So the days consisted of the basics – getting wood in, shoveling and preparing food, with time for contemplation and other quiet pursuits.

Delicious!!!

February is often referred to as the month of Love. So give yourself some Love, some time for YOU and sink into the deliciousness of being alive! I’ve put together a February package to help you slow down, spend some quiet time with yourself checking in and deepening into your inner world.

Generating Joy: Release the Struggle, Embrace the Mystery is full of short food-for-thought passages wonderful for contemplation, journaling or learning new self help tools. Sample Pages from this book

And (choose one or two blends)

Acceptance – Where do you spend your energy resources? Can you let go of the judgment, the anger, the guilt, the depression? Would you rather utilize your creative energies in love? Rose, Chamomile and Palma Rosa combine to bring in deeper levels of love, compassion and self acceptance. Tap into your wholeness in mind, body and spirit. Accept yourself for all that you are and you will find an increased ability to accept others for who they are.

Openness – Are you running your life on autopilot without really paying attention to what the different parts of yourself are doing? Many people have a disconnection within themselves between their body and their mind, between their emotional realm and their deeper knowingness. Neroli, Myrrh and Juniper help to reestablish the links within. Open to your whole self and the more that you know you are. Open to the freedom of expression, to new experiences and perceptual shifts. Is it time to move towards the possibility of living a more fully expressed life?

Presence – Are you caught up in thoughts of the past or future, missing out on your NOW experience? Does your mind wander off? Being present to what is going on right now, in this moment, takes practice and is a necessary skill for fully enjoying your  life. If your thoughts are forever somewhere else, you miss right now and your life will have only been partially lived. This blend offers you the sweet woods of Cedar, Rosewood and Benzoin to support your greater Presence in the world.

Wisdom – Where do you source your wisdom? Are you always looking outside of yourself for the answers? While you can learn great things from others, there comes a time when you need to begin sourcing your wisdom from within. It is simply a skill that can be developed over time. Bay Laurel, Fir and Spruce will support self understanding, self reflection and the capacity to perceive and discern both the revealed and the hidden, leading you to the development of your own innate wisdom.

Option 1: Choose one blend + Generating Joy for $29.95

Option 2: Choose two blends + Generating Joy for $44.95

Workshop Pricing

Option 1 w/1 blend $29.95 USD Option 2 w/2 blends $44.95 USD

What blend(s) would you like?

Shipping is always free on the Featured Product. Good through February 2012.

Also, I’ve extended the Coaching Special through February as well. Is it time to move through the blocks that have kept you from living the life you deeply long for? Are you ready to be done with feeling alone and invisible or under expressed in some way?

Take some time. Enjoy the many blessings of your life.

And I ask you, as you become more of you who you are, free of my expectations of how I think you should be, that you will share the overflow of your love of self with me.

As we do for ourselves what we cannot do for each other, may we both vow to always share the joy and love of who we really are with each other.

New Vows For A Relationship and Partnership Of Love

The Promise Of The Positives

I promise to myself that I will be responsible for my own happiness.

I promise that I will be responsible for staying in touch with my own needs and responsible for finding ways to get those needs met that are not dependent upon you.

I also promise that I will not take upon myself the burden of thinking that I have to make you happy or keep you happy.

I promise to let you do that for yourself.

I promise not to hold you hostage to accept and love in me what I have not loved and accepted in myself.

I promise that I will not find a part in you that I don’t believe is in me and love it in you instead of finding and loving that within myself.

I will also not be upset when you are not the part I need you to be for me when I can’t find it within myself
.
I will not hold you hostage to be for me what I cannot be for myself.

I will let you be free to find what makes you happy as well.

I will not be or feel responsible to keep you happy. I will let you be honest with yourself about that and find it in your way.

I will not try to be for you what you are having trouble being for yourself.

I will not be responsible for either your happiness nor will I be a stand in for what you believe I have in me that you fear does not exist in you. I promise this especially to the best of my ability.

I promise you that I will not try to be what you are not, so you can feel complete because of your relationship with me.

I will not fall in love with you or stay in love with you (or call it love) because of what you complete in me. I will complete in myself what is incomplete and not hold you responsible to be what I have not yet become.

