OnThePath – Maiden Spirit

EMPOWER YOUR DAUGHTER

EMPOWER YOUR DAUGHTER’S INNER WISDOM by Jan Burgevin RN

I’d like to introduce you to Jan Burgevin, a recent graduate from the Life Blessing Institute Program: “BEAUTIFUL YOU: FROM GIRL TO WOMAN” (BYGW) Facilitator Certification Training. Jan gave me permission to share (and abbreviate) two of her responses to questions in the BYGW curriculum. My hope is that you get a firsthand account of the impact this program can have on its participants:

Question 1: How do I experience my inner wisdom?

Jan: “I feel that when I am deeply tuning in to my intuition, a very quiet place inside of me, I am connected to an expanded non linear “knowing” or wisdom. This is not easy for me to experience because I have a lot of anxiety about “getting it right” and my mind is busy, rather than quiet. This blocks my wisdom or intuition. There have been times when I simply ask for spiritual help and then listen. I have learned to trust and to follow the guidance from this source. So, I am learning to trust my own wisdom, my own inner wise woman”.

Question 2: How can we encourage our daughters to access their inner wisdom?

Jan: “First, by being a role model. I would help her to learn what obstacles there are to doing this work, and how to begin to remove them. When I embody and live this knowledge and experience, she will see that it is possible. If she already has a natural ability to connect, she may simply need a sounding board to help affirm the experience. Activities that authentically foster her sense of value as an individual, her own unique “knowing” and experiencing, whether it is a focused group activity or a creative arts experiment, will help encourage the self-trust and reliance on her own inner wisdom”.

“Second, I would make time to Listen to her. My daughter does not speak very much; this is one of her blocks. But I tune in by simply sending her love and knowing that divine inner guidance is there for her. When she is ready to speak, I mostly listen and do not offer advice. (This is still hard for me, but I’m learning!) Encouraging young women and girls to find their own answers and teaching them about tools to do this will be a life changing life skill for them! So, staying connected to our own inner wisdom and believing in their ability to do the same is a powerful way to help them cultivate the inner wise woman. To bring this energy out into the world, a woman must believe that she has value and that her contributions matter, especially the contribution to her own happiness and fulfillment. Again, this can be modeled, but a woman who experiments and finds her own way, knowing that she is loved and supported, no matter what, will cultivate her own inner wisdom”.

Guidance Through Art

ART AS MEDITATION: SOUL GUIDANCE ACCESS TOOL

I’m taking a yearlong painting class to provide structure for the part of me that loves to express artistically. Most importantly however,this painting process is a tool I’m using to connect with spiritual guidance, self-healing, and dream manifesting. Because I’m having so much fun doing it and find this tool helpful, I want to share it with you.

In today’s blog post I will reveal 4 layers of my current painting that leads to an inner guidance journal writing process after each painting session.

Why am I sharing my very personal inner work expressed in paintings?

I want to give you a new tool and demonstrate how to use an art project to access inner guidance on YOUR path to Self Mastery.

Also, I find the act of making art a pleasurable way to connect with intuitive knowing and creative flow of living on the path to Self Mastery.

THE PROCESS

1. Decide what your medium will be and collect your supplies.
2. Create a special time and space to begin your project.
3. Set the intention for what you want your art piece to represent. For example, the intention of my painting is to hold a space for my conversation with my Soul and the Divine in the form of SHE.
4. Begin each art session by asking a question you would like guidance about.
5. After you complete a layer of your piece, sit back and look at it. Contemplate the image with your journal in hand and then let the wisdom flow through you onto the page.

I really love this process and look forward to each new layer of my painting and what might emerge through it. Most importantly, I love the way I feel when I take the time to engage in acts of intentional creativity as a spiritual practice.

Please note: It’s the Soul that comes through between the words that elicits the deepest impact for me. I encourage you to view my painting layers and read my journal entries with the eyes and ears of your soul too.

MY EXAMPLE:

Contemplation Question: Where am I now on the path of manifesting the next phase of my Life’s work?

