When we are focusing on our breath, we often visualise that we are breathing in light, or good stuff and we breath out darkness, negativity.
Here is a little experiment : When you are doing this at home, next time I would like you to do the opposite, breath in all the negative and breath out all the positive, as if you want to send out what you want the world to be like instead of emotional dumping.
Let me know how it goes :)
I saw a bird of prey attacking a heron in flight while walking in the woods this morning.
The heron honked really loudly and the bird of prey let him go.
Rain daisies, felted bee
My week has been bee-sy, needle felting a bee for the birthday of one of Thom’s friends. This bee is now with her girl, I hope they will have a lot of fun together…
Rain daisies are good friends for the bees, and it reminds me that more work needs to be done at the allotment over the weekend. There are bee hives next to our patch. We got some of their honey this week.
Before I started this bee, I did some research on bees to connect with them and to get to know them better… I learned that honey bees taste with their legs (their claws to be more precise), and that until fairly recently scientists couldn’t understand how bees could fly, as their bodies are so much bigger than their thin wings. It seems that they beat their wings at such a speed that they can take off and fly!
In many cultures bees represent fertility, a strong sense of community, prosperity, diligence, busyness… and they also remind us that we are all interconnected within the big web of life, as without bees and other pollinator insects our food would not grow.
If you find that you have a fascination for bees, and/or you feel a strong connection with them, I invite you strongly to go and meet them: go and sit quietly in their company and listen… and see what they have to tell you. You can also meditate on the qualities of bees, their social habits, their behaviour… and see if you need to implement more of these qualities into your own life. Or maybe you need to be less bee-sy? Slow down and take time to enjoy the sweet golden nectar of life? Perhaps you need to stop rushing around and working too hard, and set aside some time to relax and enjoy ‘what is’ and what you already have?
Pay attention to omens and animals who cross your path… if you come across bee(s), there may be a reason, and it’s worth taking a few moments to reflect on it.
In yoga the sound of the bee hum is associated with vishuddi, the throat chakra. There is a pranayama (breath control exercise) called brahmari – which means bee in sanskrit – also called the bee breath, named for the humming sound that bees make. This breathing technique is very relaxing and quietens the mind effectively. You can practice brahmari while sitting, start with simply noticing your natural breath for a while, then inhale through your nose and keeping your lips gently closed, and then hum like a bee as you exhale. Do so until you have completely emptied your lungs and you need to breath in again.
You can also use this breathing technique while in a posture such as the swan for example:
The Swan or extended child – Utthita Balasana
Or be on all fours in the cat position, breath in and as you breath out, hum like a bee as you get into swan (or extended child), then go back into cat (on all fours) as you breath in, and keep going…
If you have an interest and/or a connection with bees, you may enjoy this documentary:
Happy Beltane!
Noémie.
This morning this cow came to me, as a reminder:
i must honour my duty, stories have been brewing.
i know her.
as I’m busy preparing and thinking
about this coming workshop,
she came and nudged me gently
“keep going, do not stop
but remember our story”.
I’ve uploaded a new video to my youtube channel, as promised at the end of my “Telepathy with your dog” video:
This is a guided practice for preparing you to communicate telepathically with your animals. I hope you will enjoy it and that you and your animals will get a better and deeper understanding of one another :)
Here is a video I did a little while back, which is a good intro for the video above…
I have just learned of the death of Dr Masaru Emoto and his last words were “Thank you!”.
Expressing gratitude is a great way to keep our hearts open, and it’s a great practice while we are communicating with animals whenever we find it difficult to stay focused and heart centered.
Dr Masaru Emoto’s work showed us how our intentions affect water, as you can observe the different patterns of water crystals when the water is frozen.
A Water crystal exposed to “I love you”
In one of his experiments, he exposed water to a note saying “I love you” and the crystals looked beautiful, whereas they looked completely chaotic when exposed to “I hate you”.
If we think about it, our bodies are made up to 70% of water and our brains are 90% water, so the thoughts and intentions we have towards one another and oneself surely affect us on a cellular level too…
Anyway here is a video he made about his research, as a humble tribute to his life’s work :)
Here I’m in the middle of organising my next animal communication workshop, and this time the theme is Dog. It will be over a few Sunday afternoons at the end of November, I hope to see you there :)
“Dogs have a way of finding the people who need them,
Filling an emptiness we don’t even know we have.” – Thom Jones (American writer)
Have a lovely weekend,
Noemie.
Hammer-head sharks, Crow and Crab
revealed themselves to me that morning,
after i sat in silence
on a chair in a circle, in a village.
the hammerhead sharks came first
and i felt safe instantly.
through me they sent an invitation
for a blond mermaid looking girl
to explore her emotions
a bit deeper on paper.
My prompt led her to meet whales,
then butterflies.
i can’t help but feeling a pull
towards the hammerhead shark
whenever I feel lonely, left out or sensitive
Hammerhead shark reminds me that
spending time on my own isn’t a curse
but a great opportunity
to swim fluidly through the waves of these emotions of mine
before they turn into unmovable rocks.
the hammerhead shark makes me feel protected on many levels
and i’m grateful for them to come to me.
Crow keeps coming to me too…
Although i know he is often around but unseen,
as a friend and protector.
yesterday he kept me company on 2 paths
the path of words unravelling from my soul
and the cycle path on the way home.
crow doesn’t usually say much
he is usually just a friendly presence,
watching over me like a close friend
as he landed on the path in front of me:
laid back, relaxed, amused, as if he was making fun of me
like an old friend.
i sometimes wonder if
crow isn’t a manifestation of my own father?
Blue crab asked me to tell his story,
like with everyone’ stories there are sad and happy times,
magic, light, wisdom, good meals and dark sea beds.
