Silver Wattle

I often like to use water and its different forms to describe the mental conditions of humans. Water can be expressed as vapour, liquid , snow or ice. The characteristic of snow and ice is that the molecules have slowed down to a very low vibratory rate, while the molecules in liquid form move moderately quickly and those of vapour move very fast indeed.

Examples are the speed at which clouds (vapour) move across the sky, the way water in a river inexorably moves downstream, and that snow and ice remain stationary, until melted.

Both the ice and snow forms of water create blockages that are difficult to shift – snow has to be shovelled and ice needs to be by-passed.

Depression is like snow (perhaps less severe/acute) or ice (more severe/chronic). It is when we become immobilised, unmotivated and unable to respond to the world around us. At the same time, we often have a backlog of negative and non-selfserving thoughts that cram our brain, taking up all the space, so that a new vision cannot see the light. Those who suffer from this imbalance often refer to it as ‘dark’, persistent and difficult to shift.

Cassia

If the thoughts are overcrowded with darkness then ‘light’ cannot penetrate and we stay frozen and unable to move through life. We  cannot become motivated to respond to a new vision for the future if there is no room for the ‘light’ of inspiration to enter.

Life is cyclic – constantly on the move and in a state of continual change. We can observe this in the plant world where continual growth underpins the life cycle of a flowering plant.

It is often when we experience the birth of a new baby into our world or the death of an old person that we face the reality of the constantly changing nature of life. Movement and change are often elusive qualities to observe in our everyday life – the ego is more readily placated by a sense of sameness. We suffer if we are so fixed and rigid that we cannot allow for mind changes, differences in perspective, or attitudinal shifts that are a part of the growth process. This leads to a shrivelling of the soul.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Very often depressed people cannot embrace change at the mental level. They are stuck with recycled thoughts leading to stagnant emotions. As we know stagnant water becomes toxic and so it is with depression: some depressed people sabotage any good things they have going in life, because they are be-leagured by toxic recycled feelings which they put out into their environment.

E-motions are an expression of energy-in-motion. When we are cold, energy deficient or immobile our emotions tend to contract inwardly in phase with the energies of the body. Internalised emotions can precipitate depression.

Research tells us that depressed people respond to exercise. Nothing is truer – movement is the answer to toxic emotional build-up and has the effect of recharging the battery to clear out the old energy. For some the start needs to be gentle and to build gradually to getting the body energy moving.

Swamp Lily

All you have to do is to stand with your feet planted firmly on the ground and start shaking from the feet up…..make sure your arms and hands are shaking along too. You can do it to music. But the key is to only do it for a minute and then STOP and stand still for another minute. Then start again and rest again. In the beginning only attempt two phases of shaking and resting (four minutes in all) and gradually build by adding a two minute phase of shaking and resting each day until you get to fifteen (half and hour in all). It is best to do it in the morning as soon as you wake up.

 The other obvious thought that arises from our use of water as an image to describe depression is that ice and snow need heat to thaw. In your life you can help your depression by keeping warm – again sounds simple but its true. Cold consumes energy – you know that when you are cold you shiver to stay warm. Shivering uses up the energy that is normally necessary in the body to maintain the function of the brain, your organs, the circulation of your blood and the flexibility of your muscles. Cold slows life systems down, including our thoughts. Oops, there we are back at the beginning of this blog post taking note that depression often comes about from lack of a crippling lack of movement on all levels of being: physical, mental and emotional.

The Spirit of Woman Australian Wild Flower Essences (for more info on the individual essences click here and follow the links on the side bar for individual essence descriptions) used for depression are:

White Wandering Jew

Silver Wattle (brings back the hope and optimism)

White Wandering Jew (turning on the ‘light’ to dark thoughts of despair)

Swamp Lily (reenergises, restores and restocks our basic resources)                                                                                                                                              

Verbena (assists in reaching out for help)

Cassia is good too because it helps to let go of the old toxic thoughts and to make room for a new vision.

In some cases, I use Red Kamala because it increases circulation in the second chakra where we often hold fear. This little essence can have a lovely side-effect because it supports the libido!

The blend Vital Energy is also helpful for depression – it lifts us up and opens us to embracing change.

If you would like to purchase any of the above essences go to our online shop and follow the links in the left-hand side menu bar.

Stay happy and keep moving……

Red Kamala

 

         Verbena

 What is Love?….   what do you think of or feel when asked that question? We have all  been conditioned to think it is something that is generally outside ourselves and someone else can give it to us. From when we were a baby through to adolescence and then into the older years of our lives we have experienced what we thought was some form of love and in each phase of age we experienced it differently.

 There has much been written about love, movies made about it , songs composed and sung, poems written and   on it goes. This is meant to get you to think about what you think love is and how it affects you. Generally speaking most of us are living in fear because we are constantly bombarded from all sorts of media about what is going to happen if we don’t do this or that.  We need to empower ourselves and take responsibility for who we are what we represent. Fear is the opposite of love.  We spend our time thinking about what is love – instead of actually feeling what it is which means coming from our heart.  Coming from your heart  and feeling will have a different effect about what love is.

