oracle

On Being Strong. From Lion, Mouse and Me. (blog edition)

Posted by Barbara Techel
On Being Strong - From Lion, Mouse and Me.
Big Cat Wisdom comes shining thru the cut out heart on my deck.

As each generation comes into their wisdom we have the opportunity to expand more than those before us. When I think about the many who walked before me – my parents and grandparents – and those before them- each did the best they knew how given what they knew at the time and the tools available then.

Being strong for many older than me was about not talking about their emotions and just “dealing” with them as I’d often heard growing up. This often meant not allowing feelings to come to the surface, really feeling them, openly looking for the lessons in hurts and wounds, and/or discussing challenges or grief.

Having just gone through the work of feeling many emotions I kept buried, facing a childhood wound that was lodged in my psyche for many years, I can say I feel stronger than I’ve ever felt before. 

I’ve come to realize that being strong is about embracing and feeling every single emotion – even resentment and anger. Even though “good girl” conditioning part of me fought doing so. 

In reviewing an animal reading I had done as a gift to myself this past January, it’s Lion who came in with me at birth, who has been walking beside me since my last birthday, and will depart next month when Owl swoops in.  Lion is also the animal with me for the month of June.

A page from my Bullet Journal. Something creatively new I’m playing with!

I’m in deep gratitude for what I now understand having just walked through the fire of my own fears and find myself in this new space of strength.

Being strong isn’t about burying uncomfortable emotions, but being gentle and compassionate with ourselves as we work with, and move through them.

Being strong is about answering the call of our souls by honoring the sacredness of going inward to sift through the details with great care and kindness.

Being strong is about not worrying how others may perceive you.

Being strong means reaching out to those you feel safe with so that you can be heard.

Being strong is about taking your new awareness into the world as you choose – whether shouting it from a roof top – or softly moving through your days with the new version of yourself as a vibration that floats out to touch those that need it.

Being strong means that you recognize your need for self-care is at the heart of what matters more than anything.

Being strong is about letting go. Something I let go of last week was National Walk ‘N Roll Dog Day. While bittersweet, I knew in my heart it was time. 

Being strong is about soaking in all the joy of this precious moment knowing it will never come again – but this…this is the gift that opens a channel for more gifts to come into our lives.

Turning to the Oracle I asked the cards, What do we need to know about being strong?


Poised #48 is from the Wisdom of the Oracle. For me this card speaks to the necessity of going inward during a challenging time, honoring everything I’m feeling, accepting, practicing self-care with gentleness toward myself and incorporating healing modalities that call to me. To me, this is what strong is about. When I honor this process for myself, it leads me to being more poised for the next step in my life’s journey, now stronger than before with a new awareness and deeper wisdom to share.

Mouse from Messages from Your Animal Spirit Guides reminds me that during dark and challenging times, it’s easy to overlook the details since we tend to want to be through our pain sooner, rather than later. But it’s in the details our thoughts, patterns, and feelings which are clues – and if we follow the bread crumb trail – and pay attention – we eventually gain access to clarity we couldn’t see or feel before.

To being gentle and strong.

XO,

Barbara

Want a personal reading? You can learn more and book a reading with me here.

What I Missed Most Being on Vacation

Posted by Barbara Techel

What I Missed Most Being on Vacation

This past Monday we returned from a ten day trip to South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia. I’ll write more about that adventure soon which we did in our Vamper – our Chevy Cargo Van converted to a camper. It was quite the whirlwind!

While I took along my journal and oracle cards on the trip and planned to meditate, I never did get around to doing my daily ritual while away. Though honestly, I really did miss it. But with adjusting to being in a van for ten days it just never presented itself in feeling right to take time to do this inner work. And that’s okay, really.

But I was thrilled to return to it Tuesday morning. You know how they say when away from someone you love it makes the heart grow fonder? Well, that’s what I realized about this practice I have in place, and how much I value this time to center and ground myself.

Adapting to getting in and out of the Vamper often I also found that when I returned to my first yoga practice since being gone, along with my journaling and consulting with my oracle cards, how thirsty my body was for the stretching and my mind for the expansion. Just visualize both drinking it all in with gusto!

It felt incredibly good to get back to starting my day in this way. I enjoyed vacation, don’t get me wrong, but it was confirmation for me that being away from these practices is something I truly do value as part of my self-care routine. And this is a good thing. It made it all the sweeter to return.

XO,

Barbara

P.S. While our beds in the vamper are pretty comfy, oh, how I welcomed sinking into my bed at home too. Everyday since, morning and night, I’ve been telling it how much I love it!  🙂

The Moon Called and I Listened

Posted by Barbara Techel

7:12am and the moon was still visible. I must have looked at it one hundred times last night. And I’ll even admit this, even though I feel a bit embarrassed to say so, but I howled. Called the wolf moon, well, how could I not?

But here’s the thing. I want to continue to embrace all of who I am. And I felt like letting out a wee little howl. No harm in that. But much gained in loving all those parts of myself.

I wanted to soak up every bit of the energy of that moon last night. So I kept the blinds open on my side of the bed. And waking early I immediately went to the kitchen window that faces west and threw open the blinds.

My daily ritual since October has been meditating for ten minutes and journaling with an oracle card from The Wisdom of the Oracle deck.

But the moon was calling me and I didn’t want to miss out on it before it sunk into the west, so I grabbed my oracle deck and journal, and headed back to the kitchen.

Standing next to the kitchen sink gazing out at that moon – oh that moon(!) – I did what I’ve been doing for three months now and asked Dear Spirit what message I need that will guide me through my day and picked an oracle card.

Today was Loyal Heart. All about loyalty to myself and that Spirit is always loyal to me (and you, too!). And something I need to be reminded of often as I can get distracted easily and feel frustrated when I put a time restraint on certain outcomes. So this message today, perfect to begin this year to be loyal to what matters to me and to keep strengthening my faith that Spirit truly does always have my back.

And the moon? Well, it just reminds me of how magical this world can be if we choose to see it that way. Not that it is always easy, but nature reminds us how spectacular this universe really is. That super wolf moon was certainly full of exquisite beauty along with a depth of insight that there is truly something bigger than us at play and that we can be part of it just by pausing and taking the time to appreciate its amazing gift.

Much love and gratitude,

Barbara