We Just Got the Best Shower Curtain Ever! :)

07-29-06 - 3:25pm

I just had to share. Isn't this the bestest, most awesomest shower curtain ever!? It made me so happy I had my husband take a picture of it and everything! Naked and Happy! Hee :)

The Empathic Healer Goes Audio! :)

(click to listen!)
07-28-06 - 10:30pm

Yeah! *beam* I am now offering audio versions of entries! This is so much fun! I love using my voice, there's many more layers and nuances of meaning to be had in an audio version - it's more *real*, if you know what I mean. And, who knows? Maybe a voice talent scout'll happen upon me and offer me the job of my dreams. It could happen. :)

I've gone back a couple entries and done them in audio, to get the ball rolling. :) Enjoy!

I made a Windows desktop wallpaper for myself - thought I would share it! :)

If you like this, leave me a comment and let me know! I'm thinking about making more of them. :)

If you want to save this, or use this as a wallpaper for your own computer, first click on the image so you can see it full size (it's BIG!) Then you can right-click and choose 'Set as Desktop Image' or 'Save Image As' - whatever you like! :) En-joy!

Empathic Compensation

(click to listen!)
07-28-06 - 11:30am

This is from a post I made to a YahooGroup called Empaths in response to someone's question. I thought it would be of interest here, too! :)

The group is dedicated to learning how to deepen your empathy, and I highly recommend it. :) The owner, Jad, has written a book called The Book of Storms, and he's posting it to the group a chapter at a time. Very good for beginners in empathy, too! :)You can find the group here! If you do join, tell them I sent you - AluraVA is my name in YahooGroups :) Apparently if I bring in 5 people or something I get a free reading from the founder - sounds good to me! :)

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'ello! :)

b_apperlo wrote:

That made me wondering. If people are blind (or deaf) there other senses become better (e.g. blind people hear better and can feel things better). Does this affect there empath abilities? Does the fact of having 1 or more senses less then most people make it easier for them to learn dreamtongue? Maybe this will be clear in the upcoming lessons, but I was just curious.

I bet Jad will answer this himself, but I have a bit of experience with it and have read a bit about it, so figured I would put in my 2 cents, or bits, or whatever the case may be. ;)

The other senses *are* heightened to compensate. You're using so much less energy and % of awareness for the one sense, so it all gets piped into the others and they're all upped a notch - that's my understanding of it. Just try putting a blindfold on for a little bit and you'll notice the difference immediately as soon as you begin trying to interact with your environment!

I do empathic readings for people, as a profession. When I'm in person with someone there is so much info! I often reach out and hold their hand, because just the act of touching them kicks in physical empathy. Seeing how they carry themselves, the angles of their features, their choice of dress even, offers a ton of information gateways - especially looking into someone's eyes (be it in person or in a photo!) The eyes really are the windows to the soul. Visual empathy.

Audio empathy is my next favorite way of doing readings, with a recent picture of the person in front of me, when I can get one. The flavor of their voice, the nuances and levels - just like we learned about in Jad's most recent chapter, they're all gateways (threads, I think he called them) you can follow and use to gather information. There is SO much information in the voice, if you close your eyes and concentrate - there's layers.

I also send energy this way (as also described in Jad's latest chapter, chapter 3 I think it was?) and do many an energy healing over the phone through the use of my voice. When I'm sending energy through it, the tone and cadence and nuance of my voice changes dramatically - something just about everyone comments on. They say it fills them with a sense of love and peace...which is just so awesome, since that's what I'm trying to convey. :)

I can also do readings just through e-mail. This isn't bad, and is relatively easy if the person rambles on for a while. You can pick up info from their choice of words, their capitalization tendencies, the flow and cadence of their communication. If someone wants me to do a reading and they give me just their name, and their focus as 'My career' - that gives me so little to work with, their reading comes out as short and lifeless as their request. ;)

The reason I've shared all of these, in answer to your question is because when I selectively focus my empathic abilities down to just one sense, a lot of info comes through!

