Insights on Love ~ From The Movie 'Eat, Pray, Love'

As I'm planning my trip to Bali in the Fall it made me think of the book 'Eat Pray Love'. So many people wanted to go to Bali after reading that book, or more recently, seeing the movie.Bali has always been a place I was curious to go, but to be honest, it was not on my list of next adventures.I sort of fell into this trip, intuitively and suddenly, much the same way I tend to fall in love.And that got me thinking about the True Nature of Love, our Soul's Journey through life, and the book 'Eat, Pray, Love'For those who have not seen the movie, it's now available on Netflix.For those who have;Do you remember in the movie near the end when Liz doesn't go with Fillipe on the boat because she feels she is losing her life balance by being in the relationship? It's that moment where she has a choice of 'Going for it', or Going back to the comfort of the life she knows. When she later visits Ketut (her spiritual advisor and friend) he explains to her that:"Sometimes to lose balance for love is part of living a balanced life. "After she listens and contemplates what he says, she has the realization that love takes courage and a huge leap of faith and she then does something we all have the ability to do (although many of us forget we can actually do this)

She changes her mind.

I've been thinking about that a lot lately. I guess that's why it's called 'Falling' in Love. Falling is Not balance. Falling is falling. Falling can hurt.  But I do believe balance can come within love. I also believe love is a force that disrupts everything. It has to because it IS change, it IS evolution, it can destroy worlds, but is also the glue that holds everything together. It heals, it connects and it does create balance. But it also shakes things up, makes people uncomfortable, and teaches. Love is like the wind. It can't be defined, controlled or balanced. It's also  like a plant where it needs certain things, or it dies. And I'm starting to understand that a person can be absolutely surrounded by love, but unless they are able to let it in, they just won't feel it, or even know that it's there.The plan and simple truth is that We Are Constantly Surrounded by Love, Abundance, Peace, etc. Support it is Always there. The only thing that changes is our capacity and our willingness to receive it.Falling in Love can be easy. It can be scary. It can come on fast and furious, and may not seem like there is even choice or free will involved. It can definitely be a force to be reckoned with.Staying in love is different. Staying in Love requires contemplation, and careful thought. It is the steadiness that comes after a storm. It is about building something. It is about wanting to build something. It is about wanting to be willing to 'do the work', because relationships can be 'work' especially relationships that stretch you to grow beyond the boundaries of 'who you think you are'. They are a continual co-creation with the 'other'. Whether it's building the trust and respect that is the necessary foundation for any long-term relationship, or simply building the desire to do so. Staying in Love requires patience compassion, selflessness, and courage as well. Lots of courage.For me, my absolute favourite part of the whole movie was Liz's realization at the end:'In the end, I’ve come to believe in something I call the ‘physics of the quest’, a force in nature governed by the laws of gravity. The rules of quest physics goes something like this: If you’re brave enough to leave behind everything familiar and comforting and set out on a truth seeking journey either internally or externally, and if you are truly willing to regard everything that happens to you on that journey as a clue and if you accept everyone you meet along the way as a teacher and if you are prepared most of all to face and forgive some of the most difficult realities about yourself, then the truth will not be witheld from you.'Well said and I couldn't agree more!I'm really enjoying my quest!If Bali resonates with you and you wish to learn all 3 levels of Akashic Record Training, email me for details.Until next time, enjoy your quest!

xo Kerri

I Don't Believe In Miracles ~ I Expect Them

Several years ago I was invited to speak at an event. The opening speaker was a native elder and he said something I will never forget.He said,"I don't believe in miracles I expect them."I was more than a bit surprised.What did he mean?What a bold thing to say!To 'Expect' miracles!Honestly!But today I realize what he said, it's SO TRUE!When we Trust and Love and Live in the Flow of Life Miracles Abound!When we are Present and Aware and live our lives in a state of Gratitude we soon realize Miracles are Everywhere and are Happening All of The Time!We simply need to take notice, to look and listen and feel what is happening around us. I just wanted to share this with all of you. I hope it helps you pause and take notice of the miracles at work in your own life.I now live every day expecting miracles. I welcome and embrace them and am so grateful for them when they arrive.What miracles have you experienced this week?In love & service,Kerri

