong way for angels, spirit guides, and dead people to send me signs and symbols. I try to remain open so I can receive the messages however they’re sent. Just like dogs do.

Even if you think you are not able to sense energy, you are in your own unique way. It will develop through time if you remain open, trust yourself, and stick with it. Just as catching a frisbee in mid-air with your teeth takes practice, so does reading and decoding energetic messages.

“They’re gone!” a client of mine exclaimed about some hemorrhagic complex follicular cysts. “The ultrasound showed no trace of them!”

A few months ago, we had been working together and I felt a sharp pain around her ovaries. I asked her what was going on. Did she experience pain when she ovulated? She said no, she didn’t.

I am not a doctor. I am not even a medical intuitive. But when I pick up on physical anomaly like this, I recommend the client see their doctor. It might be uncomfortable to explain why you’re there (“Um, a woman who does energy work thinks it’s a good idea…”), but it’s better than leaving something undetected until it’s too late.

The ultrasound was performed and the cysts on her ovaries were discovered. The doctor put her on birth control to try to control their growth. It didn’t help. More grew.

Meanwhile, she allowed me to clear her family’s energetic patterns.

Her family has a long history of sexual trauma. And although she herself had not suffered abuse, the damage was passed on to her energetically.  Just as we have an individual soul-purpose, story arc, and karma, so do our families*. Behaviors, patterns, strengths, and weaknesses are inherited along with eye colors, shoe sizes, and the ability (or inability) to roll your tongue.

Physical repetitive stress injuries, such as carpal tunnel syndrome, are injuries to muscles, nerves, and tendons caused by performing the same motion over and over. We experience similar effects when we (or our families) repeatedly engage in the same emotional or energetic behaviors such as addiction, suicide, chronic unemployment, or, in this case, sexual abuse.

By clearing this pattern from our energy, we can clear the negative physical effects we experience because of it.

Which is just what we did. I cleared her energy and led her through a series of guided healing meditations. The combination of energy work and visualization resulted in what modern medicine might call a miracle.

Simply put, we are energy. When we harness the power within us with intention, we can heal and create a new reality for ourselves, our offspring, and generations to come.


*To start exploring your own family’s emotional patterns, you may want to explore genograms (which is what these patterns are called) online or by finding a book at your local library or Amazon

I was watching TV a few nights ago when I was suddenly seized by fierce feelings of love. My son and his wife are going to have a baby this week (so exciting!) My daughter is going to get married in a few weeks (about time, Nora!). My husband does so much for our family. I don’t know where we’d be without him. My life is filled with friends and clients who I truly cherish. But these things have been true for months now. Why was I suddenly crying on the couch? Venus just entered Cancer, that’s why. Are you feeling soft-hearted and lovey, too? When Venus is in Cancer, staying home and snuggling is more appealing than a spicy tryst. Digging out your grandma’s china and serving cake and tea to good friends beats a night on the town. Cancer is about caring for our loved ones and getting all gooey-sentimental. So, if you’re motivated to handcraft the perfect little gift for no particular reason, or to dig out old love letters (I have a box of them for just such occasions), or wear an heirloom piece of jewelry, you now know why. Here’s how each sign can expect to be affected from now until June 5th: Aries: Dig into your family’s past secrets. Commune with your ancestors. Ask them for signs or an answer to a problem. Maybe make an altar to honor them. Taurus: You’ll be feeling tender toward almost everyone: family, friends, neighbors, even the person standing in front of you in line. Risk being vulnerable and share with them your kind thoughts. Gemini: Network! You’re a money magnet during this phase and your ability to connect with people boosts this power. Also, get out your photo albums, antique treasures and mementos and pore over them. Cancer: Lean into what makes you unique. This will attract people to you in the best way. Nourish yourself and you’ll find you are irresistible. Use self-care to amplify the Law of Attraction. Leo: Take care of you. Get a massage or spa treatment. Sleep and take time to dream. Heed the voice that calls you inward. Cherish your relationship with yourself. Virgo: People will be showing you how much you mean to them. Let them. Receive this gift with open arms. Say yes to all the tenderness coming your way. Libra: People are going to be receptive to you, so make that pitch or presentation. Express those ideas you’ve had. Step into the spotlight with confidence knowing you have an adoring audience. Focus on your career or calling. Scorpio: Cultivate relationships outside your comfort zone. Make friends wherever you may be. Open your heart and let others in. Sagittarius: This is a time for partnerships and collaborations. But Sagittarius, a word of caution: don’t let past resentments creep in and ruin them. Do a releasing ritual. Set boundaries if you need to. Capricorn: Ah, romance! Snuggle. Plan a romantic dinner. Send a love note. See if you can get more comfortable with intimacy and being vulnerable. Aquarius: Show up for those who’ve always shown up for you. Nurture your support systems. Look at your rituals. Are they working? Or do they need reworking? Maybe it’s time to find a new healer or coach to work with. Pisces: What activities make you happy? Do more of them. Jump into the puddle of pleasure and slash around with your inner child. Make sure that inner child feels safe and loved.