I guess, extrapolating from there, if someone only had just one sense - say hearing - they would open up to all the MANY layers of info there is available through hearing, in an effort to compensate, and then would likely, just through the act of opening, naturally touch into their empathic abilities. Not to mention there's less chatter from the other senses to get in the way. That's why I close my eyes when doing readings over the phone. :)

My thoughts! :)
*hugs!*
- Dawn

An Empath Witnesses an Arguement...

(click to listen!)
07-22-06 - 10:50pm

I had the most interesting experience today! I was in a group sitting with a bunch of people, some I knew and some I didn't. I didn't have any of my shields up (I often put up shielding and turn my empathy down a notch when going into a crowded public place) because this was a group that usually is more focused on Feeling Good than any group I've ever known.

Well, as it turned out, a topic came up that pushed a couple people's buttons - big time. Two people people in particular, each of whom were on opposite sides of their own disagreement.

Now, here's the interesting part! As an empath - as someone who can feel other's emotions - I was able to feel both of them... I would focus on one person, and feel their emotions, and the fact that they KNEW they were right. And then I would focus on the other person - and it was the same exact thing!

And there I was, witnessing, entirely unattached to either side, experiencing only the tender spot each one of them was feeling... It was interesitng to feel their walls go up as they stopped listening to each other, too.

I realized that when it came down to it, their disagreement wasn't actually about what they were arguing about... It was all personal. Each person was in their own world, defending their threatened sense of Self against an 'evil' agressor...a person who wasn't even there!

The 'person' had been replaced in their world, in their version of reality, by the energy surrounding the original wound... And that's all each of them could see. They no longer saw the person - they just saw the 'Cause of Pain'.

It was a very unique experience...

In the Dark, Reaching for the Light - a retrospective

07-22-06 - 10:23

As I've mentioned before, I'm on the Abraham-Hicks Yahoogroup. :) Lately, I seem to be finding myself drawn to the people who post who are in situations that are similar to how mine were before I came to Virginia and started my life over. More on that here. This is one of the most recent e-mails I wrote. :) It shares a part of me that I haven't shown here, before, and it also has some suggestions of things that worked for me when I was down in the dark.

I've decided not to include names, or the original message. Though this was posted to a 'public' forum, it's still pretty private stuff. :)

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'ello! :)

From *my* experience, doing stuff to help yourself when you're feeling down is *really* hard. You're so angry at yourself on some level that you don't really think you deserve help / want to help yourself. Punishing yourself for being where you are would be closer to what you'ld like to do... and you end up in this quivering lump. With all that inner turmoil, you barely even have the energy to breath, let alone work on a process (from the Abraham Hicks book Ask and it is Given), and the whole thing just becomes yet another exhausting thing to avoid.

My suggestion would be to let yourself rest for just a little while. Cut yourself some slack - you know you want to move out of this, and recognizing that is a huge accomplishment itself! :) Bask in that for a little while, congratulate yourself, and reassure yourself that you're not going to start until you're ready.

In the meantime, perhaps you could do a little something for yourself to remind yourself that the Universe is still out there, that you're not trapped and alone - you're just gathering your energy for another big push. You can even set up an agreement with the Universe, on your own terms from the place you are right now, that it can give you its own cosmic wink in a very specific way.

When I was really down, it was butterflies. And whenever I saw a dandelion that had gone into the puffball stage, *and* I felt like I was strong enough to ask the Universe for a little push, I would pick it and blow on it, and watch the seeds fly away.

And that was all I did. It was enough. I saw butterflies, and it reminded me that I was strong, even if it was deep down and locked away by depression and fear at the moment - one day I would be beautiful and free. And puffballs, to request movement from my Inner Being when I didn't have the strength to move, myself. I blew on a lot of puffballs the summer before my parents died. I used to tell my mom I felt like I was being de-constructed from the ground up.

For a while, after my mom died, my symbol became the phoenix - and I saw pheonixes *everywhere*. There was a LOT of anger in my phoenix symbol - I wanted to burn away and disappear, or transform. Life couldn't go on the way it was. And after a few weeks of phoenixes...change happened in a big way, and I set my foot on the path of happiness - though I didn't know it at the time. At the time it just felt like another scary twist on the roller coaster of life - though I will say it was a twist that took me into TOTAL new territory that I wouldn't have even considered if I hadn't of been pushed right to the edge.