Today my face emerges as earth and sunshine… my face is the fertile earth filled with seeds just beginning to sprout but not yet bursting through to see the light. My face is touched by the sunshine of Spirit, the Unformed Source, the emptiness that is filled with everything.

I emerge in the spring season of birth in this tangible form through your hand.

I am the fertile soil that will give birth to new forms of your Life’s work.

There is no need to reject or push away all that has been. Simply incorporate the old forms as rich compost to nurture the new.

At times you must let go of the need to know anything but what is needed in the moment.

Put your trust in ME and we will walk together through this transitional phase.

PAINTING LAYER 2(My grandson told me SHE looked like an alien at this point)

Contemplation Question: What is the next step in the process of ‘waiting’ for the seeds to spout?

I am FULLY PRESENT. When you look into my eyes, you may feel startled into presence.

I hold the space of thing nothing that contains everything, infinite potential. I am the phase of your creative process that you most want to bypass.

I am the unknowable.

I am also moonlight on the water of your soul, here to illuminate the path and your new forms of expression when the time is right.

Remember the value of simple moments and earthly pleasures, take in and be nourished by the beauty that is everywhere if you look closely, stay conscious in your sweet animal body.

Remember, you need not “accomplish” to be enough and to fulfill your Life Purpose.

Enjoy this period of gestation.

Go deeper into all you love of the Feminine, going ALL IN to the Feminine Flow in your next step.

PAINTING LAYER 3

Contemplation Question: During this time of gestation, I have been drawn to go deeper into the healing of my family tree. What do you want me to know now?

Today I emerge as the Hawaiian Goddess Pele giving life and energy to your healing.

My molten lava is erupting and flowing down the volcanic mountain into the sea on it’s way to create new land, new possibilities for your future. Within all this fiery activity, the “I AM” presence continues to be utterly calm, still, silent, unmoving.

Consciously know this healing and creation work is why you came to earth.

Allow the emotion that is moving through you to be fully welcomed and the truths you are discovering to settle into your roots.

It is not yet time to harvest the tree.

PAINTING LAYER 4

Contemplation Question: What am I to know now? What is the symbol of my new body of work?)

At this time, the karmic web of your family tree continues to be shaking off ancestral entanglements energies.

The deep inherited sadness is dissolving and the positive gifts and vibrancy within your lineage roots are singing more freely through your DNA.

A new expression of your Life’s Work is beginning to emerge through a manifesting current and is symbolized by a “Rainbow Dove”.

The AH HAH Moment

The “AH HAH” Moment That Changed My Life Forever:
A Tool For The Conscious Transformation Of Experience

Even though we are potent spiritual beings filled with the power to change and create new experiences, most of us tend to forget this on a daily basis!

Today I was inspired to share with you a revelatory “AH-HAH” turning point moment on my Journey of Awakening and the 4 steps I took to transform my experience. I was feeling depressed and alone in a particular reoccurring life circumstance, and I was able to create the opposite experience of feeling deeply loved and connected in those very same situations.

Here’s what happened:

One evening, after attending yet another wonderful dinner party with friends, I noticed that, instead of feeling happily connected when I left that party I felt depressed, sad, lonely and disappointed. I also realized that this was a very familiar pattern repeat. The first step of my transformation was to recognize the pattern.

I invite you to follow along with the steps.

Step 1: Identify depleting emotions (sadness, anger, fear) that appear to repeat themselves in your experience. Then identify the type of situation that most often triggers them.

After I realized that I was in a pattern repeat, I began to wonder if there were unconscious thoughts and beliefs triggering my sadness and disappointment that had nothing to do with my actual experience at the party. I went on an introspective exploratory journey to find out and this is what I discovered.

Surprisingly, my previously unconscious belief system turned out to be a deep conviction that looked like this:

“I am alone. Others are not there for me. Life is sad and lonely”.

Realizing this was the KEY to my “AH HAH”!

Step 2: Ask yourself: What might be the unconscious belief patterns underlying your pattern repeat?

Now that I knew what was going on in me, I decided to study my behavior the next time I went to a dinner party with friends. I wanted to find out what I was doing or not doing that contributed to feeling alone even in the midst of friends.

