book review

Animal Wayshowers: The Lightworkers Ushering In 5D Consciousness – Features My Dog Gidget. Book Review.

Posted by Barbara Techel

I still recall when I finished reading Tammy’s first book, Soul Healing with Our Animal Companions. Reading that book, it felt like Tammy was inside my world and the healing journey I’d just walked with my dachshund, Gidget.  Gidget and I could have definitely been a poster human and dog duo for the book about two beings who healed their trauma together and went on to experience a profoundly life-changing and deeper connection because of it and which I’d end up chronicling in my own memoir.

Once you experience this type of profound and transformative shift within yourself and then witness the extraordinary positive change in your animal friend because of it, you want this for all humans and animals on this planet.

So when Tammy was writing this, her third book, Animal Wayshowers: The Lightworkers Ushering In 5D Consciousness I was deeply honored when she asked if the story of Gidget and me could be included.

Just into the first few pages of reading her new book, I felt welcome and familiar emotions stirring within my heart. Tears filled my eyes in recognition and understanding of this delicate dance that life is and how our animal friends give their all to help us shift into a more heart-opening way of being.

It takes just a shift in our perception to understand how energy works and how our animals are masters at reading the energy of those they love. All in an effort to help humans become more whole and at peace within themselves — this is what Tammy shares so eloquently with stories from other animal-human duos, personal reflections, and sound and simple advice of how we can all move into this more conscious awareness and do the inner work so that all beings can live together in harmony.

I believe at my core that animals are here on this planet walking with love beside us, wanting more than anything for us to heal. Tammy’s book really is one that everyone who shares a home with an animal should read. While the work isn’t always easy, it is deeply rewarding, and you will be left in awe of how so many have experienced this 5D reality because of the inner work they’ve done and the championing guides of the animal friends that cheered them on.

One thing, of many, I appreciate in Tammy’s new book is how she touched on one of the most difficult issues in our world – animal abuse. She tenderly shares how these animals have agreed to serve in this way to help evolve the deepening of compassion and empathy not only on an individual level but also as a collective too.

Embracing 5D consciousness through the eyes of our animal friends is brought into the light even more now because of this beautiful and beneficial book Tammy has written. I have no doubt it will help so many more beings who will then become part of this light that continues to expand and that will only continue to grow brighter and brighter as we all walk the earth with more peace within.

From Amazon and where you can pre-order a copy of Tammy’s book:

A guide to understand, support, and honor the soul missions of our animal companions

• Explains how animals that live alongside humans are lightworkers helping to raise the vibration of collective consciousness and aid in humanity’s ascension process

• Shares example stories of incredible animal Wayshowers from around the world whose actions and sacrifices on behalf of their human companions changed them all for the better

• Offers meditations, rituals, and transformational soul practices to embrace 5D frequencies, intuit heart intelligence, connect to the Higher Self, and heal the shadow

Animals are natural holders of 5D consciousness. The extraordinary animals who have chosen, at a soul level, to live alongside humans are lightworkers on the front lines of the animal kingdom’s mission to help people to heal, evolve, and attune to their divine purpose as well as assist in raising the vibration of the planet and collective consciousness to 5D.

As Tammy Billups reveals, once we become aware of the soul path of our animal companions, we are then able to connect with them soul-to-soul, not only supporting their soul missions but also finding the healing we need to let go of 3D reality and begin making the transition to 5D. Sharing example stories of incredible animal Wayshowers from around the world whose actions and sacrifices on behalf of their human companions changed them all for the better, she explores the many levels of service your beloved animal friends are providing you each and every day, including during disasters, storms, pandemics, and even from beyond the physical. She shows how they help shoulder the psychological and emotional burdens we are not yet capable of holding on our own and show us the way back to our own hearts. Presenting guidance to help animals succeed in their goal of raising consciousness, the author offers meditations, rituals, and exercises for applying the teachings of the animal stories shared, including transformational soul practices to embrace 5D frequencies, intuit heart intelligence, connect to the Higher Self, and heal the shadow.