So, just my thoughts! :) It's a journey...a BIG one...and you sense that. It's okay to stay where you are for as long as you want. I guess I would say - take it from someone who's been there: The Universe/God/Source/whatever you want to call it has your back, and will be right there with you always - when you're resting and gathering strength, *and* when you're ready to ask for a little change and growth.

Oh! And, as a last thought, I love the Notes from the Universe from the T.U.T. (Totally Unique Thoughts) Adventurer's club. You can Google them, they're easy to find. Andy Dooley runs it, one of the guys from The Secret movie. Really fun, uplifting, personalized messages come to your Inbox every weekday morning... It's a smile in the morning - and sometimes just a smile, when you're in a deep pit, can be enough to light up your whole day. :)

You're doing great! :)

*hugs!*
- Dawn

Catching Up - Part 3!

07-20-06 - 11:00am

So, coming back to the other topics I said I would cover! Oh, and, how could I forget the 4th of July! Wow, what an experience! We were lucky enough to be able to go out on a lake in a little boat with just our friends and experience the fireworks being set off by a man in an adjacent boat. And these were no ordinary fireworks! It was amazing - the best 4th of July ever. :)

Now, Busch Gardens! :) Who would have thought - it ends up I love roller coasters! *beam* Just the steel ones, though... I love the feeling of flying. The feeling of being pummeled by the coaster, and the out of control 'fly off the tracks' feeling isn't one I'm fond of. Keith and I went with a couple friends of ours and their kids. It sure was a lot of fun seeing the park through the kid's eyes. :)

One thing I discovered while there was the effect checking in with my state of being, had. A few times during the day, I just sat quietly and checked in with myself. How am I doing, feeling, etc. And it was at those times that I really connected with how much fun I was having, and how good it felt to be there sharing the experience with our friends. :) (That's Chris and his son Gerran looking at the camera, there! I was oblivious, enjoying the ride - I've always loved the Pirate Swing ;) ) If I hadn't taken the time to check in with the Now and how I was feeling, I may have only remembered it in retrospect, after it was all over. By checking in while the fun was still happening, I was able to appreciate it, and build it up even more in myself. Now, my strongest memory is the one of joy and fun - and that's what I'll take away with me, from the experience. :)

My latest realization about beauty came while I was at the gym, during water aerobics class. (I take water aerobics at the Y every day at noon. :) ) I just suddenly realized, that inside each person...even each *thing* but especially each person... there is incredible beauty. Beauty enough to bring tears to my eyes. I can't really explain or quantify the experience... it just was, and it was perfect. I looked around at all the women in my class, and the lifeguards and children...and suddenly everyone was so indescribably unique and absolutely beautiful. I believe, now, that beauty can be found in anyone - if you're looking for it.

My latest realization about teachers and healers came in the form of a sentence I said to someone else. "The greatest healers and teachers are those who help us to suspend disbelief long enough for us to experience a miracle."

Until next time! :)
*hugs!*
- Dawn

Catching up - Part 2! Meeting Amma

07-17-06 - 4:50pm

So, where was I? Oh, yes...meeting Amma :) Others have already professed an interest in hearing all about the visit, so, I will go into great detail! :)

Thousands upon thousands of people come to see Amma in India, her native homeland. She has been said to say that coming to do a U.S. tour is almost like a vacation - she's been known to hug up to 50,000 people in one sitting! When we arrived at the Hilton in Tyson's Corner, VA, there were hundreds - probably even thousands - of people already there.

6pm was the time they were scheduled to give out tokens - they had a system of numbers and letters, splitting people up into 25 person or so sections. We got there at 6:15pm, so late that we just ran right up to the door without doing anything else. When we got our tokens, we were in the G3 section. We were then immediately herded by people all in white (Amma's devotees, I think likely most of them members of the Amma D.C. organization) in a very orderly fashion in amidst a throng (I'm not sure how many people it takes to qualify for a throng, but...I would say this passed ;) ) of people all sitting down in rows of two, facing each other.

