Posts
Beauty, Balance & Peace
I am delighted to be part of a month-long online project entitled “Beauty, Balance & Peace”, a foundation for weaving voices of peace hosted by Janet Stanley. This is an online gathering of Peacemakers from around the world that will begin on November 4th, 2019.
I met Janet on a trip to Finland and Estonia this past July. It was an incredible trip organized by Elisha MacMillan and Christie Perrault to witness the 150th anniversary celebration of the Estonian Song Festival.
The Estonian Song Festival
“The Estonian Song Festival (in Estonian: laulupidu, Estonian pronunciation: [?l?u.lu?pi.du]) is one of the largest amateur choral events in the world, a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. It is held every five years in July on the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds (Lauluväljak) simultaneously with the Estonian Dance Festival.” There were 32,000 voices of all ages singing with a full orchestra to over 120,000 thrilled audience members.
It celebrates the heritage of this small country on the Baltic Sea that has been overtaken by other powerful nations in the past. The singing celebrations became the main anchor of Estonian identity. In the 19th century, the choirs and song celebrations were at the core of the national awakening of Estonian peasants. As a result, it helped establish an identity that indirectly led to the country’s independence in 1918.
My Experience at the Estonian Song Festival
As a singer, it was one of the most powerful experiences I have ever had. Though I did not understand the words sung, the emotion and strength of the message of peace, unity and hope was profound. The various costumes each group wore to represent their cultural heritage were so colourful and creative. “Research shows that 48% of the Estonian population has, at some time in their lives, taken part in the song celebration and is one of the remaining activities that is enjoyed by the whole of society.” https://estonianworld.com/culture/gallery-estonian-song-celebration-2019/
There were 10 women who were drawn to the invitation and of which I personally knew only 3 before we came together. We entered into our own sacred ceremony for the trip to bring the message of peace and freedom home with us. This was more important than we first thought as we shared a small air b & b with 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom. We had beds and suitcases all over and managed to get through potential sticky situations with much grace and humour!
Being a Part of Janet’s Peace Project
On one of our many stimulating discussions, Janet shared a Peace project she was undertaking to launch in the fall. After all my years leading Women’s Wellness Circles, I have come to truly know the empowerment that comes from people sharing their own stories and gifts. I was immediately drawn to learn more about her endeavor. Therefore, we arranged to connect upon our return and was asked to take part in her project and be interviewed which I humbly accepted.
With this in mind, I encourage you to accept the invitation and sign up to listen to the 24 interviews of people who are living out their own version of peacekeeping in our world. https://0vs1sd5o.pages.infusionsoft.net/
May they inspire each of us to become more conscious of our thoughts and actions as we continue to create a world that works for everyone.
Enjoy a few of my photos and a short video from the Song Festival.
Until next time,
Karen
Japan – Collaboration & Creativity
Looking through my photos of my trip to Japan allows me to continue to integrate my experience. Today I want to share what is possible when we open up to collaboration from others on a challenge to create something totally unique and special.
The Buddhist Temple of Otagi Nenbutsu-ji
One of the Temples that I visited really touched my heart from this perspective. Otagi Nenbutsu-ji is a Buddhist Temple in the Arashiyama neighbourhood of Kyoto. Originally founded by Empress Shotoku in the middle of the eighth century, it was destroyed once by flooding and once by a civil war. It was moved to its current location in 1922, later suffering typhoon damage in 1950. It took thirty years to repair the damage but when it was finally restored worshipers celebrated by donating the 1200 rakan sculptures (stone statues representing the disciples of Buddha).
Collective Consciousness – Fear or Grace?
I received a reflective writing from Caroline Myss in my inbox last week that struck a strong chord with me. The article was inspired by the Orlando massacre however she brought it to the level of the collective consciousness which we can also call the collective unconscious and that had me take a personal look. If we are, at some level, one, then how am I being in my life? Are there places in my life calling for more grace? Read more
Commitments to Building Personal Resilience
Marise Foster – click image to enlarge
This year I have been focusing on building my well-being and spiritual practices. I have always had many interests and love to learn. One of the challenges this brings is that I have not been committed to a specific personal practice on a daily basis. After 5 months of making a commitment to myself to do a daily practice; I am realizing just how much it contributes to building my overall personal resilience. Read more
Your Lifestyle Affects Your Body
In keeping with my last blog, I will continue on the path of our bodies from a different angle. How our lifestyle choices directly affect our body. This is something I experience in my practice all the time so I got very excited when I read Lissa Rankine’s book, “Mind over Medicine “, as she brings scientific proof to this very concept. Here is an excerpt from her book: Read more
Personal Sustainability
I had the opportunity to appear on Rogers Daytime TV this morning as part of the Green Connections Networking group I belong to. I wanted to link being healthy with being green and sustainable. I have been part of this great green group for over a year now and am so impressed with the personal conviction that each of us shares towards living in a more sustainable way, no matter what our business segment is. I have noticed that people who take care of themselves also have a higher propensity to make greener choices overall in life. I prepared a multiple choice fact sheet to work with for the interview segment that I believe might be of interest to you as readers. I have highlighted the correct answer.
Vision in Action
click image for more info
My husband and I recently returned from a wonderful trip to Nova Scotia where we visited with friends in Musquodoboit Harbour on the Eastern Shore about 45 minutes from Halifax. While there we toured an incredible garden property called Harbour Breezes where owners Allan and Shane have created a visionary wonderland. I wanted to share this story with you because I was so moved by what I experienced walking these gardens and listening to the story of its “becoming”. It truly is a “Vision in Action”.
The property was purchased in 2004 and opened to the public in 2006. Its location is ideal being right on the well traveled Hwy. #7 along the Eastern Shore at Jeddore Harbour with a south facing view of the water. From the humble home at the road, the property goes straight uphill behind. The land is rough, covered in large rocks, trees and native scrub brush. As the story unfolded, we learned that every year Allan gave his creative dreams permission to grow with lots of hard work and research and determination. The core lines of products are Day Lilies and they currently have over 750 varieties with new ones being added every year.
Biophoton Therapy
I mentioned at the end of my last blog entry, that I have added biophoton therapy to my offering at Inside Out. So why did I do that and how will it benefit my clients?
I have shared with you that the core of my work is providing an opportunity to connect my clients with their truth. Your truth is the core of who you are and what brings you Joy! In that process I guide you to notice where you get in your own way. Once we bring awareness to what is limiting you, it brings you choice on how to move forward.
For the past 12 years, I have incorporated the wisdom of the Enneagram personality system as well as the healing energy work of Reiki. They compliment each other perfectly and to be honest, though I am open to many other modalities, I did not feel the need to add anything else to my practice. Then in 2011, upon return from a phenomenal trip to South Africa – something new entered my field of awareness. My stepmom became very ill immediately after arriving home from our trip and after a trip to the doctor’s office to have blood work done – a friend recommended that she see a Biontologist in her area. By this point she had been extremely ill for a week and my father was quite concerned. So they decided to go and she felt immediate relief from the illness. Cool. This same situation repeated itself when my father was the next to get sick. That was enough to peak my curiosity and over the next 6 months, I explored and researched this therapy. My experience resulted in a deep knowing that this was indeed something I needed to continue with.