spirituality

Revealing the Cover of My Next Book: I’m Fine Just the Way I Am

Posted by Barbara Techel

I’m so excited to finally share with you the cover of my next book! 

As I’ve been reflecting on the past year, it will likely not come as a surprise that I’ve often been moved to tears.

Gidget’s spirit has been so strong around me of late, and while I feel some sadness she is no longer with me physically (and this is my first Christmas in 35 years without a pet), I continue to feel this deepening of utter gratitude for her. This is such an exquisite gift because of the healing she guided me through.

There was a time I didn’t believe I was going to make it through that dark night of the soul that began in the summer of 2015, but now on the other side, I continue to swim in this magnificent gratefulness and see clearly that Gidget knew all along I could do it. My dear devoted sweet one I say thank you from the bottom of my heart…always.

I don’t have an exact release date yet, but I hope you will stay tuned as I’ll be announcing in early 2020 when pre-orders will be available!

Thank you for being here, for allowing me to express my thoughts, and for pondering and growing along with me. I hope you know how much I appreciate your support of me and my work.

What this Book is About:

I’m Fine Just the Way I Am takes you on a deep, intimate and powerful journey as I explore the significance of a painful, recurring vision that plagued me for over two decades. To do so, I must call upon every ounce of courage, faith, and commitment, or be swallowed by the depression and anxiety that has consumed me.  
 
Like a metaphysical detective, I employ a myriad of tools, each of which serves as a building block to self-knowledge and healing. I learn to tap into my intuition and the insight from oracle cards on a level I’ve never done before; I also examine my dreams and embrace the power of ceremony and life-enhancing breath work. Most importantly, perhaps, I learn to accept help from others and trust in the process, understanding that the turmoil in my life is truly happening for me, not to me.
 
As in my previous two memoirs, I also draw on the profound teachings I received from animals—from my special needs dachshund, Gidget who served as a reflection of the darkness and what needed to be healed, to a snake who helped me shed what I no longer needed, a wolf who encouraged me to keep my heart open, and a horse who empowered me to stand in my strengths.
 
All were integral to help me transform my pain and accept it as both a gift and the path I was meant to walk in order to finally understand that I’m worthy just as I am.

xo,

Barbara

Gratitude for it All (including Challenges) – Oracle and Animal Wisdom Reading and Guidance

Posted by Barbara Techel

Octopus is the animal guiding us with its wisdom this week in regard to gratitude. In the video below expanding on the message of gratitude, you also have the choice to pick a card – 1, 2, or 3 – to go along with Octopus. Enjoy, and as always, if you wish to go deeper and receive support for a challenge you are facing, please feel free to reach out to me. You can learn more about my guidance sessions here. xo, Barbara

Dear Gidget: We Did It.

Posted by Barbara Techel

Dear Gidget,

I completed the final page— the dedication page— of my manuscript, I’m Fine Just the Way I am.

I know you heard my words of dedication to you as I typed them because I felt your presence all around and within me.

Do you have any idea how often I’ve thought of you in the last six months? My favorite picture of you still sits on my altar. I look at it often and talk to you.

While at times it has been an ache of missing you physically, it has also been a time of deepening in gratitude that has filled and expanded my heart for all you taught me and helped me through.

I look out the window next to my writing desk and the heart-shaped stone marker that marks your resting place is buried underneath the snow.

But I know it’s there. Just like I know you will always be a part of me.

The other morning on my walk I witnessed you as a crow. I knew it was you because as I watched the crow walk along on the grass with the most endearing wobble, giddy-up in his gait, I thought of you and my heart smiled.

I watched as you then flew up to the top of the building and I felt you with me as I continued on my journey back home. This is what you did for me when you were here on earth – you guided me back home to myself.

I’ve been thinking about what others often say and that when we lose someone we feel like they took a part of our hearts with them. I understand what they mean.

But I’ve also come to believe and feel in my heart this expansion and deepening from the love I was so blessed to share with you. My way of honoring you is to continue to do my best to live in that space of expansiveness.

I wouldn’t be who I am today without you and all I learned from you as my Master Teacher and Healer.

I still marvel at moments at how such a tiny dog in stature as you were carried the depth of wisdom as you did.

Our destiny was written in the stars, this I know.

For walking beside me through the darkest of times, your devotion to me never wavered. And though I now walk alone without you, I’m truly never alone as your spirit resides within me. And it is that essence of you that I’ll always be grateful for. 

XO