The Holistic Hippie

09/09/2021

Keeping our Humanity at the Forefront
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I recently had an interesting experience in a conversation with someone about our global situation. We are on opposite sides of the spectrum in regards to our opinions about what is going on, and yet the foundation of our conversation was mutual respect & compassion. We walked away from that conversation knowing neither of us had 'converted' the other, but we both made some awesome points and recognized the conundrum we find ourselves in collectively.
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To lead with love in this day & age is to keep the compassion of the human heart at the forefront of each & every conversation and interaction. To grant every individual with respect for their personal sovereignty and to keep Ego out of it. This experience has made me feel so hopeful and I hope it inspires you, too. In a world where there is so much bad news, this feels like good news to me!
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✌

15/07/2021

A REALLY RAW RETREAT
NOURISH YOUR MIND, BODY, AND SPIRIT
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Escape to the stunning countryside in Northumberland County, ON, and enjoy 20 acres of serene views, walking trails, a small pond, freshwater streams, and a saltwater pool for those brave enough to take a fall dip. Unplug from the outside world so that you can tune in to your own inner landscape. This retreat is designed to nourish you in mind, body, and spirit and everywhere in between. From the raw, organic, plant-based food menu, to the nutritional movement of yoga, and the healing power of inner silence & meditation, this retreat will leave you feeling refreshed, relaxed, & rejuvenated.

YOUR RETREAT, YOUR WAY!
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This retreat is all about self-care and healing from the inside out. Taking care of ourselves is truly a full-time job, so take the weekend off and allow us to nourish you! In addition to the serene landscapes, enjoy twice daily yoga classes, daily workshops, and a raw, organic, plant-based menu curated towards healing at a cellular level. Option to add on various bodywork services like massage and reiki, or book a private tarot reading at an extra cost, appointment slots will be limited and booked on a first-come, first-serve basis. Take part in as much as you like, or bring a good book and take advantage of some quiet time alone. While we have an itinerary planned, we want you to take what you need as only you know best!

https://www.theholistichippie.ca/a-really-raw-retreat-info-pack

18/09/2020

An Ode to Ceremonial Plant Medicine
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As I prepare to sit in ceremony under the supervision of the Stars & Moon, Ancestors, Elementals, Nature Spirits, and the healing Spirit of Mother Ayahuasca herself, I reflect on my encounters with plant medicines thus far.
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Ceremony & Medicinal Plants have been a huge part of my journey. To welcome the abundant molecule DMT (dimethyltriptamine) into your being is not for the faint of heart. This, my friends, is far from the recreational substances of your youth. This sacred molecule is found in abundance in nature, including every living creature, and has a profound effect on consciousness. For me, these experiences have been like an uncomfortable sloughing away of the many layers of Ego.
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Every ceremony is different and while I used to chase the most "righteous" experience, I now realize that it actually is just a means to an end. The experience itself pales in comparison to the ego shattering truths that remain long after the medicine has worn off. In my experience, these journeys have almost been like practicing death. Sounds dark, I know, but at some level isn't that the one thing we ought to be prepared for? It's the only thing we know for certain about our future.
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When you are faced with the complete dissolve of your sense of self, you realize how utterly attached you are to every bit of who you are; what surprised me most was that I was even attached to my flaws. Suddenly a lifetime of self-loathing was replaced by immense love & gratitude for the person who I spent my life criticizing & punishing through self-depreciating thoughts and actions.
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To practice death is to release the attachment to who & what you think you are. Some call it the Atman, the Higher Self, the Peace that passes understanding, the GodSelf, the Spirit, or Soul. Call it what you will, but when your sense of self dissipates all that remains is the Eternal Self. The one who witnesses everything as it unfolds. Suddenly you see that you aren't at all who (or what) you thought you were. But as we learn to relax into our true nature we begin to see the world of form through new eyes. We see that there is no end. Only infinite beginnings. 💫

