spirituality

No Place Like Home

Posted by Barbara Techel

No Place Like Home

As I continue to be a mentor for Oracle School, working with students in the classroom I’m assigned to, along with three other mentors, we take turns posting a question for the students to ponder to work with their oracle cards to gain deeper perspectives about their lives.

I loved today’s question from the Lead Mentor: If you could be any Wisdom of the Oracle Card, which one would you be and why?

One of my favorite cards from the Wisdom of the Oracle deck is No Place Like Home. I couldn’t help think of this one as I celebrate 34 years of marriage with John today, and it was this week five years ago that we also welcomed Gidget into our lives.

Home is my sanctuary. Being my zodiac sign is cancer and to boot my moon sign in cancer also, it can sometimes feel like a double whammy as cancer people tend to be quite sensitive. It’s something I’ve worked hard  to understand about myself and accepting that being empathetic is a gift, though at times it has felt like a curse.

And it is my home that has always been my soft place to land when life can feel sad or cruel. It’s one of my values that I hold deeply close to my heart. And my relationship with John which continues to expand and deepen in ways I would have never imagined when we met almost 40 years ago. 

The card I’d most like to continue to work on is Come to the Edge. I think of this one reflecting on the past year and how I was brought to the edge in a way I’d not expected. While it was a scary and fearful time for me earlier this year, it was coming to the edge to understand what it was about that I was granted another pivotal teaching. From that experience my sense of gratitude about life deepened once again.

I want to remember that when something is causing me angst that it’s an invitation to make a course correction in my life. It’s a signal to experience more freedom if I will just take the leap and dance with the unknown.

And how intriguing it is to me to just realize as I write this (an epiphany!) how beautiful Come to the Edge and No Place Like Home work together…

For when I am able to embrace that edge, dance with it, and discover the lessons within it, that I find my way back home again to peace and love.

Now that is magical!

XO,

Barb

 

A Gentle Nudge from Deer Spirit

Posted by Barbara Techel

A Gentle Nudge from Deer Spirit

Yesterday I shared on my Facebook page an oracle card reading I did for myself as I’ve been feeling challenged on how to support family members going through health challenges, plus just that morning learning of a dear friend’s cancer diagnoses.

When emotions run high, I can tend to get sucked into a foggy vortex, let fear take over, and want to disengage from life. There’s also this thing called control that likes to flood back in and try and take the reins and as we all know, that never works.

I woke this morning wishing I’d handled things differently as the day went on and anger of how I thought something should be handled and wasn’t.

But I also reminded myself I am human and this was a signal to take time once again in reflection and see my part in all of this that is unfolding.

Before I get to the poignant message from Deer Spirit, I begin my day with a set of cards by Mark Nepo called, The Book of Awakening. They sit on a shelf in my bathroom. Perhaps an odd place for a deck of cards, but I find it an uplifting thing to do and feed my mind with good and introspective thoughts while tinkling.  🙂

The card I pulled today: The Risk to Bloom which says, “It has always amazed and humbled me how the risk to bloom can seem so insurmountable beforehand and so inevitably freeing once the threshold of suffering is crossed.”

Big, big teaching for me this year, I thought, and smiled. And here it is again with another lesson.

Later, walking out to my writing cottage and sitting at the table where I take a few more moments in reflection, ask for guidance, pull oracle cards, and journal, before I get to the tasks at hand for the day, I asked Spirit what it was I most needed to know today? Still thinking about the events of yesterday, the card I drew was Deer Spirit – Bring a gentle touch.

I knew immediately what this was about as it was reflecting the very thing I’d been feeling all morning. While anger is part of being human, I know that I’m also a gentle person. I know that for the most part, I continue to strive to be the best I can be and approach life with grace and gentleness.

I’m reminded that each person is walking their own spiritual journey. While I was upset with how I felt someone wasn’t doing the “right” thing and causing concern with other family members (myself included) – I had a choice to not get trapped in that – but I did, and found myself spiraling into frustration.

After journaling what came up for me for a few moments, I turned to the guidebook for any other insight it might have for me. What really jumped out was, “Deer Spirit is bringing you a gentle warning that now is not the time to engage in an argument, no matter how volatile others are being. Do not match their intensity with your own. If you are dealing with an overly assertive person, step back and disengage, lest you agree to something out of alignment with your intentions.”

