Oh my poor back!

Hello friends,

I searched my mind for a suitable title for this blog but the pain in my lower back restricted my imagination and so there you have it..... the back gets the title!

I have to say it was the most ridiculous thing to do.... How can you sit on a piece of gym equipment leaning slightly backwards, with both feet at waist height and then leaning over to the side to a two year old child, reach across and lift her onto your lap.... without doing yourself an injury?
Wait, I'll qualify that question, how can you do that without injury unless you are in peak condition and under fifty? (Unless you are either forgetful of years... or deluded!)

The consequence has been a badly torn set of large muscles in my back from ribcage to pelvis.... Which has caused me a great deal of discomfort( on many levels) and food for thought.

My local (and extremely trustworthy) holistic osteopath, Angus, struck a chord when he asked me what I believed the injury to be about. At first I suggested my usual response to back pain, which is a feeling or a belief of 'lack of support'.

The longer and more deeply we talked, the brighter the light bulb began to shine into the dark recesses of my very soul. Aha, this is not actually about support,in fact I am very well supported on physical and spiritual levels ... but this is far more about the issue of trust. (And, I'm not talking about trusting angels, or God, this time)

By the time we reach mid to late adulthood it is pointless to carry on blaming the past (over and over again) for our behaviour patterns and our insecurities. I'm sure that very few of us have had what we 'think' is a perfect childhood, (even though it was - at some level - perfect for us, or can fondly look back to our parents knowing that none of their own issues leached through their parenting skills into us. But although it may have valid reasons how long can we go on using that as an excuse?

There comes a time when we have to fully accept personal responsibility of every thought, word, action and outcome for our own life. Yes, of course the things our parents, partners, friends, siblings, workmates, teachers etc etc did and said have left deep rooted imprints in our memories. This will have translated into behaviour patterns and belief systems which form who we are... and if we keep going even further back to previous lifetimes we will be adding all of that 'stuff' into the personality mix as well.

And so, there comes a time... Doesn't there?... When we have to take a long cool look at who we have become and, without any blame or guilt, accept who we are. Then, in truth, love every bit of us, warts and all, including the things we would like to change.

Now, here comes the bit about 'trust'.

After a lifetime of 'learning' that it may be difficult (for whatever reason)to fully trust other people... how about recognising that the reason for this may be a lack of trust in ones-self?

Now before you cut me off in a flurry of indignation reaffirming that you are completely trustworthy, impeccably honest, and never in a million years would you knowingly let anyone down (without good enough reason)... I'm talking about trusting yourself with yourself.

How many times (honestly) do you make a promise to yourself, and then break it? But I'll bet that breaking a promise is an anathema to you!
Do you ever agree with yourself to give something up, but don't?
How many times do you make a decision to take better care of yourself,(i.e. more sleep, better food, less alcohol etc) and then don't?

All the above batters the self-esteem. Did you know that?
How can we feel so unimportant that we are unable to keep promises to our self? I don't know the answer to that. Sadly, I admit that I seem to do it all the time. But thanks to a back injury all that is changing as of now!

What a revelation, after all these years to suddenly realize that it is time to learn to trust myself.

Certainly I shall continue to try and be as reliable and dependable to family and friends as I have always been. I have been born with a soul mission to serve, and nothing will change that.
But, now I am beginning to understand that I must also serve my body, train my own mind, and nurture my own soul. Others may help... and they do, for which I am truly grateful. But my sense of fierce independence and 'need to please' has become back shaped (no pun on pears now please!) and it is time to listen to it!

Can you trust yourself?
Be good to yourself too. Next time you tell yourself you are going to do something, do it! Don't make a promise to yourself that you may not be able to keep.... you wouldn't do that to a child would you? And the child within gets just as disappointed.

Well I'm off to sunny Crete tomorrow, so I promise myself I am definitely going to rest my back in the afternoons... oh and allow the inner child to experience kept promises!

Lots of love,

Chrissie

Oh my Goodness it's August already!

Hello Friends,

Somewhere along the way I seem to have missed a month! Where did July go? Isn't it shocking to think that a whole month can be so busy that when you try to remember where it went or what happened it literally takes immense concentration to recall! Oh dear, am I becoming a senior already? Having too many hi-lights? Or maybe I've lived in Essex too long ? (Only joking... it's actually all three)

I remember coming home from the Essene retreat feeling wonderful . We enjoyed so much 'peace' and friendship that it was, as always, difficult to drag myself away. As one of the organisers I take on some of the responsibility of running the programme and therefore it isn't all rest and relaxation for me. But, the love and acceptance and absolute pleasure of being there among my Essene family certainly makes up for any lack of sleep!

