Tag: community

Can You Sit With Yourself?

After a short practice with Jai Dev, who is a Kundalini yoga practitioner from California, I feel much better about things today. Here’s the deal: If you can sit with yourself in a quiet location for just 10 minutes, and hold positive intention in your mind, you can change your world. That’s it. Try it.

He is an inspiration, and a comfort in times of need, like now. His point is that for thousands of years the quest of the yogi has been to use the mind as a tool. Your mind is not your master, although in some cases, it often becomes your master. Yoga is uniting body, mind, and spirit. The REAL you, or the true self, lies somewhere inside all of this concrete stuff.

When we allow our minds to take the reign and direct our action, we end up in a world of negativity, disease, and unhappiness. Sure, we have to use our minds to think. That’s a given, seeing as we almost never stop the ongoing flow of thought. But can we watch it flow? Can you observe your thoughts and identify them as just that…thoughts?

I was taught to sit in meditation and identify the thoughts going through your head, as if you were watching the clear blue sky, and a cloud would pass by here and there. That is a thought. I’m having a thought and letting it go. The thought is not going to define me as a person. Jai Dev explains that suffering is when the ability to control the mind is overwhelmed by the thinking process. It’s a great explanation. Here is a YouTube video of him talking about this:

Jai Dev Singh

I feel that this pause in social interaction and work is a great opportunity for us – if we can direct ourselves to take this time to self-heal. Now, more than ever, we are faced with a future of unknowns. We can either let this fear control us, or we can diligently work on ourselves and create a great future. Sometimes, great stuff comes out of things that are seemingly terrible.

I hope you will take personal action on this and join me in self-healing. Start with only 5 minutes a day and work your way up. The benefits are immeasurable. I wish you the best for today and the coming days.

Cheers, Deb

Coronavirus

Ugh. That’s all I have to say. When’s the last time you went through a plague? I really thought that maybe, just maybe, we had become advanced to the point of NOT experiencing something as pervasive and awful as a modern-day plague.

Here’s the thing though, I was talking to a patient recently who actually works for the CDC (Centers for Disease Control), and this was way before we knew about COVID-19. When asked what scared him or surprised him the most, he said, “you know, we really don’t have to worry about war and nuclear weapons as much as a virus that will be completely resistant and take out massive amounts of people.” Whoa…..I guess he’s on to something there.

It seems strange that I had just asked that question a few months ago, and here we are today, dealing with IT. How do we incorporate IT into our everyday lives? Many people here in the state of Colorado aren’t too freaked out as yet. We just got word that 2 people tested positive, which is much less than other areas of the country. There is concern over travel, however. Just yesterday one doctor I work with was seriously tossing around the idea of canceling his family’s vacation cruise. I have to agree with him – just make alternate plans right now.

This will affect my decision making as well. I am scheduled to meet my daughter in London in June. Can we battle it down by then? When do I have to make a decision? This takes me back to 2001, and 911. We were scheduled to travel to Germany on September 21, but ended up cancelling. At that time, we didn’t even know if international flights would happen. I guess I’ll have to wait and see on this one.

IT is different, in that IT is growing exponentially, and doesn’t know borders or cultures. IT randomly infects anyone, anywhere. Not only did I just move out of Seattle less than a year ago (one of the most infected cities in the US), but we also just got back from Italy 6 months ago. Talk about escape! I am a nurse as well….can I continue to escape the plague?

My hope is that it will somehow mutant, changing into something less deadly, or just fade away…..My other hope is that children will continue to be more difficult to infect, because that would just be the worst. Please, please, know that IT is possible, and wash, distance yourself, and avoid crowded public places for now. We will get through this, and maybe it will make us more united as a human species. Maybe it will make us more empathetic to the trials of other people around the world.

Take care of yourself. Cheers, Deb

Release of the Hawk

For the past month I have started training at the Raptor program in my city. This program is to rehabilitate birds of prey that have been injured, so they can once again take to the skies. We also house educational birds of prey that have permanent disabilities and can no longer live on their own. We take care of these birds until they die. They serve as ambassadors at community events in order to educated the public about raptors.

We treat hundreds of birds a year, and have a 78% success rate in rehabilitating who we can, and releasing them. Types of birds there include owls, hawks, falcons, eagles, merlins, occasionally osprey, and odd others I haven’t learned about yet.

Let me tell you that this is a complex operation with three shifts of staff and volunteers working every day of the year, no matter the weather conditions. There are three barn-like enclosures that house the birds, so you are working in outside conditions to check, feed, and clean the areas, whether it is 100 degrees or minus zero. It has been cold so far, and we don’t give out water due to freezing and potential injury to the birds.

Included in my duties are the illustrious “food prep”, which means gutting mice, rats, rabbits, and prairie dogs in order to feed to the injured. We literally have 10 huge ziplock bags of frozen animals in the freezer at one time. It takes some getting used to, and no…..it doesn’t smell great in there.

However, once in a while, we get to release a bird. This is a wonderful and opportune event that you may get to witness firsthand, and I did get to just yesterday. Out of the blue during my training time, the guy that is part of staff says we can all go out to release the Ferruginous Hawk that has been rehabbing there since November. I couldn’t believe my luck. Of course I went, and was not disappointed. He took to the air and circled, getting used to his old surroundings, and then went off farther than the eye could see. There went months of care, surgery, antibiotic administration, and live prey testing. Once again we will have a beautiful bird circling for prey and adorning our skies. It was a touching moment.