As I do, I will share the overflow of my love of self with you.
I will not expect you or hold you to be for me what I cannot be for myself.

As I become more of who I really am,
I will share the overflow of that love of myself with you.

And I ask you, as you become more of you who you are, free of my expectations of how I think you should be, that you will share the overflow of your love of self with me.

As we do for ourselves what we cannot do for each other, may we both vow to always share the joy and love of who we really are with each other.

Just so I remember it, I will vow it again.

I will not allow you to “complete” me.

I will not allow myself to think that I can “complete” you.

I promise to be free and to free you in your journey of becoming the self you have to love before you can give the overflow of that love to me.

I will not get stuck in loving and admiring in you what I don’t believe is in myself.

I will not allow you to love in me what you believe is in me and not in you, nor will I allow you to hold me hostage when I cannot be what you think you need because you are not there yourself. I ask the same of you.

I want the over flow of your love for yourself and I promise to give you the over flow of the love I have for myself.

When I need you for the wrong things and the wrong reasons, I give you permission to tell me that I am holding you responsible for what you cannot do or give in this or any relationship.

In the authentic expression of your uniqueness, and I in the expression of mine, we choose to aim to become what true partners can become for each other and for the world.

I will love you unconditionally as you are and expect the same from you.

If we bring children into the world or adopt those already here, we promise each other that it will not be for them to complete and fulfill in us how we are not fulfilled, but to share the overflow of our relationship of honest love for the other with those we are making dependent upon us for as short a time, in their lives, as possible.

We will free them as we have freed each other from “needing” us for the wrong reasons. They will have an example of what relationships and partnerships can be and positively produce in freedom.

Here is the link to it in case you want to subscribe to the Power of Positive Relationships

Read The Question that Holds the Lantern by John O’Donohue, PhD in its entirety.

So as I was driving down the gorge this morning I was thinking about a conversation I recently had about leaving the nest, spreading our wings and flying.  And this could be any situation that you have found comfortable (home, job, relationship, mindset, preconceived ideas …) but you also know or sense it is about time to move on – to spread your wings and fly out into the bigger world.

Right as I finished that thought, something caught my eye off to the left. As I looked over I saw a bald eagle flying alongside me. Whoa – beautiful – inspiring – stunning against the snow dusted gorge. Yeah, time to spread wings and fly. What about you? Time to broaden your perspective, your vision, your life?

January 2012

What brought you to the study of aromatherapy and natural lifestyles?

Actually I was drawn to them at the Seattle Health and Wellness Expo in 1990.  My children were little and I wanted to raise them in the healthiest way possible – oh the stories I could tell of the rock solid birthday cakes I made as I began the journey into whole grains. But I digress.

Aromatherapy caught my attention at such a deep level that it is a bit hard to describe, but similar to finding something that had been a part of your life long, long ago and you are being reunited. Not a conscious remembering, but more of a soul recognition.

That opened to door to the study of wellness in all its forms and I’ve been on that journey ever since.

What inspired you to create your line of products?

So many of us have had the experience of living in survival mode. And many are feeling complete with that and ready to move on into actually thriving and upleveling the quality of life. My piece in this to-date has been offering and teaching personal empowerment through energy work. But that only reaches those who are drawn to energy work.

So the question became how else can I support this process? Aromatherapy was a natural choice. I’ve seen and experienced the benefits over many years and it felt like it was time to let some of my blends go public. It was actually more of a deep impulse than a strategic business plan.

How did you come up with the name and the line of products?

What we are doing now globally is awakening to the essence of who we are. And tapping into that essence has been at the heart of my work for years. That is what my business (Awakening Essence) is about: Supporting women to be fully and deeply connected to Self so they can easily access their own power and wisdom within resulting in full presence and complete participation in their life.

It is also describes the blends – they are essences to help awaken and strengthen your innate qualities such as Insight, Relatedness, Presence …  so I kept the same name. Down the road I may need to change the business name from Awakening Essence to Expressing Your Essence, but again I digress.