We think we have an idea what love is and we have been taught that we have to go outside ourselves to love someone or something. Look at how our mothers were running hither and thither doing things for the family in some form or another – the children and husband have needs and who better than mother to provide for those needs and it is understood to be some form of love.

Generally the trouble, is many of us have been trying to love others while we ourselves have been feeling unloved. You cannot give anyone something you do not have. If you do not feel loved, you cannot give anyone else the feeling of being loved, no matter how hard you try: quite simply you don’t have it to give.

The thing is, there is a relationship between thoughts, emotions and the physical.  People who have been raised to to believe they are victims and that they do not deserve better are unable to love themselves. If this conditioning is not changed it can lead to suffering and disease.  We all need to love ourselves, place a value on ourselves and stop giving our power to others. Whilst we are giving away our power due to the fear we have engrossed ourselves in we cannot begin to love ourselves. This is more easily said than done given that a lack of love that is ingrained in the society we live in.

Once you begin to give yourself the love you need and deserve, you are then able to see people and situations with love and understanding and not with fear and judgement.  This can take some work but is certainly worth it in the long run. You will notice a difference is how you see and feel things if you are coming from the energy of LOVE.  As you can see this has nothing to do with affection or sex.  It is a way of being and affects our thoughts, emotions and the physical.

Love is everything. It is the energy of the Universe. It is the divine, unseen, unifying force that holds everything together. It is in us, around us, connects us. Love belongs to everyone and everything; there are no boundaries or belief systems, religious or political ideology, or prejudice that can control or manipulate love. It is the only real thing that exists and each of us is made of it. When we are able to understand that everyone is composed of the same divine element, the more we will release our judgments.  When we honor and respect each other, we are really loving our self. When we love unconditionally, we evolve as spiritual beings.

No matter what the question is, Love is always the answer……….

 LOVE is patient, LOVE is kind;

It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud;

It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

LOVE does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

It always protects, always, trust, always hopes always perserveres.

LOVE never fails.

REMEMBER: Choice is the life process. In every moment of awareness, you are free to make a new choice.

Cassia

Cassia grants us the power and strength of will to recreate ourselves. Cassia is the resurrection essence and allows us the ability to transform and change whatever part we don’t like which is located in the solar plexus.  Cassia works at the energetic level, bringing with it the power to change and to move into another life phase.

Acacia

This essence is for sensitive poeple who easily pick up on the thoughts, feelings and energies of others. This essence is also used for  assiting the mother-child bondind so that feeding comes easily.

Black Nightshade

Helps a mother to enjoy the process of breast-feeding her baby and assists her to recognize how crucial it is for the baby’s emotional wellbeing to feed and hold her baby close. Black Nightshade works on the Stomach, Spleen and heart meridans strengthening digestive function, facilitating bonding between mother and child and promoting self-love.

Bleeding Heart

This essence attunes one to feeling that one is worthy of expereincing true love that endures in a state of grace, delicacy and gentleness. It allows one to see that true love is unconditional and not focused on only what one is receiving, but also what one is giving. Love of the self is not about being selfish, but as researchers tell us, it is crucial to our health and wellbeing.

Blue Mink

Blue Mink relieves stress and tension and restores a sense of connection and intimacy. It softens the hard lines of tension.

Commelina

Commelina represents the point of balance between the Mind, or Higher Self and the Body or Lower Self that occurs at the level of the heart. Our thoughts about ourselves and words we abut ourselves are both vital energy inputs into the Causal body.

Cordyline

This essence addresses the greatest fear that assails women, the fear of being alone, left alone or of being alone. It is for fear of not being in a relationship, being unloved, for co-dependency.

Freckle Face

Freckle Face assists in ease of communicating one’s needs, for communicating with loving kindness.  It is also for feeling loved and supported.

Lacebark

Lacebark grants one the confidence to express one’s creativity, smoothes the transition from Mother to wise Woman, eases menopausal symptoms and encourages joy in sexuality, in older women.

Lantana

Lantana is used for those who suffer from a lack of confidence that everything will be OK – no matter what. It works to bring a sense of emotional freedom and relief from guilt and worry.

Macaranga

Macaranga works on the Heart and Kidney meridans strengthening one’s sense of self-love and appreciation and bringing the courage to stand on one’s own feet.  It also brings a recognition that love receives as much as it gives.

Morning Glory

Morning Glory assists a parent (Mother or Father) to recognise that when a child outshines us, then we have done a great job of parenting – we have encouraged others to shine.  When we are empowered and standing strongly in our own integrity, we can stay open to others in their need to shine also. We feel a sense of love and acceptance of the self.

Native Hibiscus

This essence helps women accept and love their feminine biology and relieves emotional and physical pain.

Red Kamala

This is the Wild woman essence, it allows women to get in touch with their capacity for pleasure. It is the aphrodisiac essence, it kindles sexual excitement and passion.

Snail Vine

Snail vine stimulates fertility in women and normalises sperm production in men.  It encourages sexual enjoyment and enhances sexual satisfaction and assists in restoring body energy.

