The Power of Human Touch

Posted on by Sharon

The wonders of the human hand is something we rarely give much thought or time to in our daily lives, yet it is well documented in many studies that without (human) touch babies development and growth become stunted. I saw a documentary some years ago of children in an orphanage in Europe who never received compassionate or loving touch. They were fed, changed and left to their own devices for the rest of the day with no other stimulation. It was noted how behind these children were in their growth mentally, emotionally and physically compared to children who were shown affection and love. It broke my heart as I imagined those babies and small children languishing in cots all day alone in their cold sterile environment forgotten and alone without the touch of a caring, compassionate, loving human hand to soothe them when they cried, or to acknowledge their existence as little human beings.

The Power of Human touch is one of the most basic of human needs. More and more it seems to be frowned on by certain sectors of society in regards to healing and offering compassionate understanding of the human condition. I am told that in our health care facilities today paperwork is taking priority over patient care and the face of nursing is changing. Then heaven forbid computers and robots will take over from the already stress burdened medical personnel. Let’s hope that never happens because nothing, No-Thing can replace the Power of the Human Hand and Touch for healing, showing compassion or consoling someone.

In today’s world of stress filled lives and anxiety ridden individuals competing in an ever decreasing job market while balancing work, home and kids, sometimes their only time to de-stress is through the Power of Touch via the human hand. Hands-on therapies many of which date back as far as 400 BC will always be in great demand because Touch heals on levels far beyond the physical. Touch has been known to heal on the Mental, Emotional and Spiritual levels of the human condition. Human Touch is a great de-stressor. I often say Medicine cures us! Touch heals us! Both are very important to our existence on this planet. Some healing touch therapies are: Reiki, Reflexology, Healing Touch, Massage Therapy and Chiropractic Therapy to name just a few.

As we enter a New Year, make it a new beginning. Let’s not forget the Power of the Human Hand and the way Human Touch can establish a bond of trust between individuals whether in a working relationship, loving relationship, pastor parishioner relationship, client practitioner relationship and especially in a healthcare environment between patient and nurse/practitioner relationship.

There was a song my mother sang when I was a child which speaks volumes to the Power of Touch. This line still plays in my mind: ‘touch my hair as you pass my chair, little things mean a lot.” Never underestimate the Power of the Human Hand and The Power of Touch. As we prepare to celebrate this Season of Good Will towards all, hug your kids and loved ones every opportunity you get and if it feels right, offer a hug to a friend in the spirit of this wonderful Season.

Here’s wishing you all a New Year filled with an abundance of all the precious gifts you wish for; Good Health, Happiness, Love, Joy and faithful friends.

Namaste,

Sharon

Be Happy

Posted on by Sharon

Happiness Is An Inside Job. Many, many moons ago I purchased a book with that title and never did get around to reading it. I am sure it would have given me much insight into the Art of Being Happy, allowing me to claim expert status on the attainment of happiness. Recently, I was caught in a situation whereby I needed some extra insight into answering this question when someone said to me “How can I be happy?” and continued to lay bare all the reasons why it was impossible to be happy!

As it stands, my choosing to be happy rather than gloomy and miserable at the many challenges life throws my way is not the best criteria for being an authority on the subject of Happiness. You see, I have not written a book, and even having designed, developed and presented countless Life Skills and Law of Attraction workshops over the past 20 years that did not seem to count. The dear individual, who popped the question, asked for a referral to a “Happy Therapist.” With experience! Having never thought of myself as a “Happy Therapist,” even on my most blissful of days, I have to admit I was stumped!

My advice for everyone reading this is when stumped; BREATHE. It is a great pause-filler and it allows the light bulbs of the mind to send you flashes of inspiration before speaking. Aha! So that’s it! Before me was someone suffering from what I term the POM Syndrome, better known as the ‘Poor Old Me.’ No matter what glorious events occur in a POM life on a day-to-day basis, it does not spell HAPPINESS! To a POM person, everyone is out to get them, nothing ever turns out right, nobody understand them etc. etc.