Thank goodness I have the bliss of the Crete retreat next month to look forward to now. But that's about the past and then the future. The gift, as they say, is in the present.

Being in the moment is experiencing and being with the moment. Taking pleasure in fully living. Not missing any of the joy as we rush through life. I do take stock and reflect how each moment gifts me with pleasures of ever changing varieties.

The pleasures of Summer have changed for me recently. In the city I enjoyed flowers in my garden and parks. Now I enjoy flowers in my garden and country walks, but now I have grandchildren to share the names of the flowers with, and to creep along to the woods while we pick up fallen feathers from the angels, find faces on the trees and search for bears, as well as pull sticks with the dog... I do enjoy the moments, and I regularly count my blessings.

As I push ahead with my new book draft, in time to meet my deadline, which looms closer and closer... and makes me steadily busier and busier I confess it's increasingly more difficult to fit in the things that give me the most pleasure in life; like communing each day with the nature spirits, feeling the crunching of spiky cut wheat under my feet as I daringly take a shortcut cross the newly harvested fields, my morning meditation, my visits to elderly parents and tiny grandchildren, dead-heading the geraniums and picking the tomatoes. In fact the simple things that re-connect us with God and the angels ... but I do make time. And I'm glad.

I have often been accused of dashing through life, always being too busy. But I'm an Aries.... come on?! I'm not slowing down, just finally, at long last prioritising! Oh, ok, and perhaps feeling a little more tired ~ on occasion!

And so, because this is a shortened blog this month, I thought I'd share a little quip with you, to make you think and hopefully to make you smile:

"As we rush about in the business of life and others get in our way.... when we feel like criticizing our brothers and sisters, or indeed we think they are from a different planet, perhaps ...... we could remember that actually we are all from the same mould. It's just that some of us are a little bit mouldier than others !!

Enjoy your Summer,

Love, and blessings in abundance,

Chrissie

Solstice Prayers

Hello lovely people!

This is a reminder that on Monday, 21st June, Summer Solstice, and of course it is the longest day.

Not only is it a time of heightened spiritual energy, but many groups, all over the world, including the Native American Indians, hold the day as a special time for praying for peace..... not only for their own nation but for the planet, and the people of the world.

I shall be at the Essene gathering where we shall be holding special Solstice prayers in the evening of the 21st, and honouring the four directions, the Heavenly Father and Earthly Mother, and praying for peace on Earth. Especially for a speedy solution to the enormous polution of the ocean.

We will be chanting the Aramaic of the Lords Prayer (translation of the original version of the Peshitta by Neil Douglas Klotz):

Abwoon d'bashmaya.
(O birther! Father-Mother of the Cosmos. You create all that moves in Light.)
Netqaddash Shmakh
(Focus your Light within us - make it useful as the rays of a beacon show the way.)

Teete Malkutakh.
(Create your reign of unity now through our fiery hearts and willing hands.)

Nehvwey Tzevannach aykanna d'bashmaya aph b'arha.
(Your one desire then acts with ours, as in the Light, so in all forms.)

Havlan Iahma d'sunqanan yaomana
(Grant what we need each day, bread and insight.)

Washbwoqlan haubvayn wahtahyn aykana daph hnan shbviqan l'hayyabayn.
(Loose the chords of mistakes binding us, as we release the strands we hold of each other's guilt.)

Wela tehlan le'ynesuna
(Don't let surface thnigs delude us)

Metul dilakhie malkuta wahayla wateshbuhta l'ahlamalmin.
(From you is born all ruling will, the power and the life to do, the song that beautifies all, from age to age it renews.)

Ameyn. (Truly power to these statements. May they be the source from which all our actions grow.Sealed in trust and faith. Amen)





Then four lines of an old American Indian prayer at the start of more prayers. It is very simple, if you would like to join us by saying this first and then making your own petition to God and the angels for world peace........ that would be wonderful! :

Ancient Mother I feel you calling
Ancient Mother I hear your sound
Ancient Mother I see your laughter
Ancient Mother I taste your tears

Perhaps you might also like to stop whatever you are doing at noon, and join me with the Essene gathering in the noon contemplation of:

" Peace, peace, peace. Angel of Peace, be always everywhere"

Whatever you choose to do, even if only lighting a candle, with our group intention and solidarity of focus and energy I know that we can all help to bring more even light and love into the world around us.

Thank you, each of you, for being part of my world.

Love and blessings in abundance,

Chrissie

June is busting out all over

Where have the last couple of months gone?

