On The Farm
June is one of those magical months. Warmer than May and cooler than July, we’re in a kind of productive transition when we can collect early lettuce, radishes, and flowers—the farmer’s market opened—and the light of day extends into a long evening of long walks beside the lake. The first big mama turtle was laying her eggs last night, and I saw the first fireflies of the season. The firsts are the best.
Magic is whatever makes your brain go “WHOA! I DIDN’T EXPECT THAT!” and then the brain smiles. There is a lot of magic in nature—the surprise of a doe on the trail, the brilliant colors of a sunrise or sunset, the full-bodied joy that Stitch experiences when he hits the dog park in the morning and sees his buddies for play. Being present for the magic is the key.
Using all of your senses to be present is essential to detecting magic. When I teach shamanic journeying, I ask students to ground with their senses. Imagine yourself in your favorite place in nature—what do you see in that place? smell in that place? hear in that place? taste in that place? feel in that place? When we are grounded with our senses, we are fully present to whatever is happening in the moment. Without opening the awareness of my senses, I would miss the billions of rainbows in the dewdrops on the grass in the morning.
The magic is in the details that ordinarily go unnoticed when we are focused with only our minds. Magic helps us expand in spirit and then in mind; opens us to what joy is possible. It’s like a muscle—when we exercise it, it will be available to us when we need it.
Try grounding with your senses as you go about your day. What magic is waiting for you to experience?
Have You Always Wanted A Closer Relationship With Animals?
For animals, the world is a wealth of information, information that is quite different from the information that humans look for. The way the information is gathered is different—all the senses are used to determine what is relevant to the animal’s quality of life. At the Omega retreat for ANIMAL MINDFULNESS, learn ways of being in the world the way the animals do.
Animals live from their hearts and spirit. Be present with your heart in a way that helps you access the animal’s wisdom and use the personal messages for your life. Experience the deep interrelationship that is possible not only with your beloved family animal, and also with all of nature. Be a participant, not only an observer. Be able to clearly sense an animal’s needs and your own.
To register, click here.
Elemental Support
Our bodies are made up of the elements that reflect those inherent in our planet Earth. Harmonizing the elements within us brings us into harmony with the elements around us in our environment, and helps us to be aware of how our actions influence our sacred places of living, from our homes to our broader environments.
Each element offers so many gifts. The short video that will accompany the article will be a guided meditation that will bring you into harmony with that element. I will also offer a reading in THE BOOKSHELF segment of this newsletter that aligns with the element of focus, in case you would like to investigate further.
WATER. In Chinese traditional medicine, the water element symbolizes adaptability, depth, and renewal. It is crucial for balance and wellness, affecting our health, emotions, and spiritual growth.The water element is represented by the sacral chakra. It is related to the genitourinary system, kidneys, and the adrenals.
Water relates to the fluid nature of the body, mind, and spirit. It lubricates our joints, so when we feel like our motion is lacking in fluidity, when our bodies feel stiff and dry, we're noticing deficiency of the water element. When our bodies feel thick, heavy, and everything we eats, sits and is slow to digest, we've got too much water element.
According to Holden QiGong, https://holdenqigong.com, here are seven signs that your water element might be out of balance. If any of these signs seem to last weeks, are very intense, or don’t respond to changing actions, please see your physician to investigate further.
1. Tiredness and fatigue, even if you’ve been getting enough sleep. When balanced, you feel energetic and ready to act/flow.
2. Joint Pain.The Water Element is connected to your joints and ligaments. When Water is balanced within you, you can move easily, but you may experience joint pain if it becomes unbalanced.
3. Feeling excessively cold all the time.
4. Feeling fearful or insecure. For example, if someone has recurrent feelings of “not being enough,” it could relate to the Water Element. Once Water is rebalanced, these thoughts and emotions will transform into feelings of inspiration and abundance.
5. Chronic sadness and depression
6. Hormonal imbalances. Some of these are physical, while others are mental and emotional. Anxiety, constipation, high cholesterol, and tingling or numbness in your fingers are just a few of the ways hormonal imbalances can manifest.
7. Difficulty being around people. People with a Water imbalance often tend to avoid being around other people, especially when large groups are present. In many cases, they can even experience intense social anxiety or emotional unrest in social situations. Simply desiring alone time is not an imbalance indication. Know what’s normal social behavior for you.