You must all know or have known someone like that at some time in your life. To a person with that mindset, Happiness is that elusive thing that only a chosen few are allowed to experience. Short of referring this person to Loretta LaRoche the only “Happy Therapist,” I know of, I recommended Loretta’s Book “Life is Short – Wear your Party Pants.”

Following are a few ways to meet life head on with courage, always trusting in a positive outcome for a creative and happy life. Not necessarily in the following order:

POSITIVE STATE OF MIND. Abraham Lincoln said, ‘Most people are about as happy as they make up their mind to be.” One person sees a rainfall and rejoices that their garden will flourish. Another sees the same rainfall as a nuisance.

APPRECIATE TODAY! Many people live life as if someday they’ll arrive at “happiness” like one arrives at a train station. Happiness is a decision to not ‘sweat the small stuff’ and trust that nothing is too big to overcome.

BE GRATEFUL! Cherish each day as a gift. Gratitude ensures that ATTENTION focused on what we already have, sets forth the INTENTION to increase the flow of good into our lives.

FORGIVE: Holding on to what someone did to hurt you is like drinking poison hoping the other person will die! Give yourself the gift of forgiving. You will feel light and happy!

POWER SPEAK! Stop the negative self talk. Empower yourself. Change your speech habits from negative to positive and see how your world changes. Positive talk attracts positive experiences and people to you.

LOVE YOURSELF. Think of a commitment you could make to yourself that is an expression of self-love. On awaking each day promise to do something that will nurture your soul and make you happy to be alive.

EXPECT GOOD! If you expect good you will get good in return. A very wise person once told me, “If you expect no-thing, you will surely get it.”

SMILE! It costs nothing and it relaxes all the muscles of your face. By smiling you become a Day Maker for someone and you attract positive people and friendly responses.

PERFORM RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS Pay for someone’s coffee at the drive thru or buy a flower and surprise someone.

BE SILLY! Think of 5 silly or fun things you would love to try, and do it!

Life is Short, Put on your Party Pants and invite happiness into your life!

BE HAPPY!

Sharon

What are your thoughts? I would love to hear from you.

Dreams……..

Posted on by Sharon

With the New Year still very young and everyone planning their goals and dreams for 2014, I decided to share a shortened version of a talk I gave some years ago at Toast Master’s. It was called Don’t Let Anyone Steal Your Dreams and it is relevant today as it was then. Here it is:

I Have A Dream! Those are very powerful words. They first entered the consciousness of a nation on a day in 1963 when a little known preacher called Martin Luther King stood up on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and addressed hundreds of his followers saying ….. I Have a Dream…..and he shouted it out for all the world to hear and the world heard and paid attention. Some laughed and some snickered and some ridiculed this African American who dared to put his dream out to a nation. Martin Luther King was not afraid to let the world know he had a dream! It was a big dream!

You have a dream! And so do you! And you, and you! Each and every one of you has a dream. I too have a dream. I can guarantee that each and every one of you have a dream or many dreams that you hold near and dear to your heart.

Dreams are very special. They are our imagination showing us a vivid picture of what we can achieve. What we can become, if we only BELIEVE in ourselves, if we allow ourselves the confidence to go forth and achieve our dreams.

Dreams and imagination go hand-in-hand. You cannot have a dream without having a vivid picture in your mind (imagination) of what you intend to bring into your life. Dreams are exciting, the adrenaline flows and your manifesting vibration rises like a hot thermometer.

Suddenly, you want to go out and share your dream with your friends and loved ones. Passionately sharing your excitement and telling them your wonderful dream. And guess what happens? They all think you are crazy, or gone mad! Why? Because they have a vision of you and your big dream is not part of the vision they hold, and so they proceed to tell you all the classic put downs like “stop dreaming!” Or “are you crazy?” “You will never make any money doing that!” In fact when they are finished you feel as deflated as a flat tire. I got, “You can’t be serious”, “no one will pay money for that!”

