On The Farm
November is a month to focus on gratitude. I think since the pandemic began, gratitude is always with me. I am especially grateful for my animal friends—Stitch, Charlie and Lester. Charlie and Lester are getting on in years and Lester’s sight has gone. Consequently, they spend limited time at the barn and more time nowadays acclimating to being in the house. They’ve done amazingly well for a couple of cats that used to be relatively feral.
Did you know that there is such a thing as a dog gate with a cat door in it? We’re about to find out how effective it is. Stitch is two and a half years old and still doesn’t know how big he is (75 pounds of Lab). Interspecies traffic in the house has been managed by a series of dog gates, and I’m going to experiment with simplifying that process with our new gate and some gradual introductions. I’m aiming for everyone to be together in the house for winter. I’ll keep you posted.
I am also grateful for all of you, clients, friends and others, whose personal support, business and contact enables me to do what I love—being in service helping animals and people bond with each other, being able to provide spiritual support with shamanic practice, and having the privilege of being present as you encounter grief, loss, new cycles of life, and endings. Thank you.
A Happy Place
A dream has come to life for Julie Sabatine and her volunteers. My Happy Place Animal Sanctuary is a registered nonprofit 501(c)(3) volunteer-based animal welfare organization located in the State of New Jersey. With compassion, respect, and love as the guiding principles, My Happy Place Animal Sanctuary offers rescue, rehabilitation and refuge to abused domestic animals who have experienced trauma and injustice from the people who neglected, exploited or abused them.
Through education, outreach, and community initiatives, founding members and volunteers raise public consciousness to embrace their universal life purpose: “We are all here to help walk each other home, only leaving a legacy of love and kindness in our tread." In this spirit, the organization does not adopt out animals.
Currently, the sanctuary has four horses. Each of them has a special story of survival. Julie tries not to focus on their physical tales of trauma as much as on their amazing stories of rehabilitation. Jazzy, is working on leadership. Rio is working on letting go. Charlie is working on "leveling" himself. And Pharaoh, well, he is all about unconditional love. “We have found that every person who visits here seems to be drawn to at least one horse in particular”, Julie comments.
Staff just started offering classes where the horses will be the teachers! One class is for students learning equine myofascial release (MFR) therapy. Students will practice their skills at the sanctuary before they start working. The other class prepares MFR students to learn how to handle a horse before they practice therapy on it. Next spring, they will offer animal reiki and jin shin jyutsu for animals. Not only will the horses be helping humans, humans will be helping the horses-a true win-win!
My Happy Place is in the process of searching for a "forever" home for the sanctuary. They have located a property which can be developed into a much larger, self-sustaining sanctuary, protecting animals for many years to come! It will be exciting to see how this intention unfolds!
My Happy Place Animal Sanctuary can be found on Facebook and Instagram. The website is www.myhappyplaceanimalsanctuary.org.
If you would like more information about the organization or would like to make a gift in support of their sanctuary animals, please contact Julie Sabatine, Founder, at myhappyplaceanimals@gmail.com
The Bookshelf
This month, I signed up for the Global Joy Summit, which began with viewing a documentary not yet released about the friendship enjoyed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama. Speakers and presentations on joy really spoke to the power of joy within all of us, and the choices we have to be joyful every day.
The Book of Joy, written by these two icons with the help of Doug Abrams, a journalist for the Archbishop when he was alive, inspired the film and the summit. The book covers a week of visitation by Archbishop Tutu at the Dalai Lama’s residence in Dharmasala and begins with their teachings on joy, followed by the science of joy (the Dalai Lama was fascinated by science), and ends with practices for “…transforming joy from an ephemeral state into an enduring trait, from a fleeting feeling into a lasting way of being….”
This is an easy and joyful read. I hope you enjoy it. In addition to the book, I also got the Book of Joy Journal. It has 365 days of journaling what brings you joy, as well as meaningful quotes by both of the masters.
A Joyful Practice
One of the practices in the Book of Joy, which I do from time to time, is tonglen, a Buddhist practice of using your own divine light to transform negative feelings and experiences. You can do this anywhere, for any situation or person, including yourself. With practice, it will help you to ground yourself easily and support you to hold space for anyone else who might be in distress. Thich Nhat Hanh, renown Buddhist monk and teacher, said, “We do not work directly with the seeds of suffering. But instead we allow seeds of happiness to transform.”
Once a year sale!
Once a year, the Flower Essence Society has their big sale with significant discounts on essentials for your medicine cabinet, for animals or for yourself. The discounts will continue until December 18, 2022, on all their essences, combination kits, manuals and special care lotions, potions and products.
The Flower Essence Society (FES) was established by Dr. Bach when he sold the Bach Flower Essences to a corporate entity. FES holds to very pure standards for their products, and comparably, offers a better buy with regard to volume and pricing than most of our local vendors. Comprised of practitioners, the membership conducts research on the effects of various essences, publishes articles and papers, and provides instruction on the use of flower essences.
The flower essences that I recommend most often for animal use (although people can use these as well) are FIVE FLOWER FORMULA, POST-TRAUMA STABILIZER, and ANIMAL RELIEF FORMULA. Five Flower Formula is identical to Rescue Remedy with ingredients for anxiety, grief and pain. Post-Trauma Stabilizer is used for immediate trauma relief—vet visits, accidents, car rides, loud noises—and is effective with both animals and people, especially young ones. Animal Relief Formula was developed for long-term support of PTSD recovery and must be used over long periods of time while the animal or human is recovering.
There are two more essences which help new animals’ introduction into your home: QUAKING GRASS and MOUNTAIN PENNYROYAL. These essences help to keep the peace as you gradually introduce the animals to each other.
Now is the time to stock up on these and other products. With each order, FES is gifting you with HOPE: Heart Open to Positive Embrace, a new formula just out. Go to https://fesflowers.com/store. There are complete descriptions for each essence they carry, and if you sign up for the newsletter, you will get articles on select essences every few months. If you are a practitioner (massage therapy, energy medicine, animal communicator, etc.), your membership in FES gives you a 25% discount for any purchases, and the discount grows with the amount of your purchase. I get all my essences at the same time to maximize the benefits.