Drinking water is only one way to rebalance the water element within you. Think of the characteristics and energy of water as well. Physical activities like yoga, tai chi or qigong emphasize slow, mindful movements that support the water element by promoting flexibility and fluidity. Healthy emotional expression and good boundaries will keep the energetic flow of water balanced in your spirit. Laughter is a form of flow. Eat foods that contain water help to cleanse and detoxify the body, flush out toxins, and hydrate cells. Water-rich foods include fruits, vegetables, soups, and juices.
Best Causes To Support The Ocean Conservancy
This is my favorite water cause to which I donate annually. I was first introduced to the Ocean Conservancy after swimming with humpback whales in the Dominican Republic. That was one of the most spiritual experiences I’ve ever had and the most revealing of what we are doing to the oceans. The coral reefs where the whales have come to give birth and to prepare their calves for the long trip back home to the north were dead. Instinctually, the whales come as they have for centuries before humans ever developed the huge cruise liners, submarines or fishing industries that have led to the demise of their habitat. However, for several decades, they have given birth in barren reef remains.
The Earth has the same composition of surface water as we do in our bodies—about 70%. Destruction of habitat and drastic changes in water quality and temperature are leading to the severe loss of species every year. If the quality of water in our bodies deteriorated at the same rate as that of the Earth, humans would be an endangered species.
The Ocean Conservancy was founded in 1972 to educate people about animal welfare, and then grew to address loss of habitat for whales. Over the years, the 501c3 organization has grown into one of the most effective environmental agencies in the world, focusing on a wide range of international efforts from oceanic trash and plastic cleanup to ocean-based climate change solutions to supporting sustainable fisheries. Their mission is to take an adaptive, inclusive and holistic approach to conservation.
Their website has articles and information on the locations, projects and species they work with. When you donate, you get a beautiful report on the progress over the past year.
To donate, go to https://oceanconservancy.org
Do You Need Tools For Deep Healing For Animal Loss?
Our connection with animals can be a gentle, guiding light to the same comfort and reassurance they gave us when they were alive. We honor their lives and the gifts they gave us by applying to our own life what they taught us. The Omega retreat on ANIMAL MINDFULNESS will give you tools for resilience and healing, especially of grief for animal loss.
Experience practices that will help you go through your recovery process with grace and ease, practices that bring you back to center and grounding during times that try your soul. These are practices that you can easily share with those you love who may be experiencing loss themselves.
During the workshop, the three of us will be providing “Chaplain Time”, offering support as animal chaplains to those who would like additional solace..
Five Ways To Reduce Water Waste
1. Salvage pasta and produce water. Save the water and give it to plants.
2. Keep a bucket in the shower. Stick the bucket under the faucet/shower head while you’re waiting for it to warm up. Water plants, flush the toilet or handwash delicates.
3. Use real plates, not disposables. It takes 8 gallons of water to make one paper plate!
4. Drink more water. Other drinks actually take more water to make. One bottle of cola consumes @ 2-3 bathtubs of water. Crazy, right? Cane sugar requires a lot of water plus water helps make the plastic bottle.
5. Skip the shower. Skipping one shower a week is a huge water savings and won’t strip your hair! Keep shower time under 20 minutes-10 is ideal. Shave after your shower, dipping the razor into a glass of water instead.
The Bookshelf
This book was first published in 2001. I was privileged to view the initial photograph plates used in the book before it was published. It blew my mind. Because we are 70% water in our bodies, the effects of the emotions sent to us (or given to ourselves) are as profound as when they are sent to the lakes, ponds, puddles and containers of water in Emoto’s book. The structure of the actual molecules are affected!
Over years, Emoto took water samples from a wide variety of sources to which a range of emotions were sent by participants, froze them, and then did microscopic slices and photographed the crystals made by the water. The results were amazing. For example, when love was sent by the group, the same crystal formed regardless of the source if the water was intact. If the water was polluted, the crystal was malformed. The photos are beautiful as well as telling.
In olden times, psychic warfare was waged between tribes by sending negative thoughts to the enemy. It was very effective and not a shot was fired. We’ve all been on the receiving end of someone’s negative thoughts and words—it’s a human thing. What is more difficult is to be aware of what thoughts and words we are sending out and the potential damage they may do. This is a book that you can sit with the beauty of the water, and apply the messages to life.
