Ruckus Among Us

I have been travelling.  And now I'm home. It's so good to be home.  In my own bed - with my own toys and luxuries that allow me to enjoy this box where I reside.  It's like you have to go away to truly appreciate what you have. Absence does make the heart grow fonder.

I have truly missed my GingerMama.    I saw this Tshirt that says: "Home is where my dog is."  So true. 

There is something really special about being woken up in the morning by a doggess/goddess licking your face and wagging her tail.  The flapping noise of her ears as she stretches off the couch to rise. The sound of her nails on the porcelain as she gingerly trots in and out of the bedroom.   In fact, for a light sleeper like me with hypersensitive ears, GingerMama makes quite a ruckus.

When I go for the keys to the car and her leash, she is so excited she sings in a dog howl kind of way.  Her hahahappiness is so palpable, it makes me laugh.

While I was travelling, I read a great book called The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein.  The book is written by Enzo, the dog, as he shares his perspective of living with Denny and his family.   It made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me think and I learned a whole bunch of stuff about driving.  If you think you might enjoy reading it, check out the preview below.

Dog backwards is GOD.  Dogs, as Enzo share, are here to love us and help us and if only they could talk and tell us what they know.   For now, we need to pay attention to gestures and the ruckus they create to get our attention.

I feel so blessed that GingerMama chooses to live in our family with WSM Noah, the Meows and me.  I so enjoy our time together - playing and hugging and walking and napping.

3 Ways to Rejuvenate Quickly

The more I grow up, the younger I become.   

The more I play in the park, the better my day goes.  

The more I tap into my inner child, the more OMazing it is to be me.  

As I laugh and deepen my practice of laughter yoga, 

I find my appearance and attitude have shifted. 

 I laugh at myself and express my joie de vivre (joy of living)

my energy and stamina increases.  

Here are 3 ways I use to rejuvenate quickly and get that HAHA EnerCHI flowing:

1.     MIND: Having a child-like mind is viewing the world with wonder and excitement.  Reset your mind to breathe into the present.   Practice getting out of your head with gibberish.  Allow yourself to be silly.   Paint… with your fingers.   Draw….doodle…..rearrange objects on your desk.  Allow yourself to do something different. 

2.     BODY: Jump up and down and shake it all about.  Do a shaHAhakti shake.  Get that energy moving.  A little Hokey Pokey and putting our whole selves in or any other aBUNdance will do.   Take the bike out for a spin, go for a walk, throw the ball with a dog.  Blow some bubbles.  Take a nap on the grass and stare up at the sky and watch the cloud ballet.

3.     SOUL: Seek out people who laugh.  We absorb good vibrations and positivity.  The energy transcends – the healing energy making us feel immediately better.  Set your intention to laugh as much as possible.   Regularly laughing increases our energy field.  

Easter and the Bunny

Happy HolyDay - today and every day to all!!! 

As we were driving to the beach this morning we saw an EasterBunny with eggs displayed on someone's lawn.  LoverBoy asked me - what does Easter (as far as we understood it is Jesus return from the dead) and the bunny have to do with one another?

You know me - I googled it and researched - needing to know the connection.  This is what I found:

Easter  - or Eastre or Eostara is the Goddess of the dawn, fertility and springtime.  The Northern Saxons call her Eastre and celebrate the return of spring by laughing, drinking and being merry.  Most of us recognize Goddess Eastre or Eostara by her more popular name as Goddess Ostara.

As fate would have it - a little serendipity for us here - the festival of Eastre occurrs at the same time of the year as the Christian observance of the Resurrection of Christ.   Little by little Christian aspects were added to the pre-existing pagan beliefs, and eventually the name of this mixed holiday was changed to Easter.

Bunnies or rabbits, are fertility symbols, sacred to Goddess Ostara.  Due to the rabbit's ability to procreate quickly, the rabbit is a perfect symbol for fertility - which is a life cycle that occurs in the spring with Mother Earth.  

And eggs- from the egg comes the chicken and all sorts of other life.

OMazing how the Sacred Feminine is at the core of all of HIStories.

The Goddess -  here, there, everywhere

Day 2 in Ecuador

I am at MonteSuenos - I awoke at 5:55 a.m. - all my windows open - five of them facing the mountains - all different ones too.  This is the quiet peaceful time of the morning when it starts to get light without the sun rising just yet.    The clouds are dancing with the mountain peaks.  I lay here in bed in awe of Mother Nature.  Birds are beginning to chirp and a rooster or two adds his cock-a-doodle-doo.

I feel so blessed to be here.  So at peace with myself and life. Yesterday, I was grateful to be here yet I was acclimating from the plane ride and the drive from the Loja airport through the mountains and the valley to here.

I get out of bed and I stretch on my patio - smelling the fresh mountain air, inhaling the delicate aromas of flowers not yet touched by the sun.  I am so haHAhappy - life is so good.  I go run myself a bath - my third in two days - hahaha.  Truly taking advantage of this ability to keep my body in pleasure.