Wandering Jew

This essence lightens fear and assists with invocation, channeling and bringing down information of a higher nature. It is also for trusting the process even though a solution is not clear.

Wild Iris

It assists women to accept and enjoy all aspects of being a woman. This essence works on the Heart and Kidney meridians, giving women the confidence to follow their heart and instincts in working through personal issues that concern them.

For more information on the essences go to the essences on www.spiritofwomanessences.com

The Divine Feminine

NEWS UPDATE

Please note the new workshop dates. Due to the acceleration of activites at Spirit of Woman (consistent with 2012) we have had to reschedule some dates. We trust that the new dates will fit in with your timetable and hope to see you there.

2012 has been hailed as the year of the ‘end’ of life as we know it – predictions of catastrophic events have served to create fear and trembling on one level of understanding, but  those whose feet are planted firmly in the ‘real’ recognise that the end of one cycle automatically opens to another. The signs of change are all around us as climatic, economic and political instability grab the news headlines, and we are forced, in our personal lives, to reconsider novel ways of navigating our relationships, our work habits and social interactions in order to retain some sense of control. The old order is rapidly changing.

The advent of the internet has been one of the most critical agents of change in our global, national and local community and our social, working and personal lives.

Enabling interconnectedness through networking, its significance in politics, the media, commerce, education, the spread of information to the furthest out reaches of the globe has been transformational for the human community. In the personal arena is has fostered connections between people for the promotion of trade, the  gathering of interest groups, the strengthening and expansion of friendships and the blossoming of intimate relationships.

The global interconnectedness facilitated by the internet  has brought about a deeper global awareness of the need for our human family to work together in relationship with one another, and with the planet, if all seven billion of us are to survive and enjoy an abundant and fulfilled life. The information super highway of the internet has reached and informed even the most geographically isolated people, and has precipitated a desire for all to share in the abundance and quality that life can offer – provided all humans can learn to share.

With these demands arising from the groundswell, humanity is being forced to change the way the world has been structured up to now. The changes demanded of us are so precipitous and challenging, we need to know how to navigate the transition, let alone feel confident that everything is unfolding as it should be.

From the Course of Miracles comes a reminder to focus on what is real in our own lives, rather than on fears:

” Nothing unreal exists.

Nothing unreal can be threatened.

Herein lies the peace of God”

In unpacking the ‘trend’ of the change, it seems that some of the words that might describe what is being asked of us as we transit the inexorable transits all around us are: interconnectedness rather than separation, mindful conservation rather than mindless consumption, helpful co-operation rather than harmful competition, mutual support rather than self-centred independence, considered management rather than speculative risk-taking and planned resourcefulness rather than reckless expenditure.

Each quality listed above is asking us in one way or another to move into relationship – with one another, nation to nation and humanity to the planet.

 The ability to be in relationship is an endowment of the Divine Feminine.

Human beings have been very much under the influence of the Divine Masculine for the past three thousand years or more. We needed to be, because we were in the growth and development stage of human consciousness. But now is the time for us to move into our hearts and to do so we need to embrace the Divine Feminine. Let’s look at how we can do that in our personal relationships…..

St Valentine’s Day is on the horizon. This is a day when we celebrate the Divine Feminine energy of the heart. We come into the heart when we move from a position of being centred solely within the self (ego-centred) to a place where we are centred between ourselves and the other. In so doing, we come into relationship.

From this stance, we can celebrate differences, negotiate outcomes, co-operate for mutual advantage and more readily recognise our own part in disharmony, thereby defusing conflict. Instead of being the judge, critically evaluating the other from a lofty position, we become the empathiser, understanding the human-ness of ourselves and others. Relationships flourish under this perspective.

When was the last time, in the middle of an argument, you stopped in midstream to consider ‘what part am I playing in this disagreement? and what did I contribute to this situation?’ Most of us take the adversarial stance in a dispute, thinking from our own ego-centred self, ‘I am right and he/she is wrong’!

From the Divine Feminine perspective, we soften our position to allow the other to be fully present in our consciousness, even in dispute. By sharing the moment from the heart and celebrating our differences in the here and now, we allow the other to have a point of view while simultaneously upholding and empathising with our own position. In this way we come into the space between ourselves where resolution is easier. Often the outcome is laughter with a mutual sense of renewed ability to negotiate the dispute.

This is Goddess energy. It is the energy of love, peace, allowance and co-operation. And it is awakened on the planet in 2012.

Aspects of Goddess energy have been articulated powerfully in human history through mythology and inscribed in the heavens as the Asteroid Goddesses. Those that pertain to love, romance, innocence and deflecting the wounds of love include:

Aphrodite – the Lover archetype involves Venus and the Air signs especially Libra

Persephone – the Innocent Daughter archetype involving water signs especially Scorpio and Pisces

Hestia – the Spiritual Devotee archetype involving Earth signs and especially Virgo and Capricorn

Artemis Goddess of the Hunt – the feminine warrior archetype involving thMars and the Fire signs especially Aries and Sagittaruis

The Asteroid Goddesses express the many aspects of the Divine Feminine – the energy being ushered in during 2012 and to which all humans will be exposed during the next phase in the evolution of consciousness. As we learn to gracefully engage in relationships in all aspects of life, not just personal, we will experience more peace in the world and an atmosphere of pervading love that will enable us to survive as a species and enjoy communion with other life forms on the planet, for mutual life enhancement.

