animal teachings

Animals Can Be Sneaky!

Posted by Barbara Techel

animals can be sneaky

This morning when I looked out my bedroom patio doors, I noticed that what started out as a square block of suet a few days ago, now appeared to be in the shape of a rabbit.

I wondered if perhaps the Woodpeckers that feed from it daily are sculptors? After all, we are all artists in our own way aren’t we?

But I love being open to how animals can appear to us. It does not always have to be in the form of the “real” animal in order to gain wisdom from them.

In fact, just like I believe in humans in spirit when on the other side, who can have fun playing with us, and a sense of humor, I think this of animals, too.

Right now I’m teaching an online class with author and animal communicator, Dawn Brunke, sharing with others how you can not only invoke animal guides, but how to be open to the signs of how animals show up in your life. We are having great fun and it’s exciting to see and hear what is coming up for those in our class.

Seeing the rabbit shaped suet I also thought about the morning last year when doing my yoga practice, standing in tree pose, and gazing out the window that a section of bark on a tree was in the shape of an owl. But the next day I didn’t see it.

I don’t think I’m crazy for seeing these things — though years ago I’d have dismissed it. Now I enjoy paying attention and giving thought to why these things occur.  There are messages and teachings in it!

As for the rabbit shaped suet, I thought about what it was I was just thinking about before I looked out the patio door. I’d been thinking about how excited I am about so many good things in my life right now.

And sometimes when that happens, I feel this rush come over me, and that time is going to be too short on this planet for me to do all I yet want to do. I don’t feel sad that I know I won’t likely get to everthing, but rather, that there are so many possibilities — and I look so forward to getting up every day — there is joy in being filled with all this wonder.

After I gave that thought I turned to the Animal Wisdom Tarot card deck to see if it provided any confirmation.  It said, rabbits keynote is: magic, wonder, reflection, insight and inspiration. And message of rabbit? “Be open to mystical marvels, but keep an eye on your path.”

Well! I’d say this was all right in line with where my mind was this morning and why rabbit showed up in a different realm of sorts in the suet. Magic, wonder, reflection and insight absolutely at play.

Now I have goosebumps.

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Morning Wisdom from Rabbit

Posted by Barbara Techel

morning wisdom from rabbit

There was just a sliver of a moon in the sky as I shuffled across the deck in my slippers into my writing cottage this morning. You know that type of moon — the kind you want to jump upon, hang your legs over the edge, swing them back and forth, and wish you could live in the magic of the moon forever.

Lighting two candles, then getting comfortable in my over-sized wicker chair with floral cushions, Gidget nestled beside me, I started to settle in for my morning meditation.

But something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. It was a rabbit, standing on her hind legs, a trail of her tracks in the snow behind her. The sky was still sleeping, but soon enough dawn would break.

I was going to grab my camera to get a picture, but decided not to, instead opting to just sit and be with rabbit.

In my mind, I said, “Good morning little friend.”

I wondered what her message might be for me.

I sensed she was there to say, “Hey look, it’s a beautiful new day. A new year. A new start.  Can you see it?”

I looked a bit past her, past the birch trees she was standing beside, the winter gardens covered in snow, then toward the sky with it’s different hues of pinks and peaches.

I could more than see it as I sat with rabbit, I could feel it. I sensed this was her message to me, reminding me to start this new year in the gift of awareness. And to pause often and take in nature’s simple, but profound gifts.

My whole body melted into a sweet spot of warmth and comfort as rabbit hopped off, and I then sat in meditation for the next 15-minutes.

What a gift rabbit was for me this morning. I hope by sharing this with you today, she is a gift to you, too.

—

The Animal Wisdom Tarot card deck says this as message from rabbit:

Be open to mystical marvels, but keep an eye on your path.

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photo credit:  hoppelz.com

Happy New Year – Tuning into the Messages of My Winged Friends

Posted by Barbara Techel
Happy New Year – Tuning into the Messages of My Winged Friends
A Winged Friend Waits for Daybreak

I took this photo of this sweet, little bird yesterday about a half hour before the sun came up.

Today as I think about the New Year just a few hours away, resolutions are the furthest thing from my mind. They usually are. I don’t set them any longer.

But I did give thought about how I want my life to look like going forward. And I want to live more like my winged friends — the birds, butterflies and dragonflies.

I want to be more open to the flow of life — and not hanging on so tight to things and circumstances I don’t have control over.

A few weeks ago, a friend booked a private SoulCollage® workshop with me. She wanted to set her intentions for the New Year.

As we sat in my new Joyful Pause studio in the lower level of my home, I invited her to think about how she wants to feel in 2016.

While I think it’s great to set goals and intentions, I believe what’s really at the core of those intentions, is how we want to feel.

While she worked on her SoulCollage® card, I intuitively worked on mine without setting an intention really, but instead giving thought to how I want to feel.

As we perused the many images I have set up on tables, an image of a yellow butterfly tugged at my heart. I knew I needed to work with her in creating my card.

And this is my completed card below after working with several images before it felt right and I glued them down.

After my friend and I created our cards, we journaled with them also. This is what my card had to say to me:

I am one who wants to flow with ease along the path of faith and trust in what spirit has in store for me. I want to allow my path to unfold more organically, learning to let go of trying to control outcomes. By doing so, I will feel as light and free as a butterfly, enjoying the ride, and all the gifts that come with expanding my wings.

And that’s it really, I want to feel lighter in letting go of worries and accepting life as it is presented to me.

So while I don’t have resolutions really, I am making a mental note to myself, with my SoulCollage® card I call Freedom Butterfly as my visual reminder of how I want to feel starting right this moment…and gently and softly fly into the New Year.

I shall stop now and then to perch upon a safe place to land, and sit silence as a way of reminding myself to keep my wings open to what Spirit has in store for me.

Wishing you all the best in 2016 and may your heart fill to the top with all that makes your life meaningful for you!

—

graphicI’m really excited about facilitating a SoulCollage® workshop on January 16th in my new studio, Joyful Pause. I hope to encourage others to give thought to how they want to feel in the New Year, too.

If you are interested in joining me for this creative and fun workshop, please check out the details here or click on purple graphic on the left.

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