This is where I had my “AH HAH” moment:

I noticed that when others would ask “How are you, Georgette?” I would quickly defer and switch the focus back to them. I rarely gave anyone a chance to ‘be there for me’, thereby replicating my experience of being alone. Suddenly I saw myself as the source of my frequent distress after parties with friends.

Step 3: Imagine your triggering situation: What do you see yourself doing or not doing that could be contributing to your disturbing pattern?

Finally, I decided to try something different at the next party. When anyone asked, “How are you?”, I told them!!!! I left that party with a heart brimming with feelings of love and connection, and of shared mutual intimacy. I stepped into my power as the conscious creator of my experience of fulfilling intimacy with friends. And they were so happy to have the opportunity to get to know me and hold space for me, thus deepening our mutual connection.

I now show up at parties centered in this deeper truth: “I am never alone, I am present for myself, and I choose to reveal myself to others capable of mutual and fulfilling intimacy. I recognize now that my life is filled with love and connection”.

Step 4: Identify the deeper truth template that you are committed to create and then plan what you might do differently for a different outcome.

Track this new approach over time as you consciously take responsibility and step into your power to create your own “AH HAH” moments and new experiences. Let me know what you discover! I’d love to hear from you: georgette@lifeblessing.com

The Little APPLE TREE

Not that many moons ago, I fell into a state of comparing myself to others. Although I felt connected with some wonderful and positive elements about myself, the overall effect of comparing with others was quite destabilizing. This is because I started to doubt what I knew to be true about my creative process and the value of my contribution to Life.

Have you been comparing yourself to others? How does it affect you?

Comparing myself to others not only caused me to doubt myself but also to second-guess my Soul’s Guidance. I was in a quiet receptive phase, I felt like I must be doing something wrong when compared to other colleagues and leaders who I perceived to be in very active manifestation cycles of expression. I woke up each morning with a sick feeling in my stomach, and for a period of time, I had no energy or motivation.

Thank goodness, I know what to do when triggered out of Soul Alignment… I go “IN”.

During a deep meditation, I explored this state of mind. I uncovered some outdated beliefs that needed updating and a need for emotional healing.

I prayed for a “Healing”.

In response, I received the vision of an Apple Tree as my “Healer”. I also received the guidance to create a painting of this little tree.

But, what does an Apple Tree have to do with my “Healing”, I wondered?

As synchronicity would have it, within days of completing this painting, I had a conversation with a friend who happens to be a story-teller. I asked if she knew any stories about Apple Trees.

She told me her story of an Apple Tree, and in the telling, I received my “Healing”! You can read this story below and find the message in it for YOU.

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THE APPLE TREE: A DISCOVERY of “HEALING”
by Penninnah Schram

In a great Forest where the oak trees grew tall and majestic, there stood in their midst a little apple tree. It was the only apple tree in the entire Forest, and so it stood alone……

Winter came. As the snow fell, it covered the branches of all the trees, including the little apple tree, as it drifted to the Forest floor. Under the gentle blanket of snow, the Forest was quiet and peaceful.

One crisp night, the little apple tree looked up between the tall oak branches and saw a wonderful sight. The twinkling Stars in the clear sky seemed to be suspended from the tall oak branches! This beautiful sight inspired the little tree, and she said:

“How lucky those magnificent tall trees are to have such beautiful Stars lighting them up. I want more than anything in the world to have Stars on my branches, just like the tall oak trees! Then I would feel truly special”.

The Universe looked down at the little apple tree and said gently, “Have patience, little Apple Tree!”

Time passed, the snows melted, and Spring came to the Forest. And the little apple tree came to life! Tiny white and pink apple blossoms appeared on its branches. Birds came to rest, and people walking by admired its beautiful flowers.

All Summer long, the little apple tree continued to grow and thrive, and its branches formed a gentle canopy as they filled with leaves and blossoms.

But each night, the little apple tree looked up at the sky with the millions of bright Stars and cried, “I wish more than anything in the world to have Stars on my branches -just like the tall oak trees, so I could feel truly special”.