Click here for how to book for the Asteroid Goddess and Spirit of Woman Australian Wildflower Essences workshop to be held at Mt Nebo on 12th February from 10.00 to 4.00, co-facilitated by Charyn McLean and Annie Meredith.

Aphrodite

Snail Vine

Due to unforseen circumstances, some of the workshop dates have changed and we at Spirit of Women apologise for any inconvenience caused.  Please contact us to make a booking for any of the workshops.

Welcome to 2012, a new and fantastic time awaits us all. We can choose to continue as we are and have been or we can do something about the direction in which we want our lives to travel in this transition period.  Ultimately, we are all responsible through our thoughts and actions for what happens to us individually, as a group and the world as a whole, as we are all connected – One Mind.

“What kind of transition this will be, and what nature and direction the illusory dream of time and space will take, is up to us, depending on how we choose our thoughts.”  Gary Renard – The Disappearance of the Universe

You may ask, what is it you can do? You have heard it all before and it does not work. How is it going to make any difference what you think or do – for you, the wider population and the world. You will be surprised that thoughts of peace, harmony, care and love can make a big difference in your own life, which then is projected out in to the community and continues to have the ripple effect, like a rock hitting the water.

We all need to adopt the ‘attitude of gratitude’ for every little thing that happens in our life whether it is good or bad. Because if we take a moment to think about it, the bad also helps us is some way. We may not necessarily see that at the time. Empower ourselves and know we are capable of anything and everything – as it is only ourselves limiting what we are capable of.

  Apostle Plant and Seeing Eye flower essence will allow you to move forward gracefully into change, letting go of the old ways and awakening to our higher spiritual calling……….. see Wings or Weight – You Choose for more information on what each of these beautiful flower essences can help you with, in transiting to the New Reality.

The Spirit of Women Workshops and flower essences can help you transit this time ahead with a better understanding of yourself. How you think and deal with every day life.  Go to www.spiritofwomenessences/workshops for information on the the first half of 2012 workshops. Do yourself a favour and begin empowering yourself which may be the best thing you can do.

Remember to gives thanks for everything in your life and love for you and everyone. ‘Love is the cause of everything …….and the cure at the same time’.

As so many of us will remember, the teen years were a time fraught with angst, as the hormones of puberty surged through the body, bringing abrupt and sometimes unwelcome changes, along with challenging emotional shifts that often wreaked havoc within our family circle.

It can difficult to watch our teens transit those years, without wishing we could put our ‘wise head of their young shoulders’. One of the difficulties is that we rarely stop to remember our own transition, after the event and in the flurry of ‘the now’, and how ‘florid’ it was.

In the intervening time period, between our own passage to adulthood and that of our own children (or grandchildren), thanks to studies in brain changes and neurochemistry, the rocky pathway from childhood to young adulthood has been elucidated and explained.

Recent research reveals that one of the most disturbing elements during this transition time is that the hormonally driven change does not occur simultaneously through all levels of being: physical, emotional and mental. Whether the child (or the family) is ready or not, at a certain age (2 x seven year cycles for girls, 2 x eight year cycles for boys) hormones start to circulate through the body bringing swift and unrelenting body changes, with a cascade of accompanying emotional swings that often feel like a roller coaster gone berserk (to both the teen and the family). The most disturbing element is that the developing brain has not yet made the transition (it comes later in teenage-hood) and is way out of sync with the body. So, for a number of years, it is as if our children are in a vehicle designed for speed and dexterity, but do not know how to drive!

Surges of sexual hormones not only initiate the rapid installation of sexual equipment in your darling boy or girl, but also the compelling drives to go with them!

So now, the tender embraces of your little boy are replaced with withdrawal, long awkward silences, and a deep reluctance to attend any family function. You may even find a certain stiffness to his under-sheet when you change the bed, as your sweet darling becomes obsessed with a masturbatory frenzy that he can’t seem to control, but from which he suffers a deep sense of guilt that won’t allow him to look you in the eye like he used to.

Or you may find that your little girl no longer wants you to play dolls with her, but rather, abruptly shuts you out of her room with a ‘Private…Keep Out’ notice screaming at you from her bedroom door, as she ties the phone up for hours talking to her new ‘doll set’, those girls at school whose backgrounds may even seem slightly dubious, considering the influence they seem to have over her!

Each of the genders will come to the height of the hormonal influx at different ages – for girls it is roughly fourteen, although many these days are sprouting their indicators of premature onset as early as ten! Urban myths may lay the blame at a variety of causes, including eating chicken laced with hormones to excess pineal gland stimulation from living with electrical lighting, but the outcome is the same – a screaming, opinioned banshee that always knows better than you do, disguised as what was once – your darling little girl!

