Mele Kalikimaka and Hau’oli Makahiki Hou!

Mele Kalikimaka and Hau’oli Makahiki Hou means Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year in Hawaiian!

May this Christmas and the coming year bring you a deep sense of peace and well-being, much joy, great inspiration, boundless vitality and prosperity and the opportunity to make a difference in the world.

Much love from Linda, Roland and Rayne

Since returning home November 23rd, I’ve not had a moment until now to write my blog or keep up with Facebook and I have been missing the connection with you all very much. Sitting on an island 2500 miles out in the Pacific Ocean could feel lonely, except for the miraculous World Wide Web and the amazing network of people I feel in touch with on all parts of the globe. 2010 has been a year of many miracles for me, as a result of both prayer and TTouch. The celebration of the birth of Christ, and the miraculous way this event has impacted the lives of countless millions for more than 2000 years, has inspired me to take this time to record some of the miracles that tend to get overlooked in the hustle and bustle of daily life.

My computer thesaurus defines a miracle as “an event or action that is extraordinary or unexpected.” Some of these events I will share fall in the category of extraordinary and eye-popping. Others are unexpected and have become so commonplace that I must be careful not to take for them granted. Particularly for the “small miracles,” remembering to give thanks and express my gratitude each time they occur is something I work at daily.

First I would like to acknowledge the miracle of the gifts from the animals who grace our lives with their essence– both the wild ones and those who are considered members of our family. That includes all of the animals who live in nature — whose presence in our yards, or pastures, or perhaps perched on the windowsills of those of you who live in apartments, all impact us beyond measure.

The amazing interspecies connections we are privileged to see on youtube through the World Wide Web fill me with delight and unceasing wonder and definitely fall in the category of extraordinary. These include the lonely Orangutan who adopted a stray dog as his best friend; the deer we see stepping lightly through the forest followed closely by a orange tabby cat; the wild crow who became a care-giver for a stray kitten; the sperm whale who was totally wrapped up in a massive fishing net and when released went to each of the divers who had cut her free and acknowledged them one by one.

Look closely at this photo of communication between whale and diver. I believe this is one of the most miraculous photos i have ever seen.

As I peruse my memory bank for miracles this year, what springs forth is the miracle of all the animals whose lives intertwine with ours and, I believe, bring us the precious gift of unconditional love. By opening our hearts to our beloved animals we humans can learn to open our hearts to our own species – to ourselves, our families and our fellow beings .

I invite you to join me in giving thanks for all the animals who share our homes; the dogs, kitties, bunnies, birds, reptiles and small critters; and the horses and other hoofed animals as well as the wild ones. Take a few moments just now and send Heart Hugs to all of the animals who touch your heart. (If you have not experienced the comfort of TTouch Heart Hugs, use the search box at the top of my blog on the TTouch website and it will take you to my June 30, 2009 entry for a description.)

On the second week of January I experienced my first big miracle of the year. I believe that practicing the “Secret of the Lost Mode of Prayer” (described in Gregg Braden’s marvelous little book of the same name) was responsible for the “Miracle of Avignon”, the story of the miraculous return of Buelle, the beloved 18-year-old almost blind and deaf dog of Frederic and Magali Pignon in Southern France. Buelle was found 3 kilometers from home, disoriented and weak, and dropped off at the office of a veterinarian who knew the dog and called to say she was safe.

The miracle I want to share with you now is about another dog – an 8-year old boxer named Sally Jo, belonging to Colorado veterinarian, Janet Varhus. In October while teaching in Italy, out of the blue I received a call on my Iphone. It was Janet, phoning from Colorado. She was riding in the mountains and Sally Jo had wandered off and was lost. Janet was desperately worried because it was a hot day and heat exacerbated Sally Jo’s heart condition. Janet had been praying and calling and searching for several hours and was at her wits end by the time she reached me in Italy.

I reminded her of Gregg Braden’s advice about applying the lost mode of prayer. Instead of feeling terrified and holding the vision of Sally Jo being stressed and in trouble -of course, a normal tendency — I suggested Janet hold the vision of her safe return and feel the emotion of joy and gratitude she would experience when Sally Jo was back. We did this together over the phone, and I swear to you, within minutes Sally Jo pushed her wet nose against Janet’s leg to announce her return. If you have ever lost an animal I know you can imagine the relief and gratitude we both felt!

If you do not own a copy of The Secret of the Lost Mode of Prayer, I highly recommend it for your Christmas list.

A TALE OF WHISPER

I want to bring attention to the power of love and how our heart – our feelings and our thoughts – affect our animals. The changes you see here in this mare’s outlook and attitude reflect the heart coherence of the riders. This for me falls in the category of miracles that we need to observe more closely.