How many of you have had people tell you all that and more? Those responses taught me a lesson and after that I was cautious with whom I shared my dreams with. Often, it is better to hold your dreams close to your heart for awhile before sharing it. I say to each and every one of you, nurture your dreams and don’t allow anyone to steal those precious dreams of yours

Years ago I worked in an agency that helped women who had their dreams stolen and denied them. It was heart breaking to watch. It was then that my dream started to grow of working with women, mentoring and empowering them to become more than they ever thought possible. It became very real to me. I nurtured and protected that dream.

My dream required training and as a mature student I went after each and every course with fire in my veins knowing in my heart that I was following my Dream.

Many people in my immediate circle thought it was all due to my age and I needed to prove something. Looking back in hindsight – I was really re- defining who I was, and what I wanted to do with the rest of my life, and most importantly, I was following my heart!

It is imperative, when you have a dream, you nurture that dream. When you feel that passion and urge within you to go out and give birth to your dream, it is very important that you follow your heart and afterwards your head will guide you. The linear side of your brain will kick in to work out the details for you.

What I have experienced over the years is that when we have a dream. Unseen forces transpire to assist us in realizing that dream. People, opportunities and experiences will appear in your life just when you need them. I remember going through the aisles at the local library with my list of resource materials needed for one of my seminars. As I stood pondering where next to look, a book fell off the shelf at my feet. When I picked it up I was shocked, then thrilled and speechless. It was just what I needed. Not what I thought I wanted!

When you have a dream, a goal, a vision, and a focus – something you feel will give your life meaning. Choose to follow that Dream. We are never given a dream without being sent the support and the resources we need to manifest that dream.

Don’t allow anyone to steal your dreams. Regardless who they are! You must say to yourself often “I won’t let anyone steal my dreams.”

Keep a Dream Journal and surprise yourself when you visit it a couple of years from now (Today they call it a Bucket List) and see how many of those dreams you have achieved.

The Dream is the Vision. Keep Focused Attention on your Intention (Dream) and life will conspire to bring it into your reality.

Dreams are thoughts. Thoughts become things. They are the first step in the creation process. Thoughts create our reality. There is a saying. “As a man thinketh, so he becomes.” Think it into your reality – the universe will deliver!

Sharon

Letting your light shine

Posted on by Sharon

As 2013 comes to a close I found myself re visiting and reading talks that I had given in Law of Attraction and Stress Workshops I had conducted over the years. What literally ‘jumped’ out at me was one talk about the perfection we all are and the unique gifts we each bring into the world. At the end of each one of those talks I would read a very special poem detailing the gifts we each bring in to the world and hand a copy out to everyone. These gifts are unique to each one of us and only we are granted that moment in time to shine our light and bring our gifts forth to share with the world.

Let’s back track for bit. As an infant we come into the world pure and untainted by other people’s expectations of us. Then we grow and enter the school system where we are placed in a box of what I call “sameness”. In this box of “sameness” we are expected to do and be as we are told while being molded into what the world expects of us. Bit by bit the uniqueness gets chipped away, snuffed out by fears and feelings of inadequacy as we try to fit into that box. Daydreaming and individualist behavior is often frowned upon by the system. Clone-Dom takes precedence. I remember only too vividly my days in school when I found most of the curriculum boring and uninteresting. I could not wait to get to my favorite subjects. Looking back I now realize I had added 2 other subjects that I relished and never shared with anyone. The two subjects were Daydreaming and Creative Visualization 101. Those two subjects allowed me to be the heroine transported to places beyond the ordinary, until a stern voice brought me back to reality. Years later I realized I was actually practicing the Law of Attraction, something that was unheard of in those days. I would say to all educators that creative daydreaming 101 should be in all high schools.

