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Thanks Giving = Giving Thanks

28/11/2015

I was listening to Shannon Port talk about Gratitude and Thanks Giving yesterday. It really gave me an attitude adjustment, which I desperately needed. So, I thought I should pay it forward. I learned that the original focus of Thanks Giving was to give thanks for the Harvest and this was celebrated with a festival and family gathering to enjoy the spoils of their toils. Thanks giving is always held on a Thursday which is ruled by Jupiter, the planet of plenty and abundance. (The Pagans always knew how to align with the planets didn't they?)
I admit I have been letting the news of the world get to me lately and haven't been feeling too grateful even though I have so much abundance in my life. I'm sure a lot of us have been feeling the same. This is all part of the plan of the dark entities(terrorists) that have really been making themselves known lately and creating so much fear and hatred among the masses. The last thing they want us to do is feel Love and Gratitude. But we must! It is our best defense. We have to keep feeling grateful...even it's just gratitude for 'Life' itself. Life is such a wondrous gift! It should never be taken for granted. This is what these terrorists do - they take life away from us because they know it's our most precious gift. But every time they do, we meet it with more Love, more Light.
I woke up this morning and said prayers of gratitude for my life, my home, my family, the trees, the birds, the flowers. Everything became a gift again. We have to keep up this practice. Now more than ever. We have to meet fear with love. The only way to conquer the dark is to turn on the light. Keep turning it on...again and again, brighter & brighter. We live in the garden of Eden and our harvest is plentiful. I for one am so grateful. I really needed this attitude adjustment. It will serve me well as we make our way toward Christmas and the New Year ahead.
Namaste - Have a Healing Harvesting Day.
Chez xo

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How we got it wrong......

16/11/2015

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I love this Cherokee Proverb. It feels so right and true to me and I wonder if we all adopted this - I mean really lived by it - all of us - every person-every nation-every tribe-how wonderful life would be.
What happened? How is that we have strayed so far from this truth. How is it that man is now feared by woman. Through the ages, it seems man has caused so much harm to woman. Raping, murdering, so much violence toward woman. I don't think many women see men as their 'protectors'.
Where we went wrong, in my opinion is that we changed one word in the second paragraph...just one word and it seems to have changed the whole dynamic of society. We changed the word 'protect' to 'provide'. We have asked our male counterparts to provide for us instead of protect us. I'm not sure where, when, why or how this changed, but I feel it has caused so much harm and discord between the sexes. It put so much pressure on man to be the providers and it was never meant to be this way. Men were the Hunters and women were the Gatherers. We worked together to provide for each other, our families and our tribes. How has it happened that all of a sudden it became mans burden to be the sole provider? How has it happened that we lost the balance between the sexes? By asking man to provide for woman, we have placed so much burden on him & given him so much power that it made woman seem weak and unable to provide for herself. She was no longer his equal, but now reliant on him like a child. In reality, God/Goddess is our provider. God our creator and Mother Earth are our provider of all our food, shelter, water etc. We were so in tune with that all those years ago when we lived on the land. Earth provided, we hunted and gathered. Man protected woman, woman nurtured man back to himself and source. We lived in harmony with God/Goddess, earth and each other. Man protected woman, he didn't harm her. Women were revered and celebrated. We were and are still the life givers. We birthed our families and it was man's highest calling to protect her so that she could keep creating, giving birth and growing our tribes. Perhaps it all changed when we stopped living on the land. We became disconnected to source and our mother earth. We no longer focused on protecting - 'providing' became our new focus. It seems we have been raping and pillaging ever since. I long for the old days of living in harmony with the land. Feeling protected, providing for each other and being in tune with our 'Highest Calling'. I will never give up my call to lead my man to his soul and as long as he protects me I am free to walk this earth unharmed. I think we are slowly heading back in that direction. The age of the Feminine is upon us and it's not to tip the scales in the other direction, but to bring back the balance from being a male dominated society that has been focused on providing for far to long. I'm sure we can all see that if we don't change our focus to protecting then pretty soon we will have nothing left to protect. Life needs to come full circle. We need to get back to the old ways of living in harmony and balance. This Cherokee Proverb should be our inspiration. It points the way back home to us and for us so that we can all walk this earth unharmed and in tune with our soul and with Source. I hear the call, can you?
Namaste.
Chez xox

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I declare NO-vember to be the month for saying....NO!

