I've been doing much pondering about life today. And one of the things that keeps coming up for me is "how do I create support and acceptance in my personal life, and my community. How can I raise my own vibration of joy and abundance, while being part of a community who does that too." These questions reminded me that... Everything in the Universe springs from the Source (which has many different names depending upon where you live and what your belief system is). The Source is undifferentiated energy. From the Source springs Yin and Yang and all of the "ten thousand things". I know that in order to be physical, we must posses the energy of Yin and Yang. When these two energies separate, we cease to be physical, and we return to Source. Manifest things we can see, feel and identify are condensed energy (which is tangible). The energy around us is usually intangible, finer, clearer, more energetic, less material, and often times not obvious to our senses. I KNOW that with practice we begin to sense the difference between these energies and we learn the language of the Self (capital S). I KNOW the continuum of energy to matter starts with an idea. An idea has a frequency. An energetic vibration. What we think and feel, we create. We create it to validate a belief, as either true or false to us, which either works to bring us joy or works to create suffering. I KNOW by learning to quiet the mind, and sense the body, we learn to tune into our own truth, the knowing we came here with, which is different for all beings... I KNOW this takes practice. I KNOW it is easier to stay committed to a practice when we have others participating with us on a regular basis. With that said, I am wondering if there are those "out there" who might want to join a gathering to learn and experience ways to sense energy, to find our authentic self, to make time to be quiet, and to learn how to be gentle with ourselves on this journey called LIFE. AND to be clear... exploring our internal landscape may not always be pretty; looking at the parts of ourself that the world may see as unacceptable can be scary and difficult. AND Recognizing those places within ourselves does not mean we need to respond from those places. Everything we hold is ours. We get to choose in every moment what works and what doesn’t. Question what doesn’t feel good. Celebrate what does feel good. Aim for balance of Yin and Yang. Learn to breathe deeply. If you are interested in being part of a gathering that will meet, celebrate, encourage, and raise each other up, please contact me. If there are at least 4 others, I would love to host the gathering. We can make it anything we want. We can incorporate food, We can incorporate wine (not too much...), we can (depending upon the size of our gathering) meet at different locations. Looking forward to it all!!!

Really NYS... Time for a shift in thinking...

Hello my dear friends, As some of you might know for the last few years I’ve been training and working with Cindy Black (Meridian Massage Institute and former co-owner of Fingerlakes School of Massage, my Almamater), learning so much about our energetic body and beginning to understand just how connected we are to nature and its cycles. After supporting her teaching of the Meridian Massage Certification program last summer I have felt a call to teach. I really want to teach about energy. Help human beings be more gentle with themselves and each other, help to share the amazing information I have learned over the years about health and wellness (which sometimes, ok ok most times, is very different than what western medicine has trained us to believe it to be). To be able to provide others with tools to be well in mind, body and spirit. So, as always, I followed that dream and applied to Finger lakes school of massage, to teach Energy Palpation. I was very surprised at the response I got. According to NYS regulations you need to have a BS or Masters degree to teach Massage. WHAT??!! Wow, is NYS F***ked up. In my opinion, this limits the massage education because as we all know, massage is way more than just muscles... Its spirit and energy and intuition and love. So I shared this with my dear friend Cindy, as she was one of my references and I so appreciate her insights and wisdom and heart. And guess what she said... Start your own damn massage school... SO, guess what, I am embarking on a journey... In 2014 I am going to jump through all the hoops of NYS and get the necessary acreditations and “approvals” to start a new massage school, This school will be very different from all the ones that I know of. It will teach all the required courses (A&P/Kinesiology, etc) but it will be very focused on the energy body. It will include courses taught by Shamans, It will host guest teachers (like Cindy Black, woo hoo), it will include classes in QiGong and will offer other tools for the students to find a path inward, because it is my belief that when we spend time turning into ourselves, we can create an outer world based more on heart and soul and love and divinity. Anyway, here are some of my thoughts about creating this new school. I would love any thoughts you might have, and if you are already an LMT and had particular things about massage school that you really really loved and wanted to know more about, and things that you felt were not really helpful, now is a perfect time to speak up! AND just to clarify... This is not to say that FLSM is not a great school, Because it is. It offers a great education and the teachers there are magnificent. But the school I want to create will be different. It will be Sacred. It will be Sacred Waters school of Massage and Energy Medicine... Ok, here are some ideas, add any you might have please: *Minimum age of 25 to get in - this allows for students to have experienced life past high school, making exceptions for extremely committed younger people. *No financial aid because that creates a million hassles - so keeping the cost lower than other places in the area - and that would be simple if I keep the administrative functions to a minimum (call in my 20+ years of being an executive secretary!). * By not taking student loans, I will not graduate people with major debt - either a person has the ability to manage it or they don't.  Not having the ability to manage the money part means go to another school that will help you get into debt. I know that to be a successful LMT you have to be able to manage the money side, and that can start with managing money to pay for school.  There has to be a dedication to the work beyond the sounds of "I can make $60 an hour- how cool!" * Complete the program in a year, rather than intensive format - this keeps things easier for everyone and differentiates the program from others. * Make the core of the curriculum energy or meridian based - this keeps it different and gives a solid foundation for beginning work. * Take the last two months or so to focus heavily - I mean very heavily, on the NY exam. This would free up space during the rest of the program to be in a more healing and intuitive space. * Cultivate the school as small, intimate, refined, "the real deal" place.  It is great in part because it is small - no need to become a business mammoth, make the education the first priority and I know from experience that the money will be plentiful. It is a business yes, but it will be an educational-healing program first.  So, thats about it. I wanted to share this with you because I really honor your thoughts and ideas! Thanks for listening and much love to you in the new year! Janet