We were shown to our own little piece of carpet that was to be ours for the next two hours, and then told to sit. Rosanne and I looked at each other - we're both somewhat medically challenged, not enough to ask for special handicapped seating, but sitting on the floor without assistance in a very tightly packed space? With much grunting, we managed, considering it to be a part of the right of passage of seeing Amma. We also discovered that out of the hundreds (thousands?) of people there, we were the only ones wearing shoes in the hall. :P We used our Abraham-Hicks skills to get a great parking space at the back door, and apparently in our rush to get our tokens, we missed the majority of the signs saying, "Take your shoes off!" Oops.

In our space we found a little dixiecup plastic cap, (which remained a mystery until much later) and an envelope we could use to make a donation. Up on a large screen at the front of the hall they were playing Amma videos of previous speeches (sermons? Talks?) she had given. It was entertaining enough, but the discomfort of sitting on bare carpet and being unable to fold my legs or sit back on my hands or even straighten my legs all the way out in front of me and sit up was pretty excruciating. By the time Amma showed up, around 7:15, I was more than ready for some major distraction. I think Rosanne was, too.

The other people around us were from all walks of life. It seemed like all races and ages were accounted for in that one wide space. Some people sat and meditated intently while waiting...others rolled around on the floor and played (there were a lot of children!)...everyone kept shifting position, and everyone was waiting for something to happen.

And then, after an annoucement asking that we all remain seated so that everyone could see her equally when she came in, Amma entered the hall to the sound of beautiful singing and ringing bells. She took her honorary spot at the head of the room, up on a dias, and performed a blessing ceremony in which three large silver basins of water were made holy. The water was then ladeled into little plastic cups and passed down the rows: Dixie cup cap mystery solved. We were told to bring the water home, and add it to a larger amount of water - that the water was blessed and contained healing properties. I poured mine into a water bottle I had with me and put the cap on. Rosanne didn't have a bottle with her.

Amma then talked...for a long time. And between her talking, her translator talked...for a long time. There were many interesting things said, but going on hour two I was so uncomfortable I ended up tuning in and out between fidgetting to bring feeling back in to this foot or that leg. The one story I remember goes like this:

There's two men on a tandem bicycle - you know, those bikes that two people ride at once? They're on a hill, and they're getting ready to ride to the top together. They push off as one, and the man in front begins to pedal like mad, but he's not getting anywhere! After what seems like forever, he stops, panting, and turns back to the man behind him, "Oh, ugh! We haven't gone anywhere! I am so exhausted I can barely breath!" The man behind him is panting too, and replies, "You think you're exhausted! I had to hold be brake on the whole time or we would have gone rolling down the hill!"

The whole hall laughed at this one, me included. :) She went on to compare it to our lives, how we work so hard to get somewhere, but the brake of our fears keeps us from actually moving - and we end up exhausted!

So, after what felt like forever, they wanted us to meditate. Rosanne and I looked at each other. Oh, did I mention we were wearing dresses? I Don't Wear Dresses, but tradition said that we were to wear something that hid the female form a bit, and to wear a dress that fell below the knees. No Pants. (Of course, once we arrived we found a ton of people wearing pants. Hmph.) So, yeah, there we are sitting on our square of carpet, trying to be comfortable moving in to hour three. We closed our eyes and did our best, but I can't say I reached any profound levels of connection. I don't think I'll ever be one of those guys who lays on a bed of nails... I'm just so in to being comfortable! ;)

And then...they asked us to stand up. Rosanne and I looked at each other again. Stand...up? Pressed in on all sides by strangers and no stable thing to hang on to in sight? With our legs asleep? Well, somehow, we did manage...I won't say it was graceful, but, we did it. And then we were to sit down again. I think she and I more fell down than anything, and when Rosanne came down, there was an audible *crunch!* It was all just too much! She and I both were sure she had sat on her holy water! Ohhhh, and of course there was then the obligatory moment of silence in which hundreds of people all at once bowed their heads to honor the God within. And Rosanne and I had the giggles! Oh, what a night. I'll never forget that. ;)

Ends up she sat on something else and her holy water was saved. Yay. ;) So, eventually it all came to an end. Rosanne and I managed to haul ourselves up off our square of carpet one more time. By then it was 8:30. We were told to enjoy ourselves and to buy things that were on sale in the hall and outside because all proceeds go to the many Amma charities (she really does do some amazing things) and to make ourselves available when our section was called. They then began with A1.