The line of blends actually grew out of some of the energy work that I offer (EMF Balancing Technique). The focus of the work is moving into your next level of balance with the end result being personal empowerment. The foundational sessions balance your head and heart for better decision making, release past ties that no longer serve you so you can reclaim your energy, teach you to stand in your core power and step out to create those things you want. Creating blends to support that process was a natural step – and turned into the Heart and Soul Kit which includes Harmonious Hum, Purity, Stillness and Inspired Action.

The next set of sessions revolve around stepping into Mastery of those attributes or qualities you want to bring forth in your life, such as Trust, Patience, Joyfulness, Courage…. Again creating blends to support that process was what I was drawn to do. I love being able to strengthen my Confidence when I’m really not feeling it, or heading into a work project with my Focus on.

Would you benefit from being more Compassionate with yourself, which would lead to more compassion with others? What if you were able to have more Patience with yourself – how might that ripple out into the world?

I think we’re at a time when we are opening up to a more authentic lifestyle, and we are learning how to step into our mastery of life beyond survival. These are attributes, or qualities, that I believe we all deeply long for in our lives. I believe these blends will be of great assistance in that realm.

What importance do you place on quality of materials that go into your product line?

Quality materials results in a quality product! The purer, the better – simple as that. My ingredients list is simply essential oils and rice bran oil as a carrier – it soaks in nicely and I’ve never met anyone that had an allergic reaction to it. Everything is made in small batches and kept in the refrigerator. As much as possible I use organic or wild crafted but in any case, they are all medicinal grade essential oils. Nothing synthetic.

We are so inundated with pollutants and toxins it’s astounding. I encourage everyone to learn more about what it is they are putting on and in their body and environment. And then choose wisely. And also realize that your choices teach to and affect future generations.

What is your vision for your business?

My vision is to step out and collaborate with others in upleveling our understanding and lived experience of holistic wellness in all its forms so that we can each live the life we deeply long for and contribute in the greatest way possible.

And by utilizing our holistic intelligence we gain access to deeper levels of connection, care, creativity and wellbeing knowing that as we step into our authenticity even more, we support others to do the same.

Exactly how that will look I don’t know – I am open to the possibilities that are bigger than what I can see in this moment. I am simply taking one step at a time, focused on the broader vision of being in service to our awakening.

Could you share a bit about your book?

Absolutely. Thank you for asking. Generating Joy: Release the Struggle, Embrace the Mystery was a project I took on in 2011 as a way of helping people begin to shift from the belief that life is a struggle to one of inquiry, possibility and opportunity. It’s written in bite size pieces, so you can open it to any page and find thoughts and questions to ponder, meditate with or journal around. And I decided from the beginning that even if it helped only one person increase their awareness and joy in life, I would call it a success. The feedback has been wonderful, so I’m calling it a success, right here, right now! It’s available at your local book seller or on Amazon – and here are Sample Pages – Generating Joy

And anything else you would like to share…….

I want to express my deep appreciation for your work over so many years. Your courses and newsletters have certainly supported me in my learning throughout the years – I still have my 1998 edition of your course, along with all the updates, of course. And your new online format is wonderful! Thank you for what you do and for your commitment to do it so well – it’s so important.

An intention is a direction, an aspiration, a big picture goal. It’s a statement of what you are moving towards. I intend to take better care of myself or I intend to play more.

A commitment is an act of will and integrity. It is giving your word to follow through on something. I commit to working out 3 times this week or I am committed to doing something just for the fun of it every week in January.

It’s important to keep your commitments – and that begins with the commitments to yourself. If you don’t trust your ability to be honest with yourself, how can you trust yourself in anything you say or think, much less anyone else? But if there is some reason that it really can’t happen, renegotiate the commitment in good faith as soon as you can.

Committing to huge goals can be setting yourself up for failure. Instead, intend the huge goal, but use smaller, consistent commitments to get there. One step at a time. Just one, small committed step.

Move into this exciting new year with awareness of your intentions and commitments – and make it the BEST one yet!!!