Step parenting and the likes

It is so interesting to me that sometimes I just can't see whats right in front of my nose. I hang on to someone or something because I think its "the right thing to do". Or, if I love them I need to continue to try to be in relationship with them. But recently I have had an awakening... My 16 year old step son, whom until the last 2 months was lovely towards me, has taught me a good lesson. He has been increasingly sarcastic and rude to me. He has been aggressive and "in your face" with his Dad. It has been quite a change and one that has been surprising to me and has been hard on my heart. So last week he blocked me and his Dad on facebook. Then when he came home from his Mom's house, we said it didn't feel good to us, and that it felt like he was trying to keep secrets or wanted to be able to share things with others that he didn't want us to know about. He didn't see it the same way, and began first by belittling us for our feelings, then by trying to make us feel like we were being ridiculous, then when we remained kind but clear with what this choice of his might produce from us, he said he didn't want us to know his business. Then he got very direct and told me that I was not his mother, and that he loved me, and because I was married to his father he would have to deal with me in his life, but that he didn't want me taking part in making any school decisions or trying to help him with any personal matters in his life. And that he wouldn't be made to feel guilty for his choice to block us on facebook. So, of course, I took a deep breath and let him know that we didn't want him to feel guilty, and of course it was his facebook page, but that by blocking us it felt like he was being dishonest with us. It didn't feel good to us, but that he could do what he wanted in that area of his life and that we would do what we wanted in our area of life. I share this because I want you to get an idea of the energy that was present, not because I believe there is a right or wrong in the situation, or that anyone needs to take sides... It surprised me that I felt so strongly about the facebook blocking. I mean really, its a virtual thing, its not real, right? Wrong. We are very much a virtual society and I am not sure about anyone else but I feel energy coming through loud and clear in emails, and on facebook. I have a knack of reading between the words, and FEELING the energy behind things. And what I felt was a cutting out. I felt there was a clear intention and message of disconnect. A very strong message. And so I needed to sit with myself and figure out what was the best way to respond. At first I was thinking of lots of ways, angry ways, to say fuck you (sorry for the graphic words, just being honest). I thought about turning off the internet, and disconnecting his cell phone (both of which I pay), and shunning him, but after I screamed these things to the trees I began laughing. And I thought, he is right, I am not his mother. I am not responsible for his education or his entertainment or his laundry or his meals. I am responsible to love him, like I would anyone else who had hurt, disappointed, or generally sent yuck towards me. And I got very clear inside myself that loving him did not mean that I would participate in any behavior or conversation that was ugly or hurtful. So, on new years eve I did a ceremony for us. I wrote down all my feelings and burned them. I asked the Universe to help us each see the other clearly while processing this change in our relationship. And I felt a weight come off my shoulders knowing that we would be fine. And that he would be fine. He has two terrific parents who are capable of being responsible for him, and I do not need to be part of that energy. So I say to him, to myself, and to his parents... Live long, live well, prosper, and do the best you can during these lovely teenage years of exploration and testing and pushing and figuring and trying on personalities that feel just right. Happy New year y'all!