On the day these photos were taken the rider was feeling frustrated with herself and her horse because she wasn’t able to get the degree of engagement she needed from the mare to prepare her for the upper levels of dressage in spite of several years of careful preparation and skillful riding. The lack of collection was certainly not due to lack of rider skill or the mare trying. It is my opinion it was influenced by two colic surgeries that made it more difficult for Whisper to connect to her hindquarters.

Here the rider is feeling a little frustrated and the mare does not look happy.

When I observed the discouragement of the rider and the depression of the mare, I asked if I could ride Whisper. I love this mare and could appreciate the level of frustration of her rider.

When I mounted, I opened my heart and held a feeling of love and appreciation. I thought about how beautiful she is and held the picture in my mind of her perfection and her potential. Whisper became light in my hands and very responsive to my leg aids. Her center of gravity shifted back, her forehand became lighter and I felt a shift in her heart as though she was smiling. The feeling of oneness was remarkable. This is a typical example of the importance of heart coherence and illustrates how our attitude affects performance. Practicing with a smile on our lips, an open heart, and a desire to flow together, can have a huge effect on performance and take the horse/human relationship to inspiring levels.

This photo shows how a smile on your lips and an open heart can effect the attitude of your horse.

A Dog Miracle of Consciousness

In November in my dog training in Austin, Texas, as usual we saw many marvelous shifts in the behavior of the 18 dogs who attended the training. Here I’ve chosen to tell you about one of the brilliant transformations we experienced in the class. It happened with the beloved 11-year-old Lab/Husky named Lazaro who is a member of Marta De Fex’s household. Lazaro came into the class on the first day displaying some stiffness, and wondering what on earth he was doing there with us. It was the first time he had been apart from his 15-year-old mother and he appeared to feel slightly lost among the other 18 dogs and 26 people. For the first two days Lazaro hunkered down on his bed, not engaging much at all with humans or dogs. At the end of the second day, much to the amazement of the entire class, he was transformed and all of us were deeply moved by the shift we saw in his attitude. I happened after I did a fifteen-minute TTouch session on him. I TTouched his entire body – mouth, ears, head, shoulders, back, legs, paws, and tail, explaining the effect of applying TTouches with an open heart and holding the intention of seeing the perfection at the cellular level. When we come from a heart space, something special happens. And sure enough, when I finished the session and sat back, something special did indeed happen.

Lazaro got up, looked around the entire room—and went to each of the 26 people sitting in the circle and touched them gently with his nose. He didn’t greet the dogs sitting between many of the chairs as you would normally expect. It clearly looked like he was intentionally thanking each and every person. Many of us were moved to tears as we sat silently in awe of the consciousness we were observing.

Lazaro and Marta De Fex

I believe a shift has occurred in human/animal relationships and this was one of the many ways we are seeing that transformation. As more and more people acknowledge the intelligence of animals, the consciousness of both human and animals shifts. It used to be thought that Doctor Doolittle was unique. Now our ability to communicate and connect with animals is becoming commonly accepted. What an exciting time to be alive.

THE BODY BLESSING

In order to round up the Christmas letter I’ll share one of the countless TTouch miracles I have experienced this year working with my own species. In October I was teaching a two-day training for humans in Weisbaden, Germany. As usual, I taught the group to do one of the empowering exercises called a “Body Blessing”. This is a simple, 2-4 minute session done in a standing position with TTouches on yourself from the top of your head, down your body, to the tips of your toes. You can do this when you get up in the morning or in the shower. With each butterfly-light TTouch, it’s important that you smile at your cells and thank the remarkable community of 50 trillion cells that run this vehicle that houses our spirit.

The day following the class one of the women told me she had been depressed for as long as she could remember, always walking with her head down as though she did not want to see anything around her. After doing the Body Blessing that morning after her shower, she found herself lifting her head and seeing everything around her in a new light. She was experiencing a new lease on life!

Let’s Join Together To Make a Difference

Over the holidays, set aside some time to record in your journal some of the miracles that occur in your life. And let’s hold the intention that together, by giving thanks each day and by taking time to count our blessings, we will create many miracles, bringing a new sense of appreciation, of gratitude, of humanity and of community to this precious planet.

I give special thanks knowing that by recognizing the consciousness of animals and the countless gifts they bring to our lives, together we are changing the world, one TTouch at a time.
May this Christmas season and the coming year bring you joy, peace, inspiration and deep, deep gratitude.

I leave you with a few images of my own inspirations from this past season.

My mother on horseback at Christmas

My soapstone sculpture of TTouch on a horse, and a mermaid in the background

Our Christmas tree

Photos of my parents

My fairy helpers

Blessings and Heart Hugs,

Linda, Roland and Rayne