27/08/2020

e v o l Y O U t i o n
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When we truly embark on a journey of self-discovery, there is a price to pay. It will cost you your comfort zone. It will cost you your old paradigms and ways of thinking. It will cost you your defense mechanisms, your coping mechanisms, and all your other vices. Who you are becoming will cost you your old Self.
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The question is, are you sure you want to give it all up in pursuit of who & what you are? And if not, that's OK too. Its true when they say that "ignorance is bliss". The journey into yourself will cost you all of your ignorance. And while you will no longer find bliss in the same places of denial, you will find it in the sweet surrender to the present. You will even find it in your darkest moments. This journey is surely not for the faint of heart.
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In the ancient, sacred text of the Mahabarata it is said that "Yoga is the journey OF the Self, TO the Self, THROUGH the Self". Can you grapple with that?! Let's unpack it for a second... so this is your journey, your whole life in essence is your journey, and this journey is taking you to back home to yourSelf, but we're talking your Higher Self, OverSoul, God Self, your absolute Essence and the Truth of who & what you are. And you are taking this journey as the projected version of yourSelf that is unrealized.
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The Journey Inward is the single most incredible journey you'll ever embark on. And the most amazing thing is that whether you know it or not, this is the journey you're on. And you can either experience it Now through conscious choice, or at the end of your life through death, but either way this is the direction we are all headed. Back to our Source. Everything is cyclical, but we know that just by observing our natural world, which is a reflection of our inner worlds.
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You know that nagging feeling inside? The one that can't seem to be satisfied, like an itch that you can't scratch? Emploring you to do more, learn more, be more, earn more, take more, grow more, give more... it's your Self calling you home. But you don't come home by going outward, you arrive there by going inward. Come home 🌬

25/08/2020

A 7-Day Juice Fast changed my life...
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I spent my 20's very ill. I started to develop symptoms in my teens but I didn't know my body well enough to know that what I was experiencing wasn't normal. I had childhood trauma I never processed, and went on to become involved in several emotionally and physically abusive relationships, in addition to the toxic relationships I had fostered with my family & mySelf. My body, mind, and spirit were broken.
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My spirit broke first. Then my mind. Last was my body, and thank God for that since I wasn't listening to the other 2. Ironically, I developed an autoimmune dis-ease, which is a perfect metaphor for how I was treating mySelf. See, autoimmunity is when the body turns on itself and begins to attack healthy tissue, mistaking it for an invader. I had been doing that to myself for years before my body joined in on the fun.
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Fast forward a LOT to the time I did my first juice fast. It was only 3 yrs ago. I was already a practicing Holistic Nutritionist & Yoga teacher... I say practicing although I wasn't really practicing what I was preaching, just teaching others how to do what I couldn't do for myself. I had an opportunity to go on a Juice Fast Yoga Retreat in Portugal, and thinking nothing of it I went! I had done many mini fasts and practiced intermittent fasting often, but not 7 full days off work in paradise with daily yoga, and no wifi.
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There is something so medicinal about mindfully giving up food with the intention to heal. It puts you so presently IN your body. The discomfort. The awkwardness of this suit you're wearing that you've never really valued or listened to or formed a real relationship with. I had so many spontaneous healings that week. I saw my body in its honesty and vowed to never abuse her again. She was my vehicle for experience, I realized, but no longer would I use her to experience self-abuse. She didn't deserve that.
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It was a sobering experience. Healing is like that. Subtle and yet so profound. I've got plans to host a Juice Fast Yoga Retreat in the New Year... stay tuned. In the meantime, be kind to your body - its the only place you have to live!

23/08/2020

Who am I?
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You are not who you think you are. In fact, no one that you know is who you think they are either. We are just fragmental manifestations of the All, making our individual Self as futile and unimpressive as we are extraordinary.
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Think about it. Your entire perceived Self is totally and undeniably reliant on nature vs nurture, your personal constitution, your DNA, RNA, & genetics, your total sum of experiences, societal belief structures, cultural paradigms, etc. Change even just 1 of these and you have a whole new You. So if You can be changed by changing these raw ingredients, then what are You?
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What is the base for all of these raw ingredients of Self? What is it in You that perceives? What is your Higher Self?
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What if I told you that you are Awareness? Pure, loving, awareness. After all, isn't it Awareness that gives way to perception? And it is from this Awareness, this Is-ness, that we experience the individual Self. Awareness. So in fact, you are a vantage point. A spec in space-time from which to perceive. Awareness has no birth or death. It is. It is aware of the entirety of All that Is, and in this moment it is aware only from the vantage point of the one who is reading these words.
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This is one of the many paradoxical aspects of Being. This is why the great Saints, and Priests, and Mystics say that we are One. And yet, we appear to be separate for a time. And we mistake this time of separateness for Life, not knowing that Life & Death are just different vantage points. Different states of Awareness.
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Surrender to the mystery of being with this meditation: Sit comfortably and begin to shift your awareness to your breath. Allow the monkey mind to settle to this place of one pointed awareness on the breath. When the mind is still, ask yourself "Who am I?" Sit quietly and allow all answers to come forth. When you are done, ask yourself "If none of those things, who am I?" And allow new answers to come forth. Keep asking, and asking, and asking. Notice your answers change. Once you have stripped away all that you are not, repeat this mantra, "I am loving awareness."
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21/08/2020