And the Universe looked down and said, “Apple Tree, you have wonderful gifts. You offer loving shade to Forest friends, your blossoms delight people walking below, and your branches provide rest for the birds whose vibrant songs awaken the tall oaks from their Winter sleep”.

The little apple tree sighed and answered simply, “I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but that is not special enough! What I really want more than anything in the world is to have Stars, not blossoms, on my branches. Then I would feel truly special!”

The Seasons changed again. Soon the little apple tree was filled with an abundance of beautiful apples ripening on its branches. People and animals walked through Forest and picked and ate the life-giving fruit. Yet still, when night came to the Forest, the little apple tree looked up at the Stars in the tall oak trees and called out, “I want more than anything in the world to have Stars on my branches too! Then I would feel truly special.”

Puzzled, the Universe asked, “But Apple Tree, can’t you see that now you have wonderful apples on your branches to offer to all in the Forest? Doesn’t that give you joy and make you feel truly special?”

The little apple tree answered silently by shaking its branches from side to side in sadness. At that moment, a fierce Wind blew, the great oak trees began to sway wildly, and the little apple tree shook in surprise. And from the topmost branch of the little tree, a single apple flew with the Wind, and happily split open as it fell to the ground at the foot of the little tree.

“Look, Apple Tree” the Universe gently suggested. “Look INSIDE. What do you see?”

The little apple tree looked down and saw a wonderful sight…..right in the middle of the open apple was a beautiful shining Star. And the Apple Tree cried, “A Star! I have a Star INSIDE! I have had Stars all along!!”

And the Universe laughed gently, “So you do have Stars on your branches, Apple Tree. Now you know it.”

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Thus, through my friend’s synchronistic timing and the telling of this story of the Apple Tree’s Discovery of Healing, I too, received the “Healing” I needed.

The story of the Apple Tree reminds us to honor our unique gifts, be patient with the Seasons of our creative process, trust the Universe and remember that even when we cannot see it, we have Stars and Creation Seeds “INSIDE”.

Magic and Mystery of Being a Woman

By Joni Maher, MSW

Last Saturday I gathered with a group of mothers and their 10 & 11 year old daughters for my second Playshop, called Celebrating Beautiful You. I was prepared for these events by the “Beautiful You: From Girl to Woman” Training from Life Blessing Institute. My intention for my Playshop day was to share the magic and the mystery of being a woman.

I believed this was essential because I had noticed something in my first Playshop and experience with my own pre-pubescent daughter that caught my attention. I realized while our girls today are much better educated about the changes that come with puberty and received a steady flow of messages about girl power and female empowerment, almost none had any idea what’s at the heart and the soul of being a woman. That isn’t surprising because most adult women have little to no sense of this either.

The wounds of our generation came from misinformation, cultural misogyny and shame. We wanted a different experience for our daughters and we have brought them further than we were carried but we have been missing a key piece. Collectively we empowered our daughters and have done great work to change the misogyny culturally and politically. But, in my experience, the missing piece for both us mothers and our girls is a grounding in our Feminine Spirit: A reclaiming of our Feminine Spirit that comes with owning our magic and mystery.

When we support our girls in accessing their Essential Selves, they will then have the resources they most need to grow into the women they are meant to be. They can draw on this depth and wisdom to keep their Spirits and Sense of Self intact as they come of age in our hypersexual and more and more disconnected culture.

For myself and for my daughter, “BYGW” Trainings were the answer to my prayer. Like so many of you I was clear I wanted to foster a different kind of support for my daughter than I received as a girl coming of age. I just wasn’t clear how to overcome my own lack of knowledge and the missing pieces I didn’t even realize were missing to optimally support my daughter. I had intentions and instincts but – just as when I was a girl preparing for my own transition – I needed helpful information and support. That’s where Georgette and “BYGW” came in.

Georgette (*) provided the key elements to support both those of us aspiring to mentor girls coming of age as well as the girls themselves.

