YouTube Channels that Inspired, Comforted & Brought Me Joy in 2020

Posted by Barbara Techel

Here we are…about to say goodbye to 2020. I can feel and hear a collective sigh. But I also hope those lessons we learned will stay with us as I believe we will need them as we move into 2021 and beyond.

One thing for me this year, which I believe I’ve mentioned here before is that I want to continue to be committed to a simple life. One in which I follow the flow of what is in alignment with who I am. 

With that said, this year I discovered some channels on YouTube that inspired me along this theme. I thought maybe you’d enjoy learning about them too. So I share below my list of YouTube creators that inspired me, comforted me, and brought me joy this year. And I know I’ll continue to look forward to their updates in 2021!

They are in no particular order as I’d have a hard time picking one as a favorite. They all have something special to offer!..and a few of them have some animal friends that always make me smile!

Fairyland Cottage – Healthy recipes, simple living, and natural products for health and wellbeing all filmed in Ireland where creator, Niamh lives.

The Cottage Fairy –  Paola (don’t you just love her name?) has the sweetest little country cottage where she shares snippets of her world living as an artist in rural Washington State. I took her up on donating to her channel which brought a darling postcard of her art to me in the mail! It’s now on my bulletin board of inspiration in my Joyful Pause cottage. She also has an adorable black bunny and sweet black Lab, plus now and then you’ll catch a glimpse of her mom’s dachshund!

Kirsten and Joerg – These two are the cutest and most endearing couple! Middle-aged, living in the UK, but originally from Germany. They share travel tips in the UK – English style & fashion – Gluten-free recipes – Romantic Britain – Romantic Interior & Vintage shopping, and so much more.

Trout and Coffee – This man is a beautiful storyteller. Set in quaint New England he shares the cozy cabin he built, plus good times with friends…and of course, coffee is involved too.  🙂

The Unexpected Gypsy – Several years ago, Wendy, an artist, gave up a mortgage, a job & everything familiar to her and traveled around Europe with her partner James in their campervan! It completely changed her life & gave her time to concentrate fully on her art practice. She is now settled (for now!) in the almost smallest city in the UK – Wells and has an art studio just down the road in Glastonbury.

Simple Living with Scandish Home – Try and not fall in love with Noemi. She is so sweet! She posts videos every week about cleaning, organizing, decluttering, gluten and dairy-free recipes, home decor, DIY, and natural living. She’s a watercolor artist who also loves to cook for her family and has a passion to create the coziest home possible.

Dori – an artist who shares updates of her journaling which I find absolutely relaxing and like a meditation!

Daughter of Old – Annabel Margaret is a freelance artist, videographer, green witch, and aspiring herbalist and shares the everyday rhythms of her life as she works in tune with the seasons and alongside nature. She has a passion for the old ways and tries her best to incorporate the practices of old into her daily life whenever she can. And she just got the cutest puppy!!

If any of them call to you I hope you have fun checking them out. Do you have any simple living and inspiring channels you follow on Youtube?  I’d love to know!

Happy New Year!

xo,

Barbara

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The Full Moon Knows

Posted by Barbara Techel

I enjoy the ritual of doing an oracle reading for myself around the new and full moons. It’s a great way of taking time for inner reflection. Today, being a full moon in cancer I took some time to do just that. My sun sign, moon, and Venus are all in cancer and in the 4th house of my personal astrology chart. The fourth house is all about the home and everything associated with it.

As I turned each card over one-by-one today my body and heart melted into what I know to be true for me and how I wish to continue to live my life in what the cards revealed. Though yes, I still struggle at times with how I think the world wishes for me to live and be. But I have the awareness from many years of practice to catch myself when I find myself thinking I should this or that. It’s my clue I’m not in alignment with myself.

So today’s reading was a big warm hug that has me still basking in it as I share it with you today. I continue to appreciate how oracle cards are like a roadmap to your living your most meaningful life, as well as, how it was for me today, confirming that I’m on the path I’m meant to be.

This reading feels very much in alignment of how I wish to move into 2021 and how I’ve gained a deeper understanding of this from lessons learned in 2020. But I’ll likely do another reading closer to the New Year and see what that has to offer also.

Card #1 – Yang: represents what I’m releasing. Yang is all about the masculine. For me, in this reading, this card says to me to continue to let go of the push and force that has been a dominant force in our society, which over the past twenty years has not felt right to me, and something I’m continually working to change. No surprise there really as I continue to deepen in this, even though it can feel challenging in a world that operates in the opposite.

Card #24 – Time for a Nap: represent what I need to heal and a way to nurture myself. As I continue to move into the flow that feels more natural, following my own rhythms, it’s important to pause and take time out to replenish myself. I’ve said before here on my blog, I’m a napper, and most days I need one. I continue to relax into acceptance of this and that it is who I am and how it benefits me in being my best self.

Card #2 – Yin: represents a seed I’m planting to take me into 2021. Are you seeing the theme here I see? This seed is one I planted many moons ago and continues to grow and take root.  This need of my soul to follow a more feminine flow and my own natural way of being.

Card #28- Building Blocks: represents a mantra to help me continue to flourish. I see this card and the mantra as repeat card #24 (Time for a Nap) and card #2 (Yin) on a daily basis. These are the building blocks that fit with who I am and how I can continue to flourish.

Support from the animal kingdom:  Skunk. The words that jumped out for me and how I see them for this reading for me personally are as follows:

Respect – respecting myself and my needs.

Peacefulness – when I live from a space that is in alignment with my heart I experience more peace within.

Strong defense – protecting and continuing to establish my boundaries so that I can continue to live in a way that feels right for my natural rhythms.

Confidence: in what I know to be right for me despite the thoughts of the outside world.

Releasing, healing, planting more seeds, supporting my spirit to flourish, and leaning into animal wisdom I look to the moon and bow in gratitude for continuing to guide me on this journey called life.

Happy Full Moon!

xo,

Barbara

If you’d like support going into 2021 a one-to-one oracle reading with me is a gift to yourself to start out the New Year on the right foot and in alignment with what your heart wishes for you. Book your session or learn more by clicking here.

Cards used: Wisdom of the Oracle by Colette Baron-Reid and Spirit Animal Awareness Cards by Ona Christie Martin

Animal Wisdom Oracle Reading – We Shine Together – Week of Dec. 28, 2020

Posted by Barbara Techel

Here we go! The last reading for 2020. Let’s take what we’ve learned as a strength and carry it with us today and into the New Year. Rabbit, Dove, and a few more winged creatures offer guidance – plus pick a card for a personal message for this the last week of 2020! 

Click here or below.

xo,

Barbara

Cards: The Spirit Animal Oracle by Colette Baron-Reid

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