This is a guest post by Marc at http://www.marcandangel.com. Here it is, a positive ‘to-do’ list for the upcoming year – 30 things to start doing for yourself:

1. Start spending time with the right people. – These are the people you enjoy, who love and appreciate you, and who encourage you to improve in healthy and exciting ways.  They are the ones who make you feel more alive, and not only embrace who you are now, but also embrace and embody who you want to be, unconditionally.
2. Start facing your problems head on. – It isn’t your problems that define you, but how you react to them and recover from them.  Problems will not disappear unless you take action.  Do what you can, when you can, and acknowledge what you’ve done.  It’s all about taking baby steps in the right direction, inch by inch.  These inches count, they add up to yards and miles in the long run.
3. Start being honest with yourself about everything. – Be honest about what’s right, as well as what needs to be changed.  Be honest about what you want to achieve and who you want to become.  Be honest with every aspect of your life, always.  Because you are the one person you can forever count on.  Search your soul, for the truth, so that you truly know who you are.  Once you do, you’ll have a better understanding of where you are now and how you got here, and you’ll be better equipped to identify where you want to go and how to get there.  Read The Road Less Traveled.
4. Start making your own happiness a priority. – Your needs matter.  If you don’t value yourself, look out for yourself, and stick up for yourself, you’re sabotaging yourself.  Remember, it IS possible to take care of your own needs while simultaneously caring for those around you.  And once your needs are met, you will likely be far more capable of helping those who need you most.
5. Start being yourself, genuinely and proudly. – Trying to be anyone else is a waste of the person you are.  Be yourself.  Embrace that individual inside you that has ideas, strengths and beauty like no one else.  Be the person you know yourself to be – the best version of you – on your terms.  Above all, be true to YOU, and if you cannot put your heart in it, take yourself out of it.
6. Start noticing and living in the present. – Right now is a miracle.  Right now is the only moment guaranteed to you.  Right now is life.  So stop thinking about how great things will be in the future.  Stop dwelling on what did or didn’t happen in the past.  Learn to be in the ‘here and now’ and experience life as it’s happening.  Appreciate the world for the beauty that it holds, right now.
7. Start valuing the lessons your mistakes teach you. – Mistakes are okay; they’re the stepping stones of progress.  If you’re not failing from time to time, you’re not trying hard enough and you’re not learning.  Take risks, stumble, fall, and then get up and try again.  Appreciate that you are pushing yourself, learning, growing and improving.  Significant achievements are almost invariably realized at the end of a long road of failures.  One of the ‘mistakes’ you fear might just be the link to your greatest achievement yet.
8. Start being more polite to yourself. – If you had a friend who spoke to you in the same way that you sometimes speak to yourself, how long would you allow that person to be your friend?  The way you treat yourself sets the standard for others.  You must love who you are or no one else will.
9. Start enjoying the things you already have. – The problem with many of us is that we think we’ll be happy when we reach a certain level in life – a level we see others operating at – your boss with her corner office, that friend of a friend who owns a mansion on the beach, etc.  Unfortunately, it takes awhile before you get there, and when you get there you’ll likely have a new destination in mind.  You’ll end up spending your whole life working toward something new without ever stopping to enjoy the things you have now.  So take a quiet moment every morning when you first awake to appreciate where you are and what you already have.
10. Start creating your own happiness. – If you are waiting for someone else to make you happy, you’re missing out.  Smile because you can.  Choose happiness.  Be the change you want to see in the world.  Be happy with who you are now, and let your positivity inspire your journey into tomorrow.  Happiness is often found when and where you decide to seek it.  If you look for happiness within the opportunities you have, you will eventually find it.  But if you constantly look for something else, unfortunately, you’ll find that too.  Read Stumbling on Happiness.
11. Start giving your ideas and dreams a chance. – In life, it’s rarely about getting a chance; it’s about taking a chance.  You’ll never be 100% sure it will work, but you can always be 100% sure doing nothing won’t work.  Most of the time you just have to go for it!  And no matter how it turns out, it always ends up just the way it should be.  Either you succeed or you learn something.  Win-Win.
12. Start believing that you’re ready for the next step. – You are ready!  Think about it.  You have everything you need right now to take the next small, realistic step forward.  So embrace the opportunities that come your way, and accept the challenges – they’re gifts that will help you to grow.
13. Start entering new relationships for the right reasons. – Enter new relationships with dependable, honest people who reflect the person you are and the person you want to be.  Choose friends you are proud to know, people you admire, who show you love and respect – people who reciprocate your kindness and commitment.  And pay attention to what people do, because a person’s actions are much more important than their words or how others represent them.
14. Start giving new people you meet a chance. – It sounds harsh, but you cannot keep every friend you’ve ever made.  People and priorities change.  As some relationships fade others will grow.  Appreciate the possibility of new relationships as you naturally let go of old ones that no longer work.  Trust your judgment.  Embrace new relationships, knowing that you are entering into unfamiliar territory.  Be ready to learn, be ready for a challenge, and be ready to meet someone that might just change your life forever.
15. Start competing against an earlier version of yourself. – Be inspired by others, appreciate others, learn from others, but know that competing against them is a waste of time.  You are in competition with one person and one person only – yourself.  You are competing to be the best you can be.  Aim to break your own personal records.
