the juicy years

As you emerge from the Solstice/Xmas period and shift into the vibration of 2014, I hope your intentions and actions are aligned with the wellbeing of our planet, and all its species. I also want to share with you how tuning into nature sustains me, and assists greatly in my emotional, physical and spiritual wellbeing. Tuning into Nature’s university has much to share. Bill Mollison’s advice to us is to “learn from the book of nature”,   with trees being the “teachers of the law, and the true university is the forest”. It is also the medicine of the deep Feminine. Unfortunately, modern life has dulled much of our instinctual senses. Our field is constantly affected by cell phones, electrical currents and artificial lights, as well as working in concrete and high-rise buildings with the constant noise of engines and machinery.  Our heart, our main sense organ, is also not as receptive in these types of environments. But, there are ways to redress this imbalance, an...

Have you ever struggled to believe in your personal guidance system? The instinctual part of you that knows what’s best for you?  I realise it can be a challenge for many to trust in this innate knowing - from the influence of our education system, and further along from the rational, scientific ‘world’ that did not value this knowing. Our intuition was not considered knowledge. No matter what anyone might tell you what to do, or how to be, your own intuitive wisdom, or instincts,  always  knows what is right for you. It’s a matter of learning to trust it, but this can take time.  And in wanting an immediate answer to a question, we need to just let go, with a little patience, and a llow for it to come to conscious mind when the time is right. As poet, Rainer Maria Rilke says in a letter to a young poet, " I would like to beg you dear Sir, as well as I can, to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions th...

my garden As I thought about this post topic, which continues on from my previous post “Boosting our Juice”, an image comes to mind of growing a garden.  We prepare the ground, choose seeds or plants and the right time for optimum results, water regularly, then tend and nurture - with hopefully lots of hot sun - until our crop ripens for us to reap and enjoy. As I reflect on growing my own new garden in the last 5 months I have sometimes felt impatient for it to flourish - but I know that everything takes time to grow into its fullness, just as what we create or intend, for our own lives, takes time to bloom. So, to develop your own personal juicy essence is really quite simple - a little time to reflect on what is important to you, perhaps make a list, or map of your preferred juicy life. You may not be able to reap all on your list (the same as your garden), but there are a few basic needs that will certainly help you to age with emotional resilience, a loving he...

Today I am posting a piece I had written months ago that I shared on another website, but thought it relevant here for our juicy years - living out our later years involved in work or activities that are in alignment with our personal vibration, presence, and values.   I had been reflecting on this topic , and at the same time, reading what others are sharing. In the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas it reads “if you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you; if you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you”.  I love the way this is expressed, the language of the past. If you find it hard to articulate what it is you want, or what path to follow - wait - it may take some time for your subconscious to bring it forth into being. We musn't look for the answer too early - any harvest has it's own way of unfolding.  Following your Star In 1996 when I first moved to the Blue Mountains, I was on ...

I haven’t blogged for nearly 3 weeks partly because of our local bush fire emergency that sapped my energy, partly because I haven’t felt I had anything worth posting, and for the last ten days I've been enjoying a warm break away from the mountains,with lots of belly laughs with my daughters and grandchildren, reminiscing and photographs. Here is an exquisite one that greeted me when I returned home.    I am eager to allow the unfolding of my voice, in a new way-I feel an urgency to do this. In my third chapter, I often ask myself the question “have I reached my potential?”, or “have I used all of my talents?” And by writing here I am in some way having a relationship with this unknown place.If I pay attention in deep silence, I know I will be further awakened into a new chapter of my life within no time. As a result I can then be a facilitator for others in discovering their own voice, their uniqueness. This can be anything from growing a flourishing garden, t...

This morning when I saw a post on Get Real, Wise Women Speak, that Marianne Williamson was running for congress, my heart fluttered with amusement and excitement. This news distracted me for a while from our local bushfire situation, to write this post. Wow! I thought, good on you Marianne!! At this age in her life, she is stepping up. And then I related her move to my blog on being juicy and courageous in our 3rd chapter. Here is an excerpt from her announcement that captures the essence of her motivation to political life  " I do not think of this move as a career change. Rather, I feel I’m further expanding my work by taking the transformational principles to which I have dedicated myself for the last thirty years into another area where they are sorely needed. While a new paradigm, holistic, relational perspective now saturates many areas of our society — from education to business to medicine to spirituality — our politics seem to be outside its reach. And we cannot...

