New Leaf Mentoring … new thought. new health. new life.

Posts tagged ‘acceptance’

Shadows of Sadness – Foundations for Joy!


As we pledge ourselves promises of resolution for the year ahead we are too often focusing purely on our own perceived shortcomings and failings; things we want to correct. Even without dwelling on it we can gently witness the sadness that sits back in the shadows of ourselves. Our true sadness is built on our intimate losses, our perceptions of pain and suffering, and feelings of not being enough. As we move toward the end of the month we are already aware of our patterns and whether or not we are going to be able to set ourselves free this year.

We live in a world of opposites, a dualistic expression of possibility. Yin – yang, negative – positive, light – dark, hard – soft, on and on; there are as many polar pairs as you can imagine. Everything is related on one scale. Everything also belongs to the one whole. And in this way everything is one. Everything is an aspect of its opposite and everything is relative to the whole. This is life on earth, these are the rules of our play ground. Unfortunately we are prone to judgment and for what ever reason – sadness is bad, joy is good.

Choosing the Middle Road – A Road of Grace

As we move into the energies of the Aquarian Age it is time to choose the middle road. It’s time to choose grace. On the middle road, we acknowledge our emotions and feel our feelings but don’t allow them to dominate the whole of our being. We don’t swing madly from one extreme to the other indulging in toxic patterns. The middle road offers sanity and well-being. It means we lighten up, cut ourselves some slack, and issue a bit of compassion toward ourselves and others. It means we allow our highest truth to govern us and not the biased truth of a moment’s perception.

Sadness can be found in a laugh, in a smile, or in the split second clinging of a boisterous hug. I have nothing against sadness – it doesn’t scare me to look into the face of it. It’s real. Sadness often reveals a genuine hurt a soul has endured. I feel great empathy for the sadness in people. It’s a quiet soulful awareness of tender caring and of having felt life fully and deeply. It is an honourable emotion.

I’m not talking about the noisy poor me, woe is me, can’t catch a break kind of sadness that is worn on the sleeve and ambushes anyone within earshot from time to time. The sadness I’m talking about is quiet, obscure and discreet. It is humble and tender. It sits as a ghost in the shadows, almost undefinable, and while it depends on its obscurity to stay hidden it flits in and out of daily life all the same. 

Hiding in the Light

Sadness can hide in any face in a million ways, just beneath a twinkle in the eye, deep in the structure of a laugh line, in the set of a jaw or a certain thoughtful furrow in the brow. It adds depth and dimension to the personality. It adds character. In other words, it is constructive.

Sadness is on the same sliding scale as joy. Ironically, very often, the people with the deepest sadness are the ones we recognize and depend on to be happy, proactive people. Because of the huge spectrum of authenticity of emotion these people hold within they often become the ones we trust intuitively. We know they’ve been where we’ve been. We know that they too have experienced the depth of the emotional ocean blocking the light of the sun. But they are walking proof that you can and indeed will rise to the surface again into the light to breathe a fresh breath of life. In the light of awareness sadness can be used to transform the most terrible of human suffering into freedom, strength and joy!

Out of the Shadows

Acknowledged sadness adds a type of high-octane fuel to living a good life.

Sadness has the ability to temper the soul with benevolence and compassion. With the intimate personal knowledge of sadness we are better equipped to be present to our fellow-man. Having already come through the sadness we know more of what we are capable of and the challenges we can survive. This torch that we carry lights the way for others. It is your responsibility to be a constant reminder to others, not of the sadness that may linger as a barbed thread still connected to a painful memory but of ultimate faith in the tenacity of Spirit flowing.

Before you add your broken resolutions to your list of sadness, spend a little time getting to know the sad part of you. Acknowledge the broken-hearted part of you that fears and wavers in the light of exposure. Your sadness has made you stronger than you realize. Dare to see the same sadness reflected in the face of others and smile to it. We are able to be joyful beyond measure when we embrace this. Your sadness offers you a great reservoir of strength and resource with which you can serve yourself  and others faithfully. Walk with grace. Sadness is great, joy is great!

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For the Love of Cats…I’m starting to purr! Help!


I have cats. Waayyy too many cats! Striped ones, solid coloured ones, bi-colours, and in more shades of gray than you can imagine. There are predictions being made around my loved ones that I will become that crazy cat lady with the wind chimes that does tarot cards in the old house on the edge of town. Hmmm…it’s hard to argue with that since that pretty much sums up my life already. I’m just not crazy…yet! I think…

But in the meantime what can you do? It is what it is! So yes, in the meantime I have too many cats. But seriously they’re lovely! Each one unique in personality and markings, each one with a lovely, generous nature.

My Favorite Teacher Was A Cat!

Cats, especially kittens in a litter, are endlessly amusing. Cats are remarkable teachers for us mere humans – ask any cat. They have no doubt in the superiority of their species. When we learn from the habits and behaviors of various animal and bird species we can refer to this practice as animal medicine. The commonly accepted teachings from cats are about independence and self-love. But, I can tell you from my experience of living in the midst of a colony of cats the teachings go way beyond self-love.

