My friend I met at some council training wrote this beautiful piece below after we shared some time together on an Ojai overlook.  It speaks for itself and I just wanted to share it with all of you.  If you are interested in her new blog she started, please visit http://tribetonic.wordpress.com/  and thanks for reading! :-)

                                   



Sometimes ancestral wisdom drops in through a gentle conversation on a mountaintop. This weekend I went to the Ojai Foundation in Ojai California for Council II training. Twenty-seven people gathered to tell stories from the heart, in a circle, holding a talking piece. At the end of my stay a friend and I walked up a hill to a spot called the Power Point. The power point is a place that the Chumash tribe held sacred and is said to be a vortex of sorts, a strong point of energy. When I walked up to the spot I felt no surge of power no electrical currents. I just saw a bare spot of grass. I imagined the Chumash journeying to this spot. I questioned what they would do once they arrived. Did they dance, or sit? Did they speak or were they silent? Did they form a circle? Still I didn’t feel all that different. My friend and I walked a few feet to the seat made of stone, which overlooks the Ojai Valley. We shared the seat as we talked about the weekend and our families, watching over the vivid green land. We laughed generating intermittent ”oohs” and “ahs” while she told me the story of her allergy ridden cat that, after many endeavors to heal him, now needs a clear cone over his head to keep himself from scratching it. We sympathized for the poor creature’s condition but couldn’t help giggling over the image of him licking the inside of his plastic cone in an attempt to clean his fur. I suggested she try giving the cat olive leaf extract because it is anti-fungal, anti-viral, and anti-bacterial; it rids the body of the bad elements while keeping the good ones intact. She was familiar with it and said she would try mixing it in with his wet food. The valley cradled us in its quiet strength. The high clouds sheltered us from the sun and made the deep greens and bright yellow leaves on the walnut trees appear even more lush and dramatic; as we sat and looked and talked the impressions of the weekend made their way into my cellular memory colliding and comingling with my own experience. The stories of the circle settled into my body taking root like the many trees in the valley. Away from the yurt and the bodies which held intelligent faces, shining cheeks, and golden memories, the gratitude became clear. The gratitude became a feeling as deep and as beautiful as that wide eyed valley, pouring over me like a warm bucket of water at the end of the day. 

Many of my clients have asked me why affirmations don't work.  They seem to work a very small percentage of the time, with a very small percentage of the people.  This is not only due to the infrequency with which people repeat the affirmations, but also due to how our brains work and how we create habits and beliefs.

Please watch below for more information and how to work with affirmations in a more successful way!

Magical days and much love...

Often women I speak with are quickly moving into their purpose.  Their eyes and ears are in constant motion...connecting, networking, "computering," designing, etc...

But what is happening to your BODY, your physical vessel during all of this?

It is important to set physical goals for ourselves while manifesting our dreams.  Not only because it keeps the body active and healthy, but also because it creates the opportunity for empowerment and pride.  These qualities are so important when stepping into our purpose. I find that the women who are physically active and set goals for themselves such as a metric bike ride or a marathon, seem to be even more empowered and launch themselves into their purpose with more quickness and ease...

So take a few moments to watch the video below and see if you might be needing a physical goal!

Does something beckon you?

What gives you joy?

Are you resisting the things that will pull you closer to your purpose?

Watch the video below and begin to lean into it all as your dreams begin to manifest!

I wanted to share a brief story about my client, who sent me an inspirational message the other day!

She and I were brainstorming some website names and nothing seemed perfect.  I had sent her a few more names and told her to sit with the names and see what resonates, or feels intuitively right for her nature-based art company she is starting.  I told her that when she has a name picked out, place it in a hat or jar with her other top two or three picks and then pull one.  Generally the universe delivers the name you are feeling "right" about if it is meant to be....

A couple of days later I got an e-mail that said she went through this whole process and was SO excited because she picked the website name that was the one she resonated with.  She bought her domain name and is now on her way to building her website!

I am so proud of her for a number of reasons:

1. She stayed open to the process and did not shut it down or assume it "wouldn't work."

2. She stayed in a state of gratitude and expressed it.  Gratitude is how we bring all that we want to us!

3. She is on her way to stepping into her true power and authentic self!  This is huge.

Perhaps this can inspire others to try the same process when deciding upon something; to come back to the intuition and trust in the universe.  Perhaps this will encourage others to invest in some coaching so that they, too, can do all that they wish to do in this world!

Here's to the beginning...

