I will be absent for the next few weeks on a “capital” adventure of untouched country, fresh air, history, and, of course, planes, trains(?) and automobiles! While most of the logical world might surmise that going somewhere warmer might be more pleasurable, I respectfully disagree, noting that going somewhere colder == an increased warmth in coming home. Given my historical tendency to repeat favoured vacation destinations, Iceland will represent a distinctive break from the ordinary… an expected foray into the extraordinary. Catch you all on the flip side!

Reykjavik, Iceland

What have I been doing lately? Among other things, some lovely treatments and some lovely trades!

EFT

This past weekend, I did my EFT Level 1 with Susan Bushell.

Reiki

Several weekends ago, I received my Shamballa attunement from Cindy Pearce.

I don’t believe in New Years resolutions; I believe in goals and dreams. The turning of the year is the time when most people make their resolutions, and as such, it is a wonderful time for me to evaluate my goals.

2008 was fantastic. I loved and lost, and loved again. I traveled and studied, I worked hard and played harder. I toured the Niagara Ice Wine Festival, fell in love with San Diego, drank Tequila in Tijuana, ate sushi in Bermuda, took in some witchy history in Salem, spent a good chunk of the Winter and Spring in British Columbia (Vancouver, Kelowna, Whistler…), and spent the Summer flying around Ontario (Sault Ste. Marie, Thunder Bay, Timmins) and made Ottawa my temporary home for 2 months - when I wasn’t cottaging, that is. I reconnected with some amazing people from my past, and made new connections that I plan to take into my future.

I became more of an adult. Took out an RRSP loan, formulated an appropriate savings plan, acquired a fantastic business partner + benefits page, and making plans to move forward with my present place of employment and my present love relationship. I cut off the safety blanket known as my hair, and am loving the care, freedom, and worry-free aspect of it all now. My passion for my love ebbs and flows, but now it seems to be in a definite pattern of free flowing goodness. I am blessed and loved.

Goals for 2009

• Be continually conscious of my health and diet
• Learn some form of martial art - Aikido, Tai Chi, Qi Gong…
• Return to Vancouver, Halifax, Orange Country, Mexico and possibly visit Asia
• Finish my yoga teacher training
• Attain my Zend Certified Engineer designation
• Learn Flex
• Collaborate with my fantastic partner on some projects
• Finish my 10 speeches to receive my CC (Competent Communicator) award at Toastmasters
• Learn some additional modalities in energy healing
• Visit more spiritually charged destinations

2008 goals that didn’t make it

• Visit San Francisco
• Apply to grad school

The following have been on my list for the past 2 years… maybe this year I will actually see them to fruition?

• Get my Registered Practitioner status with the Canadian Reiki Association and complete my teacher class outlines
• Write my exam with the Certified Personal Trainers Network
• Master of Herbology with Dominion Herbal College
• Finish my course work with the University of Metaphysics and Pathways of Light

I believe in being realistic, although I am certainly ambitiously realistic. Happy 2009… and may the new year bless you with health, wealth, and wisdom!

What have I been doing lately? Among other things, some lovely treatments and some lovely trades!

Quantum Touch

Several weeks ago, I visited Lee Pryke in Cambridge for a Quantum Touch healing session. QT practitioners focus and amplify life-force energy (known as “chi” in Chinese and “prana” in Sanskrit) by combining various breathing and body awareness exercises.

BOS

This past weekend, I visited Isabella D’Alessandro of the Paradigm Centre in Guelph for a BOS treatment. BOS stands for Biocomputer Operating System, co-developed by Larry Steel and the late chiropractor, Dr. Harvey Steel, has its base in Chinese Medicine. Using the model of a biological computer, the Biocomputer Operating System is an energy harmonizing technique that clears the body’s control system of errors and interferences, so that its inborn healing potential can be fully expressed. Muscle-testing is a means of identifying energetic causes of physical imbalances. It uses small filters that resonate with the body’s electrical system. Valuable at all levels; BOS is especially effective in balancing the mental and physical energy fields using anatomical body points and filters as entry points through extremely time-efficient and effective methods.

Reiki

I recently launched http://www.komyoreiki.ca/ in exchange for my Komyo Reiki Level I and I will be doing some work for http://www.crystalrainbows.ca/ for initiation into Shambhala Reiki. The barter system is a lovely thing!