Actual Happiness
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"Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the overcompensations for misery. And, of course, stability isn't nearly so spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt. Happiness is never grand."
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I don't believe in happy. Happy, in my experience, has been the effect of a cause. And as we all know, cause changes moment-to-moment, making the idea of "happy" entirely unstable since it is fully reliant on cause. No, I don't believe in happy.
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Instead, I believe in moment-to-moment practices that keep me grounded in impermanence, which gives way to surrender, which gives way to Peace. While happy is an emotion that is in opposition of sad, Peace is a state of being entirely unreliant on external circumstance. Happy needs cause to determine itself. Sad needs cause to determine itself. Peace just is.
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To find Peace is to be in constant surrender to the present moment, holding no preferences for or against what is, and allowing each temporary moment to unfold and play out the drama of its impermanence. We can be grounded in Peace whilst experiencing the effect of a happy cause, just as we can be grounded in Peace while experiencing the effect of a sad cause. Peace sees cause & effect for what it is and is not dependent on either for its existence.
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Thoughts? ⬇️

20/08/2020

The Nature of Mind
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A parabel from The Tibetan Book of Living & Dying
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"Confined in the dark, narrow cage of our own making which we take for the whole universe, very few of us can even begin to imagine another dimension of reality. Patrul Rinpoche tells the story of an old frog who had lived his whole life in a dank well: 🐸
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One day a frog from the sea paid him a visit.
- "Where do you come from?" asked the frog in the well.
- "From the great ocean," he replied.
- "How big is your ocean?"
- "It's gigantic!"
- "You mean about a quarter of the size of my well here?"
- "Bigger."
- "Bigger? You mean half as big?"
- "No, even bigger."
- "Is it . . . as big as this well?"
- "There is no comparison."
- "That's impossible! I've got to see this for myself." 🌊
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They set off together. When the frog from the well saw the ocean, it was such a shock that his head just exploded into pieces." 🤯
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Our minds work in this same way. Our perspective is so limited that we often cannot even possibly imagine anything outside of our own immediate reality. We become prisoners of our own minds to the point that we become unable to see any reality outside of the one we have created.
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Stay open minded my friends ✌🐸

19/08/2020

The Journey Inwards
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A MINI (social distanced) YOGA & HOLISTIC WELLNESS RETREAT
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Due to the current health rules & regulations, this mini 3-day retreat is only open to 12 people. Only 8 spots remaining after yesterday's launch - first come first serve.
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Our Beautiful Buddhist Chef will prepare our Nutrient-Dense, Plant-Based Meals with so much love & care. Our friends at Vitality Juice Co. will be providing us with all the organic nutrients of their immunity boosting juices & elixir shots (& I even scored us some cookies & granola samples). Our lovely host Cynthia at Rising Spirit B&B in Orono, ON has all of the bases covered with medical grade hand sanitizer & masks, socially distanced shared accommodation, and socially distanced Yoga Studio space. And I will take care of the rest!
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This weekend will be full of different tools & modalities to take us on the most important journey of our lives; The Journey Inwards. Join me to dive deep within to discover all the ways that our Soul is longing to be seen, heard, and healed. Using the practices of Yoga, Meditation, and Shamanic Journeying we will be venturing into the unique landscapes of our inner world. See the link below for more details!
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https://www.theholistichippie.ca/rising-spirit-retreat-orono

Explore a combination of holistic practices, shamanic ceremonies, and teachings from yoga and eastern philosophy and take a deeper dive into your own beliefs and experiences. Learn about the potent healing powers of nature, plant-based food, movement, and self-inquiry and experience the benefits fi...

09/08/2020

"The real hopeless victims of mental illness are to be found among those who appear to be most normal. Many of them are normal because they are so well adjusted to our mode of existence, because their human voice has been silenced so early in their lives, that they do not even struggle or suffer or develop symptoms as the neurotic does. They are normal not in what may be called the absolute sense of the word; they are normal only in relation to a profoundly abnormal society. Their perfect adjustment to that abnormal society is a measure of their mental sickness. These millions of abnormally normal people, living without fuss in a society to which, if they were fully human beings, they ought not to be adjusted."
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- Aldous Huxley
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We are witnessing the break down of this abnormal society we've grown so accustomed to. We have long outgrown the old paradigms, the old ways, the old power structures and we are in the midst of a painful labour to birth a New Earth. With each devestating blow to our humanity another painful contraction filled with both despair & mourning for what was, and profound hope for what will be. 💫
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There is a seismic wave of information coming into the energetic field of the planet that has the ability to nurture and repair all that has been damaged and destroyed. There is nothing that you need to know in order to impact this information or use it for good, you are and have been programmed for this very mission. Hold steadfast to the light my friends and stay grounded in love. This is our collective Rebirth. 💫
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04/08/2020