Magical days,
Julie

I had the opportunity to attend my second level of training in the process of council this weekend.  There was so much magic in it.  It is both quiet and loud, it involves listening and speaking, it speaks to the light and the dark, and more than anything else, it speaks to my heart and draws me in like a sweet singing siren (without the bad ending ;-)

Please watch the two videos below where I introduce the amazing land where the class took place and share some brief thoughts!  I know that as I take classes and immerse myself in the space, I am moving into the place to be able to hold seminars and retreats in the very same spot I am learning. 

So take a moment, and breathe through the images...

Magical days,
Julie

The following video examines what we can do when people respond both positively and negatively to us in the workplace (when we waltz in with our batches of raw food and "scary" rabbit food).  While your first inclination might be to ditch the healthy stuff due to ignorance and peer pressure, there are other options!

Watch below for more info, as well as details on my holiday book and DVD special!  Snag a few copies of "The Healing Patch Cookbook" before the last few spiral bound limited editions are gone!

Love to all and magical days,
Julie

A gentleman who led my sweatlodge wrote the following beautiful words.  They are a great reminder to keep following our vision, stay grateful, and trust the universe.  Please take 2 or 3 minutes to read this today.  It'll be worth it!  Happy Thanksgiving, Harvest, Autumn, or Thursday (if you do not celebrate anything :-)

                                              

 
            Some years ago my van got stolen from a Home Depot parking lot. Inside the van were my altar, drum and eagle feathers, $600 dollars in quarters, (my life’s savings), and $600 in donation money, (to be used for spiritual purposes only).  Walking home in shock, I kept repeating to myself; “Thank you for the gift in this difficulty.  Thank you for the gift in this difficulty…”.   It helped.  One close friend said; “Everything comes back.” That felt good.
                      On the way to the next sweat, I stopped at a friend’s house to borrow a drum.  I saw another friend to borrow an eagle feather and some dry sage.  I arrived at the lodge with no altar, no cedar or sweet grass, just me and my ceremony.   The sweat was deep, beautiful and powerful.  I felt so blessed.
            On the way home I stopped to return the drum and it was given to me.  I stopped to return the eagle feather and sage and the feather was given to me.  When I arrived home I learned that my brother had come into a chunk of money and was splitting it up amongst the family.  He handed me an envelope containing $1200.  A week later, the police found my van. The money was gone but my “sacreds” were unharmed.  It all came back.  I felt so blessed.
            I had trusted the wisdom and love of the universe that it was all for good reason, and I awaited the gift.  What came back was not only all the materials, but also a deeper appreciation for and from my loved ones, the excitement and gratitude I experienced when I found my sacreds entact, a demonstration that “sacreds” are just things, but the medicine is always with me, and a demonstration that I am loved by All That Is.
            Two weeks later another gift presented itself.  I had only been doing requested sweats but people were wanting to sweat regularly.  I made the commitment and wrote a letter to announce open sweats.  As I was walking up to the post office with this box of 40 Sweat letters, (it was before email), I ran into Red Buffalo, standing by the door.  He was a homeless man I’d met some months before, at another cosmic moment, in another part of the city.  He was dirty and sweaty and I think drunk.  When I walked up to him he got teary, looked down, put his hand on his chest and sadly asked; “Is it bad if you loose your medicine pouch?”  The words were close at hand and I answered, “The pouch is just a thing, brother.  You got the medicine right there inside.”  He lightened up and we talked a little and after singing a bear calling song together (in the Tarzana post office parking lot), he was gone.  Again I felt so blessed.
            What might have been considered a heavy loss, turned out to be countless blessings, not just for me but also to pass along.  “Gratitude in advance” requires a trust in the universe that there really is a gift in every difficulty, and it's that trust that opens the door to "Magic".
             P.S.  I think Red Buffalo to be a shaman or a spirit helper.  The first time I met him was the night before my birthday when I would be going to Catalina for the first time.  I was feeling a bit low, questioning my path, and meeting him revived and inspired me and I felt blessed.  The next morning I got off the boat at the island and there, on top of the ticket booth was a plastic full sized Buffalo, with a Red coat on.
- Paul Perrotta

Magical days, everyone...
Love, Julie

Are you hesitating in any areas of your life despite the little "nudge" you get in your belly that tells you something should be acted upon?

Why do we hesitate?  Why do we not follow what our intuition tells us to act on?  How can we end this cycle?

It all starts with listening more closely to our gut, our intuition...and then honoring it by acting from it!

Watch the video below for more info!

Magical days,
Julie, your Authentic Woman Coach