Well I suppose if I was totally organised, had all my work fully notarized properly and kept my paperwork up to date I would be able to look through at a mere flip and explain to myself how more than 10 weeks can seemingly whizz by. But I'm not, and I don't and so I have to search my poor brain to remember the details. An accountant's worst nightmare ... Let's see now...

Over the last several Weeks I have literally been from one end of the country to the other. I drove to Edinburgh for a super Body & Soul event and then on to Glasgow in Scotland to catch up with friends (you can't possibly drive all that way and not call in can you?) , via the west coast of Lancashire to take in the Morecambe Bay view and on to the Lake District visiting my father and fitting in a little business en route. Yes that was quite a busy weekend.

Thank goodness for the peace and tranquility of the Irish Essene retreat in Maynooth which I so enjoy (even though I am also facilitating, and teaching at the same time). At the end of the retreat, on the Monday, we drove from County Kildare to County Carlow in southern Ireland where I did an evening talk and delighted in the chance to meet wonderful new people, especially two younger members of the group who can see angels everywhere (absolute magic). The people of Ireland always inject a renewed sense of joy and enchantment. I love their enthusiasm, their folklore, and their faery rings. (My house is named Hawthorns, and there were none when we moved in. Having now learned that these are the faery trees I'm intrigued that we were intuitively guided to plant them all around our garden perimeter.)

My reflections and memories of that trip were enhanced by travelling by ferry and train (thanks to the volcanic ash cloud) which provided the opportunity of simply sitting for a while, enjoying the views, especially the amazing scenery of North Wales. (Oh yes, and then I discovered with delight that Virgin trains have plug sockets and wifi.... so I was able to get on with some emailing and written work too!... I might have been tempted to stare out of the window all the way back to London).
Somewhere in the middle of all the planning and working my husband dragged me away ~ kicking and screaming of course ~ to take our annual week on the canals. This time we explored the Grand Union canal in the Midlands for a week, cruising along at about 3 miles an hour by narrow boat.
Aha, I hear you mutter, a rest from all the work and travelling?
No... just a compromise with Brian who believed that the serenity of the canals was just what I needed for a few hours a day to catch up on my writing, and as I settled to write a few chapters on my new book of angel stories we discovered we had unwittingly taken a leg of the canal with seventeen locks.
Now, those of you who've experienced canals will understand. One of you must remain on board as captain of the ship ( naturally the one wearing the cap) and the other has to leap off and open the locks. I forgot my cap. Lock opening seems to be very good exercise, and what a surprise.. .. seemingly only enjoyed by all the female members of the canal boating fraternity! I have since suggested that Brian now grows a beard. If he's going to play at Captain Birdseye he might as well look the part.

Last weekend was a Bank Holiday, so I did agree to take time out to visit Cornwall and see Brian's eldest daughter at university in Falmouth. Taking in a trip to Penzance and Land's End, we also toured the Mount of St Michael. The church is called St Michael and all the angels. The energy within the church, right there on top of the rock where the Michael-Mary ley line starts its journey through Britain... is phenomenal. Beautiful. Tangible. Moving.
Of course Cornwall to north Essex is rather a long drive, but it was certainly worth it and we were blessed with glorious sunshine for a journey home through the west country. What a beautiful island this is!

It has been an amazing couple of months. Truly. The angels are always with me. If ever I doubt that I shall remember the visions of angels described by the beautiful young girl in Ireland who sat and watched the angel enfold me as I was speaking and leading the guided visualisations.
If ever I withdraw into outdated insecurities I remind myself that I am always met and supported by hospitable and welcoming friends all the way. Challenges widen my experience and understanding and even bigger snags (such as arriving in Dublin at a different port without the roaming facility on my mobile phone, so completely unable to contact friends waiting at the other port) are peppered into my life to teach me patience, organisation and communication skills .

I continually remind myself how blessed I am to have found my purpose in service and to be enjoying my life.... I think perhaps all I just need a little tweaking here and there, particularly on the time management skills.

Have a wonderful June. As the robin sits at the top of the pine tree in my garden (just outside my office door) he sings with all his might. It's going to be a great Summer.

Love in abundance,

Chrissie

Spring Clean!

Here we are in March already.
Spring has sprung!

A time of birth and a time for new growth. The vernal equinox.... and an open invitation from the Universe for transparency, openness, and movement. It's a time to clear out the cobwebs, shake off the dust of the Winter months, clear away what is no longer required, and start a fresh!

Can we do the same in our personal and spiritual life?