Boys are scheduled to kick in at sixteen, so the dissociation that always occurs, happens later than for girls. But the shock is more often startling, because we seem to lose our boys, rather than experience them emotionally going ape in our face, as they slide rapidly into keeping as low a profile as they can get away with. This allows them to engage in their nefarious activities of perving at breasts, (even their sisters have a new fascination, and especially their friends!), surreptitiously handling their rapidly growing and highly responsive member and competing with their former same-gender friends, as arch enemies to be beaten at every turn, whether peeing up against a wall or coming first in a bike-race to the death!

The problem is, as research reveals, teen brains don’t mature at the same time as their bodies. The ultimate brain change that signals passage into adulthood and is often known as the development of the ‘angel lobes’ doesn’t occur until the late teens/ early twenties. This stage sees the development of ‘wisdom’ accompanied by an ability to recognize the consequences of one’s actions on others. No wonder it is not until we are 21 that we are considered old enough to be given the ‘key to the door’ – prior to that we don’t have the sense of responsibility required to honour that ritual privilege.

So for roughly seven years, our children are in a sort of private hell of chaos, caused by emotions running out of control and body functions characterized by spurts of excess and deficiency as hormones kick in, running ‘rough’ until they settle over time into some sort of balanced functioning.

Added to the trauma of learning the ropes of a newly functioning body, are the sudden and passionate crushes on members of the opposite sex (or in some cases, the same sex), the jealousy, covert or blatant girl politics, the stressful male competition with former friends and the alienation from the family as the hormones of individualism take precedence in our children’s bodies.

This teen transition rightfully creates the bridge from the family of origin to the family of humanity, as our children cross from the security of the intimate family zone where they are mostly unconditionally loved to the world stage where they have to find their place in a less accepting, more hostile environment with a panoply of different values to the ones they hold dear.

While we may understand the difficult crossing our children are making, it is not always as easy to make the transition ourselves as we face the onslaught of alienating behaviour from the children we have given so much to and born so many sacrifices for.

Teenage transition is difficult for all involved and requires understanding, patience and a deep ability to keep communication lines open through all the tumultuous years. Our children do come through and reconnect later with a renewed and revitalized bond that can last for the remainder of a lifetime, provided we cross the bridge together. While their focus is different to yours, yours is about letting go gracefully and theirs is about reaching out to the wider world, so long as you can move and flex through all the behaviour changes and still remain friends, the ride is worth every bump!

Our new retail blend is called Teen Transit and is designed to facilitate this roughest of rough passages, and can be taken with equal effect for both teenager and family members – parents and siblings. It smoothes tumultuous emotions, balances hormones and assists in adapting to the flurry of change that accompanies these trying years. Available in some retail outlets, it will be ready for purchase online within the next week….watch this space!!!!!!

Many doomsayers have focused on the negative aspects of the Mayan Calendar prediction of the ‘end of the world’ in 2012. What does it all mean? And are we better to put our heads in the sand and simply plough on regardless or take the predictions literally and begin to stockpile food, water and fuel or do we take a deep breath and find a way to respond to the shifting currents we feel rather than reacting to them?

Panic and fear are the most infectious emotions we can experience as human beings. Like a bug raging through a vulnerable community causing an epidemic, mindless reaction, public hysteria and sweeping feelings of loss of control have long been capable of taking on a life of their own in the collective consciousness. Examples are real life cases where the panic mentality has had tragic outcomes, such as in the Wall St crash of 1929, the slow motion stock market crash of 2008-2009, and the many human stampedes that have occurred during religious pilgrimages, professional sporting and music events, leaving many maimed or dead in their wake.

Although not so apparently violent, the fear that is swirling in the ethers at the moment concerning ‘end-time’ and ‘global catastrophe’ needs to be acknowledged and seen as exactly that – infectious fear based on apprehension and uncertainty for the future. When we dwell on the future in a negative light we create what we fear. Our future reality becomes what we have ‘minded’ it to be. This truth is a basic tenet of the new consciousness abounding at this time in the history of humankind.

So what is consciousness and how does it impact on our day-to-day lives?

If consciousness is the simultaneous ‘awareness’ of ourselves and all else perceivable within our world, then its expansion is based on the extent of our knowledge, for we can perceive more when we know more. The information revolution of the past fifty years has downloaded more available knowledge for the individual and the collective, than ever before in human history. We are all overwhelmed with the amount of knowledge available to us in our homes via the media and the internet.

This knowledge is expanding both the collective and individual consciousness at an ever increasing rate. Like a snowball rolling down a hill gathering momentum, knowledge begets increased knowledge so that now, at this time in the history of human civilisation, those people who have chosen to open themselves to the expanded awareness that this increase in available knowledge brings have access to understandings about life, the planet and our place in this remarkable hierarchical multiverse way beyond what they have ever had before.

And the more people who stay open and become more conscious, the more likely the collective consciousness will expand too, based on the ‘quantum leap’ process that all of life uses to grow in awareness and evolve.