9/11/2015

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I was listening to a talk yesterday by Lee Harris. He said something that stuck like glue and rang alarm bells in my ears. "Saying No, can open the door to some big Yes's."
How many times have we said yes to something even when we heard a little voice inside saying no? Only to discover later that we missed out on something wonderful because we were so busy saying yes to someone or something that we weren't really that interested in & didn't really want to do? I have done this in the past and I sometimes struggle with saying NO now.. All we really need is a little space to let our truth arise and give us clarity on why and how we can say No. A good way to put this into practice is by not saying yes or no straight away if you feel unsure and ask for some time to think it through before committing to anything. This allows us to do and act from our heart & truth and should eliminate the feeling of selfishness and or guilt that can often arise when you want to say no. (Society does like us to put others needs before our own and will objectify those who don't). It's a hard lesson for most of us.
Saying No to over-committing, over-extending, over-working, over-socializing (yes, it's that time of year again) is saying YES to YOU and YES to your Family. It's saying YES to your health, Yes to rest, Yes to play, Yes to discovering who you really are and what you really want. It's saying a BIG YES to FREEDOM!! Can you see how many doors this tiny little no opens? YES!!
I am declaring NOvember the month of NO. I wish to make NO serve me in the best way possible. I want all my NOs' to open the doors to Yes. YES! YES! YES! This will require space, time, quietness, deep inner listening and will help me to be more attuned to my inner needs, wants & desires. I will make 'NO' part of my Yoga practice for the entire month of NOvember.
Are you with me?
What do you mean, NO?
hahaha...you may just miss out on some mighty big YES's.
Namaste
Chez xo

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The (lost) Art of Conversation

1/11/2015

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This morning I awoke with this thought...'My Dad has lost the art of conversation'. This gift that we all take for granted has ended his 64 year marriage and isolates him from others.
We, his family were too frightened to answer him back or share our opinions & perspective with him if it was different to his. We all wanted to please him so much that we either went along with what he said or we kept quiet. This act of self preservation on our behalf has aided him to lose the art of conversation. If we did have a different opinion or disagreed with him he would get louder, more abusive and so worked up that you would just back down or walk away. We often just left Mum to cop the abuse as we snuck away hoping he didn't notice we had done so. He saw himself as the head of the household & felt that it was only his views and opinions that mattered. When he talked, you listened!
So, he talked, we listened. This is how you have a conversation with my Dad. This has always been the way. This has, I feel, also caused him to become deaf. How perfect! Now, he has an excuse not to listen to anything you have to say. His deafness and his refusal to wear hearing aids makes it so difficult for you to talk to him that you give up. So, you just listen to him and don't contribute too much to the conversation because it is way to tiring. When he does talk, it's not really a conversation anyway, it is more just a set of opinions and complaints about everything and anything. He has very little if anything positive to say about the world or it's people. His true joy is in talking about the past and HIS past experiences. We have heard many of his stories, over and over in fact. Once again, because we can not offer our perspective it is all purely about him and his life.
At 87, it is hard, maybe even impossible for him to change now. But I see where, how and why I have contributed to this lost art of conversation. Yesterday, I went to visit him in hospital. I stood at the door way for a couple of seconds and looked at him before he noticed I was there. I felt love for him and thought he looked quite serene and well. It was only when we started to converse that the awkwardness and unease surfaced. No hearing aids. I have to raise my voice and repeat myself. He asked questions about Mum and tried to listen, but I found myself not wanting to say too much because it was too much hard work and I don't like yelling when the room is full of others trying to rest in their beds. The doctor came around and I had to interpret everything because he was a "quiet talker'. Then when Dad found out he couldn't go home, he started to bitch and complain about the shower. I showed him how to make it work for him, but he wouldn't take it in. So, what did I do? I shut down, listened to him complain for a while, said I have to go and I walked away. It is too hard, he won't listen, it's sad really.
I now see why I am such a good listener and why I find it difficult to talk about myself & what I do. I am going the opposite way, I am in danger of losing this wonderful art of conversation. Too much listening and not enough contributing, tipping the scales in the opposite direction. So interesting isn't it?...answer me! hahaha..
With 'smart phones' we are surely in danger of this art dying all together as we text or message each other on facebook instead of having real conversations. I too am guilty of this and sometimes I just crave a person to person conversation. May we all find balance with this art. May we all be contributors so that we can share our stories, listen to others stories and learn as much as we teach.
How do I tell my Dad he has lost the art of conversation, and we, his family helped him to lose it. Do you think he will understand? Do you think he will listen? The thought of broaching him with this conversation causes butterflies in my stomach. Hmmm...maybe a conversation for another day.
Namaste.