Some inspiring thoughts from Lee Pryke:

Life has been busy for me and I have not written in a couple of weeks. What it has shown me is the importance of cherishing the moment and loving the day we have been given to the fullest. After spending the day with my best friend at the funeral home (a place I never go) I realized how important it is to appreciate and cherish the day that we have TODAY.

Two friends transitioned recently and no previous warning. One was in critical condition and thankfully pulled through. It just came in the middle of the night through heart attacks and left their loved ones wondering what happened. We all know that we live a specific time on this earth and hope that it is a long time. In doing so, we get lazy. Yes, how many times have you said “I can do that tomorrow”..but what if tomorrow doesn’t come?

We need to live, laugh and love TODAY as if there is NO tomorrow and in doing so we remind ourselves of those precious moment we all take for granted. When your partner leaves for work do you stop and give them a kiss? Do you hug your kids and tell them how much you love them? When you really want to get your hair done do you or do you put it off for another day because something else seems more important. What about that beautiful china in the cabinet? When was the last time for no reason at all, did you decide to serve a meal on it JUST BECAUSE.

So many authors write about Living in the Now like Eckart Tolle, and Ram Dass, but do we listen or do we wait until it is too late to really forget about the WHAT IF’S and just DO IT…..TODAY!
Tim McGraw wrote a song I love called Live Like You Were Dying. Listen to it if you can as it really shows you how important it is to cherish every moment of TODAY and do all the things you want to do that are for the betterment of your higher self and those around you. When you lay your head on the pillow tonight you will smile and know that you did the best that you could do TODAY and be blessed in the morning when once again you are given yet another Fantastic 24 hours to do it all over again.

(Lee Pryke)

www.iamican.ca

When the love of your life recalls returns to his Samurai roots and you, yourself, feel strongly that you wish to be a yogi, where does the twain meet? Does it meet? Can it meet? They are both disciplined, noble pursuits. Should he wish to spend some time in Japan to further his dream, naturally I would be supportive. However, how much of one’s own dreams are to be sacrificed for the dreams of another? To me, the answer is clear. I cannot sacrifice my own dreams for the Samurai warrior, but perhaps a new dream can be manifested that we can share? Too often, I see couples that have sacrificed deeply for the love of their partner, and although this too would seem to be a noble, I don’t think it’s necessary. We are all the masters of our universe and of our destinies. I want to be a Yogi. I want to suck all of the marrow from the writings of the ancient Indian sages. I have read Paramahansa’s Autobiography of a Yogi so often that the book is falling apart and yet every time I open it, a new revelation strikes me. I wish to really understand the counsel of Krishna to Arjuna in the Bhagavad-Gita, and to be able to read Sanskrit. I want to have deep discussions over the writings of Pantanjali and explore many of the sutras. Can a Samurai and a Yogi have a future together? Perhaps with love, communication, and understanding, anything is possible.

I woke up this morning feeling as though I’d been trod over by a team of horses. At the close of the day, I feel as though I am standing on the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. I started off the day with a visit to my favourite ND in Guelph – Dr. Krista Vetter – for a B12 shot. I met several of my enlightening friends at our local Toastmasters meeting, and finally dragged by aching body to Dr. Sheldon Gilchrist at Laurelwood Chiropractic, who performed a miracle on my back and neck. After waking up feeling ready for the sarcophagus, I am ending the day feeling as though I could run a marathon. Caring for oneself is of the utmost importance, and yet so often, it overlooked.

In trying to think about the meaning of Thanksgiving, I would like to share an e-mail that I received over this long weekend. It touched me profoundly:

8am Sunday morning, the sun is just beginning to rise and the sky is a hazy blue and I feel blessed and full of gratitude that I’m here to observe the beginning of a beautiful day. Seven days ago at 8am I suffered a massive heart attack and for me this beautiful world stood still, the title of a movie comes to mind “The Day the Earth Stood Still.” Yes, indeed, it is a beautiful day!

I’m filled with gratitude for all of the wonderful friends I have whose love I was surrounded with during my fight for life, as they administered what the doctor referred to as “The Blockbuster Drug” or super Draino to clear the plugged arteries in my heart. The doctor referred to me as a ‘stoic little man’. Little did he know that during those critical hours and days that followed, I was surrounded by a warm blanket of love from all of you, which gave me the power and fortitude to recover.

I look upon this event as another manifested Miracle in my life, of which there have been many. It is “Thanksgiving”, and indeed, I have much to be thankful for having such wonderful friends to walk the sands of time with on this beautiful planet Earth.

Happy Thanksgiving and God bless you all.