Coming Back To Center

It has taken nearly seven years. It was then that we first decided that we wanted to move to Colorado from Connecticut. It took years of visiting this amazing state to find the land that called us home. We are so blessed to have found our Forevermore on a mountaintop in Florissant. We are this lands stewards, caretakers, and guardians. We share these 80 acres with all the creatures of the land, with the mountains and the red rock, with the Ponderosa Pines and Douglas Fir, with the endless sky that is often dancing with Hawk and Raven, with the landscape of Bear, Coyote, Rabbit, Elk, and Mountain Lion.

Moving from a home that we have lived in for twenty years with our five children has been an adventure, a burden, a bore, a bonding experience, a cleanse and so very much more. But it has taken time. LOTS of time. And since there are only 24 hours in any given day, it meant having to put some things down and to push pause.

That meant having to let go of some things, one of which was writing my Spirit Blog. While I did continue to write, to work with clients, to teach programs and hold retreats, this was one of a few of my favorite things that I had to let go of due to a full plate and not enough time.

Finally, I am coming back to center. It feels good to have two new programs ready to launch on August first, (see notes below) and to dive back into my Spirit Blog. Additionally, soon I will begin a new Facebook page called Mountain Medicine Woman. Here I will share some of life on the mountain and some of the wildcrafting that I do and shamanic practice that is part of my day.

So, what do I mean by coming back to center? Think about a time of overwhelm in your life, a time of some chaos, stress, or struggle. We all have been there. And we usually come out the other side, maybe a bit tired, with some new lessons under our belt, and filled with relief that we can put whatever the stress was behind us. But then what? How do you come back to center?

For me, it is a reclaiming of things I had to put aside that are important to me. It is doing self-care to help remind me of how valuable my body temple is. It is pausing and savoring the preciousness of life that I had lost sight of. It is getting back into the arms of Mother Earth and being one with Her. It is re-engaging in my spiritual practice with a new breath. It is remembering what I am passionate about, what brings me joy, what causes me to lose all track of time as I delight in moments of wonder and awe.

What happens when I come back to center? Everything seems to re-align. My energetic vibration glows with positivity. My body shines with strength and health. My thoughts are alive with possibilities. My heart-space grows and the Universe responds.

Yes, we all can get pulled off track. We all can get buried in tasks. We all can be slammed by stress. It is part of life. I don't know how to live life fully and not have this happen once in awhile. But, it is a choice on what we do after the storm. Coming back to center is the best soul medicine I can choose for me. And the better I care for me, the better I can be in soul service.

If you are interested in my newest programs, visit The Shamanic Priestess Path or The Quest of the Shamanic Priestess under programs on my website, www.womenwithinsight.com

Sacred Kitchen Alchemy

How do you honor your body temple? How do you listen to your body's messages? In what ways do you bring your spirituality into your kitchen? Do you prepare your foods thinking about the energies that they will bring to your body, mind and soul? Perhaps it is time to bring sacred kitchen alchemy into your home.

What is sacred kitchen alchemy? It is a way of recognizing that every item of food we eat contains essential energies. Understanding these energies and how they can serve us is the everyday magic we have access to. Understanding that eating mindfully is about far more than counting calories. It is about choosing foods that serve our body well. It is about intention setting. It is about recognizing that eating seasonally insures we are getting the most nutrition that food item can offer us. As we learn to listen to our body and soul's needs, we then can respond accordingly.

Sacred kitchen alchemy is also about bringing some of your spiritual practices into your kitchen. Ritual is a part of our day already. We celebrate with food during holidays and on special occasions. But making the "ordinary" days special with ritual brings a mindfulness to our meals. We can honor ancestors, celebrate the season, invoke certain energies, awaken our senses with different plant spirit energies through spices and vibrant produce and more.

Color magic is an important aspect of sacred kitchen alchemy as well. Every color offers us its own unique energies. Knowing what these are, we can make food choices to generate these energies within and we can decorate our tables in specific colors to create that energy as well. There are so many possibilities.

The season and the phases of the moon can be celebrated and explored  in sacred kitchen alchemy. Recognizing these and incorporating their celebrations brings a new awareness to our food preparation and meal choices. Each moon honors a new cycle, each season an new phase and our bodies respond in harmony.