Want To Develop Unique Tools For Balance And Resilience
Research confirms that spending time with animals mindfully can help us regulate the intensity of negative emotions. Interspecies practices have also been shown to increase focus and empathy. At the Omega retreat for ANIMAL MINDFULNESS, the three animal chaplains will introduce a full week of interspecies experiences through which you can access the wisdom that the animals have for you. Apply those gifts to your own relationships and life practices. Learn the depth of interrelatedness that is possible and accessible at all times between animals, including humans. Let the depth of that relationship with all of nature support you through life’s challenges and blessed times.
To register, click here.
Upcoming Classes
Find full descriptions and costs of the classes and events on the website - https://JudyRamsey.net. Registrations are on the website. Once registered, a Zoom invitation will be sent to register to receive the meeting i.d. and passcode. If you want to attend a journey circle, please contact Judy at info@judyramsey.net. Journey circles are held the first and third Thursday of each month. All classes and journey circles are recorded for your convenience.
July 6-7, 2024
Ancestors: The Power Within—Ancestors can be powerful allies in your practice, and healing our ancestral lines can help us heal ourselves and our families. Explore your heritage, deepen your connection with the grandmothers and grandfathers in ceremony, in initiation and in the shamanic journey. Prerequisite: basic journeying skills. The class will be taught online via ZOOM.
$160 per person, $80 for repeating students. 9am-4pm EDT each day
July 20-21, 2024
Extraction: Illness & Healing From a Shamanic Perspective—This is an advanced in-person class with a limit of 6 persons. Deepen your understanding of illness and how one’s spirit can help the physical body thrive or not. We will focus on power loss and extraction of intrusions. Explore different ways to “diagnose” an illness as well as to address its healing. Working with partners, deepen your understanding of spiritual intrusions and learn ways to extract them. Prerequisites: Basic Journeying, Medicine For the Earth/Healing With Spiritual Light. Suggested Reading: Walking In Light by Sandra Ingerman. Class is held in Chelsea, MI.
$220 per person, $100 for repeating students. 9am-5pm each day
Deadline for registration is July 10.
July 27-28, 2024
Basic Animal Communication—Learn how to communicate telepathically the way that animals communicate to each other. In this basic class, you will open your intuitive senses through exercises designed to take you gently step-by-step into telepathic communication. In a fun, nurturing class environment, you will open your intuitive senses through the first day. By the second day, you will be ready to explore communication with animal guests who have offered to teach you how to understand what they want to say. Come join us!
9am-5pm both days
$180 per person/ $90 for repeat students
August 17-18, 2024
Basic Journeying: The Art of Shamanism for Practical and Visionary Purposes in Daily Life—The shamanic journey is an easy and powerful tool we can use to access spiritual information. In this class you will meet and begin to develop a relationship with a compassionate spirit or power animal who is coming forward to help you at this time in your life. You will learn techniques to help you develop a self-directed practice of empowerment, allowing you to move safely, intentionally through the world in a balanced way.This class is a prerequisite to ongoing and more advanced shamanic studies. The class will be taught online via ZOOM.
$160 per person, $80 for repeating students. 9am-3pm EDT each day
August 24-25, 2024
Extraction: Illness & Healing From a Shamanic Perspective—This is an advanced in-person class with a limit of 4 persons. Deepen your understanding of illness and how one’s spirit can help the physical body thrive or not. We will focus on power loss and extraction of intrusions. Explore different ways to “diagnose” an illness as well as to address its healing. Working with partners, deepen your understanding of spiritual intrusions and learn ways to extract them. Prerequisites: Basic Journeying, Medicine For the Earth/Healing With Spiritual Light. Suggested Reading: Walking In Light by Sandra Ingerman. Class will be taught via ZOOM with careful monitoring of techniques and practice.
$220 per person, $100 for repeating students. 9am-5pm each day
September 22-26, 2024
Soul Retrieval—This is an advanced residential class limited to 8 persons. When a person experiences trauma, there is a loss of soul essence. The person’s spirit is fragmented, causing disease, mental illness, or personality and behavioral shifts. In this training, deepen your connection to your helping spirits and learn to work with them to restore a soul’s essence. Expand your ‘tool chest’ of ways to help a client integrate a soul retrieval session, and experience as well, soul retrieval of body parts and of places in nature/landscape. Initiation and ceremony will anchor your learning. Prerequisites: Medicine For the Earth/Healing With Spiritual Light and Extraction. Suggested reading: Soul Retrieval and Welcome Home by Sandra Ingerman. Class is held in Ann Arbor, MI.
$650 per person, $400 for repeating students. Room & Board $300 per person, all meals included. Transportation from DTW may be arranged.
Deadline for registration is September 1, 2024