You know how sometimes you feel stuck? You can’t seem to get to your to-do list, let alone cross something off it. Or you know it’s time to look for a new job, but it seems overwhelming? Maybe your significant other is feeling more like an albatross than a lovebird, but finding someone new seems like more trouble than it might be worth? It’s time for an energetic spring cleaning! Just like our houses need airing out periodically, so does our energy field. Clearing out the emotional baggage, winter blahs, and energy you’ve picked up from others, will help you to vibrate at a higher frequency. This in turn attracts good things to you. Here are some ideas based on the elements of fire, air, water, and earth. Fire: Light incense, palo santo, or white sage (visit your local metaphysical store). Swirl the smoke around your body. Visualize negative energy floating off with the smoke. Air: Stand outside in light clothing. Plant your feet firmly on the earth. Close your eyes and raise them to the sun. Feel the sun and the breeze on your skin, burning and blowing off any energy that doesn’t serve your highest good. Water: Mix a half cup brown sugar and a half cup white sugar with a half cup of coconut oil in a food processor. If you don’t have a food processor, use a different oil, such as sunflower or sweet almond oil. Add essential oils if you have some on hand. Grapefruit and mint are an especially nice combination for spring. As you shower, use the scrub. As you rinse it off, watch the sugar and water go down the drain taking that baggage with it. You’ll feel like you had a spa treatment. Careful not to slip when you’re done. Earth: Take a yoga mat or blanket outside and lie on it for ten minutes while listening to the sounds of nature. If you have pine trees, lie near them. Breathing under pines reduces inflammation and stress. Let your mind and body relax. Feel the earth pulling you firmly to it. Let it absorb negative thoughts, emotions, and memories. You might also want to book a session with a professional. I can help you unkink your energy so that it flows freely and leaves you feeling refreshed and ready to do what needs to be done.

Having trouble with your electronics? Travel plans falling through? Communication hijinks beyond your control? Mercury has stationed retrograde again.

If it feels like Mercury is retrograde half the time, you’re not far off. With the pre- and post-shadows added to the three or four times a year Mercury isn’t direct (the opposite of retrograde. For more on what that means, click here), it adds up to close to six months. Which turns out to be half of our lives.

And, to add to the fun, this retrograde could feel even more chaotic than usual. On April 21^st, when this phase started, Mercury was right next to Uranus, the planet of surprises and disruptions. It’s also happening during eclipse season, which tends to shake things up.

So, expect the usual shenanigans, but look to how you can use this retrograde energy as well. While Mercury appears to be going back over ground it’s covered, so should we.

• Pick up an old to-do list and finish anything that’s not crossed off.
• Revisit a dream or goal you left by the wayside.
• Question anything that’s not working in your life. What needs to change?
• Look at the limiting beliefs you hold. Break through patterns that are keeping you stuck.
• Do some shadow work such as asking what parts of yourself do you not like or keep hidden? And how can you integrate them?

Mercury will continue its retrograde path until May 14^th. Its shadow will influence us for another week or so after it stations direct. Until then, slow down. Allow extra travel time, reread your email and texts before hitting send, and watch for technical glitches.

But, most importantly, remember that this can be a period of reflection and course correction.

Let’s say you have a class reunion to go to…

Ok, let’s say I have a class reunion to go to. How do I want to look and feel going into that roomful of former classmates? Do I want to turn heads in the best possible way? You bet I do. Can I use that to motivate me to lose weight? Probably not. Sure, I can be vain. Yes, I’d like to cruise into that room with a body that’s at least reminiscent of my teenage self. But I’ve been to three high school class reunions already and my weight never budged knowing I’d be seeing old friends.

What provides us with motivation to accomplish something is deeply personal. Virtuous reasoning rarely works. That is, for example, looking at a BMI chart and seeing where some experts say we should be.

I recently lost about 35 pounds. My motivator was pain. Sitting on the couch crying because the bursitis was unbearable was a powerful inspiration. I didn’t change the way I ate to lose weight as much as I did to see if I could eliminate the constant agony. And what do you know—I lost weight in the process.

