A Woman’s Voice: Listen

“If she got really quiet and listened, new parts of her wanted to speak.” ~ SARK, Succulent Wild Woman

For four weeks, I have been alone while house sitting in Seattle. I am in a beautiful location with two adorable kitties and I am resting and contemplating the next steps in my personal and professional life. Some days my mind is grasping for answers to do or be something, to push the river so I can set goals to make something happen now. Design a new program. Write a book. Promote my coaching business. On those, “push the river days”, I want to see the whole plan for 2018. I judge myself for not knowing the next steps. I want my schedule all laid out in a series of calendars on the wall. I want to set goals and decide with my mind. I feel agitated and impatient.

On other days, I surrender and stay focused in the present moment. In meditation, I ask God to show me my mission for today. I ask for insight and guidance and I take baby steps all day. A coaching call on Zoom. Attend a yoga class. Sip a hot cup of coffee and daydream while watching birds flying in nature. Cook delicious food for my body. Slow down to eat it. Facetime with one of my three adult daughters and my young granddaughter. I sit in silence with patience and I wait.
This is not the first time I have been guided to “wait”. In 2010, I spent a year writing and listening and daydreaming and studying. After a year of writing 70 articles, hosting a series of 44 radio shows on Transforming Grief, the answers came when I heard the words Heal My Voice. I started a non-profit, designed a program, enrolled twenty women in the first nine-month program and the rest is history.

It’s been seven years since I heard the words Heal My Voice on a daydreaming with God walk in nature. Seven years. 10 community circles with 10 books filled with 200 rich, powerful stories of trauma, loss, grief, awakening and triumph written by women around the world. Women who had the courage to immerse themselves in vulnerability, personal power, and hope.
After seven years, the doors to the 9-month program are closed. The ending was all beautifully orchestrated by Divine Intelligence, by God and now I wait for my next assignment, my next heart calling.
If you find yourself in a place of ending with no clear beginning, here are a few key practices:

1. Daydream: Give yourself time to wander. Look out the window at nature. Contemplate a tree. A bird. The sky. Be quiet and listen.
2. Notice: Carry a small notebook with you and write a few words when something crosses your path or gets your attention. A song, a conversation, a billboard, or seeing an old friend. Become a detective and write things in your notebook without needing to figure out the clues for now.
3. Be empty: Keep open space on your calendar
4. Ground yourself: Put a few things on the calendar. Yoga class. Grocery store. Write in a coffee shop. Dinner with a friend.
5. Do something creative. Write, draw, make music, cook. Awaken your creative self.
6. Take inspired action. A nap. A walk. A call to a colleague.
7. Be gentle with yourself. Practice self-care and self-love
8. Enjoy the process

Listen to your heart and wait…


Andrea Hylen believes in the power of a woman’s voice to usher in a new world. She is the founder of Heal My Voice, a Writing and Transition Coach and Orgasmic Meditation teacher. Andrea has discovered her unique gifts while parenting three daughters and learning to live life fully after the deaths of her brother, son and husband. She travels around the world speaking, teaching, leading workshops and collaborating with women and men. Her passion is authentically designing and living life and supporting others in doing the same. 
To connect with Andrea and learn about current projects go to: 
www.andreahylen.com and www.healmyvoice.org.

Fab Friday!

Covenants

The Bible Project is a non-profit creating animated videos that explain the narrative of the Bible. These videos are free to use for personal and educational purposes. Download a full resolution version of this video along with a study guide at www.thebibleproject.com.

Pollsmoor the film

Make a difference! Help to tell a story of hope and redemption in one of the world's darkest places, Pollsmoor. “Restorative Justice" is possible if we can se beyond the orange uniforms.

This film cannot happen without you.

Your financial investment can help us tell this story of hope and redemption in one of the world's darkest places.

Go to:

http://pollsmoorthefilm.com/

Heaven & Earth

I love the videos by The Bible Project. Innovative, entertaining and educational.



https://thebibleproject.com/

https://www.youtube.com/user/jointhebibleproject

Why do I dance, by Jeannie Dougherty

Why do I dance?
6 years ago I learned conscious or embodied dancing after I had trained in ballet and modern dance. When I moved to a new community I didn’t really know anyone and attending coed barefoot dance classes seemed like a fun idea. There was a community in place to meet new and fun characters that could keep me laughing.

Not long after I had moved I learned that my mother was given the fatal diagnosis of Alzheimer's. I realized while practicing two separate dance arts Biodanza and 5Rhythms I was starting to wake-up in my body. I could feel rhythm everywhere!

Biodanza, in my opinion, is a methodology of slowing down, connecting with others, and then transcending into the divine. 5 Rhythms, in my opinion, is a methodology of connecting to your body and the elements of nature in a wave like fashion, in order to transcend into the cosmos. They are both amazing and transformative practices and I have made life long friends in both communities.

What a lot of people don't know about me as I have buried both of my parents because of Alzheimer's. Upon seeing and knowing my mother’s disease began to take her away from me I knew needed to be supported. I knew from seeing and not knowing what this disease could do when my father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s I had to prepare myself and grieve. I went to my remaining family and they were either in denial or were helpless. I went to my friends and co-workers and I received the same treatment. I thought perhaps if I could pray more, meditate more, and listen more to spiritual masters, like Priests, Buddhist Monks, Gurus, Rabbis, and Imams there would be comfort. All I was told that this suffering had to happen. I could accept that but what else?