We often find ourselves in a rut when it comes to mealtime. Or in our busy lives we find we make poor choices when it come to honoring our body through food. Bringing an awareness to our meals, our food preparation and our body, mind and soul's needs creates a relationship with the sacred and cooking. Delight, honor, intention and wonder can be a part of what is often looked at as ordinary and mundane.

To learn more about Sacred Kitchen Alchemy and to join in an upcoming 4 week program, beginning March 8th, visit http://www.womenwithinsight.com/sacred-kitchen-alchemy/

Blessings, Lisa

A Wealth of Wellness

Are you someone who spends a good deal of time taking care of the needs of others? Do you put yourself at the end of the list? A beautiful gift to bring to your self is a day of wellness and healing. We all carry within us a seed for healing. When you nurture this and tend to it, giving it focus and the time and attention, you will find that it awakens healing energies and wellness within you.

Setting aside a day of wellness and healing for your body, mind and soul brings tremendous benefits to your life. Finding ways to address your vital needs brings your energies into alignment and awakens newness and vibrancy. Actually, just the awareness that you are putting aside time for YOU creates a spark of wellness.

I encourage clients to set aside time, whether it be once a week, once a month...everyone's needs are different. But when you book this special day with yourself you will find that you begin to make plans and set intentions. Think about what the day will include. Will you spend it in a special or favorite location? Will you share it with someone whose company you enjoy? Will it include certain activities?

Think of what your body needs? Rest? Recharge? Movement? Nurturing? Release? Once you know this you can move forward with your intentional day of wellness. Think of music that could support your needs? Perhaps certain crystals, flowers, aromas, or foods? A long walk, a massage, a day of play in the water...what makes you smile just thinking it over? Go with that!

The more you map out this day of wellness, the more the needs of your body, mind and soul will be revealed. The more you create intention to meet these needs, and the more doors will open to healing energies and revitalization of your overall well being.

Bringing your wellness into harmony is important to the way you honor your body, mind and soul. Recognizing that you have the right to be put first on the list and that it is worthy of the time and effort. This sends important messages to you and to others around you.  Cultivating wellness should not feel like a luxury, but instead a necessity as you awaken your awareness to your energetic needs, your body's balance and your thoughts' focus.

Blessings, Lisa

Finding Your True North Food

We all understand that the food we eat fuels our body. We have some understanding that making "healthy" choices will help our body work better. We understand that the quality of the food we eat has an impact on how we feel.

But do we know that there is so much more to the body's relationship with food? Do we understand the body, the mind and the soul are impacted by our food choices. If we can agree that EVERYTHING in life is made up of energy, and this fact has been scientifically proven...Google it, then the energy we are consuming will have a direct relationship to the energy that we ARE!

Finding your true north is about finding YOUR way. Not that of the person sitting next to you or someone whose book you have read about their path or their choices. We are all incredibly, beautifully unique. That means our energies are unique and one of a kind. What works for me in regards to my relationship with food may not work for you. Our bodies are sending each of us their own personal messages.

How we listen to those messages, what we do with that information and how we invest in this relationship will be what has the most dramatic impact on your body, your mind and your soul connection. The one thing I have learned over time is that many people have a hard time "hearing" these messages and an even harder time interpreting them. It is an intimate connection between the foods we eat and how they serve our body. Finding the balance that is right for one person will be a terrible imbalance for another.

Then there is the whole aspect of understanding the energies to be found in the foods we eat. You can imagine that the energies of a beautiful bowl of fresh seasonal fruit is going to be quite different than that of a cupcake. Tuning into these energies, seeking what our body needs in the moment, what our mind and soul are seeking is all part of the equation. There are times when that cupcake are extremely important and satisfying and brings the "just right" energy to our body! Just as there are times when the bowl of fruit is the optimal choice.

Over the past several years I have developed a lovely relationship with my body and food. I have learned to listen to the messages. I have shifted my thinking about good versus bad foods. I have delighted my soul with powerful unique energies that keep me balanced and vibrant and alive! I have shared this understanding with many. Over time Finding Your True North Food was born.

Everyone can have a balanced and satisfying relationship with their body and food. Every relationship will be different. Learning how to nurture this relationship, to understand it, to keep it sound and balanced is an important aspect of our well being; body, mind and soul.

Blessings, Lisa