Posts Tagged Sedona
Be Here Now!
Posted by admin in Uncategorized on November 3, 2011
Steadily Cheyenne (my dog) and I climbed the Soldiers Pass Trail, we rounded the corner and there were the Seven Sacred Pools. On this hot, dusty day there was no water in the pools. I sat and meditated for awhile, Cheyenne made friends and shared treats with a tiny dog named Zippy and rested in the shade of a scrub pine. As we headed back down the trail we encountered two women who had some questions. The louder of the two demanded to know how far the sacred pools were. I assured her the sacred pools were just around the next corner. She asked if there was water in the pools.
“Not this time of year”, I replied.
“Are you serious? I can’t believe we hiked all this way and there’s no water. Crap, they could have told us.”
“Who could have told you?”
“The people who suggested this trail, they could have told us there was no water in the pools.”
They stomped off to go see the “dry sacred pools”.
As I walked away I had to laugh, I wanted to turn back and say something sarcastic like, “Gee I’m sorry you haven’t seen any beauty today.” But instead I practiced sending loving energy. All around these two women were some of the most incredible, majestic red rock mountains, canyons and intense blue sky. About 1/8 of a mile away they would have hiked past Devil’s Sink Hole, a huge naturally formed sink hole. They had hiked from Jordan Road which meant they had been on several of the best trails in Sedona! What I realized was in their search for the “Seven Sacred Pools” they had likely missed the sacredness on their journey.
It reminded me of the weekend I went to a Women’s Spiritual Retreat outside of Tucson. On Saturday morning the leader told us to go out on the land and find our sacred spot. There we were to draw a circle to sit within and meditate. Prior to this I had a phone call from a client. He was very upset, demanding to know what I was doing to sell his home, what was my plan and where was I anyway. One of my better clients, we had become friends as well as business associates. He had never treated me this way and I was shocked, embarrassed, hurt and frustrated. I contemplated returning home early from the retreat. I chose to do my meditation and then decide if I would go home.
As I walked the land looking for my “sacred spot” I was lost in worry about my client. The conversation played over and over in my head, fretting and fuming I stomped along. Suddenly I heard the unmistakable sound of a rattlesnake. Similar to the sound of a locust, once you’ve heard a mad rattler you recognize the difference. I stopped in my tracks and looked around to determine its location. There about one foot in front of me, at the base of a large Saguaro was a coiled rattler, but she was the strangest looking rattler I’ve ever seen. Pale peach in color with light diamonds on her back she was an Albino, pretty rare even in rattlesnake country. I’m not afraid of snakes and rattlers are not particularly aggressive, so I backed up a step or two and asked her if she had a message for me. “BE HERE NOW!” ‘Be here now’?, I questioned. And then I got it. Wrapped up in my worry over the client, I was mentally and emotionally back in Scottsdale. My body may have been in the desert but my mind and heart were not.
The sacred experience I was searching for had been preempted by my worry and concern. Had I taken one more unaware step I would have most likely been struck by the rattlesnake. I thanked the Albino rattlesnake for her wisdom, came back into my body and moved on to find my sacred spot by the creek. For the rest of the weekend I practiced “Being here now”, enjoying the sacred circle, community meals, sweat lodge, beautiful music and songs, and my own deep communion with Spirit.
I hold the lesson of the rattlesnake in very high regard and think of her often when I succumb to worry or frustration.
- How much time do you waste on worry?
- How much time do you waste on making up negative stories?
- Have there been times you missed the sacred moment because your focus was elsewhere?
- What are sacred moments for you?
- How can you have more sacred moments?
- What can you use to remind you to be here now?
- If only for today, how can you BE HERE NOW?
- I invite you to gift yourself at least one sacred moment or minute or hour per day. YOU DESERVE IT! Spirit lives to gift you sacred moments every day!
Namaste, BakeR
Join me November 11-13 at my Radical Healing Women’s Retreat - Come as an Abused Woman, Leave an Empowered Woman!
For all the details click here Radical Healing Women’s Retreat
Compensation
Posted by admin in Uncategorized on September 8, 2011
The butterfly always trusts! photo by Ted Grussing
Today I found myself worrying about compensation. Actually my ego self was worried. Am I enough – will I make enough? Was the reading good – good enough?