Yes, change is coming….. and fast. And in a universe programmed with the drive to evolve through all expressions of  life, we are in tune with the Natural Law when we perceive the changes as beneficial, designed specifically to uphold and expand the sacredness and richness of life here on this beautiful planet. We make a choice ‘for’ life.

In this context, the changes we are experiencing are more about expanding into our true potential as whole human beings rather than predictions of death, destruction and mayhem of apocalyptic proportions, which is somehow often seen as the punishment for ‘bad’ or ‘unconscious behaviour’ of the human species.

The incoming higher vibration energies are known as the Divine Feminine, so-called because as it sweeps the planet with a fresh new awareness it brings back into balance the two polarities of Yang and Yin, masculine and feminine, creating ongoing harmony.

How is the Divine Feminine consciousness different to that which we have been experiencing over the last thousands of years? Essentially the new world will function collaboratively rather than competitively – so its goodbye to capitalism and hello to the notion that wealth can be shared equally – more common wealth than being held in the hands of a select ‘fit’ few. ‘Love’ will be the primary guiding force, shaping public policy and reaching out to each and everyone for a better world and conservation of precious resources will be a guiding principle, with greed a driving force of the past.

To read my article on What is The Divine Feminine? click here, or the one on Biomimicry – The New Science of the Divine Feminine click here or 2012 – the Polar Shift click here

On Sunday September 18th I am running a mini workshop at Mt Nebo on Awakening to the Divine Feminine. From within a small intimate group dynamic, we will explore how profoundly this Shift back to balance will impact every corner of our lives, bringing all dark corners into the light and dusting the cobwebs off the walls for a fresh new start. You can book online simply by clicking this link.

How blessed we are to be living in these times and partaking of one of the most significant Shifts in human and planetary consciousness for many thousands of years… and YOU chose to be here. Your next choice is whether to fall weighted by stones of fear into the abyss or to soar like an eagle on the winds of change……… start flexing those wings, dear hearts…..

 Apostle Plant is the Spirit of Woman flower essence that helps us soar with the changes. Look at the picture above and notice the cobra, like a kundalini rearing up above the purple wings. The healing quality of Apostle Plant is to move forward gracefully into change, letting go of the old ways and awakening to our higher spiritual calling………..

This beautiful essence is available shortly at our online shop………or you can ring me direct on 617 3289 8269 and pay by credit card for immediate postage.

What do you think about the changes you are feeling around you and within you?

It seems that the folklore surrounding the Elder Statesperson or Wise Woman as  the ‘keeper of the wisdom’ has finally been validated by recent research undertaken by Dr. Oury Monchi and Dr. Ruben Martins of the University of Montreal’s University Geriatrics Institute. (click here to read an article describing the research)

Their finding, that the brains of older people are slower but wiser than young brains, allows older adults to achieve an equivalent level of performance with their younger counterparts.

“We now have neurobiological evidence showing that with age comes wisdom and that as the brain gets older, it learns to better allocate its resources. Overall, our study shows that Aesop’s fable about the tortoise and the hare was on the money: being able to run fast does not always win the race — you have to know how to best use your abilities. This adage is a defining characteristic of aging.” explained Dr. Monchi.

He went on to say, “Funny enough, the young brain is more reactive to negative reinforcement than the older one. It is as though the older brain is more impervious to criticism and more confident than the young brain.”

In a society where we have shut our elderly away for decades, condemning them in the twilight of their lives to loneliness and a sense of uselessness, we cut ourselves short of the wisdom of experience that they have to offer. This is the waste of a wonderful resource.

For example, in traditional Asian countries, the elderly are often the caretakers of children, leaving the younger more energetically-able adults to dedicate their energy to bringing in the money needed for the extended family to survive.

This system appears to work because grandparents have more patience, time and love to bestow upon their charges, which is exactly how children flourish in mind, body and spirit. Time and often energy-poor young adults can confidently hand over their children’s care and wellbeing to grandparents who have a powerful reason to invest their wisdom into their dedicated task – that of passing on their ancestral qi to the youngest generation.

Of course, there are many more instances where, a cooler more experienced head can deliver better results. Research demonstrates that the stock market and high finance is dominated by young, testosterone fuelled males, who are shown to be more likely to take thoughtless risks that can disadvantage stability in the financial market, over other demographic groups.

According to Tim Evans, from the Observer, Sunday June 19, 2011 reporting on this research: “Gender inequality has been an issue … for years, but now the new science of ‘neuroeconomics’ is proving the point beyond doubt: hormonally-driven young men should not be left alone in charge of our finances…” (click here to read the whole fascinating article) Imagine if there were a lower age limit for brokers determining eligibility to manipulate our money markets.  Realistically we would be steered more conservatively and wisely.

Or if one had to be a certain age (and gender?) to serve as a leader in government – certainly many of the corruption that occurs in politics due to satisfying a hungry ego by accruing power would be minimized, at the very least.