Ferdinand Bauer, Portunus Pelagicus Blue Swimmer Crab – watercolour 1806-1826, the Natural History Museum, London.
“I’m fast and I won’t be prey. I bury myself in the sand and I like watching the light coming from the top, sometimes it’s very bright and it lights up the sea bed. I’m used to darkness. I don’t like being picked up or handled. My life is simple you might say, but for me it’s full of action, drama, vibrations, rippling sounds… fears, the satisfaction of a good meal… Maybe not so many internal brainy turmoils as I take life as it comes, I live in the moment. I’m in the now and life is good” – Blue Swimmer Crab.
Blue Swimmer Crab has fascinating eyes, blue claws and an interesting pattern on his back and legs. His two front claws look like two pelican beaks with lots of teeth. The pattern on his back looks like a map of a world, with the shape of symmetrical lands.
Crabs feel very grateful when people free them from careless fishermen, SO do what you need to do to get them out of the crab pots or buckets before they end up on a fishmonger stall and boiled alive.
Whenever you feel that pull to set them free don’t ignore that call, they are calling you for help and need you to listen to your heart. Don’t dwell too much on how, just get them out of there!
Look in the eyes of a crab, and he will speak to your heart. Listen carefully for his message is simple but profound.
When you see someone fishing, focus your intention on telling the fishes in the water to go swimming somewhere else and stay away from that zone. Send that message out clearly again and again, it will work!
Photograph: Thom Rimmer.
I feel like i have been stuck in an oozy mud for too long. I realised this morning that as the seasons are changing, the earth is spinning and the rest of the natural world is getting on with their lives and what they need to do at this time of the year, I have been stuck in the same old mud. I have been witnessing these changes but instead of embracing them, instead of allowing them to scoop me up and learning to ride them, going with their flow, I have spent years resisting these changes. Refusing to budge, refusing to go with any flow. I have grown roots, very deep in the ground and I am not moving. I am resisting. I might sway here and there as strong winds try to push me to move forward but so far my roots were so deep that I didn’t budge. “Haha! victory!” I hear that stubborn and smug part of me saying, but it’s quite sad really. Today it feels like resisting change is pointless. It’s a lost battle. We might refuse to change and stick to our only known ways, but in doing so, I’m sure we are missing out so much on the beauty of the world, the beauty of relationships, of discovering new places and meeting new people. I have stayed put for years. I stuck to my good old oozy patch of mud, begrudging this dark, cold, damp place but it has grown to feel familiar and now I find myself clinging onto it.
I can grow roots deep in the ground, but maybe I also need to remind myself that I’m not a tree…
So what does stop one from embracing change? fear? control issues? (tick, tick).
How can one release this and let go of these obstacles?
After all, I used to think that the unknown was the most exciting adventure, before I started to really think about all this, quite a while back…
And as you try to let go, more challenges are thrown at you. More tests to pass or fail. If you pass the constant assault of tests that life throws at you, well done. It’s a wild ride, but hold on tight, it’s worth it. If you fail only once, you are back to square one. Like the snakes and ladders game but on the back of a berserk horse. This year, you have to skillfully and gracefully juggle with these challenges, while riding full speed on a wild horse – if you were born during a horse year of course.
Good luck to all of you :)
I find that breathing helps. Just focusing on the breath, counting the inbreaths and extending the outbreaths up to doubling and sometimes tripling the count of the inbreaths. In yoga it’s called a Pranayama, or a breath controlled exercise. At this point in my life I’m convinced Pranayama is like magic.
Reknown yoga teacher T.K.V. Desikachar said that Pranayama is what westerners needed the most, due to the busy-ness of our lives and sky rocketing stress levels.
It seems like I might be able to breath out enough to release myself of these roots I have grown. I will have to remind myself to breath, in and out, every time I forget. After all, we are all being ‘breathed’. It’s happening, whether we are aware of it or not… Just like the seasons, the earth spinning and the rain… so we might as well admire it and enjoy it!
I find that Gratitude is a useful tool to help you shift your perception quickly.
When I find myself stuck in negative thinking or if I start to feel low and think how hard everything is, I find that practicing gratitude is a very effective way to shake that off. I start making a list of all the things Im grateful for, which makes me bring my focus on the good things in my life and no longer dwell on the areas that are harder.
When communicating with animals, we might find it hard to stay focused and keep the connection opened between ourselves and the animal. I find that practicing gratefulness at that very moment really helps. Because when we do, we are more in that Heart space, we allow the shield to come down for a while and we allow the connection to take place from the heart. We no longer think too much, doubt and fears seem to vanish and in doing so we feel a wave going straight to our heart. It’s warming, it makes us feel vulnerable but also stronger, because we went through to the other side of fear and we realise that actually we are strong, bold and fearless and we can do anything.
So gratitude, again and again. Write yourself your own prayer with all the things you are grateful for…
:)
I’m so grateful that you stopped by and took the time to read this, thank you!
As I watch you play
Your favourite seaside game
On a windy day
I see, what a shame,
I wasn’t even watching.
At the time, back then
I was just busy talking
Hiding in my den
In my head, my thoughts
I didn’t see the beauty
Happening in front me.
Luckily Tara filmed it
And now I got to watch
A tiny part of my life
That had somehow escaped me…
Watching myself not watching
Missed moments of you growing
While still being there.
Being physically right here
But my head is somewhere else
And the sad thing is…
I bet it will happen again.
His Holiness Chatral Sangye Dorje Rinpoche. Photo from here.
In the eyes of every yogi there is sadness
And dear ones left behind.
A yogi feels kindness
Towards the suffering of the mind
Of those caught up in the never ending
Place of being best, first, having this
but also that. No end, no beginning,
Chasing the tail of happiness, but never bliss.
Contentment, compassion, self-study…
Here are some of the jewels hidden
In the heart of a yogi.