I hope all of you that have time, will consider being a part of a volunteer organization. Not only do you meet like-minded people, but you learn a ton. You will receive much more benefit than the effort you put forth. I believe volunteering is essential for our society to continue to thrive. You can read some info on volunteerism in a previous post: https://wordpress.com/block-editor/post/debhead.home.blog/450

Have a wonderful weekend, and YES! I did get those digestive enzymes for Valentine’s Day. Yippee!

Cheers and follow for more, Deb

Awake in a crowd

About a month ago I attended a meetup group with some strangers entitled, “Spirit readings and spiritual communication”. Having declared 2020 the year I would “vibrate higher”, I decided to attend. The reason for my declaration is simply that I have gotten to the point in my life where I am finding material things very disappointing. Don’t get me wrong, I love a nice vacation, a dependable car, a comfortable house, and the ability to afford to do what I want.

I can afford the basic stuff, I’m just not into fluff. I find no reason for clothes shopping if I don’t need that article of clothing, for instance. You may, or may not, get my drift. That’s just the point. If you DO get my drift, then you may be ready to “vibrate higher”. It is my belief that I get a lot more out of life simply by talking to people, or hanging out with people who are awake. By awake, I mean, they are also on a path of expanding their minds, their consciousness, and seeing what life is really about.

These “awake” people can connect with you on a slightly different level. You won’t talk about shopping, or mortgage rates. You won’t go out with one of them to get your nails done. But….you may strike up a conversation about what you dreamt last night, and the meaning of the dream. Or, you might talk about meditation styles, people that have been your mentors on this path, or how you intuit situations. What does life mean at the root of it? Where are we going as a human species, and on, and on,…….

I guess what I am describing is a love of mental stimulation; the ability to feel other people’s energy and share a communal peace. It’s very hippie. I know. But maybe that is what we need right now. I don’t want to watch the news, it makes me crazy. I would rather sit quietly and look at the birds outside of my window.

What I received at that meetup was in interaction with people that immediately “got me”. You may have had this experience yourself. It made me feel happy, and peaceful. One guy in attendance looked at me, and I looked at him, and we both knew we had met somewhere before, we just couldn’t place our finger on where. He said, “I like to attend these types of groups, because I just like being around other awake people.” AHA! That’s it! I ruminate on that sentence occasionally.

That’s the essence of living, to be around like-minded people that can lift you up. We travel this path together, perhaps in soul groupings that learn with each other in different incarnations (if you’re up for that belief). And even if you don’t believe that – it’s okay. You will find other like-minded people to learn with. Try to find them. Try to live in a higher vibration, and you will discover that you really don’t have to believe everything floating around in your brain. Hold onto the thoughts that serve you and throw away the others. I will continue to search for my awakened friends. If you feel like you are getting there……wherever that may be, leave me a little comment.

Hey, have a great weekend. Relax and enjoy the spin. Love, Deb

Give 2 hours of TV time

What if every able bodied adult, who had adequate resources, and a good support system, gave up 2 hours of television a week? What if they took those 2 hours and went somewhere to volunteer doing something…anything?

According to the Nielsen report, American adults watch on average slightly over 5 hours of television a day. This peaks in the winter months when there isn’t much to do. Wow! 5 hours is more than half of the average workday. Seems a little wasteful. So here’s this: get off the couch for 2 hours a week (not much of a sacrifice), and go do something for someone else.

Volunteerism in the United States is changing as technology evolves. More people are donating to nonprofits by phone, and able to work for other entities online. However, there are so many benefits to going out of your house to volunteer.

Here is my example. Before moving to Seattle in 2017, I worked about 4 hours a week at my local animal shelter. As badly as I wanted to walk the doggies, I somehow got keyholed into feeding the cats. Through the experience I got to know some of these animals. I was astounded at the time it took adult cats to get adopted, and started ardently praying that these guys wouldn’t be there the next time I went in. It sometimes took 4 to 5 months for an adult cat adoption.

I also feed the cats that were getting ready for adoption. That included the mean ones that hissed at you, and the groups of tiny, neglected kittens that went apeshit when you opened the cage. It was quite an experience. Sometimes I washed the pet dishes, or did the laundry.

Now that I am back from Seattle, I am signed up to shadow a volunteer at the local raptor program. This is a place for birds of prey that have injuries, or are permanent residents due to their injuries. They go to community events and show the birds as well, to educate people on raptors. I have been wanting to do this for a long time, but there weren’t any openings, so I hope this leads to a long and prosperous lifetime of bird care. ….we’ll see.

Think of something that you have always wanted to do. Do children need help with literacy? Do homeless need to be fed? Do you just want to volunteer at a desk, or do some computer work for a nonprofit? I urge you to give it a try. The benefits are numerous, including: providing self confidence and a sense of purpose, combating depression, and helping you stay physically healthy.

It’s a new year, and a new you. Get out there and give something, you will receive a whole lot more back than you thought.

Cheers, and please follow for more thoughts! Deb