My ego self says, “show me the money”, as if that is the only way to measure my self worth. My spiritual self is always certain that indeed I am enough – I AM good enough. I am always fully supported. My ego needs the compliments and glowing emails that clients send. My ego is fear based it needs to be fed. My spiritual self feels the deep connection in the moment and knows that the true gift is leading a client to understanding, helping them hear the Truth, or maybe connect with a loved one on the other side. My spiritual self is Love.
While I was in worry, all I could see was more fear. When Mamacita stepped in and slapped me around a little I was able to turn my self to the Truth, to see the light and to focus on my good. As I refocused on my service, 0n my joy in being of service and why I am really here, the phone rang – a client booking a session for tomorrow – of course!
Keeping my focus on gratitude and being of service empowers me and ultimately you. As I step into grace it radiates out and touches all those around me. When you step into grace, into gratitude it radiates out and touches all those around you!
Are you out of touch with your Truth? Out of balance? How much time do you spend in fear or worry?
How much time do you spend in gratitude, service or joy?
Do you think to be grateful for all you are?
Are you grateful for your body? For the utensils that allow you to eat? For the chair you sit in? For a computer that workd with no expectation of thanks?
Take a moment now to sit in gratitude – find at least five things that you don’t normally think to be grateful for:
- Shoes
- The cardinals song
- The men working in the hot sun on the electrical lines down my street
- Healers – especially chiropractors today!
- Can openers
Your Turn:
Make a commitment to yourself to practice gratitude throughout your day…it is the single most important step to changing your life!
Namaste, BakeR
All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.
– Martin Luther King Jr.
Join me November 11-13 at my Radical Healing Women’s Retreat - Come as an Abused Woman, Leave an Empowered Woman!
For all the details click here Radical Healing Women’s Retreat
Love yourself Well…
Posted by admin in Uncategorized on June 12, 2011
Photo by Ted Grussing - "Welcome"
Recently I watched an incredible video of the near death experience of Anita Moorjani. Unable to move as a result of the cancer that had ravaged her body for over three years, doctors at the hospital that morning had given Anita just hours to live She crossed over and came back. Here’s what this beautiful woman learned:
“ Let me explain that there is a difference between ‘being loving’ and ‘being love’. Being loving means giving love to another whether you have any for yourself or not. It means giving what you yourself may or may not even have to give. This type of giving of love can eventually drain you, because we don’t always have a limitless supply. And then we look to the other to replenish our pool of love, and if it is not forthcoming, we stop being loving ourselves, because we are exhausted. Being love, on the other hand, means loving myself unconditionally so that it overflows, and anyone and everyone around me just becomes an automatic recipient of my love. The more I love myself, the more it flows out to others. It almost feels like being a vessel for love to flow through. When I am being love, I don’t need people to behave a certain way in order for them to be a recipient of my love. They are automatically getting my love as a result of me loving myself. So to stop being love, to me, means to stop loving myself. Hence, I will not stop being love on account of another.” –Anita Moorjani
I love her line, “They are automatically getting my love as a result of me loving myself.” That is so true! When you love yourself you automatically love others. When you truly love yourself you have plenty of love to give away. There is an unlimited supply.
When we are giving love from a space in us that is already full – we are not depleted, our well is full, it overflows onto others. First, because we filled the well ourselves, we always know how to replenish it. Second, the love we give away always comes back tenfold. “That’s great, you’re thinking, “but how do I fill myself with love?”
- Know that you and source/god/spirit are the only ones capable of truly filling your love well.
- Give yourself affirmations to work with daily such as? I radiate love which returns to me tenfold. I surround myself with beauty, grace and joy. I am full of energy, vibrant and vivacious! I create new stories for myself, filled with light and love. I love myself! If any negative messages come up when using these affirmations that is your clue that the old tapes you still run need to be erased. Cancel the old message and replace it with your affirmation.
- Nurture yourself – have a spa day, take your creative child out to play, walk in the park, hike a mountain, bake a treat just for you, meditate, watch a beautiful or funny movie.
- Stand up for yourself by having strong boundaries. Say no when you mean no – say yes when you really mean yes. If you’re doing anything from a sense of guilt or obligation instead of joy, you are not standing in your Truth.
- Send yourself an online greeting card – date it for a day in the future, so it’s a complete surprise.
- Give your inner child a new toy – soft and cuddly or something that makes her/him giggle.
- Dangle your toes in water, a creek, lake, pool, lay on your back and watch the clouds go by.
- Create a ritual/ceremony for yourself to honor your wisdom, beauty, breath, toes, nose, emotions _____________ or all of you!
