Nineteen years ago today my mantra was, “My body knows how to give birth and this baby knows how to be born.” I surrendered to the wisdom of my body and the innate knowingness of my son and allowed the birthing process to naturally unfold. Eight hours later, he was born in a birthing tub at home surrounded by friends and family. Reflecting back on that incredible experience I realize that my acknowledging my body’s ability and not trying to micromanage what or how it should happen I was able to trust the process. I am not going to lie at times it was excruciatingly painful and yet at the same time, I knew that there would be an end result a beautiful baby would eventually be in my arms.
My labor experience gave me an understanding that our bodies are incredible vessels that have capabilities beyond our wildest imaginings. Communicating telepathically with other beings and using your intuition were capabilities everyone was able to do easily as children – preverbally. As we became verbal, more emphasis was placed on the mental aspect of communicating and telepathy took a step back. But, like any instrument that you may have played before, it just requires picking it back up finding the right chords and practicing to play your favorite song again.  Our bodies are highly-tuned, telepathic sending and receiving instruments that are in constant communication with all of life. To strengthen it, all it requires is trusting it, acknowledging, and celebrating your body for receiving the information.  After giving birth, I was in awe and wonder with my body and was in constant communication with it celebrating its capability to create, sustain, grow, and birth a child.
My body has cellular memory of the birthing process. I am grateful for this embodied knowing to help navigate the huge bump-up in energy from the eclipse, the invitation to expand, and find the balance between light and dark within as well as externally. I will, like in childbirth, surrender to the wisdom of my body and the innate wisdom it has of knowing what needs to be released in order for me to birth a new way of being. To support myself through this transformation, I will be in awe and wonder with my body and celebrate its capability to create, sustain, grow, and birth a new me. My new mantra is, “My body knows how to give birth to this new way of being and my Spirit knows how to be reborn.” My invitation to you is how can you surrender to the wisdom of your body to allow it do it’s thing and support you through this energetic time. What will your mantra be?

​A family of beavers lives in a pond right off the Puget Sound, very close to my home. Recently, a friend and I visited it in hopes of catching a glimpse of these industrious animals. In the dusk of a smokey sky with a red setting sun, my dog eagerly explored a shrub on the bank of the pond to my amazement a beaver sauntered out and glided into the water. We observed this beaver silently glide along the edge of the pond, stopping here and there but always continuing on to complete a full circle of the pond.
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He then came over to swim in the middle of the pond and give us a private audience.  I introduced myself to him and gave him great thanks for swimming by us and let him know how excited I was to finally see him.  For years I have been stopping by the pond in the mornings observing his handiwork from the night before and collecting wood chips from his night snacks for my sacred fires.  I know the beaver as grand architects and teachers of how to design and efficiently build our lives.

As he swam in circles in front of us I asked him in relation to the phrase “Busy Beaver, did he have any wisdom to share with the humans on how to be as efficient when we are all as busy as beaver, too?”
His response was like a wise elder speaking to a young person, “Slow down and take the time to survey and relish the silence. ”

​Summer is full of vacations and trips that often do not include the animals – which is sometimes great for us but not for them.
To make this easier, the animals have simple requests. Some of them I’ve listed below to help you and your animals have a better time apart:

• Before you leave, share with them how long you will be gone in using the number of meals instead of days.
• Let them know why they are not going simply stating the facts such as “It is a long airplane ride.” or “We will be river rafting and it is not a great environment for cats.”
• When trying to decide on a care taker for them, let them meet the person and listen with your heart, watch the body language, and trust your gut if this person is a good fit for them.
• Talk out loud to your animals and let them know the schedule of when the caretaker will be visiting, etc.
• When you are gone check in with them every day. Create a routine where each morning and evening you send them love and let them know about your day.
• The animals want you to know that when you are on vacation and you suddenly think of them, that is them reaching out to you – like a ping and they’d appreciate a love ping back.
• Tell them what you are doing at the moment either out loud or imagine having a conversation with them in your mind.

When my dog is chasing a ball, or I am asking him to do something with a treat in my hand, his focus is like a laser. His focus always brings to mind the concept that energy flows where attention goes.  Focusing is one of the key components to animal communication.  To be able to give them a clear understanding of what you want is made easier by setting your intention and clarifying thoughts.  For example, if I am wanting him to get off the couch and stay off the couch, I will give him the command “off” and yet, I am thinking with a whole lot of frustration, “I know this rascal. As soon as I turn my back, he is going to jump right back on the couch.”  Well, guess who will be sitting on the couch all day? Because he was listening to the energy and there was more flow of energy to my thoughts of him jumping on the couch, Prince will be sitting on the couch. 
Who can resist those gorgeous brown eyes and black floppy ears? I must. I want him off. my. couch.

So, using focus, how would I communicate to him that the couch is off limits.  The first step is by taking some time to gain clarity about why I want him off the couch and where he is welcome to lounge instead.
 
To go through my thought process:  I want him off the couch because it is starting to smell like dog. I want him off the couch because he is dirty and he is making the couch dirty. I want him off the couch so every time I sit down I don’t go into the “Ahh, it smells like dog…I need to clean…I need to give him a bath…” and start to create a whole lot of frustration around this with a whole lot of energy. Basically, I want him off the couch because I want him off the couch. I observe I have a lot of frustration around it and I start beating myself up that I should have never let him on the couch or if I was a better dog trainer he’d never be on the couch, etc.  Basically, a lot of stuck energy around this couch and that stuck energy flairs up when I see him on the couch.

Now, where do I want him to lounge instead?  There are a variety of places he can lounge, his bed, the floor, the porch, the yard – just not on the couch.

How will I feel when he is lounging other places than the couch?  I will feel happy that my couch is no longer a dog bed. I feel comfortable when people come over that my house is clean.  I will feel more at ease when people are over that he will not jump up and join them on the couch.  I just realized by allowing him to lounge on the couch, the couch is basically his territory and having people sitting on it is invading his space.  Allowing him to lounge on it is a disservice to him by expecting him to be welcoming of people in his bed.

Having taken the time to clarify what I do want, I have a new focus with him and the couch – it is for him to learn to stay off the couch.  I will focus my attention and intention on letting him know his job is to find new places to lounge and I will back those thoughts of my feeling of happiness in seeing him comfortably sprawled out on the floor.  I can now firmly tell him “off” while I am thinking about him comfortably laying on his bed or laying on the floor.  Focusing on his new job will make it easy to re-orient his lounging and it is not fueled by the frustration and big energy of “GET OFF THE #*#@ COUCH.”  I can now firmly tell him “off” while I am thinking about him comfortably laying on his bed or laying on the floor.  

One of my million dollar ideas to accomplish the no-Prince-on-the-couch-rule is to somehow bottle my dogs’ focus and create an elixir. This elixir will increase focus and efficiency with minimum effort mixed in with a whole lot of fun.  I will use this magical elixir to create a routine when trying to get him off the couch. I will deliver this new routine with the same focus and attention he has on the ball when we are playing.  His intensity to find the ball is coupled with the enthusiasm of the game.  Now, can I make staying off the couch just as fun with my focus?  The opportunity is to focus and master the feeling he has when playing ball of “come on, come on, throw the ball!” to “come on, come on, on the floor!”  and coupling it with the excitement he has quivering through his body when he bounds off to find the ball.  I will couple my focus of “on the floor” with the excitement of seeing him lounging on the floor. Once I master this, you are invited over for a nice chat on my clean comfortable couch.