Offering ways to embrace and emulate the soul teachings of our animal companions, Tammy Billups shows that, by honoring animals as courageous guides on our ascension to 5D consciousness, we too can become Wayshowers in our own right.

***

XO

Barb

Book a private reading and healing session with me here.

Or for a private reading and healing session for you and your pet here.

 

    

 

Shadow Animals – How Animals We Fear Can Help Us Heal, Transform, and Awaken: Book Review and Honoring Our Shadow and the Animals Guiding Us.

Posted by Barbara Techel
“Shadow Animals” by Dawn Baumann Brunke & my collaged card honoring Spider and her teaching and healing for me.

The song, “Me and My Shadow” popped into my mind and continued on an endless loop the morning after I finished reading the book, “Shadow Animals.” 

In part the lyrics are:

“Me and my shadow
Strollin’ down the avenue
Me and my shadow
Not a soul to tell our troubles to.”

In this new thought-provoking and timely book, “Shadow Animals” by Dawn Brunke, the line “not a soul to tell our troubles to” brought forth a whole new meaning and expanded my love yet again for the animal world for all the wisdom and guidance they’ve provided me over the years.

It has been a deeply rewarding experience to have healed aspects of my shadow self because of the gentle, caring, and at times, loving persistence of the Animal Kingdom – especially those animals I held some fear about.

So it was an honor to be asked to take part in the chapter on arachnophobia and test a series of questions that Dawn developed that would help uncover clues about my angst about Spider. What it revealed and the insight that bubbled to the surface ushered in a welcome layer of healing!

As we continue to move through these challenging times of divisiveness and fear, it has become clear that the ones we really need to tell our troubles to are ourselves. That which triggers us and causes us pain or angst is an opportunity to go within and heal those shadow aspects of ourselves. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for!

And the animals – especially those we fear– called shadow animals – are the ones who can expand us in profound ways. They are here and waiting to walk lovingly beside us and inspire and encourage us to do the inner work to heal individually so that we may heal on a collective level also.

Dawn writes: “Shadow animals are unique teachers that can help us find and better understand the lost and wounded pieces of ourselves of which we are not fully aware. Some hold clues to repressed memories of trauma or abuse.  Some are guides, helping us to explore the puzzling or guarded aspects of our psyche.”

Reading this book I found myself reaching for my Post-it™ note tabs over and over again, marking many passages that resonated, deeply moved me, or invited me to contemplate further. One such paragraph is from the chapter intriguingly titled, “Nightmare.”

Dawn says, “To consciously meet our nightmare invokes a deepened relationship between Shadow and self. What we find when we face our fears is often surprising. For beyond the face of fear we encounter a deeper presence. There, in the dark mirror, we see ourselves. Previously misunderstood aspects of who we are gaze back at us, no longer cloaked by fear but illuminated with wonder.”

The chapter goes on to share a short, but emotional dream Dawn had about a neglected and abused pony. I was moved to tears as I recognized once again that part of me that had suffered abuse as a young child. 

She encourages us to ask these questions: “What is battered, damaged, abandoned, sick, or starved for attention within my self? What small, sad being is at last acknowledged as we open our arms to hold and love it? With care and attention, what might it become?”

While exploring the deeper recesses of our psyche is not always easy, it’s that deeper presence that Dawn speaks to that is the reward and once experienced changes us in a profound way. 

From sharing the well-researched mythology and folklore and the origins of how many animals came to be deemed as “bad or evil,” plus meditations and simple, but powerful exercises, Dawn eloquently shows us how we can not only heal our wounds –  a.ka. our shadow – but how we can also awaken and expand in the truth and bring back into the light the brilliant teachings of the Animal Kingdom.

And so Dawn’s new book, “Shadow Animals,” and the many years she has devoted to the extensive work and understanding of the animal world, I see as an exquisite gift and a wake-up call to our world at this crucial juncture.

