animal communication

Animal Communication Journal, Part 1: Connecting with Musk Ox.

Posted by Barbara Techel

dawn and me eMe, Gidget and Dawn, animal communicator, author and friend

I’ve said before that I am a person that tends to wear her heart on her sleeve. I’ve been highly sensitive my whole life.

I guess it should have come as no surprise to me that being a part of the animal communication workshop I hosted in my home this past Friday and Saturday, that it would bring up many emotions for me. But what I didn’t expect was how my feelings seemed as if they were vibrating on the surface of my skin.

At times I felt transported to a different place. Especially when we were shown photos of musk ox that live in Alaska where Dawn lives. She has befriended a herd of them and shared with us many photos of this ancient creature.

Copy of 07While I’ve always had a deep love for dogs, I was surprised at the connection I felt with this herd of musk ox after Dawn led us in a meditation and then we practiced connecting with these stunning creatures. I’d never known of them, and first learned about them in Dawn’s newsletter.

Dawn beautifully guided us through the meditation that would help us to connect with this herd. First, listening, then connecting, and finally writing down the communication we got back from them in regards to our general impressions, then feedback from them on our strengths, challenges and ideas from them to help us deepen and expand.

What happened for me is this:

I closed my eyes and I could feel myself standing in the herd, next to this ox photo I share above. I really felt as if I was really there. My feet upon the actual ground and among them. I wasn’t afraid. At one point, I sat down next to him. I felt he was the leader of the pack. He told me I was safe. I felt very grounded being with him and felt swept away to an ancient time. My eyes, though closed, I could feel them pooling with tears because I felt so safe and loved. In one sense I felt weird for wanting to cry, but it also felt so comforting and welcome.

It felt like a new level of healing for me. The message I got from him is that the answers for all of us are within us. That understanding we all to all live as one is really quite simple. That it’s the answer to peace. It’s the answer to the healing of this planet.

Another message I received was him telling me that they love to absorb the energy of earth into them and let that healing energy expand out into the universe. There is healing in learning to move at a slower pace and be with nature. They are very giving of their spirits and are glad to have been brought back out of extinction to continue this healing that is so needed right now.

I heard from him that I need to believe in my gifts. That I need to use them to be a part of this deep healing that is trying to happen here on earth – that I am one of them in a sense. That I am here to help others heal in my own, unique way.

I heard from him that my challenges are that I sometimes doubt my gifts. But that they will always stand beside me to help me remember my strengths and why I am here.

His last thoughts for me were simply stated:  Believe. Stand upright. Stand strong. And what I felt intensely was this thought from him: Be Gently Bold.

I’ll be honest and say that a part of me feels quite odd sharing this experience out of fear that others may think I’ve gone off the deep end. But I also can’t deny how incredible it felt to have this experience.

But I also truly believe our pets and the animals of the world are trying to communicate with us. In earlier times in our evolution this was a natural process. But these days we are swallowed up with technology and we humans are too busy doing instead of listening and just being.

This being and stillness is something that has been calling out to me for quite some time and I’m trying hard to honor it more. It’s not always easy. But when I do, I feel so much more at peace. Isn’t that the place we all are trying to be more often? I believe so.

I’ll share more about other experiences I had in my next blog post soon. Stay tuned.

If you’d like to learn more about Dawn and the many books she has written on animal communication you can visit her on her website, www.animalvoices.net

All Creatures Great and Small – Love Them All.

Posted by Barbara Techel

IMG_2104 eCan you spot the small creature on my honeysuckle bloom?

Friday and Saturday I hosted a workshop in my home on animal communication taught by my beautiful friend, Dawn. While I’m still not quite ready to share what I learned, as I’m processing much of it, I feel changed in a way today that I really didn’t expect. A part of me is even finding it hard to express in words what I feel. Much of it is welcome and good. I am simmering in all of it.

In a way I feel myself still coming back into my physical body and feeling my feet firmly planted on the earth. Maybe that sounds rather strange, but again, it is hard to express the energy that transpired over the last two days.

Just a few moments ago I decided to take a photo of the honeysuckle plant that is blooming in all its glorious colors of orange, pink and green outside my writing cottage. As I was doing so, I saw this small green critter through the lens of my camera. I’m not sure I would have spotted him otherwise.

When I sat down to write this post, all the emotions and energy from the last 48 hours still finding there way with me, I thought about this green bug and it came to me, all creatures great and small, love them all.  Each one has something to offer us.

I then chuckled silently to myself because while I understand this message, I know I’m going to get hung up on spiders, snakes, flies and mosquito’s. Okay, I am a work in progress, I told myself. And maybe I’ll never come to love them in the sense of wanting them to be around me, I can love them for their purpose in the world. And maybe that is enough.

Coincidence? I Think Not.

Posted by Barbara Techel

snailLast week late one afternoon, I settled onto the bench in front of our house to begin reading a book I got from the library by Elisabeth Tova Bailey titled, The Sound of a Snail Eating. It’s the story of a woman who becomes deathly ill, bedridden and her friend brought her a snail she had found in her yard, placing it in her friends potted plant next to her bed. Not able to do much of anything, Elisabeth begins to watch with fascination the life of the snail and shares what she learns about her own life because of this snail.

A few moments later I looked down and on the sidewalk was a snail (technically, a slug which is a snail without its shell). I’ve never seen a snail around my house before that I can recall.

Now if you’ve been reading my blog for awhile, you know I’ve been opening myself more and more to the messages of all animals around us. While the name of my blog is Joyful Paws I had to chuckle to myself seeing the snail thinking, “Joyful slime?”

But I don’t believe it was a coincidence that I just happened to be reading a book about a snail and snail appeared before me.

I looked up what snail’s message is and I share in part here what it said:

A snail symbolizes:

  • bridging the gap between the element of Earth and Water
  • the spiral or cycle of life, death, and rebirth
  • the earth’s rotation around the sun
  • carrying one’s home with them
  • taking one’s time and enjoying life at a slower pace
  • Amun – ancient Egyptian ram-god
  • Tecciztecatl – ancient Aztec god
  • Fertility, abundance, things coming to fruition

Taking one’s time and enjoying life at a slower pace resonated with me, as that is where I am right now, though I find it challenging at times. It was a reminder to me to allow my life to unfold as it is meant to be.

I also felt called to “the spiral of life, death, and rebirth.”  We have many rebirth’s in life as we go through season’s of our lives and new experiences come to us. If we don’t let go of what isn’t working anymore, rebirth can’t take place.

As I read further, I especially loved this lesson snail offered me:  The snail is a rather slow creature, taking its time going where he pleases. While some see the snail as being lazy, there is a positive trait behind taking one’s time. If we are to rush everything in life, how will we be able to appreciate the small things? The snail is slow and steady and appreciates the path that he is on…not solely focused on where he is going.

It makes me smile and feel comforted with the message of snail. I’m also so excited as this Friday and Saturday I’m hosting a 2-day animal communication workshop with my friend, author and animal communicator, Dawn Baumann Brunke. It will be fascinating to learn more and to see how the 2 days unfold.