It is so easy to get warm and comfy with what we know isn't it? To stay put. So many things have become habitual... the way we do things, (the way we like to do things our way!), our routine, our rituals. How many people do you know who proudly announce "this is how I am.... people take me as they find me..... I'm not likely to change now" ... not necessarily in these words, but in their actions and their attitudes. Can be frustrating can't it?

Yet in nature everything changes, constantly. Everything under the sun exchanges energy, flows, moves, grows, expands, contracts, changes. Situations change, circumstances, families, surroundings, seasons, weather..... everything changes. Our body changes. So why do some people think that they don't need to make personality changes?

Recently I have been reading and listening to two very different author/teachers. The first, John Kehoe, talks about a system he has developed over thirty years. His is motivational, inspirational and meaningful..... and his teaching definitely works if one is prepared to work very hard and change some deep rooted habits.
It is a system called Mind Powers, and it distinguishes between the will and the mind. In my usual cramming fashion I decided to bend the rules a little ( could that be an old habit of mine?) and listen to his course all at once to use my travelling time on a recent visit to the north of England. At the end of his series of 8 CDs (which took me from one end of the country to the other and back) I came to the glorious conclusion that his teachings are most certainly 'spiritual' even though he chooses his words carefully from a secular vocabulary. I delighted in his exercises and resolved to put his teachings into practice, properly.... as soon as I have the time.

The book I have been reviewing called 'Beyond Limitations, the power of conscious co-creation' by Stuart Wilson & Joanna Prentis gives an instructive account of what they call personal reality creation channelled from an angelic being called Alariel. It is beautiful, immensely powerful............ and gives the same advice. Change the way you think, and then put it into practice!!

Now of course we've all heard the adage 'when the pupil is ready the teacher appears' and so I ask myself why these both arrived on my doorstep at the same time... Springtime... confirming all the ideas I already know ( I think I know) and spiritual teachings and materials I have already incorporated into my Educating Heart & Soul course ... ( ahem, written for others to do!) and I ask myself what it is then that I badly need to recognise?...... and how can I change.

One of the lovely lasses from my Thursday group prompted me to share this with you:

It's all in the state of mind.
If you think you are beaten, you are.
If you think you dare not, you don't.
If you like to win but you think you can't,
it's almost certain that you won't.
If you think you'll lose, you've lost.
For out there in the world you find
'nothing succeeds like success'
it's all in a fellow's will.
It's all in the state of mind.

Aha that's it... it's all in the way I think too much!...Maybe I should change my mind.......or put what I know into better use?

Has anyone got a perfect, unspoilt, totally obedient, carefully nourished, well trained mind they'd care to swap for a well loved, but slightly over-used model in need of some re-education?

Lots of love and Springtime blessings

Chrissie

February Love

This is a photo taken of the beauty of the rain, from outside on the ground floor balcony... shared with those of you who are interested in orbs.

Hello Everyone,

As many of you know I have just returned from the Dominican Republic where we spent just over two weeks enjoying the tropical weather ( yep although it was deliciously warm and gave us a welcome escape from the sleet and snow it also rained a lot!!). We made some lovely new friends, soaked up the atmosphere and did lots of reading.

My husband booked this for us as a delayed honeymoon and being in February meant that we could include the Valentine's day celebrations.

The synchronicity of booking this trip on the eve of the devastating earthquake in Haiti (the other side of the same island) meant that I felt compelled to do something to help, on a spiritual level.

Having written to many of my friends and contacts (and some of you may be reading this now) asking for help in the form of love and healing to be sent with spiritual Light to me, as I meditated and grounded the healing energy in person on the island, I thought it important to give you my heartfelt gratitude and a little feedback.

I communed with the angels each morning at 8 ( midday UK time - as arranged) then, each day at my midday (Dominican time) I did a walking meditation across the beach or sat and anchored the energy through my body into the sand. On Tuesday and Thursday evenings to coincide with the groups who had agreed to sit in meditation and send their love and light I tuned in during the late afternoon from the beach.

The beach at the northern resort was crescent shaped, and from where I sat it was easy to face west and visualise Haiti just over the mountain range before me. The sand was of the soft fine shingle variety and my feet actually sank into it as I walked each day along the edge of the sea. It was so easy, in the sunlight, to visualise the light entering my crown and down through me into the sand below my feet. As I walked slowly round the bay towards the Haitian end of the beach I called upon God, the Christ energy and archangels Michael, Uriel, Gabriel and Raphael and the angels of healing to use the energy I offered up, coming from so many.