Change Is Good ~ Embrace Your Mess

We just completed the Kundalini Reiki Master Intensive class last Sunday and indeed it was intense. Not in a bad way but in a Big Way. Just because Karen and I teach the class does not mean that we are immune to the shifts of the energy. In fact I believe we get it in a very concentrated way before during and after teaching. It is as though the universe is saying 'Are you ready to ride this frequency? Then buckle up!'I LOVE teaching this incredible modality. I love seeing the changes. It works FAST, it blasts through everything it needs to! To be honest the chaos that this fast pace sometimes creates, I could do without. I do blame myself. I did way too many processes on my house in a short period of time. The kids and I became unwell-as we were processing the changes in our physical body. Not a fun way to process, but things are healing and balancing and re-arranging as a result. Sometimes change in it's initial stages can be messy. I am not a fan of messy. I prefer disorder within some kind of order. But in this case it just got messy fast and I had to surrender and sit in the mess for a few days.Coming out the other side of a 'mess' is much more fun. This morning while teaching yoga I could start to see the clarity, the healing and the new order forming, but I can still see some of the changes I need to make as well.Change is good and change is necessary but lets face it, change can be messy. Does it have to be messy? Not at all. Change can be graceful and beautiful. However, in my experience Big Change (change that affects multiple timelines of reality and many people, places, things, times, and events) can be a bit 'messy'.Why am I sharing this? Well I want you to all embrace your 'mess'. Whatever you feel your mess may be. Being in a mess is no time to stick your head in the sand. Look your mess straight in the eye(if it has an eye)(might be more like an eye of a hurricane-lol) and Embrace it, Thank it, Learn from it, Acknowledge it, Love it. That 'mess' in your life is simply your transition through change. Change that you probably 'asked for', change you most certainly needed. Sometimes those sandcastles need to come down to be rebuilt. Better, stronger, healthier.The bigger the 'mess' the bigger the change. So if you find yourself in a big 'mess' know that the change that is coming will be very very big and very transformational. And remember Change is GOOD. Change happens when we 'ask for it'. Don't be frightened of the process. Just breathe, go slowly and trust.xoKerri      

Hard Lessons

I learned a hard lesson this week. It involved making a sudden decision, getting excited and jumping into something in a large way, without necessarily doing my homework .It 'felt' right and my intuition is usually quite good. Fast forward a few days into the project and the feeling was very bad. So bad in fact, I felt physically sick and unwell and a feeling of doom around it. To make it worse, I went against my first reaction to just stop and back out then-which would have been smart. Instead I stayed and tried to fix things, let the other person talk me into a second chance, I tried to work it out. What ended up happening is that after the second attempt, I then an overwhelming sense that this was not going to work at all and any attempt to make it work would be incredibly stressful and painful for all persons involved, and would just drag the whole unpleasant process out.So I finally trusted my gut and pulled the plug. I had to basically fire someone, and it did not feel good. But they were not doing their job, not at all, and I was basically paying a lot of money for something I could easily do myself. I got blindsided by the 'presentation.' Unfortunately in today's day and time anyone can have a slick website and be an 'expert', and not be help accountable for the empty promises.What went wrong here? Well I needed to use my head(logic) and my heart(feeling/intuition), not just heart. Most people are in their heads too much and need more heart. In this case I was being all heart and no head and that is not balanced either.As a result I had to hurt someones feelings, I felt bad for that, I lost a lot of money, and I felt pretty stupid.But there were some valuable lessons in this for me.1. DO MY HOMEWORK. As much as I used to tease my husband for researching something to death before he commits sometimes it is not a bad idea to get a lot of (too much) information about something up front before committing.2. JUMP IN, but remember to look before I leap.3. BE HONEST. It is so difficult. when you don't want to hurt someones feelings. In trying to spare feelings I downplayed how I felt and dishonoured myself and the other person. In the beginning if I had been truly honest with myself and this person, and pulled out in those first moments of unease, then it would not have gone this far4. TRUST MYSELF. I Knew it felt wrong. I asked friends and family for advice instead of trusting my inner knowing.5. TRUST IN THE GOODNESS OF OTHERS WHILE REALIZING NOT EVERYONE LIVES AND ACTS IN INTEGRITY. I may never get my money back. That rests in the hands of the other person and honestly I have no idea how that will go. They did not deliver on their big promises, and I feel let down and a bit swindled, but it was my choices that got me here, I need to take responsibility for that.What now? I have to trust that this will all shake out fairly for both parties. It is out of my hands, but I have made peace with my choices and am no longer judging myself for making a mistake. By forgiving myself, and letting it go, that makes it easier to move on and I can find peace in that. : )xoKerri