We wandered around, stretching our legs. We discovered they were selling an odd assortment of things - jewelry, pictures, t-shirts, and what they referred to as 'Amma's personals' (aka her underwear) were to be found in one corner of the hall. That was a little weird. Holy underwear. When I saw them I wondered out loud if Rosanne's underwear would have been holy if she *had* actually sat on the blessed water. Hehehe. Anyway, that ate up about half an hour of time. By then they were on A2. We went and got something to eat, came back. B3. We ended up seeing her right around midnight.

Though I had gone into the whole thing with a sense of curious detachment, I think I would have been nervous about *any* 15 second event if I had waited 6 hours for it. o.O Amma's devotees were incredibly organized, and everything ran like a well oiled machine with one person after the next going up and getting their hug. When our time came to get into the que with the other people in our section, we were given reading material about requesting a mantra from Amma, and what this would mean.

To request a mantra from Amma, we were told that at the end of your hug you are to say "AmmaMantra." She will then say yes or no. If she says yes, you go and get in another line. I chose to receive a mantra. The whole time, there was devotoinal music being played, live, right there down in front. People were dancing and hopping around. There was a LOT of love in the room - it was almost like you could taste it in the air as you breathed it in.

We got closer and closer to her, and as I was told to kneel with the others about to receive a hug, I had no problems doing so at all. When I went up to receive my hug from Amma, I felt suddenly like an awkward teenager - I had no idea what to do with my arms and legs! Apparently this happens a lot, because there were two devotees there taking my hands and placing them on the sides of Amma's chair where they were supposed to go, and then she gave me my hug.

I felt so overwhelmed. I suddenly realized as she was holding me that tever have I felt unconditional love, outside of meditation/visualization. I didn't even know what it was, on a human level. All I felt like doing was crying - and another devotee was right there with tissues, waiting. Apparently that happens a lot, too. Heh, I feel like crying just thinking about it. It's like receiving the ultimate permission to relax - that everything is going to be okay, and that it always really was. It's indescribable. She spoke to me, but in her own language - I haven't the slightest clue what she said, but...somehow that was right.

So, amid all of this, as she released me I somehow managed to blurt out AmmaMantra, and she nodded and said, "Yes."

I don't honesty remember exactly what happened next. In a daze I was helped to stand and led to the side of the dias where I stood there blankly for a while until someone herded me with some other blank looking people to the debriefing area. There we were told in depth about what it means to request, and be given, a mantra from Amma. You are, in effect, asking Amma to be your guru, to walk with you on your spiritual journey for the rest of your life. Apparently this is something that at one time was reserved for only those who had passed rigourous years of training and testing. Amma's mission in life, however, is to speed up the enlightenment of all of mankind - and so, we were being offered a very special opportunity.

We were then told that you must agree to three things in order to receive a mantra from Amma. First, you must use the mantra at least once every day, by repeating it 108 times, out loud or in your head. Second, you are never to share your mantra with anyone. And third, you are to invite Amma/your focus into your life often, to keep the connection alive beyond just using the mantra. We were then given a few moments to decide if this was something we were ready to do.

If you choose to go ahead and receive a mantra, you are told to write down your highest vision, what makes your heart sing the most, what you're most drawn to - anything. Some people wrote Harri Krishna, some wrote Jesus, some wrote Archangel Michael, others wrote Amma herself. Your choice would then be translated to Amma by one of her devotees, and then she gives you a special mantra just for you, embodying your focus.

Making my choice was no problem for me whatsoever, though the others in my group took their time. I chose Divine Love. It was written down for me and handed to me on a slip of paper, and then I was led to another line and told to kneel. Again I did so with no problem. I was second to receive a mantra, of my group, and so was right up close while waiting. Mantras were given in between group sections, and there was still quite a few peole to go before the end of that section.

Watching Amma hug all of those people? What a profound experience. Almost everyone cried. I especially remember watching one man having his hands placed on the sides of her chair, clenched into fists. And as she embraced him, he totally relaxed and his hands went limp. You could tell he was sobbing the whole time.