The Holistic Hippie Podcast
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I started recording this podcast at the beginning of our global lockdown. Seemed like I had run out of excuses, with "not enough time" being last on the list. It's an interesting level of vulnerability. One thing that held me back a long time was the concern that my Mother or Grandmother might somehow find it, listen, and invalidate my entire experience. Funny how we let these strongholds in our lives hold us back from stepping into our fullest truth. 💫
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This podcast is my offering to anyone who finds themselves struggling or lost. While I can only share my own experiences, I have come to learn that struggle is struggle - period. In these episodes I share humbly what I have come to learn through some of the most challenges times of my life. I have been birthing a new self over many years now, and I am discovering that this regenesis is ongoing and at times deeply uncomfortable. 💫
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My intention is to always show up raw, unedited, and unfiltered. None of my episodes are scripted and the content comes entirely from my heart and the experiences that have shaped me thus far. This life is an incredible journey, and if we allow it, it can be deeply transformative. Each & every boring little mundane moment of your day-to-day is brilliantly unfolding for you to awaken to your true nature. When we can wake up to this concept, we begin to see this magic everywhere. 💫
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Your existence in this life, the life that you find yourself in right now, is full to the brim of the key components required for you to WAKE UP to the truth of who and what you are. It is my belief that we all hold sacred parts of the mystery, of the puzzle, and that when we unite in our seeking we set the stage for the magic of alchemy to activate our deepest knowing. It is our very honest inquiry that unlocks these mysteries deep within us. 💫
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I make no claims to have all the answers, but I am honored to walk beside you on the most important journey of your life as we explore the mystery of being together. 💫
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02/08/2020

A quick snippet of today's nutritional movement

30/07/2020

💫 U N I T Y 💫
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to come together ~ to unite ~ to make one
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Our world is rooted in dualism. From the micro to the macro we are divided. Or rather, we percieve that we are separate. The illusion of duality allows for the "us vs them" mindset. It allows for "right vs wrong" and any other set of opposites you can think of. And yet, this duality is actually the essence foundation for all experience, providing the neccesary depth and contrast needed for our own awakening. 💫
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We contain within us, both physiologically & emotionally, all perceivable opposites. The breath is not defined by the inhale alone, nor the exhale ~ but by the completion of both. The heartbeat is not defined by the contraction alone, nor the expansion ~ but by the completion of both. One single day cannot come to completion without the expression of both sunrise and sunset. 💫
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You see, the mystery of life lay in the divine recognition that ALL is ONE. This becomes more complicated with the wide range of human emotions that are available to us as we navigate this world of form. Our very liberation is only possible when we can reconcile the truth that both LIGHT & DARK are One. This means that the qualities that you judge in others also exist as a potentiality within yourSelf. 💫
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As we navigate a brand new world full of uncertainty, we can see the stark contrasts play out before our eyes. This can bring up so much fear and resistance, but I invite you to lean into the discomfort and to begin the journey of inner reconciliation. This is the simple & yet profound truth of Ghandis teaching when he said to "BE the change you wish to see in the world." 💫
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Our only job is the work we do on ourselves. And when we can allow our very existence to be a testimony of inner Unity, that energy makes it possible for change to then occur on the macro level. We cannot hope to Unite a world divided until we do this work internally. All we have to do is BE the change, and allow the resonance of this shift to ripple into our outer world. 💫

28/07/2020

t h e w a y
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“The way is the sacred heroic human journey in which you are the unknown path ahead, you are
the inquiring practices of self realization, and you are the final destination from which you have
never left. 💫
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The way is a pilgrimage through form to remember that the Holy One, the Living Master of Light, the Ever Innocent One, abides within you as your true self regardless of all
other phenomena and circumstance. 💫
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It is a journey taken in the worlds of form to integrate every emotion and human experience that is necessary for you to one day stand before the throne of your I Am Presence and pronounce yourself worthy of the immaculate divine love that
you have always been and always will be, eternally." 💫
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- The Sophia Code

