This post is from my dear friend, Dee Holden. She is a plant intuitive and a great person to learn from when it comes to all things green and good.

Connecting with Plants

Eating flowers is one of my favorite things to do in the Summertime. They share their healing vibrations with us when we eat them. The flowers of these plants are edible: alliums, bee balm, borage, calendula, cornflower, dandelion, johnny jump ups, lavender, lilac, nastursium, pansy, rosemary, wild roses, violets, squash blossoms and sooo sooo many more.

Remember to identify the flower exactly and eat only edible flowers and edible parts of those flowers. Never harvest flowers growing by roadsides or flowers sprayed with pesticides or other chemicals.

Flower salads and calendula pancakes are yummy, healing and certainly beautiful, yet there are also ways to experience the healing effects of the whole plant: heart, body, soul and spirit.

Read More “Denise Holden on Edible Flowers, the Rose, and Sage”

This is a story of finding bliss in an ordinary place. May it inspire you to follow your own bliss, and connect with the truth and oneness within.

This weekend I turned my front porch into a temple.

I brought out most of my crystals and many luxurious fabrics; I created a sanctuary and proceeded to spend the better part of two days there.

I played my guitar, drummed and sang with my djembe. I painted sacred words on stones (more on that later).

I spent a lot of time in meditation and mantra. Sometimes I’d pick up a crystal and just sit, tuning into its vibrations and listening to the message of the moment. Sometimes I would work with energy and intention.

Sometimes I just sat and watched my breath.

One of my companions was the ever present book of poetry by Rumi which lives on the table on my porch. I love to pick it up and open to a random page to see what gift awaits me there.

Read More “Finding Bliss in the Now”

It’s always so delightful to find a new recipe for enjoying salad, especially one that includes the medicinal benefits of shiitake mushrooms!

Shiitake mushrooms are considered one of the most important mushrooms in the East, and are used to boost the immune system and support healing for many conditions.

I get mine from Michael’s Mushrooms at the Kamloops Farmer’s Market, and they are so fresh and delicious!

For many people, the idea of a bunch of lettuce isn’t the most exciting thing in the world, but there are ways to make salad absolutely scrumptious!

In fact, many (possibly most) of my meals at home are different variations of salad. Salad wrap, veggie sandwich, rice or quinoa salad, etc. It’s easy, it’s quick, and SO nutritious.

So here’s my latest creation:

Farmer’s Market Salad with Shiitake Mushrooms

Feeds 2-4 people. Approximately 15 minutes to prepare.

Read More “Fantastic Farmer’s Market Salad with Shiitake Mushrooms”

“Sometimes advanced yoga is doing Legs up the Wall pose when everyone else is doing arm balances.”

This was the sage advice given to me by one of my Anusara yoga instructors during a time where I felt like I was falling apart, but just kept pushing instead of allowing the process to unfold and then pass.

Yet once I’d been given permission, or more accurately, once I’d given myself permission to lay on my back and swing my legs up the wall while the rest of the class was playing on their hands, I realized that is where I needed to be.

And I begun to listen to myself. And the intensity passed, for I was no longer fighting it.

This is an example of something I think so many of us do. We keep pushing and forcing ourselves to do more, not rest – to try to keep up with the break-neck pace of ambition or need in life.

But it doesn’t work. It isn’t sustainable if it’s not sourced from the limitless energy that breathes us and dances in our blood; that energy that dances in everything that is.

When we push ourselves too hard and have unrealistic expectations, often it leads to anxiety, to living in a state of feeling like it’s all too much, or that we’re not good enough. And then all sorts of things can come from that, if left unchecked, including adrenal fatigue, chronic fatigue syndrome, and all manner of stress related physical manifestations.

So what’s the out? How do you shift that feeling of “There is never enough time”?

Read More “The Yoga of Listening, Retreats, and Letting Go of Anxiety”

Much of the world has turned its healing focus on the situation in the Gulf of Mexico. Below is a video where I lead you through a mediation for healing the Gulf, and the earth, as well as brightening your own heart.

The oil spill is a microcosm, showing how detrimental some of our human practices can be, and awakening a massive motivation for change. Using intention and visualization, you can send powerful light to the oceans and the earth – this has been done in many ways and makes a great deal of difference.

This meditation was ‘given’ to me by a great Earth Healer; a giant Smokey Quartz crystal. Crystals contain great wisdom, and this particular crystal is a very powerful healer with depth and far reaching insight.

I asked it to give me something to offer as healing for the Gulf Oil Spill that I could share with you, and yesterday – at dawn on Summer Solstice – I put it on video.

Below the video is the transcript of the meditation I was given.

Read More “Healing the Earth: Meditation for the Gulf”

I received this message in my email today. I’m not sure where it originates, but I think it’s worth posting. See if you resonate with this message and meditation.

If you meditate on the vision and energy of a Net of Light, as described below, even for a few minutes each day, you will contribute significantly to the healing that is so needed right now.

Though the Grandmothers speak here in an urgent way, there is much hope.

Stay in the light of your heart as you do this work. This light is limitless, boundless, and capable of healing ANYTHING.

Message from the Grandmothers.

Read More “Healing the Earth: Gulf Oil Spill”