This weekend I received the Goddess treatment, and I have to say, I could learn to like it! In fact, I enjoyed myself very much, and it’s something I definitely recommend to every woman.

I spent the last three days at the Divine Feminine Diamond Retreat, with Lourdes Elardo-Gant. I met Lourdes through my husband, and we have played Cash Flow with her and her husband several times.  She told me about the retreat she was planning, and invited me to come and present.  I was thrilled!

Then, a friend of mine signed up for the retreat as well, so we were able to attend together.  We both had a wonderful weekend, and I am so grateful.

The retreat began Friday morning, when my girlfriend picked me up.  When we arrived at the hotel, we were escorted to a beautiful room down by the ocean, where the gas fireplace was merrily heating the room.  We were served tea, and the first thing we did was choose a Goddess card for the weekend.  My card was Hathor, and the message was “Receptivity”.  I had to laugh because just before drawing the card, the intention I set for myself was to practice receiving!

Right away, we headed up to the spa for a glorious relaxation massage.  It was blissful, and a very good opportunity for me to practice receiving!  After the massage, we enjoyed a gourmet lunch at the restaurant upstairs.  Now that is a relaxing and luxurious way to begin a retreat! I definitely felt like a Goddess!

Friday afternoon, after a guided meditation on Ho’oponopono, we got to work.  We played some more Friday night, exchanging Goddess gifts and watching a movie from Spiritual Cinema. Saturday was more working with partners, doing some self exploration.  We had another long gourmet lunch to break up the day, and Saturday afternoon I was on!  I am pleased to say my presentation and guided meditation about Ideal Relationships went beautifully, and I was happy with the feedback.

Sunday morning, we did some more work, before being treated to a limo ride to lunch at another gourmet restaurant.  After lunch, we toured the Comox Valley in the limo, before returning to the hotel for another afternoon of meditation (Seeds of Enlightenment) work and play.

All in all, I had a wonderful time, learned about myself not only as a coach and presenter, but also as a participant.  Thank you so much Lourdes!  I’m going to be treating myself like a Goddess much more often!

Blessings,

Mary

I’m off again on another Peaceful Woman adventure!  This time I have the absolutely extreme pleasure of helping with two Passages back to back!  I am so excited!

But it also means I’m not going to be posting for a couple of weeks.  I did make an effort to write ahead, and have everything ready for my absence, so you wouldn’t even notice I was gone, but the writing muse just wasn’t with me.   (It couldn’t have been the excitement about going, or the preparations or anything like that…)

So, until I am back,

May you know Peace,
May you know Joy,
May you know Love,
May you know Infinite Blessings!

Mary

This past week has been even busier than usual for me. I’ve been helping three different friends with their websites in addition to my regular routine of audio editing, a full time job and three children. I’m not complaining, mind you.  I am glad I have skills to help my friends!  And though I may be tempted from time to time, I wouldn’t trade my children for anything.

Making space for quiet time was shuffled to the bottom of my ‘to do’ list, though, and I definitely felt the effects.  I was run down, exhausted, and my body was achy.  I knew it was because I wasn’t taking care of myself, and not because of any ‘bug’.  I was sleeping in instead of getting up and moving my body.  I sat in front of my computer, stiffening up. I worked on my computer straight up until I had to leave for work, then took half the day getting myself grounded again.

So I spent yesterday taking better care of me.  I slept in, and spent some time with my husband.  I read to my children.  I bounced on the trampoline.  I did the laundry and started cleaning up my work space. And I got some of my own projects completed that were pushed to the side last week.

And this morning, I got up early and did my yoga practice for the first time in weeks!  I focused on breathing love for the entire time.  Each time my mind wandered, I gently brought it back to I AM…LOVE.

Right now, the dishwasher is churning away, my youngest son is fighting battles with imaginary storm troopers, and there is a box full of papers I need to sort through on the floor next to my chair.  Instead of becoming anxious about this, though, I cam calm.  I can tune out the space battle, and turn down the pressure on myself to get to that box.  Why?  Because I started the day with yoga and meditation.  I began on the right foot: with calm and intention, and that carries me through the day.  I created the quiet inside myself, and so I become the eye of the storm.

Now, I think I’ll go bounce on the trampoline for a few minutes before I tackle that box!  A little fun makes life much more enjoyable, too!