- Write out the ABC’s and choose one positive word for each letter that describes you, i.e. Alert Brilliant Creative….Xerothermic Youthful Zesty
- Give yourself Reiki
- Work with a Spiritual Life Coach to empower you to find that inner love…the love that can never be taken away!
What can you do to love yourself more today?
What will it feel like to have so much love for yourself that it spills over all those around you?
Do you know that you are worthy of this much love? YES YOU ARE!!!
Have a beautiful, love filled life!
Many blessings! BakeR
Call me 928.284.1442 or email me baker@fortyfourtimes.com to set up your FREE 1/2 hour coaching consultation!
Welcome Home!
Posted by admin in Uncategorized on December 7, 2010
Thanks to T-Mobile and my friend David Sunfellow, I’ve just had a wonderful treat this morning. This beautiful video made at Heathrow Terminal 5, International Arrivals. For those of you who watch television, maybe you’ve seen the short version, but I don’t watch TV so I’ve never seen this.
I was amazed at the emotion this brought up. In high school I used to drive over to Chicago’s O’Hare airport from my small town in Michigan, just to watch people come and go. The coming home greetings would always touch me deeply, as was the case with this video. How beautiful to see people giving the gift of hugs, kisses, smiles…welcoming each other, loving each other. We don’t get to see these kind of feelings expressed one to another in many places, airports being one exception. And in airports, maybe because of the long travel, or the time away, people usually are not shy about being expressive. You get to witness the most unrestrained joy. Joyous screams, joyous kisses, joyous hugs….joy just oozing out, bubbling over and touching everyone else!
My invitation to you this holiday season is to express your love for friends and family in a new expressive way. Open your mind, open your heart and give from that place of pure love, with no attachment to the outcome. Don’t worry about how it will be received, that is their choice not yours!
Here are some ideas for sharing from the heart:
- Big hugs, often!
- Kisses too!
- Find a youtube video that a loved one would enjoy and send to them…free!
- Share a walk in the park, a hike in the woods, build a snowperson.
- Send online greeting cards, again usually FREE, and saves trees.
- Give the gift of service, offer to clean the house, babysit, walk the dog, feed the cat, take an elderly person shopping, fix dinner.
- More hugs and kisses
- Tell someone you love them and add why. “I love you because you read my blog and post comments…I so appreciate hearing that you were touched!”
- Invite someone over for a cup of tea or coffee….talk…turn off your cell phones…that’s right no calls, no texting, no checking email.
- Go to the airport with a friend and watch people greet each other…let yourselves feel the emotion.
- Hold hands with your partner.
- Turn off the TV…watch a fire, or read a beautiful passage from a favorite book, more hand holding is perfectly acceptable too!
- Can’t afford a Christmas tree, get out your ornaments and decorate a tree outside. Invite your Jewish friends to help!
- Share one of your traditions (Chanukah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Solstice, Ramadan, etc.) with a friend who is not of your faith. I went to a friends Chanukah concert one year and cried it was so beautiful (thanks Karen)! One year I invited Jewish friends over to help decorate the Christmas tree…have you ever heard a grown man say, “This is the first ornament I have ever hung on a tree”? (thanks Arthur)
- Go caroling…remember caroling?
- Trade services, or do a big project together.
- Visit a temple, church, shrine or ceremony that is not of your faith…enjoy their traditions. One year I went to Christmas Eve midnight mass, I found it beautiful, and not fraught with any baggage for me.
- Give away a favorite book, or just copy a favorite passage to pass on.
- Go through old photos and give them to friends or family
- Volunteer together with a friend at a shelter, charity, park, picking up road trash, etc. Bonus – more time together!
- LISTEN! Maybe the most precious gift of all!
How can you share the gift of your love, your joy, your peace, your compassion, your wisdom, your talents, your caring, your creativity, your heart this year?
JOY TO THE WORLD!!!
PEACE TO THE WORLD!!
LOVE TO YOU AND YOURS!
Please leave your comments below. Have an idea for sharing love and joy? I would love to hear it!
You Don’t Have to Do It Alone Anymore!
Posted by admin in Uncategorized on November 19, 2010
Monument Valley dusk
Rain beat down my windshield, and red mud splattered my car as I drove through Monument Valley in October of 2009. The road was muddy but passable. The thought of returning to my campsite was daunting. It was a cold, hard rain, and I had myself and a large wet dog to care for.
Suddenly I was sobbing, I pulled off the road and I heard Mamacita (my spirit guide) say to me, “You don’t have to do it alone anymore. All your life you have done it alone, even when in a relationship you were alone. You always kept something back. It’s time now…it’s time.”