16. Start cheering for other people’s victories. – Start noticing what you like about others and tell them.  Having an appreciation for how amazing the people around you are leads to good places – productive, fulfilling, peaceful places.  So be happy for those who are making progress.  Cheer for their victories.  Be thankful for their blessings, openly.  What goes around comes around, and sooner or later the people you’re cheering for will start cheering for you.
17. Start looking for the silver lining in tough situations. – When things are hard, and you feel down, take a few deep breaths and look for the silver lining – the small glimmers of hope.  Remind yourself that you can and will grow stronger from these hard times.  And remain conscious of your blessings and victories – all the things in your life that are right.  Focus on what you have, not on what you haven’t.
18. Start forgiving yourself and others. – We’ve all been hurt by our own decisions and by others.  And while the pain of these experiences is normal, sometimes it lingers for too long.  We relive the pain over and over and have a hard time letting go.  Forgiveness is the remedy.  It doesn’t mean you’re erasing the past, or forgetting what happened.  It means you’re letting go of the resentment and pain, and instead choosing to learn from the incident and move on with your life.
19. Start helping those around you. – Care about people.  Guide them if you know a better way.  The more you help others, the more they will want to help you.  Love and kindness begets love and kindness.  And so on and so forth.
20. Start listening to your own inner voice. – If it helps, discuss your ideas with those closest to you, but give yourself enough room to follow your own intuition.  Be true to yourself.  Say what you need to say.  Do what you know in your heart is right.
21. Start being attentive to your stress level and take short breaks. – Slow down.  Breathe.  Give yourself permission to pause, regroup and move forward with clarity and purpose.  When you’re at your busiest, a brief recess can rejuvenate your mind and increase your productivity.  These short breaks will help you regain your sanity and reflect on your recent actions so you can be sure they’re in line with your goals.
22. Start noticing the beauty of small moments. – Instead of waiting for the big things to happen – marriage, kids, big promotion, winning the lottery – find happiness in the small things that happen every day.  Little things like having a quiet cup of coffee in the early morning, or the delicious taste and smell of a homemade meal, or the pleasure of sharing something you enjoy with someone else, or holding hands with your partner.  Noticing these small pleasures on a daily basis makes a big difference in the quality of your life.
23. Start accepting things when they are less than perfect. – Remember, ‘perfect’ is the enemy of ‘good.’  One of the biggest challenges for people who want to improve themselves and improve the world is learning to accept things as they are.  Sometimes it’s better to accept and appreciate the world as it is, and people as they are, rather than to trying to make everything and everyone conform to an impossible ideal.  No, you shouldn’t accept a life of mediocrity, but learn to love and value things when they are less than perfect.
24. Start working toward your goals every single day. – Remember, the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.  Whatever it is you dream about, start taking small, logical steps every day to make it happen.  Get out there and DO something!  The harder you work the luckier you will become.  While many of us decide at some point during the course of our lives that we want to answer our calling, only an astute few of us actually work on it.  By ‘working on it,’ I mean consistently devoting oneself to the end result.  Read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
25. Start being more open about how you feel. – If you’re hurting, give yourself the necessary space and time to hurt, but be open about it.  Talk to those closest to you.  Tell them the truth about how you feel.  Let them listen.  The simple act of getting things off your chest and into the open is your first step toward feeling good again.
26. Start taking full accountability for your own life. – Own your choices and mistakes, and be willing to take the necessary steps to improve upon them.  Either you take accountability for your life or someone else will.  And when they do, you’ll become a slave to their ideas and dreams instead of a pioneer of your own.  You are the only one who can directly control the outcome of your life.  And no, it won’t always be easy.  Every person has a stack of obstacles in front of them.  But you must take accountability for your situation and overcome these obstacles.  Choosing not to is choosing a lifetime of mere existence.
27. Start actively nurturing your most important relationships. – Bring real, honest joy into your life and the lives of those you love by simply telling them how much they mean to you on a regular basis.  You can’t be everything to everyone, but you can be everything to a few people.  Decide who these people are in your life and treat them like royalty.  Remember, you don’t need a certain number of friends, just a number of friends you can be certain of.
28. Start concentrating on the things you can control. – You can’t change everything, but you can always change something.  Wasting your time, talent and emotional energy on things that are beyond your control is a recipe for frustration, misery and stagnation.  Invest your energy in the things you can control, and act on them now.
29. Start focusing on the possibility of positive outcomes. – The mind must believe it CAN do something before it is capable of actually doing it.  The way to overcome negative thoughts and destructive emotions is to develop opposing, positive emotions that are stronger and more powerful.  Listen to your self-talk and replace negative thoughts with positive ones.  Regardless of how a situation seems, focus on what you DO WANT to happen, and then take the next positive step forward.  No, you can’t control everything that happens to you, but you can control how you react to things.  Everyone’s life has positive and negative aspects – whether or not you’re happy and successful in the long run depends greatly on which aspects you focus on.  Read The How of Happiness.
30. Start noticing how wealthy you are right now. – Henry David Thoreau once said, “Wealth is the ability to fully experience life.”  Even when times are tough, it’s always important to keep things in perspective.  You didn’t go to sleep hungry last night.  You didn’t go to sleep outside.  You had a choice of what clothes to wear this morning.  You hardly broke a sweat today.  You didn’t spend a minute in fear.  You have access to clean drinking water.  You have access to medical care.  You have access to the Internet.  You can read.  Some might say you are incredibly wealthy, so remember to be grateful for all the things you do have.