Whoa, there it was. While I wanted to engage yesterday with the person and how I felt something was being handled, I didn’t. Though I still had the thoughts running through my mind, which only made me feel miserable.

I thought back to The Risk to Bloom card along with Deer Spirit, and I see once again that I always have a choice to struggle or not. I also always have a choice as to how I will feel in each situation too.

This also makes me feel gratitude for the practices I have in place to bring the lessons to the forefront sooner, rather than later.

And so it is. I am humbled once again as I begin this new day to be who I believe and know I am.

XO,

Barb

An Opened Heart Finds Peace and a Special Offering: A Love Letter to the Part of You in Pain

Posted by Barbara Techel

An Opened Heart Finds Peace and a Special Offering: A Love Letter to the Part of You in Pain

I’ve been reflecting on 2018 as this year begins to come to a close in less than two months.

While personally I started out the year going through intense emotional pain, and my coping skills that almost became nil, I’m happy to say I’m now in a space of deep gratitude for what I learned, and how far I’ve come.

Walking through this dark period, there were times I honestly wanted to run the other way. At my rock bottom point, the thought crossed my mind that I’d rather die than deal with the pain I was going through.

That startled me! But the blessing is that it was a wake-up call.

Step-by-step with support from many, I moved through this difficult time, and eventually came to experience an opening of my heart unlike anything I’ve felt before.

From this journey, I’ve created a special offering for others who are going through an emotionally challenging time also. It’s something I sat in many hours of contemplation and with careful thought I wrote:

A Love Letter to the Part of You in Pain. (if this resonates, you will find a link below to download a copy)

It’s my hope it will give others just that, hope. And to trust that there is freedom and peace to be had on the other side of emotional pain.

Recently I heard what is described as the “Sacred Wound,”coined by Jean Houston, Ph.D., author, scholar, philosopher and researcher in Human Capacities, and who began the human potential movement.

The idea of the Sacred Wound as Jean writes is, “Looking back on your own betrayals, you may notice how they’ve given you the necessary shove, the unwelcome but needed kick in the pants to invite you to get on with it, to release patterns and attachments that need to die. The key to redeeming our betrayals is forgiveness.”  

This is exactly what I faced earlier this year – forgiving where I felt betrayed in my past – and most challenging of all, was forgiving myself when I experienced unfamiliar and very uncomfortable feelings of resentment and anger toward my sweet and loving dog, Gidget. She was my reflection to finally see the part of me that was broken and was desperately calling to be healed.

This is something that has taken me years to understand because I often thought if I just read this or that book, or took this or that class, I’d be okay.

But it was dedicating myself to digging into my inner world and really looking at my own story, that I was able to see how that affected my insecurities and struggles. Being a gentle witness to this helped me to make a welcome shift. 

I’ll be sharing more about this journey in my new book I continue to work on, I’m Fine Just the Way I Am —and how Gidget lovingly and unconditionally walked beside me as my soulful guide.

Not only did I move through a metamorphosis, but I’ve been witness to the gift of a beautiful change and a new sense of peace within Gidget, too.

I’ve come to understand that my sacred wound was a spiritual lesson I needed to go through in order to embrace on an even deeper level not only empathy, compassion and love, but that I was never alone (even though I often felt that way).

For the first time in my 55-years on this planet, I felt the undeniable love of Spirit embrace me as I took the necessary steps forward in healing.

It was by reaching out for help from animal communicator Dawn Brunke, pet counselor and coach, Joe Dwyer, Depth Psychologist and Dream Analyst, Tayria Ward, Transformational Breathwork® practioner, Parnee Frederick, a session of Emotional Freedom Technique with a therapist, my monthly Women’s Mastermind Circle, and last but not least, my dear mom and husband, that I found the courage to do the inner work I needed to do.

Also the fact I was enrolled in Oracle School during this time, working with oracle cards as a tool for self-reflection I was able to gain perspectives about myself I’d not have considered.

It enabled me to see what I could change, while being compassionate with myself, which helped me move forward with more confidence. 

I continue to be committed to my personal growth so that I can move through my little corner of the world from a place of love and peace and be of service to others who also seek more inner peace through my oracle guidance sessions.

And so it is I present this offering, A Love Letter to the Part of You in Pain….because you matter and you are worthy just as you are.

Just click on graphic to be taken to link to sign up to receive a copy:

Please note the link to the love letter includes receiving my newsletter.

XO,

Barb