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Chez Healing Arts is based in Redbank Plains, Brisbane Qld, Australia.

Terribly Terrific Testimonials.

(Keisha commissioned me to create a special wedding gift for her dear friend). -"Dreaming Heart is beautiful. I cried when I met her, she's the perfect gift".

(Cathy purchased Sweet Dream Catchers for herself & as gifts for friends) -
"Hey Chez, it just arrived this arvo! It's BEAUTIFUL! I love it. It is sooo her it's scary! U have a great gift as mine was perfect for me & Holly's is perfect for her! Thank you so much!

(Kellie purchased Shiva/Shakti for her bedroom as a gift to herself.)
"I wanted a special something for my bedroom wall. As soon as I saw Chez's work, I knew I had to have one of my own! Shiva/Shakti is big & so is the energy it captures! There is so much perfect symbolism in every part of it. I turn to it to help guide my feminine & masculine attributes & to bring deep awareness & balance into my relationship with my husband. Thank you Chez, it fills my heart with joy to have this in our sacred sleeping, loving space".

Suzie wanted to offer her young daughter a gift to help her sleep peacefully.
Hi Chez, Here is a pic of Sierra with her Faery House Dreamcatcher which she loves. We've had two beautiful nights with her sleeping really well. Your note to Sierra about the Dreamcatcher was just Divine. Thank you for making such a wise and magical piece for her. - Suzie

Hi Chez,
I received my dreamcatcher....love it love it. The funny thing is for the last couple of weeks I have been talking about peacocks and wow its in my dream catcher, very insightful. Thank you so much, hangs very proudly in our bedroom. ~ Karen

(Kerri commissioned an Art Piece for her daughter's 21st birthday.) "My girl Tianah loves loves loves it!!! She clutched her heart and said WOW!!!" Many many thanks.

(Susan,Owner/Principal of Wild Places Yoga). "I receive so many comments from students who are captivated by the energy your Dream Catchers hold".

(Carrie-Anne, Principal of My Health Yoga purchased a custom made Outdoors Dream Catcher for her partner). - "Chris loves the Dream Catcher! He is blown away!! So many beautiful details, this piece will continue to reveal itself for many years to come. You are truly amazing, Chez!"

(Cath, an interior Designer commissioned me to create Eagle Warrior II).
"Hi Chez,
I have her on the wall above my workspace!
She looks beautiful!
Thank you so much - It feels so good with her there - I am soaking up her energy!
I have your business cards also thanks - they are beautiful too!
I also love the new one in the studio - Freedom. That may be next!" x Cath

Loved my barefoot forest dream catcher as soon as I opened the box. Perfect for our newly built family room to remind us of our love of bush walking. Many thanks, Nicola.

Thanks Giving = Giving Thanks

How we got it wrong......

I declare NO-vember to be the month for saying....NO!

The (lost) Art of Conversation

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Terribly Terrific Testimonials.