Connecting to Mother Earth in a modern world

Do you ever feel like you are alone in the world? Like you are this insignificant individual that can’t make a positive difference? Like you are totally “unconnected?”

For many people, their daily lives are full to the brim. Rushing to get the kids off to school, going to work all day, rushing to gather up everyone, making dinner, baths, laundry, walking the dogs, dog classes, private lessons, Dr. appointments – the list goes on. Rush, rush rush. When we DO have a few minutes to rest, we sometimes have a deep sadness that comes over us. Like we are just a little rat running in a mindless maze.

Since humans have roamed the Earth, we have been at one with nature. At one with the land, plants, trees, animals, water and elements. We relied on the signs of nature to help us decide on our daily tasks. If it was sunny, we’d tend to our garden. If it was rainy, we would stay inside. Over the years, we have gotten away from the connecting to nature and we rely on technology to tell us what we should do. I mean, what would we do without the The Weather Channel, right?

So in moving to this life of depending on technology, we have helped create this feeling of isolation. We lead very “private lives” and keep to ourselves. But we’re not happy. We can’t all quit our day jobs and become homesteaders, so how do we find a middle ground? Mother Earth will always provide if we ask for help.

Here are seven easy tips to connect with nature and bring that feeling on oneness back into out lives.

1. Diffuse Essential Oils. My favorites right now are Lemon, Peppermint, Cedarwood, Laurel Leaf, Rosemary, Rosewood
2. Crystals. Any lovely healing crystal will do but Rose Quartz is always a good one. Put it somewhere where you'll touch it often and let it's energy infuse into your body. Carry smaller stones in your pocket and put them in your car.
3. House plants. They actually need us to breathe near them. So spend a minute just breathing near your house plants.
4. Gaze out the window "daydream." Most of us have beautiful trees and plants in our yards. At the moment, it's winter, but they are still there. Gaze out the window and connect with the plant life outside.
5. Touch. Look around your room or office. There are so many things made of wood. This puts "tree energy" into your life. Things like window frames, book cases, hardwood floors, pencils, bowls, cooking utensils - they are all made of wood. Touch these items and feel the energy of the tree that supplied this useful item in your life and give thanks.
6. Just Drive. Turn off the radio, put down the cell phone and just drive. Look at the surroundings as you pass them on your trip. You will see wonderful plants, trees, grassy fields, rivers - all amazing creations of Mother Earth. Feel this connection to these things as you pass by. When you pull in to a parking lot - pick a spot near a tree or bush. Thank it for the shade or wind-block it provides.
7. Animals! The perfect gateway to Mother Earth energy are our animals. They bring us joy and love and help us reconnect. When you're feeling down or disconnected, spend some extra time with your animals. They'll help you!

My doing some of these easy things, you will feel more connected, more alive and happy! When you are happy, things around you take on a whole different look. You can find joy in the smallest things. Little things like the soft, sweet kisses of a puppy!

Show me the money

Show me the money!  I love using crystals for health and healing but today's Tuesday Tip is getting us prepared for the ever popular Tax Day :( I thought I'd give you one of my own personal tips in order to increase spending money.  Citrine is called The Merchant Stone because it is a powerful stone to attract prosperity and success. Place citrine in your safe, cash register or money bag to increase business.  It not only attracts wealth, it helps one maintain it. As scary as it may seem, I recently misplaced my citrine stone and my little money bag was suffering.  Within a few days of finding it, clearing it, and placing it where I keep my money - my little money pile tripled in size - yay!!!  I also sprinkle a drop of Abundance essential oil in there too - just to be sure.

Tips like this and more will be covered as part of my class series "Speaking to the Earth."  For more information on the class series, click here.

Lessons from an aggressive dog

A few years ago we welcomed an aggressive dog into our family. I wasn't seeking an aggressive dog and this one came with some history that wasn't too impressive.   For those of us with several dogs and linked into the doggy community, we all know that if you put out there that you want a dog - many, many will appear in your lap. I wasn't looking for another dog. But, there was something about Nickel when I met him that just drew me to him. I had a certain "plan" for him but little did I know, the universe (led by Nickel) had a completely different plan.

Our family had never had an aggressive dog.  I had a very bossy female Border Collie, but her bouts of so called aggression, were usually well timed corrections.  The severity of the correction was directly related to the capacity of the receiver to "get the message". There were a few dogs she really liked (main requirement was they needed to be smart and well behaved) but she had only shown love and affection to all humans.  Nickel, the new kid, was not like that - at all.