I had gone to Monument Valley with my dog, Cheyenne, a tent, sleeping bag, small cook stove, lantern and other basic supplies. I was prepared to stay twelve days, on a trip I had anticipated for months. I knew something waited in Monument Valley, I just wasn’t sure what that something was. While it was gorgeous during the day (sans the rain) at night it was colder than a well digger’s ass in January! Thankfully I had brought along a down comforter, which became my sleeping pad. Cheyenne gave me a look like only a dog can, one that said, “I love you Mom, but what were you thinking?”
I had bet my friend Jim $200.00 that I would make it the full twelve days. He insisted that I could survive the camping, but I would miss André too much and come home. It wasn’t so much a case of missing André, it was that I wanted to be with him and I knew in that moment through the tears, through the pain of aloneness that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. I surrendered to love.
What I know for you is that you don’t have to do it alone anymore either. The Truth is you are never alone, however, some days it’s hard to remember there is a loving, abundant, infinite, wise source larger than you. Of course this source is always available, but when you are in the middle of the tsunami, or drowning in a black hole, Source seems a long, long way off.
So you beg, you plead and bargain…”dear God if you will just ____________________ I will ___________________. Occasionally this seems to work (hopefully you express your gratitude) until the next desperate moment. The Truth is you are not alone-EVER! Source is always there of course and so are other people! And those other people are searching for you, to connect-to create-to grow through love. ’Cause when we get down to the core, love is what it’s all about, isn’t it? Love – in the form of friends, family, even strangers who step up and help each other, even those in Spirit world.
After my recent women’s retreat I did a reading for my new friend Trish. Her husband Aron who had died two years ago, came through to talk to her. I’ll let Trish’s words tell the rest of the story:
“During BakeR’s reading, Aron gave me a huge bouquet of yellow daisies. Didn’t mean anything significant to me. Then I visited Aron’s marker at the National Cemetery for Veteran’s Day. Yep, in front of his marker, at least 24 bushes in full bloom, of . . . yellow daisies.” –Trish
Aron's yellow daisies for Trish
This story gave me goose bumps and tears, and it reminded me how un-alone we truly are. Most people are not aware how many of their loved ones who have crossed over are still with them. You are never alone!
Remember if you are feeling alone, or if you’re living in pain, worry, frustration, anger or sadness, there is someone else who is feeling the same way. There are a myriad of ways to connect with them…find your support group whether it be one or forty four.
- Search the newspaper for a list of groups and ongoing events. GET UP AND GO!
- Check out Yahoo groups
- Go to a church, synagogue, temple, ashram etc. and connect with like minded people
- Create a prayer group or just find a prayer partner
- Talk honestly with your significant other, a family member or friend – tell them how you’re feeling
- Help someone else-just listen…this will return ten-fold.
- Check out self-help books from the library…read them…a few of my favorites
“Excuse Me Your Life Is Waiting” – Lynn Grabhorn
“Loving What Is” – Byron katie
“This Thing Called You” – Ernest Holmes (almost anything by Holmes)
“The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success” – Deepak Chopra (almost anything by Chopra)
”Anam Cara” – John O’Donohue
”Return To Love” – Marianne Williamson
Hafiz or Rumi’s poetry to put a smile on your face
- Sign up for Michael Dooley’s daily inspirational and fun thoughts of the day at www.tut.com
- Google inspirational quotes
- Sign up for an inspirational blog – mine or one of many others
- Join a Choir
- Learn to dance
- Volunteer at a food bank, a shelter, an after school program, or become a tutor
- Borrow a kid for a fun day in the park
- Ask your face book friends to send you a positive thought or two (send them one too)
- Start a group with others who are going through “stuff”, meet weekly/monthly to discuss new possibilities. Stay out of the negative “story”
- Hang out at a local coffee shop and connect with some like-minded folks.
- Take your dog for a walk and meet some other dog owners
- Pet your cat
- See your psychic and connect with friends/family in spirit world…
- Volunteer at the library, your local park or ranger station
- Share a Thanksgiving dinner with a neighbor or friend who’s alone, or celebrate with friends at a church dinner
Get up, Get going, Connect! Now more than ever is the time to reach out, to help one another, or to ask for help. Yes, I know we all hate to ask for help…but guess what? It’s time! If a neighbor, a friend or family member asked for help you would be happy to assist wouldn’t you? Then why are you so afraid to ask? I’m seeing more and more the necessity for all of us to reach out in whatever way we can. Mamacita says over and over again, there is no time to waste, we will all need each other in big ways. Share your good and ask if you need help.