I started with a simple question when I danced. When words fail, people fail, and plans fail the result was life was very very hard- what's left?

At first, I came for myself and I felt so much better! Like Shazam better! I realized being supported without words and through embodied movement I was finally safe to express my grief. That is what I needed I thought: how can I be at peace, forgive those who have harmed me, while I begin again? I learned to be at peace with death and choices everyone makes. I am often seen, as the person of strength and being vulnerable wasn’t something I ever wanted to feel or experience.

I wish I could say I cried once and a fellow dancer held me and I was over it.

No.

My grief, like everyone else’s can be mysterious, frightening, and horrifying to be that raw, numb, and exposed. Instead I felt at that time I was defeated, crushed, and convinced that my life would never make sense again.

This is when my real healing began.

I learned to let go, cast off, or dance my rage and my sadness at burying both of my parents from a fatal disease. I continued to dance to find spaces to breathe relief into my body, to be supportive to others in their lives, and to allow myself to not judge my vulnerability.

After my mother died I noticed a difference of when I danced and when I didn't. I desired to feel full again and dancing my grief, the waves of my fears, my sadness, my anger, and my numbness began to lift.

I felt even more motivated to continue to dance because I could feel my body calling me to dance floor. It’s like my wise feet would call me to the cold wood floor. My feet would be gently caressed on all 4 corners while being energized to keep moving.

Once my feet are engaged on the floor my heart begins to open up. I can now see how my vulnerability opened up my heart. Once my heart is open nothing is impossible in my life or in my mind. I experience the wisdom that I am not alone the divine or cosmos is here supporting me and showing me what’s next, even when I have no logical idea. That is why I dance now.

I can often sense folks on the dance floor that are new to an embodied art. They may describe themselves as dancers, meaning they have taken classes or trained in a dance art. Or they just like to dance and they may not want to be conscious of their movements and just let go. What I suggest is that with this practice you will dance your steps in your body. This means you will begin to listen to it and don’t be afraid, as we are all here.

It is with the strength of my communities that I feel I have learned to become an integrated leader of mind, body, and spirit, start fresh with open eyes and an open heart, and I have energy and motivation to live my life fully!!!

In my opinion, rhythm is everywhere and dance isn’t always rainbows and butterflies. Yet, if you desire to feel empowered, integrated, and energized about you and your life, why not dance?

Jeannie Dougherty, is an author, speaker, trainer, and counselor with expertise in Integrated Feminine Leadership & Communication. Jeannie teaches her clients how to remove their obstacles of feeling afraid, too busy, and disconnected. She shows her clients how to lessen their constant negative thinking so they can calibrate their minds, bodies, and spirits to their open hearts. She is a dancer, yogi, and an intuitive healer that shows her clients on how to fearlessly love their divine wisdom while they create their inspired and innovative life.

CONNECT WITH JEANNIE:

https://jeanniedougherty.com

Messages From the Heart
https://twitter.com/MsgsFromHeart

LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/trainercoachleadershipjeannie/

Sveriges 50 största kvinnliga företagare

Intressant artikel i tidningen Entreprenör.

https://www.entreprenor.se/entreprenorer/top50-kvinliga-foretagare/sveriges-50-storsta-kvinnliga-foretagare_686709.html

The Serenity Prayer Song (Sinnesrobönen)

The Serenity Prayer
(Reinhold Neibuhr, 1892-1971)

God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
As it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
If I surrender to His Will;
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life
And supremely happy with Him
Forever and ever in the next.

Amen.

Sinnesrobönen
av Reinhold Niebuhr, teolog

Gud ge mig sinnesro att acceptera det jag inte kan förändra, mod att förändra det jag kan, och förstånd att inse skillnaden.

Låt dock aldrig min sinnesro bli så total att den släcker min indignation över det som är fel, vrångt och orätt. Att tårarna slutar rinna nerför mina kinder och vreden slocknar i mitt bröst.

Låt mig aldrig misströsta om möjligheten att nå en förändring bara för att det som är fel är lag och normalt, att det som är vrångt och orätt har historia. Och låt mig aldrig tvivla på förståndet bara för att jag är i minoritet. Varje ny tanke startar alltid hos en ensam.
Amen

My Adorable Divine Feminine Triad

Let me introduce you to my adorable divine feminine triad. The inner child in all her glory and in my three different facets. I love to portray them in my drawings.

The little baby girl is the daughter of God. The piece of me that never left God, the light within that can't be separated from God. She is my treasure. Her total dependency of God is the beholder of my faith. She only knows joy and play. When she is the main character in my drawings they are so funny. She makes me laugh. Her way of explaining what the Holy Spirit is always amazes me. Life is about pleasure and play for this little darling of mine.

The teenager is the girl before innocence in both body and mind was taken away from me. She is my little virgin Mary, the vessel of grace and mercy. The absolute co-creator of anything that can bring more love to the world. For her life is about purpose and peace.

The young woman is the sensual feminine in me who believes in any form of love: agape, eros and philos. She is all about connection, sharing, loving, intimacy and desire. Love is romantic and transformational. It is the juice of life. She needs passion to be the person she is.

Do I need to say that I love them wholeheartedly?