The process.

I can't believe that it has been almost a week since I last posted. Time sure does fly by. I don't think that I have gone into too much detail about the shamanism that I study. I felt like doing that today. I am currently reading this book. My shamanic teacher told me to read it. It is basically the same lineage I am studying. It's nice to see a bunch of stuff written down. It is not a written tradition but I am so visual that it is nice to see some of the words ect. In the book, Alberto Villodo, discusses how the earlier stages of training are about separating the shaman from their individual story and really knowing how we are totally one with everything around us. For some reason seeing it written in that way made something shift in me. I feel like I have a better understanding as to why so much of my past has really been popping up in dreams and in the things that happen to me in everyday life. I really am purging my past. It is coming up so that it can be released. Things and people are showing up in my life so that I can truly deal with my issues, learn from them and then release them. The only way to truly be neutral when working with people is to have released much of our own crap that we all tend to carry around.

One of the biggest things I am noticing is how much people are totally in their heads. There is so much study about different forms of spirituality in our country today. This is a good thing. The thing is that so much of it becomes so intellectualized that it stays all in the mind and not really in the heart. When I first moved to Boulder a few years ago, I was at a little import shop with a friend. I won't go into the entire story as to why but two 40 something women actually started to get into a physical confrontation over who was a more devout Buddhist. Ok ladies, aren't we missing one of the major beliefs in Buddhism, no violence. I mean seriously people. The world is such a fascinating place, isn't it? I will admit that I am noticing these things so much right now because I am really shifting out of that head space and into the heart space. It is so weird how many shifts occur when this happens. I am a lot calmer now. I have more faith that everything is exactly how it is supposed to be at this particular moment in time.

I can feel magical events happening all around me. I am so excited to see where my life will lead. There are big changes in the air. I can't wait!!

For Miles.

To remind me that he is usually a lot happier. He is finding the hot, humid weather depressing, as am I.

Staying rooted in the present.

I haven't really wanted to write lately. I haven't wanted to be here in this blog. I really have been projecting myself into the future, so excited about all the possibilities that I have had to try to pull myself back. I have moments of being present. I am present when I practice yoga. I am present when I meditate and connect with the Earth. I am present as I hold my mala beads in my hand and chant. I am also present when I put on my shaman hat and work with people and their spirits. I am thankful for my break from acupuncture right now. It is necessary for me to step into the Earth and the shaman part of me before I can pick up the acupuncture needles and feel better about them.

I was going to say that the problem is that all the rest of the time my head is in the clouds. But isn't there something about your head being in the clouds and your feet firmly planted in the Earth. Maybe that is where I am these days.

Yum!

I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend. Meet the first blueberry pie I have ever made. It's all from scratch and all vegan!!

A little help?

I am thinking about starting a couple of regular topics on here. Like a couple special days devoted to special topics. I could talk about medicinal herbs, yoga and movement, plant based food as medicine, knitting/sewing, meditation, hmm and probably a bunch of other things.

I am thinking definitely Medicinal Herb Tuesday. That would be interesting to me because one of my goals is to learn more about locally available herbs and plants. I spent years studying Chinese herbal medicine which is incredible but I think it makes way more sense that medicines needed in a certain area probably already grow there. Why should we be importing our medicine from China?

What else do you think I should talk about on a regular basis?

A little inspiration.

I first went to a seminar with David Crow in Albuquerque, NM in May 2004. Then years later he did some lectures in Savannah, GA while I was living there. I am totally inspired by his teachings and his message. He was teaching about local, low cost plant medicine and essential oils when I first heard him speak and his business and teachings have only expanded. He is trained as an acupuncturist and spent many years studying native, plant-based medicines in Nepal and India. He wrote about his studies in his book In Search of the Medicine Buddha which I would highly recommend to anyone interested in these topics.
Anyway, there appears to be a new venture by his company Floracopeia which I am only to happy to assist and promote. Watch the video and search around his Floracopeia site. Allow yourself to be amazed and buy some oils. Once you use Floracopeia's you will never buy any others. I know when I am feeling down and uninspired reading about David's work always helps to re-energize me. I will be eternally grateful for that.
With love, Sara

Video: Welcome to MedicineCrow!