And then the time came, and I was moved up right next to Amma and she hugged me and whispered my mantra in my ear while she showered my head with rose petals. And then it was over, and I was helped to stand once more, and a whole handful of the rose petals were pressed into my hands. I took them and stumbled in some random direction, at which point I was guided to her main helper, a Swami in a very orange robe, who made sure I knew how to pronounce the mantra correctly (it took me a couple tries) and then gave it to me on a piece of paper.

I was then led to another debriefing area, where a man gathered all the recent, dazed looking mantra-receivers and once again told them about the commitments they had just made, and gave tips for working with the mantras. When you wake up, is good, he said. And any time you are waiting, like in traffic. Any time at all that you do it is beneficial. I have found this to be true, even just four days after having received it, and will write more about that at some other time. :)

Rosanne and I then took one last look at Amma and the huge group of people still waiting - apparently she was going to keep giving hugs until after 4am! Until every single person had been hugged - and then we left. The parking lot was absolutely full even then, at 2am by that time.

In the days since then, I have faithfully been using the mantra - sometimes up to an hour and a half worth of mantra-meditation a day! When I first wake up, and when I go to sleep. (I found it takes me 20 minutes to go through one round of 108 times) The benefits are already making themselves very apparent. I do believe that any mantra that you put your heart into would allow you to reap the same benefits... But, I feel that the rite of passage I took in going to see Amma, the discomfort and pain and waiting and confusion and everything else... and the focus made so personal for me into a mantra of Divine Love... made this practice all the more powerful for me. :)

Catching Up - Part 1!

07-15-06 10:25

Wow! I haven't written in quite a while - I've been incredibly busy doing all kinds of neat things. :) So, a catch up post (or two!) is in order!

First off - Ms. Kitty is doing just great. A charity fund was even started, raising over $300 to go toward her recovery bills! :) She's walking around and doing great - not quite as graceful and agile as she once was, but able to do all the old things she once loved and we feared she may never be able to do again. Nope, not our kitty! She's back in action and more lovable than ever. :)

Next, I entirely overhauled my website, "Love is there..." Tons of new resources and fun stuff, several different new services like 'Healing Hugs' and full tarot readings, and the honor of showcasing artwork from Bone Sigh Arts - art for the healing soul on each of the main pages.

Then we have my visit to Amma, the Hugging Saint. I had been looking forward to seeing her for the first time for months. I learned that she was coming to the D.C. area for a couple days this year, and that I could receive one of these world reknowned hugs! I did a tarot reading for myself the night before, to see what I should be aware of upon going in to this amazing experience - and through reading the cards for myself came to the realization that I wasn't going for the right reasons.

I discovered through working with what I found in the cards (tarot for personal transformation) that I was intending upon going with the expectations of finding someone I could believe in more than I believe in myself. What I wanted out of Amma was the ability to and permission to give over responsibility for my life to someone else.

And that's not what I'm about... What I am about is personal transformation. I stand for showing that if I can do this, anyone can... I believe in self-empowerment and personal responsibility... And though I know that others go to Amma (or other gurus for that matter!) and that this is a wonderous thing for them, a solid and perfect part of their path... it's not mine. And I temporarily forgot that.

It gets a little heavy, sometimes... Taking responsibility for *everything* in my life - from everything that happens to me to everything around me, to, well, everything! I wanted someone else to take over the burden for me (and, seeing this as a burden is something else I need to work on - I don't necessarily have to see it that way...perhaps this is my next thing to work on releasing).

So, after much soul searching and a wrenching away and a re-positioning of the mantle of responsibility on my own shoulders - I didn't go. And then Rosanne entered the picture. The next day, the last day that Amma was going to be in town, Rosanne came to the YMCA during my water aerobics class. She just happened to sign up that day. And she just happened to be free so we had lunch. And her daughter *and* granddaughter just happened to be out of town.

Rosanne asked me, "Well, now that you know you were doing it for the wrong reasons and chose not to go...can you now go for the right reasons? I'm curious and I want to see it...will you go with me?"

I blinked... and realized, she was right. And, I went. We went together.

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More on my experience meeting Amma, a trip to Busch Gardens (with pictures!) and checking in with joy, my latest realization about inherent beauty, what I find most important in the greatest healers and teachers, and my latest discovery about myself later! :)