When we combine the above understanding with further recent research that validates that women under stress take longer to deliberate major decisions than their male counterparts, who are shown to take foolhardy risks when under pressure, we can begin to see why women, preferably older, would make much better leaders during these current times of great stress from the economy, environment and the pace of change. (click here to see my previous blog on this research)

I am an ardent fan of the Grandmothers Gatherings, one of which is happening in Maleny in late November (click here for the link to this event). According to Native American Prophecy“When the wisdom of the Grandmothers is heard, the world will heal” and in the light of recent research described above, I agree. (to learn more click here)

Spirit of Woman’s Wise Woman blend (click here to buy online) is dedicated to empowering women to step into their wisdom confidently and naturally, to assist in bringing the ‘heart’ back into the world…..

What do you think??

Great relationships and partnering skills are keys to a happy, fulfilled life. When your relationships at home and at work are harmonious, you can easily and effortlessly enjoy the benefits of collaborative interaction, joy and mutual satisfaction, together creating a better world….

And yet many relationships are plagued with jealousy, resentment, blame, secrecy and lack of appreciation. Ironically each partner invariably starts out with a deep desire to love the other and to never fall into the same trap that saw parents, friends, siblings or work colleagues break up in trauma, conflict and collateral damage.

With such a high divorce rate, workplace strife and social and political clashes worldwide afflicting many hapless and vulnerable people, there is a real need for re-evaluating how we relate to others. As human beings we suffer far too deeply from relationship conflict, across the breadth of our everyday lives. And our children often bear the brunt of our suffering.

One of the most basic human needs is for deep connection with others, especially those in our intimate zone. As many of us recognize, there’s a vast gap between what we want to feel in our close relationships and how we actually feel.

The good news is that you can change how you interact in your relationships and expect a change in your relationship as a result. And, even more amazing, is that the relationship will not just repay you doubly for the change you initiate, but in a myriad of manifold ways that will ripple out into your life and that of everyone you have close contact with.

Isn’t it time you took up the challenge to make a difference in your own life???

You need to know that you are never more than 20 seconds away from turning your relationship life around and taking off in a new, positive direction.

Changes made in relationships happen in the choices and commitments you make in tiny moments of time. This means that the past is irrelevant and the only thing that matters is the choice being made right at this moment – awareness of the preciousness of the present is the gift you give to you and your partner….

The secret is that ALL human relationships have the potential to be either heaven or hell and no-one, no matter how socially well-placed, successful in a career, financially secure or politically correct, is immune to the possibility of a relationship in tatters….that is the nature of human vulnerability.

Learning how to avoid the pitfalls or to resuscitate a relationship that is in free-fall is not part of the curriculum at school, but it sure needs to be.

Keeping the flow of love and positive energy going is often a learned skill, and it doesn’t need a lifetime of ruined relationships to acquire it. There are shortcuts that will amaze you with how swiftly and easily they bring results.

It is worth your time and attention to learn these skills – the effect will flow through your life in ways you never could have imagined – in situations I have worked with connections have been healed even for couples on the brink of divorce, family members who haven’t spoken for years have renewed their bonds of affection and business partners have been able to get past their stuckness to go on and do big things together.

Join renowned relationships expert Annie Meredith for a ground-breaking weekend for singles, couples and professionals. Author of acclaimed The Essence of Woman, Annie draws on cutting-edge research into gender differences while adding decades of experience of working with thousands of people to bring you time-tested understandings and strategies for creating amazing and conscious partnering in all areas of your life.

Using Spirit of Woman Australian Wild Flower Essences as valuable tools in your journey to happy and fulfilled relationships in your life, you will come away from this weekend workshop:

• becoming more present in your relationship
• understanding how to transform conflict into a celebration of differences
• becoming fully authentic so that your relationship flourishes on what you each uniquely bring to the partnership.

However, although multi-functionality is naturally occurring facility, it gobbles up a woman’s day-to-day energy and can deplete her basic resources severely over time, especially if she has not programmed regular relaxation and recreation into her life. As an educator in Natural Medicine and a natural health practitioner working specifically with women for over thirty years I know this to be true. Energy depletion lies at the root of many recurring illnesses and triggers the onset of many chronic diseases by compromising the immune system. It also affects how we feel –  I have personally experienced the depressed spirits, low self-worth and need to withdraw that accompanies consistently low energy levels in my early child-rearing days.

That’s why, here at Spirit of Woman we welcome the notion of women looking after themselves and taking time out of their normally busy, exciting and full but often stressed lives to take in some ease, calmness and relaxation. We offer this invitation to you to attend:

Ladies Pamper Expo

Diana Plaza Hotel, 12 Annerley Rd, Woolloongabba

May 22nd, 2011

9.30 for a 10.00 start – 5.00 finish

The day offers workshops, classes, one-on-one sessions with practitioners all providing the opportunity to de-stress and reclaim your sanity!! You will be supported and nurtured along with like-minded women who share similar stories of overwhelm and exhaustion; and you will discover easy, natural strategies to come back swiftly and effortlessly to a state of balance, so that your life runs as smoothly and gracefully as oil on your pampered skin.

I will be talking about how to draw on your powerful Divine Feminine energies to take the angst out of keeping up with your daily life, to  foster a nourishing relationship with your partner and children and to find joy in your working environment that satisfies your soul.