Blessings,

Mary

I recently returned home from The Peaceful Woman Maui Facilitator Passage.  This is the third time I have gone, and it continues to amaze me.  Or rather, I continue to amaze myself.

How do you describe your own inner journey to someone else? How do you put deeply personal and meaningful “aha” moments into words?  The Peaceful Woman Maui Passage is a week long journey into your own truth.  And each time I return, I learn more and more about myself.  I learn how to cut through the noise in my own head, to drop into that still place inside myself where my soul resides.  I learn how to be the observer in my own life–how am I occurring in this situation?  And what does that say about how I occur in the rest of my life?

I arrive open to the teachings this time and this place have prepared for me, vulnerable in the knowledge that I have manifested the experiences that will take me to the next level.  I am here to support the other women on their journey, and I allow myself to be supported, by conscious women who become soul sisters, as well as by Mother Maui, a magical island that has much to share.  I tune in, listening to the requests of the women with me on this Passage, my body,  and Mother Nature all around me, knowing they are all reflections of my innermost Divine self.  I share my experiences and insights, and soak up the breakthrough moments like the rays of brilliant sunshine.

I dance the ancient dance, blessing the land, and walk the labyrinth to my center and back.  I am cleansed in the river of feminine energy, and purified in the ocean where the ancients landed their canoes.  I am teleported to the sacred place where the sky meets the land, from which messages are sent and received.  I walk the fields of heat and passion, sweat out the stones that block my Light, and claim my blessings.  I sway with strong bamboo, bathe in healing waterfalls, and am pampered into a state of relaxed bliss.  I unite with my sisters to carry us swiftly across the waves to sing to the turtles, and swim amidst rainbow colored fish.  I celebrate the journey with dancing, singing and feasting!

And throughout I am treated to the wisdom of the Hawai’ian culture.

Experience is a better teacher than any book, and nature is the best classroom there is.

This is my truth, and I choose to live from this place of peace and power.  I invite you to join me, to know your truth, and live your truth. I am leading Peaceful Woman Maui Passages August 15th-21st, and September 12th-18th, and there are other dates with other incredible facilitators available. For a limited time, you can get 10% off the full price of your Passage.  Please enter coupon code “MM”.  There are also limited spaces for facilitators still available.  Contact me here if that is something you are interested in.

Here’s my experience from my first Passage:

Blessings,

Mary

I can’t believe it’s already been two weeks since I returned home from assisting with the most recent Maui Facilitator’s Passage.  Since it’s officially March, I can even say it was last month!  How quickly the time passes.

As always when I return home from a retreat or course, or really any time I have been away on my own, I am faced with the opportunity of integrating what I’ve learned into my daily life.  Sometimes it is easier than others!

It was very interesting to experience the Maui Passage through new eyes – having gone through it once already six months ago.  Here’s a video of me on the last day of the Passage last August:

Aside from getting to meet 10 incredible new women and deepening my connection with four women I met last time, going through the Passage for a second time helped to anchor a lot of the things I had learned on my initial Passage.  For example, in August I had some challenges with “Flow Day”.  When the day didn’t go as I thought it should, I became upset.  I’ve been working on that over the past six months (my youngest son is a wonderful teacher who goes with the flow all the time), and I felt a lot more ease this time around.

And I learned some new things as well.  On “Volcano Day”, I went and visited a heiau, a sacred place, up a hill that I had missed visiting in August.  On the way back down to the beach, I had an aha message: “Stop searching for the significance of every moment, and allow each moment to be significant.”  I saw that many times I work really hard to figure out why something is special, or push for the message I am supposed to receive.  I don’t always get one.  But when I am able to be truly present in an experience, rather than observing myself in it, I find much more profound meaning and insight.

On “Waterfall Day”, the experiences and the women in the February Passage reflected back to me that I am strong and a good leader.  I saw that while my body may not look or feel much different, the work I have been doing to take better care of my physical body is making a difference.  I was able to run up a hill at one point, something that would have winded me even six months ago.  And when I planted myself in order to assist other women, I was stable and unshakable.

Going back to Maui completely reaffirmed for me that this work is what I want to be doing, and this company is totally in alignment with my purpose and values.  I am excited to announce that I will be starting a Peaceful Woman Meet Up group this month, and I will be facilitating Maui Passages August 15th-21st, and September 12th-18th, 2010.  I would love to have you join me!  You will be expanded, enlightened, and peaceful, in your own way and through your own experience.