Angels All Around Us

I often connect in with spirit and ask for guidance, but last week I  felt I was overloading my angels 'inboxes' with ongoing prayers to receive guidance, clarity and help.Over the last two weeks I have  experienced many challenges that seemed to come all at once. Coupled with just getting over an illness, I was feeling a bit overwhelmed.I found myself using  all of my tools as a healing practitioner on a daily basis to help with situations. I found myself wanting to make things better, or at the very least  have some understanding.Nothing was happening directly to me, but more to the people  around me. These events triggered my momma bear in a big way because I am fiercely protective about people I care about and I do not like judgement and  injustice. So not only did I have to learn to detach from the situation, I had to try not to be  'Kerri the healer', and simply be Kerri the silent witness to the process.I knew intuitively that the solution could not come from my desire or will and that it needed to be surrendered to a higher power. So I gave it all up to the universe and promised  not to micro-manage God and to just be o.k. with the outcome.The feeling was akin to a child sitting on their hands to prevent nail biting. I had to consciously remind myself to not react, and to just wait, and observe and breathe, and wait.I used this  Helpful Advice For Any Situationfrom Buddhist Nun Amy Miller. I believe this to be simple and absolutely brilliant and it works!1. Observe2. Breathe3. Smile4. Be gentle5. Go slowlyI had the opportunity to do those 5 steps a lot. : )Last Tuesday I had  to accompany my husband to an important meeting. We went by our local Starbucks on the way home. While I was waiting for him I was looking at some beautiful angel paintings on the wall. They were over near to the corner, he didn't even notice them until I made him look.I, on the other hand, had been magnetically  pulled to them. I could feel the love and joy radiating off of them and I even took the business card of the artist with the intent to call her to ask about having paintings done for my nieces and nephews.I put the card in my bag.Wednesday and Thursday I had full days/evening with clients. Needless to say, I forgot about the card.Thursday, after a full day I was  getting ready to receive my last client. She was waiting for me in the main room and she said she had to talk to me & show me something  first. She was just about jumping out of her skin with excitement.She proceeded to say how after the Reiki class last month her creativity was just flowing like crazy and she had started painting. She was very excited and told me she had made me a painting and  pulled it out of a bag and handed it to me.I was so surprised to receive a gift, and when I saw the painting, I just about fell off my chair.There in my lap was an angel painting just like the ones I had admired two days prior! WOW!I immediately jumped out of my chair and said 'just wait a minute. I need to show you something." I ran to my bag and pulled out the business card and showed  it to her. I told her I had picked it up on Tuesday and planned to call her. When I initially picked up the business card I had not even looked at the name  on the card so I hadn't even made a connection with her name and the Reiki class I taught last month.I ABSOLUTELY LOVE LOVE LOVE coincidences like this.For me they are always a HUGE Message from Spirit.In this case it was as though the Angels were shouting. 'We hear you! Everything is ok. Relax!' and possibly a 'stop clogging up our inbox'!I took this as a direct message from the universe, that despite my recent experiences,  to Keep the Faith.Here I was sitting across from this  beautiful  human being who was creating and living from the heart in absolute joy.This whole situation did not just confirm the angels were with me and looking after my loved ones, but it  also restored my faith in humanity.Prior to this  I had experienced some rather shocking behavior from people the last 2 weeks so was feeling a bit disheartened about the state of the world. I know everyone has goodness inside of them but I had recently experienced the darker side of individuals via their energy and behavior towards others. Greed, fear, just plain nastiness. Part of me wanted to say to them. Stop! Think of the karma you are creating for yourself in this lifetime. Everyone who works with energy knows that everything we send out into the universe whether through thought, intention, or emotion comes back to us hundreds of times stronger than what we send out. Especially now with things manifesting so quickly. Please be mindful.While I had been praying, I was asking for direction. Do I keep going on my path? Do I just keep sending them love and hope they will heal and not have to act from fear anymore? Was was this happening in my reality? I do not normally have this sort of experience. Was the universe bringing me these experiences because it wanted me to change direction? Commit further to the one I am on? Just full stop? What exactly?I was not receiving any clarity so had been considering every possible angle-with my logical mind-probably not the best way to solve a situation. : )As I have been moving through this chaos-because ultimately that is what the energy has felt like- I have spoken to many other healers, practitioners, and classmates(as I'm  in class furthering my training all week) and have found everyone is going through something similar, either directly  or indirectly. My classmates and I had a chat at lunch, catching up since we have not been together since April, and we all breathed a collective sigh of relief as we realized we are not the only ones who have been faced with some pretty tough challenges in the last month. Now in my experience chaos is an excellent energy. Never in the moment of course, but chaos brings with it great and lasting change. When it comes, it means dramatic transformation is in the works, and often change for the better. It is getting through it that can be the tricky part. As healers we all recognized that, but it does not make it easier.It is from that experience of sharing that  I felt it was important to share my personal experience here in case it may help someone else.It is during times  like these where we often feel our faith is being tested.It certainly is.As a healer this has been the point of all my training. To use it Now. When it is needed.If you have  experienced what seems like insurmountable challenges in the last few days, weeks, months.Please  Do Not  Lose Faith.Ask for help from the people in your life and from Spirit and hold steady on your course.We are all changing, we are all shifting. We are all on the earth going through this shift together, we need to honour one another, not resort to lower vibrational frequencies. Please make choices from Love, not fear, and be kind to one another. Not everyone is moving through these shifts with grace and ease. Compassion is so necessary right now.  And so are healthy boundaries. Be kind and compassionate but do not allow yourself to be bullied or belittled by those who would make  you feel small.Know in your heart you are a Beautiful Being of Light andLet Your Light Shine.Blessings and Love & A Big Supportive Hug!KerriTo see more of Elaine's beautiful angels please go HERE