What better time to start than the holidays…Thanksgiving is all about sharing…the Pilgrims and the Native Americans sharing crops, food and friendship…and we recreate this celebration yearly by sharing our bounty!
Let’s give Thanks for the abundance we have, share it and multiply it!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
p.s. On my wedding day I handed Jim $200, best 200 bucks I ever lost, I guess you know I came home early!
Healing Journeys
Posted by admin in Uncategorized on October 5, 2010
Angel Valley Garden of Transformation
Whatcha gonna do with the 36 cents sticky with coke on your floorboard?
When a woman on the street is huddled in the cold on a sidewalk vent trying to keep warm.
Do you call her over, hand her the change, ask her story, ask her name
Or do you tell yourself, you’re just a fool, a fool to believe you can change the world…
–Carrie Underwood
The other night André, my wonderful husband, reminded me that when I heal myself – I heal the world. Yep, you see I/we believe that God/Spirit/Love, whatever you call the Universal essence is all there is. Therefore, if Spirit is all there is, then it follows that we are Spirit – right here, right now manifesting in physical form. When we heal ourselves, that healing spirals out in big waves of love and heals all that it touches.
A fine example of this type of healing is being done October 8th at Angel Valley Retreat Center.
Angel Valley is where James Ray held his now infamous retreat last October which concluded with a sweat lodge. Yes, that sweat lodge! The sweat lodge that ended in tragedy for the families and friends of the three people who transitioned that night.
Michael and Amayra Hamilton the owners of Angel Valley have chosen to create a beautiful, sacred space, a memorial to honor those who passed a year ago. Above is a picture of the beautiful heart that was created from the river rocks used in the sweat lodge ceremony. Large crystals represent those who passed, surrounded by those who have known and loved them. Trees have been planted to symbolize new life.
Here is part of Angel Valley’s invitation:
At the same time we want to focus on how we make the next step. We have learned from the experience. We have grown. For many it has been a process of tremendous transformation, of getting a deeper understanding about life and death and a more profound appreciation for the preciousness of life. Therefore the ceremony will be a celebration of life.
On the occasion, what we have so far called the Memorial Site will be officially renamed The Garden of Transformation
I honor Michael and Amayra for what they are doing to heal the energy field, the Earth and the families and friends of Kirby Brown, James Shore and Liz Newman. I’m not here to judge the people involved or guess why it happened or if it could have been prevented. I am standing with Angel Valley in moving forward to heal their trauma, to heal all those involved and to heal all people. They are moving forward with love, grace and forgiveness. This Friday, the celebration of life ceremony will include meditation, prayers, poetry and music. All the families, friends and community have been invited.
This is one of those healings that has the potential to heal the planet, shifting the grief and anger to love and forgiveness. Not running away from the pain, but facing it, owning it and then taking the necessary steps to heal.
Where in your life is there something hanging out that you haven’t healed?
Take a moment to go inside – sit in silence or with quiet music. Ask who or what you need to forgive. You may be surprised what comes up (I was, when a woman from 20 yrs. ago came up – I thought I was done with that chapter). Whatever feelings come, allow yourself to be with them. You may experience anger, grief, fear, pain, frustration, disbelief, sadness – just allow yourself to feel it. If need be journal about your pain, let it all out. You can be as vicious as needed, purge it, get it out of you, rip it up and burn it. Now that you’re done with that – forgive them and forgive yourself.
When faced with this pain you may wonder how you could possibly forgive. As I told a client yesterday you just do it! Remember:
When you release the wrongdoer from the wrong, you cut a malignant tumor out of your inner life.
You set a prisoner free, but you discover that the real prisoner was yourself.
–Lewis B. Smedes
The person who wronged you has most likely moved on, maybe not remembering the incident at all. While you are still held prisoner.
It is your choice now – right now to heal or not. What’s it going to be? You really can decide to release this right now. You really can decide to heal – yourself and the energy field that we all rely on. Pigs were born to wallow in garbage not you! You are big enough, couragous enough and strong enough to cut that tumor out now.
p.s. Don’t forget to forgive yourself for carrying it this long!
Feel better don’t you????
Want to feel better on a continual basis?
Call me now to schedule your FREE 30-minute coaching session
928.284.1442 or 602.999.2493.
Photo David Sunfellow