buddha

What if We All Along We Were Just Supposed to “Be?”

Posted by Barbara Techel

2014-04-24 14.06.26Won’t you come sit and just be with me?

As you know, I call Gidget my Buddah Dog. I continue to be quite fascinated as I journey down this road called life and realize how the right dog was here for me for what I needed then. Gidget is so perfect for me and where I am at in my life right now.

I’ve opened myself more and more to the teachings of my dogs and animals, which has meant for me delving into animal communication more, reading books on the subject and recently hosting a teleseminar with animal communicator, Dawn Baumann Brunke. You can listen to the replay here if you missed it.

As you may also know, I’ve had readings done with Dawn talking with Joie, Frankie, Gidget and Kylie. Each one revealing something about me that I needed healing for, something I needed to work on, or a glimpse further into who I am. I’m really starting to truly understand how very connected we all really are.

Dog’s and all animals, aren’t busy “doing,” and worrying about what is next. But rather, they really seem to get this just “being” concept that seems so challenging for humans to grasp. Okay, granted, they don’t have to make money to support themselves and pay bills. But the more I learn about animals and how they live each moment, I feel like the All American Dream of achieving success in terms of material things and social status was all a very big myth.

What if we truly are meant to just “be.” What if that has been the big test all along for we mere humans? When I think about the definition of the All American Dream I think of having an expensive car, a big house, lots of nice clothes and a corporate job. Then I think about what I would need to do to achieve and keep all of that.

Don’t get me wrong, this may be for some, it just isn’t for me. And there’s nothing wrong with a big house, nice car, etc. I just don’t care for the trade off of what that potentially means, is all I’m saying. It feels too stressful to me and too far from what I believe “being” is about.

I’ve been in that place of getting lost in that dream. Striving, striving, striving. Busy, busy, busy. And then I forgot who I was. What it was that really brought me joy. My chocolate Lab, Cassie stopped me in my tracks as if I’d been slammed against the side of the head, when she was diagnosed with terminal bone cancer. The reality was that my heart shattered in a million pieces. I was terrified of losing her.

But the last leg of her journey for eight months of living with cancer turned out to be a huge blessing in disguise for me. I stopped doing, doing, doing. I Thought. I Observed. I Pondered… and I found my way back to the center of me. The center of being.

Am I always at this center of being? No, of course not. It’s a daily observation of awareness that I’ve learned to listen to more carefully. For me, it’s a more deliberate way of thinking about what I want for my everyday life. Yoga helps me with this. My new practice of meditation is really helping me with this. But most of all, really being with my dog’s, taking in their wisdom of just sitting our walking with them, is a beautiful reminder. I love to soak in those moments. The more I do, the more I want. The more I want to “be.”

A New Ritual: Practicing Grace Each Day.

Posted by Barbara Techel

2014-03-02 18.25.49 1200

I recently shared with you that I reorganized and threw out (or donated) much stuff in my writing cottage two weeks ago. I’m really enjoying what feels like a new space for me- but even better, a new energy. I feel so much lighter and free. It continues to amaze me how stuff can hold us back.

Part of my wanting to let go of stuff was to make room for new– whatever that is meant to be. I also wanted to practice my morning yoga in my writing cottage. John is often times home in the mornings on phone calls and with our house being small, I was finding it hard to concentrate.

Yoga seems like such a simple thing, but it adds so much value and depth to my days. Being in the quiet of the morning, the sun streaming through my long windows which surround me, I feel a connection to nature and the earth.

This week I decided to add a grace card to my yoga practice. What I do before I begin my practice is to sit and ask for what it is I need guidance with for the day. I either choose a number to count down the cards to, or what day it is (yesterday being 3, I counted to 3rd card in the deck), or I just slide my hands over the deck and stop when I feel it is right, or I go with what color card catches my eye.

Once I choose the card, I read it, and then hold it in my thoughts as I do my yoga practice.

Yesterday the grace card that presented itself to me was, LISTEN…When we feel overly attached to an outcome, it’s simply an indication that we need to reconnect with our Wise Self.

I wasn’t sure the message for me until later in the day. I realized this with someone I love dearly who is struggling with some challenges in her life. I really listened. And I also realized in the process, that as much as I wish I could make things better for her, these are life choices she has to make on her own.

For me, I had to let go of the outcome of what I think it should or shouldn’t be. It is also a reminder to myself that when my life feels out of balance this is an indication that I am not listening to my own Wise Self. This is a practice. One I feel that comes with being more aware, which I’ve been working on this year—more awareness.

Today I chose the card COMPASSION…Be gentle with yourself. You are a magnificent soul. A reminder to first practice compassion with ourselves, to love ourselves for who we are, so that we move out into the world being who we authentically are, giving back in the best way that speaks to who we are.

It will be interesting as I continue incorporating Grace card moments before my yoga and how that will play out in my life.

One of the best things about my yoga practice though?  After I roll up my mat and tuck under my desk,  I sit and just be with Gidget—my Buddha dog who sits in her own stillness and in turn shares her wise wisdom with me just by being her amazing little self.

Which by the way… she normally starts her ” dinner time dance”  around 4:00pm and is pretty insistent on me getting her dinner. But yesterday afternoon while I talked with my friend? She settled into her bed and held her Buddha self until almost 5:45pm, never once stirring.  She really is a Buddha dog, don’t you think?

Buddha Gidget. What Have You Come Here to Teach Me?

Posted by Barbara Techel

IMG_1956 1200My teacher- oh, so wise and divine.

What have you come here to share with me?

Your eyes full of wisdom draw me into another world.

A world unlike the planet my feet are firmly planted upon.

A place of spirit that shows us the way if we open ourselves to it.

My Buddha Gidget who continues to encourage me to listen with my heart.

To trust what I know.

To deepen my faith in the Universe and trust paths before me that I may not always understand.

Your spirit, my little one, lifts me to the mountain top of what can’t be viewed with my mere human eyes, but  can only be felt deep within the spirit of who I am.

Your presence a gift of what it means to be compassionate.

Your soul, a beacon of light of hope that shines through your eyes and calls me home to what is real.