I visualised the pictures on the Angel Insight cards of the angels of Healing, and Compassion and through the gentle waves washed these spiritual qualities outwards and round the peninsular to the sick and distraught on the other side of the island.

In the early evenings, as my husband showered for dinner, I went outside onto our ground floor balcony and asked for the release and peaceful transition of the many souls who were caught in the earthquake and who may be held by their fear and despair. I called upon archangel Raphael the angel of consecration to make sacred the enormous burial sites in Haiti. And on the 14th February it was never easier to open my heart and send all the love I could to wherever it was needed most.

Some people took spare toiletries, clothes and we were asked to leave them behind for the tour operator representatives to take across the border. I was a little shocked that no-one really mentioned Haiti at all other than that one request.

My efforts were supported by hundreds of people. My Educating Heart & Soul group, here in Essex, had a wonderful meditation where they visualised me walking on the beach and sent me all their love and Reiki Healing to be passed on. The Essene family I belong to also did the same, as did many others.

Thank you SO much. I'm certain that together, our heartfelt intention and focus, we have in some small way helped to raise the vibrational energy there.

Two quotations I would like to share with you from the guide who took us on a trip to Paradise Island... " Until the power of love takes over the love of power no politician will ever make a government work"

"Three things that will get rid of depression ~ smiling at the sun, black chocolate, and kindness!" ... Throw away your prozac!

I'll leave you with that,

All my love and angel blessings

Chrissie

January brings the snow, and makes our toes and fingers glow!

Hello friends... Welcome to 2010!



As I was walking with Daisy - our dog - today in thick snow, and thoroughly enjoying the brightness, the softness, absolute calm and the glorious light surrounding me, (even though so late in the afternoon), I couldn't help but reflect on the public frustration, desperation and inconvenience the weather seems to be causing ... yet again... as we are once more at the mercy of mother nature herself, though this time rather than drought or fires, gale-force winds, or deep floods we have been shrouded in a deep (and very beautiful) blanket of snow.

As I listened to my own muffled footsteps deep in the woods I smiled at the Narnia-like comparison made in an earlier email from a friend, and as the hungry deer quickly ran ahead of me there was an echo of cracking brittle branches.
I re-connected to the vivid memories of early years and remembered back to my love of the woods then, the games of childhood imagination and the immeasurable pleasure gained from the freedom I was given, how fortunate I was to be allowed to simply explore and play in my outdoor surroundings.
I also remember vividly the heavy snow of 1963 which the weathermen compare this cold spell to. The snow then seemed to me as a child to last all Winter... enabling us to create grand slides right across the school playground squealing with delight. There were no prohibitions at the thought of us falling and getting hurt. We were children doing what children do! Now I see that thousands of schools have closed during these low temperatures and I'm warned not to go out unless I must.


And so on the advice of the 'elves of safety' I cancelled my new year Spiritual Development classes and suggested that we all spend the evening instead reflecting on our own how we might make a difference during the next oncoming year. What aspects of our 'little' self might we take a closer look at. What, if anything, might we like to obvserve more closely and perhaps try to change, in order to connect more strongly to the greater good? ( Have you noticed how few magazine articles or t.v. programmes have taken a close look at New Year Resolutions this year?... or maybe I've been watching snowflakes and simply not noticed!)

Maybe it is my own frustration, my own impatience... my own sense of restriction and inconvenience I need to look at more closely.... as well as the patterns of falling ice.

My wonderful walks in the snow have given me time, silence and 'light' to take a good long look at how 'ice-elated' I feel without the stimulation and warmth of other like-minded spiritual friends. Some of us love solitude... others fare better in groups. Aha, so that's why I chose to be born a sheep ... my Aries nature loves the flock!!



Last time I was unable to take the class I asked everyone to write a poem about how the group had influenced their spiritual growth.


Here, with her permission, are the thoughts of one of our Thursday group to share with you :

Our Lotus Flower by June

When we first met some time ago

and told why we were here

not knowing one another yet

we said what we held dear.

We all expressed our deep true thoughts

our wish list for this time

we knew no-one was being judged

and all of us like minds.

How wonderful each time we met

love & friendship there to see,

the bond we have, our loving 'pod'

was always given free.

Spiritually we sure have grown

combined with our self-healing.

We meditate, express our views

our visions and our feelings.

Our search to find our Angels who

show unconditional love,

our God, his Ascended Masters

who care for us above.

I feel blessed that I was a petal

inside our Lotus Flower.

Dear friends, Your Love I will keep hold

forever... and ... forever.

May you find warmth and comfort, delight and beauty wherever you look,

With lots of love,

Chrissie