My wish for each and every one of you for 2014 is this: SEE YOUR PERFECTION. Let your Light Shine Brightly. Do not allow anyone to dim that Light that is uniquely You. Follow your Heart. It knows exactly what it is you are here to do and be and share with the world.
I read somewhere the following passage:

“If you have hidden your light for so long that it has shrunk to an ember, make a list of everything you do well, however impractical, silly, or seemingly inconsequential. Then ask yourself how you can positively utilize those abilities in your daily life. The gifts you were born with were not granted to you arbitrarily. While you may never discover what impact your light has had on others, you can be certain that when you embrace your talents and share them with others, you will spread illumination in the world”.

The following is the Poem I mentioned at the start. Here it is for you as my New Year’s Gift. Make 2014 the year you say to yourself:
I’M SPECIAL
In all the World there’s nobody like me. Since the beginning of time, there has never been another person like me. Nobody has my smile, my eyes, my nose or my voice.

I’M SPECIAL

In all the world there’s nobody like me.

Since the beginning of time, there has never been

another person like me.

Nobody has my smile, my eyes, my nose or my voice.

I’m Special

No one can be found who has my handwriting.

Nobody anywhere has my taste for food or music or art.

No one sees things as I do.

In all time there has been no one who laughs like me.

No one who cries like me, and what makes

me laugh or cry will never provoke identical laughter

and tears from anybody else, ever.

I’m Special

I’m the only one in all creation who has my set of abilities.

Oh, there will always be somebody who is better at one of the things

I’m good at, but no one in the Universe can reach the quality

of my combination of talents, ideas, abilities, and feelings.

Like a Room

Full of musical instruments, some may excel alone,

but none can match the symphony of sound when all are

played together.

I’m a Symphony

Through all of eternity no one will look, talk, walk,

think or be like me.

I’m Special

I’m Rare

In rarity there is great value.

Because of my great rare value, I need not attempt to copy or imitate another.

I need not feel inferior to anyone because I am unique. I am Rare and

I’m Special.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING HONOR TURKEY

Posted on by Sharon

In Canada we celebrated our Thanksgiving on October 14, which was also my eldest son Nick’s birthday, so it was a double celebration for our family at Thanksgiving. To the south of us our American neighbors will be celebrating their Thanksgiving on Thursday, November 28. For my friends and readers in countries with different cultures who may be reading this and have never heard of Thanksgiving, here is a short explanation. Thanksgiving is a special holiday celebrated in the USA (in November) and Canada (in October) for people to reflect, celebrate with family and friends and give thanks for all they are thankful for. Each year I give thanks for my wonderful supportive family, my large extended family and friends, for my good health and my being able to live in a beautiful peaceful country that I have chosen, Canada. I am forever thankful for the work I do and being able to pursue my passion in the holistic field where I continue to learn and grow. I am thankful also for all those whom I am privileged to work with, and I can go on and on with all that I am thankful for, however this is not about me.

Say the word Thanksgiving to a North American and it instantly conjures up visions of a meal served with the main dish being Turkey, and the foods that their family serves at Thanksgiving many passed down from generation to generation. Having immigrated to Canada from South America many, many moons ago I was happy to add this beautiful tradition to all the ones we already celebrate. It was not until years later when I started studying and working with Animal Totems and their wonderful, wise significance in our lives that I came to understand Turkey and its gifts to those who have Turkey as a Totem. Turkey as the main dish of choice for celebrations and holidays is also a gift.

As a Totem, Turkey embodies the spirit of generosity and unselfish giving. Anyone with a Turkey Totem has a generous heart. They will give you the shirt off their backs. My husband has Turkey as one of his Totems and I remembers years ago when he first discovered this he was a little hesitant to accept this wonderful totem into his life because of the negative connotation that surround the word “turkey”. Some individuals have been know to use the word as an insult to someone they don’t like or respect by calling them a turkey!