A little sleep would be nice...

Ok so it's the middle of the night and I can't get to sleep. Maybe it was from the new form of meditation I decided to try this evening. I am not sure but I think I will try it in the morning for the next few days. My cat Benny is pretty upset because he thought he had finally scored my office chair for the night but sorry kitty, not quite yet it seems. A lot of pretty odd things circle around my head on nights like these. Tonight I am feeling really not like myself. I am feeling like I left a huge part of myself somewhere else. I guess basically that I haven't been at all myself for the last couple of years. What the hell happened? Ok I don;t really want to try to figure that out. I really just want to retrieve myself.

My mind wondered to an old friend of mine. We spent a lot of time together and out of the blue he would say he felt like a tortoise, a sloth, a tiger, a bear, a cat, a weasel, or a spineless jellyfish. :) OK maybe I added the last couple just to give myself a little laugh but you get the picture. That got me trying to think about what animal I am these days. Hmm, lets see, assorted road kill maybe? I can feel the tortoise thing myself these days. A bird who hasn't yet learned to fly that is just cheeping away but really know one gives a shit? Ok we are getting closer. Maybe a tiger pacing around in a zoo that is way too small for them?: Oh, or a snake who is just getting ready to shed it's skin so it finds a rock to kind of rub against to get the skin to come off? Yeah, we are getting there. I kinda like the last 2.

So if I'm the tiger....how do I escape this zoo I currently find myself in? If I am the snake....how do I find just the right rock to rub against?

If anyone actually followed this and knows what in the hell I am talking about then let me know and then maybe you can explain it to me.:)

With love, Sara the snake? tiger?

Finding my style.

I am traveling through the lovely process of finding my style in life. I am not talking about just a decorative sense. I am finding my style of how to work with people with the healing work that I do. Finding my style with how I live my life. Finding my style with the way that I nourish the relationships in my life. Finding my style with the way that I love.

I have been reading many beautiful blogs lately and sometimes I feel so plain and uninspiring next to them. Not just as a blog but as a person. I say that and I automatically judge that as being a really horrible thing to say but it is there and to ignore it is not useful. That is why I say I am finding my style. Searching out what inspires and resonates with me and finding a way to have a little more of that in my life.

This process of opening my heart and emerging as someone I never knew I could be is not an easy one but it is infinitely powerful and one day I will look back at this time with love and know that all the work was so incredibly worth it.

With love, Sara


Sadie has been with me for so much of this process. She had it tough her first couple years and spent way more time alone than I would ever allow now.

Werewolves or vampires?

Can you guess what this is about? Yep, Twilight. I LOVED the books. So far I have only liked the movies. I have yet to see Eclipse but I do plan on going this week. I love going to movies when it is hot and steamy outside. It sounds like this is going to be the perfect week for that. I love a good love story although I am definitely not obsessed with the books and movies like many are. Last week I had a few conversations about the Eclipse movie with friends that have already seen it. One said, "If given the choice between werewolves and vampires, I would pick werewolves." That got me thinking. What would I choose? (disclaimer, I do think that Edward and Bella were meant to be together and were totally touched by their story) If it were me though I would also choose werewolves. Why, you wonder? Well if you look at it reasonably Edward is not very friendly, not so good at sharing his feeling and keeps everything bottled up, he does what he thinks is best for Bella not really taking into account what she wants, he takes off and leaves her on a couple of occasions and he feels like he is made of stone and is ice cold. Jacob, one the other hand, is pretty much always there for her, is open with his emotions, tells her how he feels and isn't scared of it, is warm and friendly, is physically warm and does not feel like stone. Yep, so in the past, I will admit that I have been attracted to a couple of Edward types. Now I choose the Jacob types. I need someone who is warm, loving, open and not scared to be vulnerable. Bring it on, Universe!!!
With love, Sara

Guess what I did today?