I start the day with a delicious fruit salad prepared by SisterGoddess Mabella.  Papaya, banana, mango, tomatillo - all from the property here at MonteSuenos.  So very delicious.  And then I am invited for a juice at the main house with SisterGoddess Erin and SisterGoddess Meredith.  We sit on the front patio overlooking the Valley of Vilcabamba as we sip our pina smoothie.  I then get a little taste of raw chocolate cappuccino mousse and some raw chocolate covered strawberries SG Erin made.  Yummy fuel for my walk down the mountain and into town.

I put on my sneakers and I walk down and up and down and steeply up and around and down and up and across and down the mountain until I reach the ciudad of Vilcabamba. It's about a 25-30 minute walk down. A few more streets and then I reach the town square and my most favorite spot - The Juice Factory.  I order a green juice.  I scope out their wellness center and check out their products.  I buy some kale chips and raw onion bread and a pumpkin sunflower seed spread.  I drink a glass of water and walk around the corner to my favorite market.  Here, I am slowly learning to speak spanish by asking her the names of all the fruits and vegetables she has.  I love to learn and taste and try new things.

I head back up the mountain.  This is a lot harder than I thought.  Perhaps I am not yet acclimated.
I am definitely dehydrated.  And not used to mountain climbing.  I take it nice and slow and pace myself as the sun beats down on my shoulders and head.  And then a child pops up next to me.  Angel.  We speak in my broken Spanish and her little bit of English.  Watching her climb up this mountain - after her school day - and knowing this is her daily routine - gives me the oomph to just do it.

I get back to MonteSuenos and run myself another bath - SisterGoddess Sarah has provided me with bath salts which we sprinkled with all these yummy essential oils.   I sit in the hot water and knead my tight hamstrings and massage my legs.

What a great workout - cardio and all.  Looking forward to doing it again tomorrow.

This afternoon I have signed up for a breath workshop.  Three hours of deep transformational breathwork and some dancing too.  I am so excited.  I 'll let you know more manana.

Ciao for now as my SoulMama says.

I need a sign

I woke up this morning in a hotel room in the middle of downtown Quito.  It is slightly chillier than I care for. And I am up way early to head back to the airport for a flight to Loja.

For me, this trip is about surrender and trusting my INtuition.  Knowing I am here for a purrpose that is still yet to be revealed to me.  So I asked the Universe for a sign.  Show me irrefutable proof that I am supposed to be here today.   Hahaha.  Careful what you ask for.  

At Quito national airport (domestic flights), I check in, go through security and wait in the departure lounge when my name is called.  Please report to the ticket counter for baggage inspection with police.  Which means I have to go through the screening and back to the ticket counter.  Except as I try to go against the current through a side door for exits, I am pushed back by a security guard.  El Presidente!! El Presidente!!! And there he is, Rafael Correo, President of Ecuador - surrounded by security, shaking hands of people waiting on the side, and then he comes right by me - stops and kisses my cheek.   Did this just haHAhappen?  

I go to the ticket counter, meet police, we go through my luggage until they are satisfied and then through security again.  As I walk into the departure lounge, there he is again, El Presidente.  This time I get swept up with the wave and I am once again in front of him.  He asks me where I am from.  He asks me what I think of his country.  He takes a picture with me.

I get it GPS - thank you for the clear and OMazing sign.  I am here to figure it out by surrendering and allowing it to haHAhappen.  So be it.

And this is just the beginning of my day - woohoo!!!

Day 1 in MonteSuenos

I have a pleasant short flight to Loja where I meet and engage with Paul and Faith Johnson (I will read the Age of Reason, thank you BFAM Paul) who invite me to visit them at their house (once I find it).

I am met at the airport by Raffael a/k/a Raffie.  He is my chauffer and guide for the 1 1/2 hour trip through Loja and Vilcabamba.  And what a ride it is.  We go twisting and turning through mountains with clouds that feel close enough to touch.


SisterGoddess Sarah has a green curry made for dinner and SisterGoddess Erin an avocado-strawberry salad.  SisterGoddess Meredith lights a fire and we sit and eat making pleasureful sounds as we foodies truly savor the flavors and enjoy this experience.

Ecuador mi Amor

WOW - Wise OMazing Woman that I am - it has been a long time since I posted.

I am sad to report that Emma Mamie died shortly after that post and it felt like my heart shut down.  I felt like I could not write anymore - at least not anything personal.

And now, well - time heals all wounds.

My passion for travel and mi amor, Ecuador seems greater than my writer's block - woohoo.  So here I am.

I left Miami on Monday afternoon - destination bound Quito.  
Quito is the capital of Ecuador.  Unfortunately, I had no opportunity to visit.  I arrive and it is already dark.  I get whisked from the airport to my hotel.

I am not sure what it is about Ecuador and why I am here again.  I mean I am supposed to be running a retreat which isn't haHAhappening.   

The Universe is helping me understand that in order to lead peeps to this magical country I need to explore a little bit more on my own.  So here I am.

What I did see tonight - just a glimpse - was OMazing.  On my taxi ride to the hotel, I saw these huge frog sculptures in what looked to be a huge park in the middle of downtown Quito.