So let’s reverse the negativity surrounding Turkey by learning a little about Turkey. Turkey is a wise and generous totem according to many Native Peoples and below I will share an excerpt from the book Medicine Cards by Jamie Sams and David Carson that paints a very different picture of Turkey.

“Turkey is actually thought to be the Give-Away Eagle or South Eagle of many Native Peoples. The philosophy of give-away was practice by many tribes. Simply stated, it is the deep and abiding recognition of the sacrifices of both self and others. People in modern day society should study the noble turkey who sacrifices itself so that we may live. In Turkey’s death we have our life. Honor Turkey”

“Spectators unfamiliar with the cultural phenomenon of the pot-latch or give-away ceremony are often mystified by it. A tribal member may gladly give away all he or she owns, and do without in order to help the People. In present-day urban life, we are taught to acquire and get ahead. The person with the most toys wins the game. In some cultures, no one can win the game unless the whole of the People’s needs are met. A person who claims more than his or her share is looked upon as selfish or crazy or both. The poor, the aged and the feeble have honor. The person who gives away the most and carries the burdens of the People is one of the most respected.” We can say that Turkey gave itself away so others may live!

If you have Turkey as a totem, know it is a great honor to carry this medicine, this wisdom, this gift of generosity with you on your earth walk. Your virtues are many. You aspire to help others who need help and you respect all life as sacred. The gifts that Turkey brings into your life are never insignificant. It might be spiritual, material or even intellectual. Congratulations! Honor this generous Totem and know that you have been specially chosen to do the work that Turkey has brought forth into your life

Here’s wishing my extended family, my friends and readers In the USA a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Namaste,

Sharon

Reflexology Treatments – Healing Through the Sole

Posted on by Sharon

click image to enlarge

In conversation with a close acquaintance as well as a client I mentor, I found that both individuals were surprised to learn I am a Certified Reflexologist and that I offer Reflexology treatments as part of my practice. When I shared that I have been a practicing Reflexologist for over 15 years and it is on all of my business cards as well as my website, they looked somewhat puzzled. That told me that not everyone reads business cards, or web pages. Hence, I decided to devote this Blog to the healing benefits of having Reflexology treatments. So here goes…

Continue reading →

Butterfly – A Totem of Great Beauty, Transformation & Rich Teachings

Posted on by Sharon

monarch-emerging-from-chrysalis With summer upon us we not only get to enjoy the beautiful warm weather. Those of us who love to sit in the quiet of their garden often get to view and enjoy as well the many species of butterflies that flitter from flower to flower and land softly and gently so close to us. What a joy to sit and watch these beautiful creatures on a summer’s day. Have you ever wondered about this great totem of beauty and about its rich teachings about transformation?

Before The Great Mystery invited me into the world of totems and their teachings, Butterfly was just a beautiful delicate vision to behold and I would drink in its beauty, grace and watch it for as long as it stayed around. Continue reading →

Dealing With Change and Transition

Posted on by Sharon

change and transition Dealing with transitions and unexpected change occurs in all our lives. There are many ways this can occur and most of the time it is not pleasant or a welcome experience. Often when you are in the throes of living through the transitions that result from unexpected change you may find yourself in total despair feeling that your life may never be happy, fulfilled and joyous ever again. That is a normal and natural response. After all ‘it is always darkest before the dawn.’

Continue reading →

Law of Attraction Thought Provoking Quote

Posted on by Sharon

Freedom Joy Growth This quote by Abraham as channeled by Esther Hicks for the Law of Attraction expresses fully what life is meant to be for each and every one of us in physical form at this time on earth.

The basis of life is FREEDOM
The purpose of life is JOY
The result of life is GROWTH Continue reading →

Is it Time to Make Changes in Your Life?

Posted on by Sharon

change_your_life_today Here is a definition of Change that I heard that you may relate to: “Change occurs when you start questioning the underlying realities of your life and start noticing the reality you are living is not serving you”.

Change is…a major force in your life that you cannot ignore when it comes knocking on your door. Continue reading →