art by Bouvette To come fully into our wise years we are called to balance our feminine and masculine energies, and become aware of our inherent divinity. Most spiritual traditions believe that the more we are aware of our interconnectedness with all that is, the more we will honour and become stewards of our fragile planet.   So juicy elders, I believe that we have a HUGE role to play in assisting others to NAVIGATE the challenges in the future. Our combined lived experience, our skills, our creativity (yes, did you know that our mature mind is often more creative than a youthful one), our empathy and compassion for others, and hopefully, our commitment to preserving our planet for our grandchildren - what a difference we could make with our accumulated effort and wisdom! As wisdom is not automatic because of our years, so some keys to help grow this wisdom are: *   Surrendering our ego, and confronting any death and loss   consciously. * Having th...

Yesterday as I sat down to eat my lunch, I heard some negative self-talk from my monkey mind! I'd had a busy morning filled with much writing at my computer, a few yoga stretches, shopping and then cooking a couple of meals. I started to feel in no woman's land and felt an urgency to sit quietly, or journal.  The inner talk went something like this "you've got too many interests", "you need to journal". So I started writing, which later became this post. As I reflected on these thoughts I noticed my easel in the corner beckoning me to paint, some books I'm currently reading scattered around, stuff in a pile to be put away, and then the thought that I need to inject some more energy into my practice.  Today's self talk was just a SIGN that I needed to change how I go about my day, and to priortise a little more. I also realised that in the last week I had been on a huge learning curve - learning all the technical bits to blogging, and just m...

with thanks to dear Clarissa Pinkola Estes a Wild Woman today we travel up from our Root chakra into  our  sensual Sacral and Solar Plexus Chakras Our Sacral Chakra  is in the pelvic region and is associated with our drives - sexual, financial, creativity and relationships. It is also connected to our divine feminine essence. A woman in the fullness of her Lover archetype resides in this chakra! When this chakra is free-flowing, we trust life, are passionate, able to give and receive pleasure, and are creative and vital.  When unbalanced it could point to unsatisfactory sexual experiences, abuse, not feeling nurtured as a child etc.  I tend to agree with Angela Farmer (yoga wise woman) who says that in our society "we've been pushed out of ourselves and we leave our sacred body and our Mother behind". We tighten and become rigid, but if we allow Her to open us up, we soften and we are supported in our growth. Some tips for clearing and energisin...

Have you yet felt the divine love of the juicy Goddess within you?    If not, then would you like to know how easy it is to extract her juice, and be infused with her essence?    Over the years I have noticed in my circle of friends, colleagues and clients, that many women are uncomfortable with their bodies, their sexual selves. There are many reasons why this occurs. Most of us have been  pressured to act or look a certain way, whether we have received these messages via the media, or in our upbringing. But we are all so deliciously  like Mother Earth in her shapes, colours, texture and feeling.  Over time, by opening up and energising your 3 lower chakras, it will help you to feel more comfortable with your body, more energised, grounded and optimistic to do what you have been born to do.              It can also free up your sensual self to dare to be seen and heard!    So a re you ready for th...

to all you juicy women and brave souls  Never in herstory has there been a generation of so many women in our age group! J ust imagine how much change we can bring about by our actions, aligning together, and intending something - it always starts with that first idea, or step.   And  I cannot stress enough, that we 'should' be raging, bringing forth more change than is currently happening.  As mothers, grandmothers, or others, I believe it is up to we women, and some exceptional men, to ensure that our humanity's wellbeing is preserved.   I know there are thousands of women's groups and circles world-wide actively involved in some way, and this is the reason for my blog, to reach out even further, and more importantly, supporting you to face what is in store for us, emotionally and spiritually.  A few months ago I attended a Radical Passion seminar by Andrew Harvey , one of my favourite authors, and who is one of those exceptional men - a passi...

artist unknown I have often encouraged others to take one step at a time - and here I am taking my first step into blog 'land', without a destination. The above image of a woman describes how I feel at this moment - open and ready to embark on the journey. As I've entered my third chapter years ago (my "juicy years") and have sailed through most transitions with relative ease, I feel well equipped to share my experience and learning, and able to support many women via this online presence. What we do in this time of our lives, as women, seems to me vitally important. Questions like how have we made a difference? Have we followed our heart's calling?  Found our voice?  For me, our third chapter is also one for living juicy, for speaking our truth and from our heart - they are the "growing years" says Jean Shinoda Bolen (more on her ideas in another post).  As this blog will be public, I would ask that respondees be respectful of th...