Personally, I received:

Grounding in my Feminine Spirit & Inner Knowing

A Sisterhood Community that brought many gifts

Profound healing for my Inner Maiden

A beautiful role model for how to walk the walk as a Spiritual Woman

An experience of the beauty, gifts, magic and mystery of being a woman

Concrete skills to share these gifts

Going through the “BYGW” training with Georgette has allowed me to first and foremost share these treasures with my daughter and then to other women and their girls. It has been so gratifying to witness and hear the ways these girls and women are each being touched and continuing these important conversations. I appreciate how in a small way my pebble in the pond – of sharing Celebrating Beautiful You in my community — is rippling out to touch the lives of girls, their mothers and ultimately our human family. It doesn’t get better than that!

Girls And Their First Moon Treasure Chests

Be the Antidote!

By Meg Tobin, Certified “BEAUTIFUL YOU: From Girl To Woman” Facilitator

Sisters, think back to your pre-teen and teen years. Perhaps as you were coming of age you were unconditionally loved and respected by your mom and other women you knew. Maybe you had wise and giving role models there for you, sharing healthy women’s wisdom. Maybe you felt prepared for change and sure of how supported your were. How wonderful for you! It is how is should be for all girls!

If this was not your experience, consider what it would have been like if you had been honored and held through your blossoming into a woman? What if you learned to honor yourself and your body the way you learned to talk or walk, or better yet, if honoring yourself was as instinctual as breathing? Imagine that the women in your life held your heart, spoke their divine wisdom and truth, and welcomed you into sisterhood.

As a mom of 2 girls, I long to support them in living lives that are full out authentic and self-loving. I want to hold their hearts, impart wisdom, see them breathing in self-acceptance. There is so much that they are up against, so many messages that demean and dismiss them. I am driven to offer an antidote to those messages for my daughters and for my daughter’s daughters. I want this for all girls, everywhere! I know that honest and open dialogue with our girls about their inherent worth and helping them to embrace and revel in their changing bodies can be that powerful antidote to our cultural dismissal of the feminine.

My work as a psychotherapist is rooted in guiding women to connect with their divine sacredness and core truths. Many of my clients have deep wounds surrounding their femaleness and it is often an arduous and painful journey for them to reclaim and honor their feminine spirit. It does not have to be this hard for our girls. It is their birthright. To shine. To sparkle in the sun. To embody the magnificent beauty and power that is their femininity.

I was seeking more concrete ways to empower my girls and their friends and to counter the damage our society can cause them. I knew there must be other women out there working for change and refusing to accept our cultural constructs of femininity. I needed more antidotes!

Enter: Georgette! I was blessed to have participated in Georgette’s first “Beautiful You: From Girl to Woman” Training! Her BYGW Training not only encouraged and supported healing my own wounded spaces, but has given me the tools to teach and support moms and girls in celebrating their female body and all of her mysteries.

Through Georgette’s open hearted guidance, I have learned specific ways to show girls their beauty and to facilitate sacred communication between mom and daughter about an often intimidating topic. I have facilitated 2 Playshops (I call “Celebrating Her”) based on Georgette’s BYGW Training. The response was overwhelmingly positive, as it filling a huge void for our community, offering healing and hope.

I am humbled by the power of this work.

I am honored to be an antidote.

Meg Tobin, MA is a psychotherapist practicing in Central New York State. She is available for individual sessions via Skype or phone. See her website: www.Breathingspacestudio.com

Red Center

Moon Girl Drawings

Intuition Dolls

Message From My Dad

A DREAM MESSAGE: INCREASE YOUR RECEPTIVITY TO RESOURCES

Today’s video Blog post was filmed during my visit to the “Seven Sacred Pools” State Park on the Hana Coast of Maui.

The night after I returned from that adventure, I had a powerful dream. In the dream, my Dad, who passed away over 30 years ago, paid me a visit with an important message to share.

Dreams can be helpful messengers and there are so many layers of meaning that can be de-coded. The symbolism in this dream was so straightforward! During my visit to this gorgeous sacred site, I took a moment of prayer to rededicate my life to the creation of balance in the soul of humanity through continuing to strengthen the feminine.

