One of the biggest parts of healing is loving ourselves. How does that statement sit with you? Is it something you agree with? Or something that causes a bit of a painful tweak inside? If your answer is painful tweak, it might be something to check out that is needed in your life. Our body, mind, and spirit need love, and that love needs to generate from inside of us, not from external places.

What are some ways that might generate love inside of your body, mind, and spirit?

• a spiritual practice of some kind (meditation; prayer; singing; for Reiki practitioners, a self-treatment, etc.)
• reading a book: for self-improvement, and also reading for fun
• finding different healing therapies that work for you, maybe one at a time, or a few at at a time
• saying “no” to things in order to honour ourselves, or boundaries
• journalling and getting things “out” on paper
• stop and breathe, deep breaths—the in breath, feel it coming up from your feet to the top of your head, and the out breath let it go down from the top of your head back down to your feet
• exercising/moving and releasing stuck/blocked energy to allow fresh new vibrant energy to come in
• taking inventory and managing our thoughts, words, and actions towards life-giving energy
• using our voice for kindness towards ourselves and to others
• sitting in the sun
• taking a nap
• creating your favourite type of art
• watching a favourite movie (happy or sad)

Make a list of things that generate love inside of you, because when your body, mind, and spirit take part in this, your vibration moves higher. Healing happens. And love flows to others.

Take one thing from my list and use it in your life in a way that fits you best, practice it, get good at it, and let it become a part of you. Then take the next thing, and repeat the process over again.

Healing takes change, and change takes intention. Let your intention be to love yourself more today, then more tomorrow, then more the day after. ❤️ Loving yourself is always a good investment in your life.

Sincerely,

Tracy

We said goodbye to our beloved Bernese Mountain dog, Missy. She was always full of life and energy and making us laugh at her antics. Her favourite time of day was when her family was together—she loved that time of day. I can’t begin to express how much we miss her. Our hearts are broken. 💔

Here is a poem written to Missy, by Hayley…

The Last Sunrise

Just the other day, I watched the sun rise,
Laughing with you, as it climbed in the sky.
Life is never easy, but my world was right.
You and me, side by side, forever in sight.

Today though, was different as I looked to my side.
I reached out my hand, and started to cry.
Even though your seat was right next to me,
It was cold and bare, for it was empty.
No one was laughing, no one was speaking,
Only silence to answer the sounds of my weeping.

There I sat, awaiting the rays,
Alone in the greyness of earliest day.
The sun would soon come, but there in my mind,
Was a flicker of doubt that it could still shine.
Surely even the sun, made for brightness and brilliance,
Couldn’t bear to cast light upon your early absence.

Perhaps another day, I’ll watch the sun rise.
For today in my sorrow, I could not comply.
I left before seeing the glow of the dawn.
Without you, it seems light has faded and gone.
Gone is the beacon of you and your ways
Faded into a memory of happier days.

Just the other day, I watched the sun rise
Laughing with you, as it climbed in the sky.

written by Hayley

Today, I offer you the feeling of peace, rest, and a deep cleansing breath. If only for a moment, see what it feels like in your body. Take a deep breath and let your body feel peace, and rest. Allow tomorrow and yesterday to drift away from your thoughts. Be right here, right now, in the moment.

How did that feel?

For me, this feeling was very good, and then for some reason, I felt tears welling up in my eyes. I stayed with this feeling, and my body, mind, and spirit were asking me to do this more often.

Life feels crazy and upside down a lot of the time. I encourage you today, to be in the moment as much as possible. Not thinking of tomorrow and planning ahead, not remembering yesterday and what could have been different. Just breathe, and allow peace and rest to surround you. Our bodies crave some peace and stillness, and they are working hard to keep our vessel (body, mind, and spirit) on the road of life, and out of the ditch as much as possible. Give your vessel a break—even just for a moment.

You can do it. ❤️

Take care, and have a great day.

Sincerely and with love,
Tracy

I’ve been reading about taking a pause or “transition period”—whether it’s a minute, an hour, a day, or more—when moving from one thing to another in our daily lives.

The definition of transition ➞ the process or a period of changing from one state or condition to another

Transitions are something I have overlooked in my life. I tend to move from one thing to another in a flurry—definitely without a pause or transition of any kind. This new-to-me idea has merit, and I have started incorporating it into my life. So far, I found I’m noticing more things around me in the moment, and I’ve also found it helps me smooth out a few bumps and wrinkles in my day.

A smaller transition period might look like: sitting down, having tea/coffee, snack, reading, meditation, going for a walk, being conscious of your breath, having a nap, doing lighter tasks before a larger task……

Some examples of smaller transitions:
• Waking up ➞ going to work
• Long conversations in-person or on the phone ➞ carrying on with your day
• Shovelling snow ➞ computer work
• Coming home from work ➞ busyness at home

A larger transition period might look like: a new meditation practice, a new healing modality, de-cluttering, taking a trip to the mountains or ocean, taking a course, doing something you’ve always wanted to do…..

Some larger transitions:
• Being away for a few days ➞ getting back to “normal” life at home
• Single ➞ Married
• Married ➞ Divorced
• An illness ➞ recuperation to “normal” daily life again

I encourage you to pause as you transition to different things in your day-to-day life. A simple (or complex) transition period is kindness to yourself, and also to others as you bring your best self to your next activity.