Nickel was 3 years old when he came to live with us.  At three, he had some things that were hard-wired into his being. He had aggressive tendencies to both humans and animals. This was something we were going to have to work with.  I quickly realized that he didn't really understand corrections.  He didn't respond to the normal things I had used and just stood there with a cold, hard stare when I expressed my displeasure at what he was doing.  He also didn't understand doggy behavior.  He just took toys from everyone, ran into them knocking them down and yes, a little worse than that.  We were pretty discouraged at his lack of understanding.  However, my female border collie, Meg wasn't discouraged.  Even at the ripe old age of 12, she was able to "explain" she had a bubble of protection around her.  If you entered it - even by mistake, you would be sorry.  She didn't make this point by aggression, but just clear intention of aggression. Amazing to watch Nickel respond to that "intention."

I have run into many people that have had similar aggression issues with their animals - particularly dogs.  Many people know of Nickel's history and ask what we do to properly manage this aggression.  Here are some observations that may help those with these types of dogs. 


We have worked on building a trusting relationship with Nickel.  We showed him respect when he didn't like something and we worked at helping him understand what we expected of him.  One thing is for sure, he didn't not respond to any negative responses from us.  It seemed to fuel the fire that was burning inside him increasing the intensity of his anger. So we learned to be calm and clear with him. And to pause - long pause if he gave you that cold, hard stare.  I learned he was evaluating my next move.  "Can I trust her?" he seemed to say.

I expect all of my dogs to behave a certain way as part of my human pack.  Many of them whom I've gotten as puppies or were taught this behavior very young, all act this way.  Nickel, it seemed, was just one step away from a wild dog. He didn't respect dog behavior nor human.  If this was going to work - we both had some learning to do.  He had certain triggers that would bring out aggression.  Grooming, confinement, corrections, balls!, invading his personal space - all these things would bring out aggression.  Also the food he was being given actually "fed" his aggressiveness.  He was being fed a poor quality grocery store kibble with loads of dyes in there.

Certain things about Nickel would never change.  He had an aggressive past therefore he had patterned behavior of aggression.  "When in doubt, strike out." He was, in fact, a dog.  A dog looking for his place in a multi-species pack.  He wasn't a fuzzy human wanting to emulate human behavior. He also wanted to contribute to his pack. He wanted to make a difference - in his own way.  Sounds impossible but it's funny to think of this perspective when we think of our cats.  We fully expect them to not listen, do what they want, destroy things, bite and scratch sometimes and usually drop something dead on our doorstep and ask us to be happy about it.  Our poor dogs are not so lucky to have the same understanding.  We expect them to conform to our world and lucky for us, they try so hard to do just that.

We are lucky to share our lives with dogs.  Most of us have many different species of animals in our lives, but dogs are something special.  They love being in our pack, they try very hard to fit in and they almost seem to emulate our human behavior.  So many of us see them as humans in a furry body. Yes, they have done an amazing job at making us think this and giving us very good reason to believe they are our furry kids, but in fact, they are dogs in a dog body wanting to have a dog's life here on earth.

Realizing this difference and learning to accept it is the shift in perspective that helped me in my relationship with Nickel. It opened the doorway to our next level of understanding. Also changing from trying to "fix" him, to accepting our responsibility to guide his experiences in life - providing him situations that would help him versus giving him conditions that kept him repeating the same things that didn't work.


We try very hard to not put him into situations where his aggression can come out.  We changed the way we do many things to accommodate his past patterned behavior.  Our hope is that he will learn new behavior, learn new patterns. Many people like to set up their dog. Set up a situation that they know to have caused the aggression in the past - "just to see" or perhaps it gives the person an opportunity to "correct" the dog.  How would you feel if someone you supposedly trusted put you in a situation and hoped you would fail?  It wouldn't do much for gaining my trust in them that's for sure!  We manage his activities carefully and think ahead at things that might bring up those old patterns.  Through lessons from other dogs, he has learned to growl and bear his teeth.  I praise him for this as he is now giving me very good information - like a dog should! I also look back on the times he acted out and many times it was me (or another human) that put him in a situation where he didn't know how to respond.  Some dogs respond by shutting down and others by acting out.  He is a very high energy dog and responds by absorbing energy so I'd try to make it calming energy.

Nickel is lucky enough to live on a farm with sheep so he gets to work them.  He also gets to run and play for hours each day.  He has a LOT of energy so giving him ways to channel his "work" has done wonders. We also have him on a custom flower essence mixture to help with his patterned behavior.  I do energy work on him (Reiki), shamanic healing and he responds to smooth, loving pets. I recently purchased a healing stone collar for him.  He loves this collar and asks to have it put on him (and removed when it needs to be). I think he responds to these types of healing energies because he is such a "wild" spirit.  These are energies he understands as they are from the earth and provide him the loving support he needs to be who HE wants to be.  We are lucky he is part of our family but it has taken a huge shift in our perspectives to realize this.  Some people say we have changed him but I know that it is us who have done most of the changing.  We are helping him become the being he wants to be and helping him to fit into the world WE have created.  What a good dog, Nickel.