soulcollage

30-Day Soul Work: Intriguing, Challenging and Rewarding.

Posted by Barbara Techel

220002In reality, I’ve been consciously listening to my soul since I was 38-years old. After having been let go from a job (which I now see as a huge blessing!), I was lost for a time being.

And the reality of being lost is I’ve experienced that feeling on and off over the years. The lesson in it? This is part of life. This is when growth happens. This is the evolving of my soul.

Yup, it’s a fact. I get into this deep stuff. So it’s not surprising that the book, the lotus and the lily, A 30-Day Soul Program, by Janet Conner, caught my eye. But I ignored it for a few months.

Guess who wouldn’t let me ignore it? You got it! My soul. The book cover, Janet’s name, or the title kept showing up in some fashion or form. I understand more and more now that when something has crossed my path at least three times, I know my soul is screaming, “Pay attention!”

January 5th I took the leap and dived into the book.  I’m relieved to be on Day 10 today. The past few days were to review the last year, write about it on the page, and get down to the nitty-gritty of the lessons I needed to learn.

Ugh. I balked at this! I didn’t want to do it – 2014 challenged me in so many ways. I madly wrote on the page, “I don’t want to talk about painful things! I want to be happy! I want my life back as I knew it!”

But then I took a sneak peek ahead into the upcoming chapters. I know – I shouldn’t have. But I needed something to motivate me through the tough stuff. It worked.

And guess what happened? I felt another uplifting shift in my healing. From writing about all the painful stuff, digging out the blessings, I began to feel a new sense of purpose.

I then sat down yesterday afternoon and made a SoulCollage card. I wasn’t sure I was going to share it. But I decided to because it really was so healing—in many unexpected ways.

It’s the first, of what I call, a painful SoulCollage card I’ve made. At first I didn’t like it. I didn’t want it in my deck. But as I put the images onto the card, I felt myself trying to hold the tears back. But then I let them come and it was a release. Another letting go. Another healing step in my journey. Another piece of my soul’s work done.

That morning, after doing my writing on the page which wasn’t easy, having then begun my day, I also had a wonderful “Spirit Wink” as Janet calls them in her book, which happened to me a few hours later. But that I’m saving and will share in my newsletter tomorrow (if you don’t get my newsletter, you can subscribe on the right hand side of the page).

At the end of the 30-Day Soul program we then get to make a mandala, which along with the last 30 days of soul writing, is to “help your connection with the vibrant presence of the divine within.” Looking forward to the continuing journey.

Rituals: When They Go Astray.

Posted by Barbara Techel

I’ve been reading lately about how important rituals are. If you aren’t comfortable with the word ritual you can think of them as a spiritual practice or centering activity. If you don’t like those, you can come up with something that feels right for you.

You likely have at least one thing you do everyday that is the same and this can be considered a ritual. I like to drink out of the same tea cup everyday. That is a ritual. A small, but pleasurable one for me.

About two weeks ago I wrote about my morning ritual and a Christmas message I got from it one particular morning. But each day my ritual is to light candles in my writing cottage, turn on my tulip lamp, and pick one or more oracle cards from various decks I have. I also now integrated picking one of my SoulCollage® cards since I’ve now made 22 of them. I normally ask a question of the cards and am always amazed at the cards I randomly draw that fit for my question.

After my cards are drawn, I do my yoga practice. All of this is so centering for the rest of my day. I love it.

Today it went astray. It started with someone having to come look at my gas fireplace in my cottage yesterday. It’s not working properly. A part needed to be ordered for it which will take 2-3 weeks. It’s been -20 to -30 degrees with windchills all this week. To be safe, I have to manually turn off my fireplace each night now until it can be fixed.

Well with -30 overnight you can imagine how cold my little cottage got. I went to manually turn the fireplace on today, but an hour later it still wasn’t warm in there. This caused my whole ritual to go astray.

I could feel myself getting frustrated. But decided I would adjust and did. It wasn’t the same, but I had my ritual, well sort of, in my living room. Now I love my cozy little house, and I’m not complaining, but well, it was just different. It really made me think about the ritual I’ve come to love out in my writing cottage – how important it is to starting my day off with a centered mind.

So yes, I know this is part of life and these things happen and we adjust. So again, it’s not a complaint. It’s a very interesting observation of how ritual can have such an important impact on our lives and our well being. It’s made me appreciate my rituals all the more.

Even Kylie’s daily ritual was different yesterday. Most days after she is done eating breakfast, she heads back into her kennel to sleep the morning away. But not yesterday morning. I found her on the sofa in the living room, head resting on the blanket. Guess she needed a change of scenery. Not sure why. But today she is back at her same ritual again.

Two hours later, my cottage still with a chill in the air, finds me at the kitchen table and a temporary ritual of writing here, Kylie snoring loudly in the background, and me, once again, appreciating how much I love the quiet and ritual I’ve created within my cottage.

But alas, John has promised to dig out a wonderful heater from his back shed to keep my cottage at a steady warm temperature overnight, so I can return to my beloved ritual tomorrow morning.

Joyful Paws Getting a New Look. Come See.

Posted by Barbara Techel

JP banner website

It was time. Time for a new banner for Joyful Paws. I’ve been giving thought to this for a long time.

How to capture all that Joyful Paws represents in a single banner? Not an easy thing to do. I thought much about words, ideas, thoughts, the past, the present, and how I want to move forward.

My last banner had pictures of both my wheelchair dogs, Frankie and Joie. Now both living happily in another realm. Still very much a part of my heart and soul, but residing quietly in a place I hope suits them well.

I felt it time to let them rest even deeper into that feel good place they now are and share photos of my current dogs, Kylie and Gidget which are a joy in their own right to have as part of my daily existence.

In all honesty, it was hard to let go of the photos of Frankie and Joie. It is still a part of what Joyful Paws is about. But because of them I’ve grown deeper into my spirituality and who I am. I will forever have them to thank for that.

As I also have been giving thought to why I became intrigued by the process of SoulCollage®  and completed my training this past November, it is because of how far I’ve come because of the innate wisdom I’ve gained because of the animals in my life. I’ve done much reading, exploring, and reflection the past 12 years to be at this point of living a more meaningful life.

My online journal and my memoir, and children’s books, I hope encourages others to do the same. As I move forward I want to encourage you to pause more often, listen deeper to your heart, and capture what matters most to you (hence the reason for using pause. listen. capture. in my banner).

It is through my writing and offering SoulCollage® workshops in the near furture, in small groups, and one-on-one, that I’m working with as I move forward.

This is in part a big reason for my new banner. I’m growing and evolving and yet, in many ways, still the same — just expanding in new ways.

It feels good to be in this place of new projects and new avenues to pursue. It has felt like a long time coming since I’ve really felt this type of positive movement forward. I welcome it.

I hope you like the new banner. I’m quite happy with it. I’m also working behind the scenes of updating some of my pages on my website too. I hope to present a cleaner, crisper look and one that helps you feel even more connected to me and all that Joyful Paws represents.  Stay tuned!