The first step then is acknowledging we each have work to do. Then get yourself a copy of this book, take notes, do the exercises, and open yourself to the treasure that acknowledging our shadow is a way to deepen into a more peaceful place within. Most of all, welcome in the animals and share your fears and unhealed stories with them. They are waiting with the utmost love to guide us home to the heart of who we truly are.

So as I wind my way back to the lyrics that looped through my mind, I see “Me and My Shadow” along with the deeply insightful wisdom shared in Dawn’s brilliant new book, “Shadow Animals” as an invitation. An invitation to not fear our shadow, but instead befriend it, acknowledge it, integrate it, and dance in the wonder of it.

For the well-being of humans, animals, and the planet, I highly recommend this book as a way forward to living with more love and compassion not only for ourselves but for all beings.

xxx

You can read more and pre-order here.
You can also read chapter excerpts on Dawn’s website here.
 
AND to read an excerpt of the Spider chapter, visit Wisdom Magazine here. 
 
XO
Barb
 
    

The Little Book of Sloth Philosophy – Book Review

Posted by Barbara Techel

I never expected to come across this sweet little book when I did a search via my library system for books about the Hygge lifestyle. If you are new to the term Hygge it is pronounced Hooga. You’d think they could just spell it that way to make it easier to remember! Ha!

Hygge is described as an ambiance as much as a state of mind based on Danish culture and design. Think chilly winter evening, candles lit, snuggled under a fuzzy blanket, with a good book or magazine, a cup of tea, hot chocolate, or glass of wine. Add to that perhaps some tranquil music. Or perhaps it’s a snowstorm raging outside your front door and you are snuggled in with your loved one playing a game, putting together a puzzle or watching a movie. There are many ways in which to accomplish Hygge!

But then again, it’s not about accomplishing, but rather about being in the moment, relaxing, letting your cares melt away, and enjoying the simple pleasures of home.

So what’s a sloth got to do with it? Well as I did my search for books on Hygge in anticipation of winter just around the corner here in Wisconsin, this sloth title popped up on the list of books on this subject.

Of course, it caught my eye because of my love for animals. But also because Sloth came up recently in an animal wisdom oracle reading I did for myself, and also a general reading I did for my followers. Sloth really does embody what I believe is one of the key messages for what 2020 has been all about. S-L-O-W down. Disconnect (from social media) more often. Be in the moment. Connect with nature. Hug a tree. Don’t rush. Rest. And repeat, repeat, repeat. 

Author Jennifer McCarney of The Little Book of Sloth Philosophy has a delightful sense of humor also which pairs nicely with a creature who in the past wouldn’t have been viewed as cute and cuddly – though I do think that has definitely been changing. The illustrations in the book of sloth meditating, counting the stars, and hugging a tree – just to name a few – will most definitely make you smile and love Sloth even more.

My favorite chapter title is “Sleep in, take a nap, and then go to bed early.” Did you know that Sloths sleep up to 18 hours a day? I think I’m part sloth. Well, maybe not 18 hours, but I do need lots of sleep. I typically go to bed by 8:30 p.m. (even on weekends), am up by 6:00 or 6:30 a.m., and more often than not take a nap during the day. I sometimes give myself a hard time about that because I don’t feel normal in the sense so many can go with much less sleep than I can.

But then the next chapter is titled, “Or stay up late and embrace the night.” In other words, as Jennifer so brilliantly shares, “The sloth philosophy is about getting enough sleep whenever and wherever you want. The fact is, just like the sloths, some of us are programmed to stay up late and sleep in thanks to differences in our chronobiology – the natural internal clock that dictates when we sleep and wake.” This alone makes me want to run out, find a sloth, and give it a big hug and the teaching of just embracing what works for us individually.

This pocket-sized book is packed full of ways in which you can embody the wisdom of Sloth and incorporate more simple pleasures into your life, learn to slow down and be okay with it (despite what the outside world may try to convince you otherwise), and why I now see why this book definitely falls into the Hygge lifestyle category.

Sloth is a master teacher of Hygge! I love the Hygge lifestyle and now I love Sloth even more than before.

xo,

Barbara

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