Cats are heartful, self less creatures and endlessly demonstrative in their love. They are far less independent than people like to think they are. People like the idea of having 1 cat but cats like the company of their own kind. As much as they like their independence, they love being within the snuggling distance of other cats. They are excessively affectionate animals with a strong social order within their colony. They have many rituals that center around looking after one another. They groom each other, they hug each other, they cry for each other, they wrestle ferociously and play tag together. The older ones teach the younger ones how to behave, how to hunt, how to stalk, how to have respect for the elders in the group. There are strict rules and penalties for stepping out of line, anything from boxing to swatting to nipping. But cats are guileless, they never hold a grudge. When they warn or punish each other it is done without creating fear. They set a clear boundary that the others respect without question but in the next second they are back to purring and loving each other unconditionally, so long as the lesson has been learned. Cats are tenacious and demanding in their needs. They are alert and on watch every second, highly sensitive to the energy around them and always tuned in to their environment and all that is happening within it. Their natural curiosity often leads them to the brink of disaster, but in the end they just grow and learn and carry on to live another one of their 9 lives. Yes I believe there is a lot we can learn from living with and observing cats.

Reiki Cats; Whose Treating Who?

All my cats have been ‘Reiki’ed since the day they were born. I actually think cats do Reiki naturally. There have been times when I am very aware of my cat being more attuned, more in harmony with universal energy than I am in a particular moment. They are always willing to give a treatment. They are instinctively hardwired to know where to place their paws (as well as the rest of their bodies) to facilitate healing. I often have cat assistants when I’m doing Reiki sessions. They are natural meditaters too, they can sit in posture for unlimited amounts of time, fully conscious, fully present, yet un-distractable from their meditative state. They create a space of calmness and peaceful acceptance for whatever is, and everyone who has the pleasure of having a cat for company is bound to be entrained into the same peaceful, unconditional energy very quickly. I think I’m actually starting to purr and find myself wanting to frolic in the garden! Oh no!

Sharing the Love

But all this said folks – we have a serious problem on our hands with an exploding cat population. The local humane societies are completely and totally overwhelmed and over run with cats and kittens. They need your support for their spay and neuter programs, for food, for litter. If you have it in your heart to adopt a cat please don’t hesitate, they are the worthiest of friends, faithful confidants, endlessly committed to your happiness and well-being. If you can please try to help these societies out. Any donations are welcome. The populations of stray and feral cats is escalating at an alarming rate. It may not seem to be your problem, but it is in fact a societal issue.

I love my cats, and they have all been loved well, but this doesn’t mean that I can’t give several of them up to good homes where they will continue to be loved as much as they want to be. And believe me the sooner the better! We honestly have too many!! (The picture at left only shows a few of them).

I am blessed in the love of my cats and I am purrfectly willing to share that blissful state with you! As soon as possible – that’s just the kind of reiki master, wind chime and cat lover I am!

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A New Leaf


There comes a time when we have to make changes. I know making changes is difficult. It is the human way to become attached – to everything. But as we learn, as we grow, it is important to portray ourselves on the outside in ways that reflect the changes we are going through on the inside. My friends and clients that have known me for many years of my business journey tease me about the way my business image keeps changing every few years. It’s true…at least on the surface. Changing is what my business is all about. Whether it’s with the Reiki, the Metaphysics Workshops, the Living Well Seminars, or my articles, it’s all about helping people stimulate, create, and maintain the changes they want to manifest in their lives. Likewise for myself.

We’re all looking for happiness and peace of mind. What that means is different for each one of us. How that looks on the outside may be  different but in the end we all want the same things; we want to be heard, we want to matter, and we want to be accepted. These elements are the root of all the changes we ever try to implement in our lives. They are the essence of all that it means to be human. It is perhaps even the common purpose that binds us and in the same moment propels the evolution of humanity forward.

Gregg Braden identified the three common fears of mankind to be i) a fear of surrender, ii) a fear of loss of self-worth, and iii) a fear of abandonment. We spend our lives doing what we need to do to try to overcome these fears. We strive to leave a mark in this world that survives our death.

Change is an interesting illusion of our minds. I’m not sure that we ever really change in our core. I believe we are what we are. I also believe that we don’t always know what we are and can spend a lifetime trying to find out. We can get so side tracked in life that we can head off on a path at a very early age that can leave us lost for a long time. To make sense out of a life we feel disconnected from we buy into and build up all the trappings that make us appear to be solid citizens. Eventually that solid looking box begins to crack and disintegrate leaving us confused, angry and afraid if we continue trying to hold on to it.

Everything in our world is impermanent. Everything material and physical changes. Our physical body will also change and die. But spirit lives on. I’m not talking about reincarnation here. I’m talking about the spirit of humanity, the spirit of the Divine Principle, the spirit of God. Our essential purpose is to live that spirit as fully as possible within the expression we are.

And so we change, everyday, trying to be more fully what we are. As the days go by we either choose to do things differently, letting go of everything that no longer fits or we choose to hold on tighter, trying to create a reality that would fool the best of them. It is the heart that will guide you towards the changes you want, and your mind will decide if you do or don’t. If there is disharmony between the heart and mind you will stay locked in a battle that will seep toxicity into all areas of your life. Change doesn’t have to be cruel or harsh. If we decide to make changes freely and easily, consulting with our heart and mind, we can make smaller, incremental changes that reflect our truth, stimulate our passion and empower our presence in the world.

My new business logo and image are reflective of a new lighter, brighter sense of myself and my work. The truth is I’m all about growth, all about change, all about turning a New Leaf! More than anything though I am committed to doing what I have to do to build a harmonious relationship between my heart and my mind so all of me can go peacefully in one direction.

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