I will also demonstrate how you can maintain emotional equilibrium using our beautiful Spirit of Woman Flower Essence healers, even though your body and hormones are driving you to go on a wild see-saw ride every month that leaves you exhausted and having to pick up the pieces of your relationships afterwards.

We will also be conducting personal 20 minute consultations that will get to the heart of why you may be feeling the way you do. Karren and Lisa are both trained in how to be there for you to hear your unique story. They will make you a personalised Spirit of Woman Flower Essence blend that will support and nourish you.

For more information on the Ladies Pamper Expo you can go to the website for details on how book for this special Brisbane event.

I’d love to see you there…………

Nature has built into the mother-child relationship an abundance of evolutionary strategies that serve both in their best expression. Motherhood for women can be likened to the fruiting of their femininity and to ensure the process is repeated from generation to generation, it comes with built-in life-enhancing benefits.

Dramatic and profound physical, emotional, and mental changes occur in a woman’s being due to hormonally mediated changes that occur during pregnancy birthing and in the post-natal phases. These changes have been demonstrated to enhance a woman’s wellbeing provided that she has enjoyed a healthy, stress-free passage from Maiden to Mother. Of course, if the opposite occurs, such as the pregnancy, birthing and early parenting is fraught with trauma, stress or deprivation, then the reproductive process can deplete a woman’s health in the long term, along with impairment of the child’s developmental progress.

As far as the mother’s health and well-being is concerned, in Traditional Chinese Medicine, a natural health system that enjoys remarkable success in treating infertility and reproductive issues, the understanding is that if a woman is healthy going into a pregnancy and remains so for the duration, birthing and early parenting phase, then she will come out of this major life transition with better health than when she went in. The reverse also applies.

So, aware mothering benefits a woman, of that there is no doubt. But it is not just about the mother – it is about the quality of the fledgling human beings that mothers bring into the world. We do not own our children – they belong to themselves, and it is the role of the mother to nurture her child to her best and highest expression as a human being – and women are biologically programmed to do this.

For the offspring, healthy, balanced, aware mothering sets the tone for the entirety of that child’s life on all three levels, physical, emotional and mental. There is plenty of documented evidence to support this statement. And the most compelling research clearly shows that the closely bonded connected presence of the mother during early formative years creates a more balanced and functional human being – a human being whose consciousness is centred in the heart.

We learn how to nurture ourselves from our mother. The way we were nourished determines the value and self-worth we grant to ourselves, including the priority we place on our health and wellbeing on a day-to-day basis. Do we take care to feed ourselves with nourishing and vital foods, or do we trash our bodies with junk food? Do we grant ourselves relaxation and rest to restore and restock or are we so stretched that we are digging an early grave for ourselves through the chronic degeneration of our bodily systems. Do we establish healthy and life-enhancing habits that ensure that our body and soul is functioning at its optimum? Or do we continue to abuse our bodies with excess, because we never feel satisfied or that we have had enough?? It is the quality of mothering that tips the balance either way. If our mothering was less than adequate, that is no reason to pass the baton of dysfunction to our offspring, especially with the information and assistance available in today’s world.

In reality however, ours is a motherless society. Mainstream thinking pays lip service to the notion of ‘Motherhood’, and really, traditional mothering, as nature intended it to be, is being cut out of the picture in many instances. That is, unless the woman is prepared to believe in herself and her innate biologically designed strength and wisdom to create, birth and raise a healthy child. When she has this belief she can enrol help, if needs be, to achieve her dream. Without it, the reproduction merry-go-round has become a goldmine that plays on women’s fears.

Natural fertility is now marketed as an unattainable dream for many while IVF is promoted as the norm if a couple has been unable to conceive for twelve months. Natural birthing has been hi-jacked to become a medical condition, the message swallowed by many woman, when they are told that it is ‘too hard’ to birth without medical assistance, which more and more includes cutting the baby out of the womb.

And, in an increasing number of cases, babies as young as three months are being abandoned into day-care centres, devoid of the close interconnected one-on-one bonding that human babies need to grow to their best expression as adults, often because of peer pressure – a recent Careforkids survey found that 40% of non-working mums feel stigmatized for staying at home.

Studies show that there is strong evidence that the first two years is incredibly important for attachment. And yet, according to an Australian Institute of Family Studies report more than one in ten women are back in work before their babies are three months old while 44 percent wait until the baby turns twelve months before returning to paid employment.

Honouring motherhood is not about lip service to a notion that makes us feel all warm and fuzzy inside, but it is about truly recognizing that we have to shape our society to support and uphold the role of the mother, not for the sake of the mother, but for the future generations that are the adults of tomorrow. The harder we make it for natural mothering to be upheld and practiced, the more dysfunctional the human beings of the future will be.

Interestingly, the Gillard government has just announced a crack-down on teen mothers asserting that they need to have their noses to the grind-stone again by the time their baby is six months old. The intention behind this proposed budget cut reveals a government that has lost track of what it is that creates a truly great society – how we care for and nourish our young. To read further commentary on this issue please click here to read my last blog post on the subject.