Blessings,

Mary

The Peaceful Woman has recently begun Meet-Ups throughout the US and Canada.  The premiere meet-up theme was, “When you can’t access Peaceful, reach for Chocolate!”

At first this sounds like a sales pitch for Hershey’s, but when you get past that, it is really a metaphor to remind us to slow down and access our center.

Rachel Flower, a fellow Peaceful Woman, created a special Chocolate Sensory Meditation for the meet-ups, and it is available to download and experience for yourself.  You will never eat chocolate the same way again!

Blessings,

Mary

Get your free full-length guided meditation here.

When I tell people that I write guided meditations, I get a lot of smiles and nods.  Most people have heard of or tried some form of meditation, but don’t know exactly what “guided” meditation is.

I gave this explanation to a couple of colleagues a few weeks ago, and around their giggles, they both said I had to video it and put it on my site.

In a true procrastinator’s style, it took me about two months to take the video, and another week to upload it.

So here is is: my video explanation of guided meditation.  Enjoy!

Blessings,

Mary

How many ways can I procrastinate? Oh, there are many!  Just today, for example, I did laundry, and read email.  Then I had a whole bunch of errands to run with my husband, since this is a day off for me and two of the boys were in school.  One of the errands happened to be upgrading our old cell phones to iPhones, so then I played with that for a while, and entered all of my contacts from my other phone.  There’s still a lot I want to learn about my new toy…but that’s another day’s procrastination!

After adding all the contacts, I then made dinner, and started watching a movie with the boys.  Now, it’s bedtime, and see how one of the tasks I had set as a priority for myself is still not done.

When I was in University, I often joked about being the Queen of Procrastination and wearing the crown.  I regularly left assignments to the last minute, writing papers the night before they were due, studying in the last hour before a big test, etc.  Even now I leave planning for my spiritual circle until the night before, or even the day of.  It’s not that I haven’t thought about what I am going to do.  I just don’t get it out of my head and onto paper.  This inevitably causes me extra anxiety and stress that I don’t need.

So why do I do it to myself? I know right now that I have another circle to plan, and it is less than two weeks away.  I also know that I will need to write another blog post for next Monday.  So why don’t I get started right now…after I finish this post, instead of putting it off until the eleventh hour?

In yet another diversionary tactic, I did a little research. One possible reason is impulsiveness and lack of self-control.  Go for the instant gratification today instead of putting work before play.  Hmm…yes, at times that does fit me.  Like getting the iphone today instead of waiting until next week, or eating the last piece of chocolate instead of saving it for tomorrow.

Another reason some people procrastinate is that they are perfectionists, and they fear not achieving perfection.  Guilty as charged.  I come by my perfectionism honestly.  My mother is also a perfectionist.  I don’t consciously feel fear about not being perfect.  In fact, there is a part of me that believes I already am perfect.  That part gets drowned out sometimes by the nag that says I’m not, so I can see how this would affect me into procrastinating.

Not feeling passionate about what you are doing can also influence procrastination, since we tend to avoid doing things we dislike.  That would totally explain why I leave the dishes until there are no clean ones left in the cupboard. (Thankfully, my husband has taken over that chore, and I am EXTREMELY grateful!)

All this is fine and dandy, but what can I do to reduce how often I wear the crown?  First, I need to focus on the dream I am bringing to reality.  Whenever I am not feeling motivated, remembering that I am working to bring my financial house into alignment with my purpose helps get me going again.

Second, I can break the big things down into smaller chunks.  Sometimes I don’t start a task, because I don’t feel I have time to finish the whole thing.  But if I break it down into bite size pieces, I can complete it little bits at a time, in those windows I have the rest of the week.

Third, I can schedule those windows of time for myself.  Ahh, now here’s a challenge.  Remember that instant gratification part?  Time management is definitely and area I could improve in.  Writing a to do list for each day and prioritizing the tasks may help me there.  I could change my mindset and turn it into a fun thing: how can I use my new iphone to help me schedule my time better?  I think I will go start entering tasks into my iphone calendar now…

I had a conversation recently on facebook with a friend of mine about faith and trust.  I was planning to copy that conversation and edit it for today’s blog post.  Facebook is not letting me see that message thread right now, so instead I have to have faith and trust that I can rebuild my thoughts on the subject!  How’s that for irony?