Tap or rub your K-27 points (see below) to restore the natural direction of the meridian flow. This gives you increased stamina. In fact, Tapping or rubbing your K-27′s is a simple exercise that will energize you if you are feeling drowsy and help you focus if you are having difficulty concentrating.

To tap your K-27 points do the following:
1. Place your fingers on your K-27 points.
2. Tap or rub vigorously for 15-30 seconds.
3. Focus on your breathing, in through your nose and out through your mouth.

Not sure if you’re tapping the right spot? To locate your K-27 points:

• Place your fingers on your collarbone and move them inward towards the U-shaped notch at the top of your breastbone.
• Move your fingers to the bottom of the U and then move down and out about an inch to find the spots.
• For most people there is a soft spot or indentation there at the location of their K-27 points.

Shared from Eden Energy Medicine newsletter

Sessions in Hood River are listed here

and this is an Awakening Essence Brochure

Let me define these terms: an evolutionary is someone who understands that the transformation of our world depends upon our willingness to evolve ourselves and is committed to making that happen. Feminine Power, unlike masculine power which is the power to create those things that can be controlled, feminine power is the power to create those things that are beyond our control, but which our hearts most deeply long for such as love, care, connection, self expression, creativity, right livelihood and meaningful contributions to the world with a brighter future for generations to come.

I’ve been working with the the same desire and commitment all along and now offer it in different formats. Energy work, Body work or Coaching work – all based on the empowered yin or feminine power that has largely laid quiet for quite a while. Oh but the times they are a changin’. 

Currently I am in the Feminine Power Transformational Coaching and Leadership Program which I am most excited about. And in early 2012 I will be offering one-on-one coaching to help you rock your world by transforming some aspect of your life. It’s powerful, dynamic and not for the meek. It takes courage and commitment to shift at this level, and I will be with you each step of the way. It’s a 7 week program and I’ll have more information available fairly soon.

I look forward to stepping into this next stage of my commitment to be in service to the uplift and flourishing of the world, supporting you to step into the life of your dreams.