23/07/2020

y o u a r e s a c r e d
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You are a Divine, Soverign Being with senses far beyond the 5 physical we've come to know & understand. You are an energetic Being fully capable of connecting with ease to the etheric world of Spirit. You are electro-magnetic and thus are connected to and affected by the world around you; both natural & unnatural. You have not fallen from grace nor do you need to repent or atone ~ you simply came here to learn by experience. 💫
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Recognizing our Divinity & our Soverignty does not protect us from experiencing perceived "negative" experiences, but rather offers a layer of depth & understanding that everything is happening FOR you instead of TO you. We do not learn anything when the conditions are optimal. What is there to learn from the comfort zone? Instead, we learn by participating in all facets of our life; the perceived good, the perceived bad, and all levels of perception inbetween. Keyword: perception. 💫
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The definition of Sacred according to Google Dictionary is: connected with God. This can be confusing if you don't have any point of connection, but think of it like your television set. As long as our TV is plugged in, we can never lose our connection to the Source. Even when the TV is turned off, we have not severed our connection, we are merely not sending or receiving signals. The same goes for the Spiritual realms. We are never disconnected, but perhaps poorly tuned or not tuned in at all. And there are many ways to reestablish our connection to Source. Sacred Ceremony ~ Meditation ~ Dreams ~ Prayer ~ Imagination ~ Spiritual Practices ~ Journaling ~ Asking ~ Seeking ~ Time in Nature ~ Plant Medicine ~ Clean Diet ~ Mindfulness ~ Gratitude ~ Service to Others ~ (& more) 💫
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The truth is ONE the paths are many & it truly does not matter in which ways you choose to connect, but that you do so often. What are your favourite ways to connect to Source? 💫
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20/07/2020

PERSPECTIVE is R E A L i t y
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It's true when they say that we affect our physical reality through the thoughts we think and the emotions we feel. This is a very important and yet simplistic law that we must learn in order to transform our own personal reality in real time. 💫
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This is so much more than just serial positivity, and thinking happy thoughts - this is about our personal paradigm and the way we see the events unfolding in our lives. We have the choice to view things from victim mindset which believes everything is happening TO me or we have the choice to view things from co-creator mindset which believes that everything is happening FOR me. 💫
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Right now humanity is riding the C-19 express which is unearthing the true paradigms that we subscribe to and we can witness within ourselves & others a collective victim mindset. This is important to observe because it is step 1 in making the incremental shifts required to change the lens through which we observe our reality. As Albert Einstein said "we cannot solve a problem with the same mind that created it" and so this is where we find ourselves as a collective. 💫
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This time is indeed a catalyst if you choose to participate in your own awakening by recognizing the patterns of thinking within yourSelf that could be up leveled in order to create a more peaceful existence. What beliefs are you nurturing that are destructive in nature? What beliefs are you holding that perpetuate fear? Can you be powerfully present to all that is happening externally & internally without riding the emotions into the empty spiral of s•t•r•e•s•s & d•i•s•t•r•e•s•s ?! 💫
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Turn off the tv. Shut off the news. Press pause on the emotional rollercoaster and take a deep breath in through your nose and out through your mouth. Can we look for opportunity in these trying times? Can we dig deep and discover what we are made of? Can we learn to find comfort within discomfort? Our ability to do so dramatically changes our experience and thus perspective is reality. 💫
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05/07/2020

COLLECTIVE AWAKENING
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We are in a time of great catalyst, a time of immense shift. For many of us this can mean great discomfort and being confronted by the darker aspects of Self that naturally come bubbling up to the surface as we attempt to realign ourselves physically, emotionally, spiritually, and energetically. Purge is a natural symptom of change, and so if you are noticing a type of mind, body, spirit cleansing this is because you are being called to ascend. 💫
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The energies on our planet are shifting in powerful ways. This is truly an incredible time to be alive, although it is difficult for us to see the birds eye view whilst we fumble in the dark smog of the current global climate. We are being inundated with information on a multitude of levels & it can feel as though we are being asked to pick a side. To wear a mask, or not wear a mask. To vaccinate, or not vaccinate. To protest, or to stay silent. But perhaps neither is truly the way. 💫
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These trying times have forced us into the present moment. To look ahead can cause great fear, anxiety, and even anger. To look back suddenly seems irrelevant as life continues to change dramatically right before our eyes. And yet, in the present moment we have access to the deepest parts of us that have been begging to be seen, heard, healed, and released. The parts of us that we'd rather never acknowledge. 💫
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What I see is a great need to come together; one species, one race, one planet. But how can we expect such a global healing to transpire when we foster disarray in our own daily thoughts, feelings, and relationships? This work must truly begin on a micro level. This work starts within your own being. Any external action you take will be futile until you take responsibility for your Self & begin to allow forgiveness to replace resentment, compassion to replace judgement, and self-worth to replace self-deprecation. We must open ourselves back up to the crystalline energy of LOVE. 💫
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It starts with One. You are that One. So am I. Now is the time to turn our focus inwards & journey into the depths of Self so that we may free ourSelves from the bo***ge of our own making. It's time to come together. 💫

20/06/2020

VIRTUAL MEMBERSHIP COMING JULY 6th