Intuitive Guiding Messages

Posted by Barbara Techel
Intuitive Guiding Images
My 2017 SoulCollage card

Last year I was introduced to using twelve images, picked at random, from twelve different magazines to intuitively help create my New Year.

Initially, I was intimidated. While I enjoyed going through the meditation process for each month that led me to choosing twelve different images, when it came time to get all those images onto one 5 x 8 card fear set in. I thought there was no way I’d be able to do it.

In the “normal” process of doing SoulCollage(r) we work with an average of 2-5 images per card. I say “normal” as there is no right or wrong way to do this process, just helpful hints and suggestions. But twelve images on a card? That really did seem impossible.

But I’m happy to report I did it!!…and was quite pleased and ecstatic that I did.

Well, then I was hooked, and repeated the process again this year, which I then also facilitated a workshop at my Joyful Pause studio this past Saturday on this very process which I learned from SoulCollage(r) facilitator, Andrea Thuler who lives in Switzerland.

Above is my card I put together for 2017, which I did a few days before I taught it to seven other wise and wonderful ladies. I have to be honest and humble here…I am in love with my card!  I look at it and I can hear and see my soul with clarity, which is such a beautiful thing.

It speaks to me of my uniqueness in who I am, how I want to continue to dance more fully into who I am, how I find strength and courage from my rituals of meditation, yoga, and listening to my inner voice, how I feel the light inside me burning bright again, how my inner compass is my true guidance, and how I want to live more and more from that wild and wise person that I know I am.

But what lit me up even more was watching the participants in my workshop, half of which were new to SoulCollage(r) as they went through this process…and the revelations that it presented for them.

To watch as many began the process of letting go of what no longer serves them and finding the strength to step into who they really want to be….well, let’s just say, it was magical, priceless, and left my heart with a very good feeling, which still vibrates within me today.

I’ve walked the journey of letting go, and continue to… as like everyone else, I am a work in progress….which is perfectly OKAY…we are unfinished women, with so much more to give, finding our way to shine in this world.

One woman said of the experience, “My soul gained a little serenity today.” I wanted to weep with joy from that statement as this is the calling I’ve felt drawn to for quite some time now…

to help and encourage others to open to their own souls whispers and wisdom.

Thank you for sharing and subscribing to my blog updates.

Elmo with IVDD Rolling Again Courtesy of The Frankie Wheelchair Fund

Posted by Barbara Techel

Elmo with IVDD Rolling Again Courtesy of The Frankie Wheelchair Fund

Another pup up and rolling! Get along little doggie and roll, roll, roll!

I’m excited to share that Elmo is the 62nd dog the Frankie Wheelchair Fund granted a wheelchair to.

Elmo took right to his wheels as it seems most dachshunds do. You just can’t tell a dachshund that they can’t fly, because they are always eager to show you otherwise.

Elmo’s one ear back I’m sure is to help with speed in his new wheels and the other ear out to the side to help in navigating turns. Gotta love those determined and high spirited doxie’s!

And really good news about Elmo who was being fostered through Lovey Loaves Sanctuary is that his foster mom has become his forever mom! That deserves a spin around the floor in his slick wheels a thousand times over.

I know you will all join me in saying congratulations to dear Elmo!

Our Frankie Fund was also recently able to help a little dog named Wiz with a new saddle for his wheelchair. It seems Wiz was having an issue with his male part – and oh dear – even with a name like Wiz.

He had just gotten his new wheelchair, which has already set his caretakers back financially so they didn’t know how they could swing a new saddle so his delicate male part would be more protected.

Eddie’s Wheels contacted me asking if the Frankie Wheelchair Fund could help. And of course, we don’t want to keep a good man doxie down, so it was a pleasure to help.

While I’m on the topic of wheelie dogs today and IVDD, I want to take a moment to once again share two excellent resources regarding this disease.

I talked to a woman yesterday afternoon distraught after her 8 1/2 year old dachshund just had surgery and needed to know there is hope.

It’s a good reminder to share these resources I find so helpful and gave me peace of mind when my dear Frankie went down.

Dodgerslist is an online organization dedicated to educating the public about IVDD and helping pet owners whose pets have been given this diagnosis. I highly recommend signing up for their forum group and purchasing their three dollar DVD on living with, and caring for a dog with IVDD. 

The other relatively new resource is an excellent and very detailed book with a splash of humor written by Kristen Leydig Bryant and Dr. Adam Christman called Honey Have Your Squeezed the Dachshund. Every dachshund owner, whether your dog had IVDD or not, should have this in their library. You can purchase it on Amazon. 

Elmo’s wheelchair is custom-made by Eddie’s Wheels for Pets,- the company that I prefer and always refer when asked.

If you’d like to help me continue my mission in helping paralyzed dogs with wheelchairs you can donate to the Frankie Wheelchair Fund here.

Thank you for sharing and subscribing to my blog updates.

Kindness and a Chuckle from a Stranger

Posted by Barbara Techel
photo: Wikimedia Commons

As I pulled into a parking space at the grocery store today, my tires crunching over the ice from rain that froze overnight, I noticed him. An older man, possibly in his mid-to later 70s, walking toward his car. He stopped, looking over at me, as if waiting for me to get out of my car.

I noticed in the backseat of his car a beautiful dog, which looked to be a Carin Terrier.  I smiled.

Once out my door he said, “Are you okay to walk across the ice? Or I can assist you and you can hold onto my arm.” 

I said, “Oh, I think I’ll be fine. But thank you.” 

“You are welcome,”  he said smiling, and then added, “You sure do look nice today.” 

I sensed he didn’t mean any harm, but was just having a little fun flirting. “Oh gosh, thank you. You are sweet,”  I said.  “Is that your dog in the backseat?” 

He said, “That’s my girlfriend.” 

I chuckled. “She sure is cute.”

He said, “You see, my wife allows me to have three girlfriends. I have two girlfriends at home who are my hunting dogs and this one, she is my puppy dog girlfriend.” 

Chuckling once again at his humor, I said, “You have a very nice wife and you just made my day.” 

He said, “Well you made my day, too.” 

And on our way we both went.

I smiled practically all the way through the grocery store. And I thought about how when I was younger I would have looked away, worried that this man was weird, strange or wanted something from me.

He was harmless and just wanted to talk and in doing so, he truly did make my day with his kindness and sense of humor. And heck, even if he was flirting a bit…I thought, more power to him.  He is alive and well and making the most of his life — gotta love that!

Thank you for sharing and subscribing to my blog updates.