I wish for you a lovely day as you practice transitions from one thing to another. 😊❤️

Excerpt from my Reiki Level 1 Workshop manual, page 45….

Grounding is a short meditation/visualization that you can use to “reconnect” with yourself, and bring your mind and body back down to earth.

Find a place where you can be comfortable and have 5 – 10 minutes of uninterrupted time. Sit quietly with your eyes closed, and breathe deeply and slowly in a relaxed manner.

As you continue to breathe deeply in a relaxed manner, visualize or imagine roots growing from the bottom of your feet and extending down to the middle of the earth. This may be a challenge at first, but with a little practice, you will almost “feel” the roots growing from your feet and connecting yourself with the earth.

Now imagine all the stress, events, feelings, and emotions of the day that are unsettling, being drained from your body through the bottom of your feet and into the earth. Again, with a little practice, you will sense the stress and anxiety leaving your body.

Although this may feel a bit strange at first, you will quickly realize how refreshed and calming this simple exercise can be.

Enjoy! ❤️🌳

An excerpt from my Reiki Level 1 Workshop manual, page 12…..

Intention

As we understand energy, we understand our thoughts radiate out around us. The energy generated by our thoughts is the basis of everything in our life. Thoughts and emotions are the components of our aura. Each thought has a vibration and its own little chunk of energy, so it is vitally important that you be in control of your thoughts. Being in charge of your own thoughts is the very definition of intention. Your intention will work for you.

Each and every thought has its own electrical charge. Each and every thought is a form of matter. It has substance. Scientists state that matter cannot be created or destroyed, but it can be transformed. Thought are “things”. For example, guilt has a heavy, sluggish, vibrational pattern. Love, and especially unconditional love, has a light and very fine vibration. You cannot get rid of the thought matter that has been built around you, but you can transform it. You change it by changing your thinking. Moving from negative thinking to positive thinking changes the aura around you.

Energy flows where intention goes… create your day. ❤️

Hello Everyone! 🌻🍂 Happy Thanksgiving 🍂🌻 Fall is certainly upon us! We have the garden harvested, and are now working at winterizing many things on the farm. Thankfully I have a list of things to do, so nothing is forgotten. I send many well wishes and feelings of peace to everyone. I hope you all can enjoy this Fall season.

Take good care of yourself and your loved ones. ❤️😊

Sincerely,
Tracy

Our garden is growing, and growing, and growing. We had a heatwave in the last part of June and first part of July, which had us watering like crazy! Some of the veggies, such as peas were trying to blossom during that time, and didn’t particularly like the extreme heat. We’re hoping they can blossom a bit more now because otherwise the yield of pods will be lower than most years. I love peas—fresh and stored frozen for the winter—cheering for the peas! The potatoes were feeling stressed with the extreme heat too, but hopefully will still blossom and we can enjoy little potatoes soon. We are a family who loves potatoes, our winter stock from last year is gone and we’re waiting for the new ones. Hopefully soon!

And some of you are wondering how my sunflower patch is doing….. 😐

I’m sorry to say, they were dug up by some furry critters (that’s my nice name for them) who loved, loved, loved sunflower seeds. I had no idea that gophers thought sunflower seeds were a delicatessen…. I planted 4 times. FOUR times! Some I planted shallow, some deep—I planted thick, and also thin. No matter. Every last sunflower seed was dug up! 😡 Usually my stubborn streak would have had me out there 24/7, but I was wasting precious time of outside work, and it was a no-win situation. So, I am very sad to say I do not have a lovely sunflower patch coming up, not a single sunflower!! 🌻

**Note the photos below of a hole in the sunflower patch with seeds dug up, and many, many sunflower seeds all dug up and eaten!

A hole in the sunflower patch with sunflower seeds dug up!

The sunflower seeds that I planted, all dug up, and eaten!

There’s something about planting season—it brings hope, excitement, joy, peace…. Do you have any more thoughts and emotions to add? The last couple weeks have been busy with planting season on the farm—and every part of nature has woken up from winter and is full of life once again. Things are turning a beautiful green all around us!

We finished planting the garden this weekend. We usually keep an eye on the weather, and judge when to finish planting around the long weekend. This year it looks like the weather will be rainy for the long weekend, so it was good to get the seeds in the ground before the rain. Also, we plant seeds at the end of April that are ok in cooler temperatures. At the end of April we planted potatoes (4 different kinds), peas, lettuce, parsley, and dill. Today we planted zucchini, cucumbers, green onions, green beans, spinach, swiss chard, carrots, red onions, and yellow onions. Tomatoes have been started in the greenhouse and will be transplanted in the garden in a couple weeks.

☀️🌻Also, I was inspired to plant sunflowers this year. I always plant wildflowers and sunflowers in the yard, but I wanted more this year. 😁 So I dug up about 50 feet beside a fence outside the yard, close to the hay field, with the view of the mountains in the distant background. We planted a LOT of sunflowers. I hope they do well in this area and we will enjoy sunsets and sunflowers later this summer. 🌻☀️

Being outside is good for the body, mind, and spirit. And there is nothing more grounding than actually digging in the dirt. I encourage you to get outside, take your shoes off, and put your feet on the ground—and if possible, plant something. 🌱 It truly feels good.

I wish you love and happiness, ❤️ and until next time, enjoy springtime and being outside.

Tracy