What’s a goal you have? What would you like to accomplish? Invent something better than sliced bread (or better than cold canned beer, as a friend of mine used to say)? Create the next Mona Lisa or be the next Banksy? Lose 20 pounds? Make a pile of money? Run a marathon?

The first step is to identify that goal. The second is to ask yourself why. For fame? Influence or power? Vanity? Legacy? Health? This is where you’ll need to be brutally honest. Dig deep.

Is it okay to do something out of vanity or a desire for influence or power? You betcha. Your emotions are your emotions, and they are what will spur you on to the finish line. You don’t have to reveal your motivation to anyone but yourself. It’s your unique secret superpower.

We all have our quirks. We may as well put them to use.

If feeling vain or whatever makes you uncomfortable, you can add some altruistic motivation. Who else benefits from your goal? My being pain-free (and losing weight) will allow me to run around with my grandchildren. Being the next Leonardo can put you in the spotlight and allow you to talk about causes that are important to you. Making a pile of money can allow you to be a philanthropist.

Once you find your real motivation, don’t just think about it. Write it down. Put it somewhere you can see it. Review it periodically to make sure your reasoning resonates. If it no longer does, rethink it. Reinvent it.

Then reinvent yourself into everything you ever dreamed of.

If there were an expiration date stamped on the bottom of your right foot, would you look? Would you want to know when you’re going to die?

It doesn’t take a psychic to predict that no one reading this is going to live forever. At some point, your life is going to come to an end.

For some, it comes too soon. Others live to be one hundred or even older. We never know which we’re going to be.

Do you prioritize, plan, and make the most of your time? Or do you live as if you didn’t have an expiration date?

The truth is, we’re wired to not think about our end (if you’d like to explore this further, check out The Worm at the Core by Tom Pyszczynski, Jeff Greenberg, and Sheldon Solomon. They call this terror management theory). Our internal systems have been built with self-preservation in mind and the thought that we don’t make it out of this alive terrifies us.

But instead of being terrified by death, what if we embrace it?

Was there a time you should have died?

For me, yes, at least one. There was the time I was in the passenger seat of a car driving on icy and snowy roads in Minnesota. I fell asleep and woke up to find myself inches away from a metal post on the median. The car had slid off the highway and spun around a few times. I had been about twelve inches away from death.

Incidents like this gave my life more purpose and urgency. I don’t like to postpone anything. I jump into things with both feet.

The next time I’m floating above my body, I don’t want to feel I’ve left anything undone. I want no regrets. No might-have-beens.

What are you putting off, waiting for all the stars to align? Learning to speak Italian? Going to Italy until you’ve learned Italian? Love? Grad School? Buying sexy lingerie? Opening that $200 bottle of wine in your basement?

All those fun things can peacefully coexist with life’s responsibilities. Don’t wait for Death to pencil you in on his calendar because at that point it’ll be too late.

Life is time-bound. Experience life now while you have the chance.

I love going to the Kohler Waters Spa. The Stillness Bath is pure tranquility. I don’t worry about what time it is. I don’t worry at all. I go there as often as I can afford to, which is not as often as I would like.

When was the last time you were so absorbed in an activity that you lost track of time, maybe lost track of where you were, or even entered a different reality?

This can happen when we’re engaged in an extremely pleasurable activity, doing something we love, or having fun. It could be working on a project or hobby you enjoy, or giving yourself an indulgent treat because you soldiered through your colonoscopy or mammogram.

However it happens, it can be extremely beneficial. We are taken out of ourselves. We stop judging ourselves harshly. It takes us off the path that leads to tension and burnout. Instead, we’re rerouted to a path of rejuvenation where we have the strength to take on whatever our next big challenge might be.

We all need healthy, temporary escapes from time to time.

The key here is that they should be both healthy and temporary. We all feel better when we laugh at a few jokes. We can also feel better if we have a drink or two or binge on chocolate. But they’re all forms of escape. Spending time with family, friends, or in nature will enrich our lives. Drinking and overeating can result in feelings of emptiness and regret (not to mention nausea). My spa habit would threaten our mortgage if I indulged as often as I’d like.

What’s important is our motivation. Why are we looking to transcend the real world? Yes, we’re looking to foster positive emotions, but why?

When you examine your motivation for escaping, ask

1. Is my escape contributing to my long-term well-being?
2. Am I running toward something? Or am I running from something?

Things we might run toward include enrichment or self-development. Things we might run away from are negative thoughts, worries, and daily stressors.

In the end, we want to feel expansive rather than suppressive. 

As a wise man (named Ice Cube) once said, “Check yourself, before you wreck yourself.”