My friend was questioning a decision she had made.  She saw it as a test of her personal values, and was questioning the Source that would challenge her in this way at this time in her life, and given other recent events.

The first thing that came to mind was a line from a Babylon 5 episode: Confessions and Lamentations.  In the episode, an entire species (the Markab) was being wiped out by a plague, and the remaining Markabs were quarantined in a part of the space station.  None of the doctors knew if the plague would affect other species, and so they were left to themselves to die.  An ambassador of the Minbari, Delenn and her assistant, Lenier, who are of the religious caste of their race, go in to the quarantined area to give what comfort they can to the last Markabs, not knowing if they will succumb to the illness or not.

They come upon a little girl who is crying:

Delenn: She has separated from her mother. Please find her.
Lennier: [looks around, somewhat lost] How?
Delenn: [to Lennier] Faith manages.
Delenn: [turning to Markab girl] What is her name?
Markab Girl: Mama.
[Delenn turns and looks at Lennier again]
Lennier: Faith… manages.

This quote rings through my head whenever I am facing a seemingly insurmountable challenge, and I have no idea where the solution will come from.  As long as I believe that everything will work out, it usually does.  They did find the girl’s mama, by the way, and Delenn and Lenier survived, though the Markab race was completely wiped out.

Going back to my friend, I reminded her of some of my beliefs.  They may or may not be your beliefs, and that’s ok.

I am a soul having a human experience. I *chose* to come here, and I *chose* many (all?) of the challenges I have faced in this life before I came. Why? So I could experience things my soul may not have experienced before, or perhaps so I could choose to respond differently this time.

The Earth is a big playground, where all these amazing, all-powerful, creative beings have come to experience EVERYTHING! However, on the journey here, we forget that we are amazing, all-powerful creators. So we struggle. But the playground is essentially harmless. It is beneficent even. What is my ultimate goal here? Experience everything with joy and gratitude. So even when, ESPECIALLY when, something “bad” happens to me, something painful, something WAY better is just around the corner.

But do I BELIEVE that? Do I TRUST that the playground is harmless, that it is here to fulfill my every wish? Or will I let myself get bogged down in the pain? Do I celebrate when I pass a test of my resolution? Or do I rail against the Universe for testing me in the first place? As the creator of my Universe, I would only be railing against myself.

Do you see the joke? Once you see it, and can laugh at it, challenges become easier to face.

So I choose to CELEBRATE! In my friend’s case, she could see the pattern of where her previous choices have not brought her joy, and now she has chosen differently! While it may seem painful at the moment, something WAY better is now available to her because she learned and exercised her power of choice. Woo hoo!

Wishing you the vision to see  and the sense of humor to laugh,

Mary

PS. Facebook came through at the end and let me see the thread.  You know, once I had mostly finished writing.

It’s been a whole week since I posted anything.  Not for lack of inspiration, or being away from my computer, or being lucky enough to be on vacation.

Last week, on Monday, I nuked my blog.

It was pretty scary, let me tell you.  Mushroom clouds and everything!

OK, no mushroom cloud.  But I think my heart stopped for several seconds.  Remarkably, I was pretty calm, after the initial shock had worn off.  That’s thanks in no small part to Enlightened Warrior Training Camp and The Peaceful Woman.

It had been suggested to me that I could run my whole website through WordPress, and not have to struggle with making my website look the same as my blog.  And it’s a pretty great idea!  Only, I didn’t have quite enough information, and I jumped ahead of myself, and poof!  No access to the blog.

Thankfully, all of the information was still there.  Essentially I changed the lock, and then left the key inside.  So everything was safe and sound, even from me!

I have to say a huge thanks to Mike Browne, who helped calm me down, helped write the support ticket for me, and also wrote me the best step-by-step directions for how to move the blog without the bomb going off.  I don’t know how I would have managed with out him! (Seriously, if you need help with your page, talk to him!) And thanks as well to the support people at lunarpages, who unlocked the site, and handed me back the key.

It was all fixed almost a week ago, however, I waited until today to do the move.  I wanted to make sure I had time to troubleshoot any problems, just in case I didn’t follow the directions quite thoroughly.  Everything went smoothly, though, so…

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming!

Blessings,

Mary