In my dream, my Dad (symbol of the masculine) delivered something precious that I had been missing and I felt inspired to pass his message along to you.

THE BIRTH PLACE OF A CALLING

In this video clip I invite you to experience:

A glimpse of the ocean-scape Birth Place of my Calling to empower the Feminine, on the island of Maui.
Join me in a moment of dedication to contribute to balance in the Soul of Humanity.
Hear my personal invitation for those called to sign up for our upcoming BEAUTIFUL YOU: From Girl to Woman Trainings.

After this short filming was complete, a large black and white butterfly circled around me, the only one like this I’ve ever seen. Because butterflies have always been a Maiden Spirit symbol for the transformation from girl to woman. I felt our Collective intention to honor the Feminine had been heard!!!

To learn more about the “BEAUTIFUL YOU:From Girl to Woman” Trainings contact Georgette – georgette@lifeblessing.com

Hawaiian Butterflies!

LIVE YOUR DREAMS: A Ritual to Ignite Possibility!!!

Today, I took you with me as I bush-wacked my way through a very overgrown path of thick tall grass. Eventually, I made my way to the ocean overlook carrying my little altar cloth. Getting there was not easy, but I was totally committed!

Once I arrived, I began to set up my altar to the collective “impossible dream” on a cliff above the sea.

I put down my altar cloth and gathered what was there: dried sticks, little pine cones from the tree above and tiny flowers that I found in the grass along the way.

Setting up the altar turned out to be more challenging than I expected. For awhile it seemed IMPOSSIBLE because the wind kept blowing away the objects I had gathered to create a mandala form on the altar cloth.

As I worked to create a pattern, the wind came swooping through disturbing the pattern and sometimes lifting the objects right off the altar over and over again. I had to recreate the mandala again and again.

I thought of the many times I (and maybe you too) have tried to create something and failed or simply stopped short. For awhile it seemed like it would be impossible to keep the little pine cones and flowers from flying away, just as it sometimes feels impossible to stay committed to our dreams in the face of challenges.

However, I did not give up because I was committed!!!! A total commitment is what it takes to get through the challenges that come up on the way to manifesting dreams.

Eventually, the wind settled. I was able to complete the creation of my simple altar form and you better believe I prayed fast before the wind returned!!!

I prayed for help to believe my NEXT big dream…

SOUL STREAM: An On-Line Group Training Program, an idea God put in my heart but I’ve doubted I can accomplish.

I prayed for YOU and for all beings to experience an opening to the light of possibility in body, mind, heart and soul.

To complete my prayer and the ritual, I released the pinecones and flowers over the cliff, and watched the waves below crash and roll as I listened to the Ocean sing for a little while.

On the walk back, along the now clear path to my car, I thought about the many dreams I have manifested in this life and how, with each manifestation, a new bigger dream emerges.

We just need to keep saying YES to what God puts in our hearts, show up, and do the work. What comes next is always a bigger vision.

On the drive back to my Maui home, I witnessed the most incredible vision in the sunset sky. Through the dark clouds was a crack where the light was pouring through. I just had to pull over to take a picture.

Your LIFE has a BIG plan, but you have got to be honest about what you really want and make a commitment to live it.

You have got to be willing to see and feel where you are trapped in limitation and build an altar there. What I mean by this is to call in the Light of your Soul and get what ever help you need to break through that limited perspective or the fears that cause you to make excuses not to try.

Begin making decisions that move you towards your dream one step at a time.

Allow your life to expand and blossom!!!

9 Paths Of The Soul

My Mom, aka Grandmother Shirley, taught me about the 9 Pathways of Human-Soul Growth and Evolution. I grew up with conversations about the ‘Big Questions’ such as, Who am I? Why am I here? And What am I to do?.

She and my god mother Jane seeded my consciousness with the importance of asking and exploring such deep questions at a young age. I’ve been doing so ever since. They taught me a soul mapping system that I have been using in my soul-coach practice for over 2 decades now.

In this video, I describe the 9 Pathways and reveal how this information can be relevant for YOU as well as those you desire to know and understand more fully.

Enjoy!