Thank goodness for the Triplets of Belleville and my QuietStar team!

Can you see the Dancer between the trees?  Cape Arch, Oregon

Thursday evening notes:
While re-aligning myself yesterday, I continued to call in the help that I needed.   Step by step, I felt clearer and clearer.  Thanks, Robin (Klickstein) for your assistance in setting clear energetic boundaries.  At one point, I went into a visualization that Anita (Henry) had given me to make sure my mind was creating what I really wanted.  I realized that the only image I had of the next leg of our journey was me dragging up the two BIG hills I had seen on the map...oops! (I tried to photograph the side view of the hills from the guidebook, but no luck, so you'll have to wait for our post-trip slide show for that visual!) I know that what you visualize is what you get, so I kept asking for a new image, and waiting and waiting for it to show up.

In the evening, my wonderful partner was doing those miraculous Bowen moves on my neck and upper back, and as my body/energy cleared, up popped this great image from the Triplets of Belleville.  It's an animated film about bicycling....I saw this character just pedalling like mad up this hill, wheels spinning, looking very determined.  I knew immediately this was my totem for those hills. I kept replacing the old image with the new one in my thoughts, until the Triplets of Belleville were the dominant image. 

This morning, I woke up excited and ready to go. As we pedaled away from Neil's house, there was a heavy mist in the air. But I was ready, the Triplets in my head! For protection, we were accompanied by Archangel Michael and surrounded by a giant golden bubble, both installed by Mary (Hiestand) at QuietStar before we left. 

We pedaled into Cannon Beach, a beautiful town, and stopped at Sweet Basil's, an organic restaurant we heard about several times.  As it was only 10 am, we knew we would only be dreaming of the food.  As we are perusing the menu, it's starting to rain harder.  Under an overhang, we don our rain gear, and pedal on.  My big hills, the first with an uphill tunnel, loomed ahead. 

The scenery was beautiful, and we stopped a couple times to drink water, admire the amazing RAIN forest, and then get back on the bikes. Bob and I kept calling in the Triplets. Their feet spinning pushed mine along (I'm sure of it, their presence was so real!), and I actually pedalled all the way up BOTH mountains! 

One of the challenges today was negotiating places with narrow bike lanes, including bridges. At one point there was construction and flaggers controlling traffic, and we got to ride over a bridge all by ourselves, with the traffic stopped in both directions.  We are grateful for all the help. We continue to find ourselves in the right place, at the right time...(I know, you know that one!).

Soaked through our raingear, we stopped at a crossroads, and got more great route and dining suggestions from a local guy.  Over a GREAT Mexican lunch, in a nice warm, dry place, we decided to ponder a motel for tonight, as it was still raining.  We got another great tip, and found a simple little place where we created Hawaii by turning up the heat to dry all the clothes hanging around our room.

We are in a sweet little town, Manzanita, finding like-minded souls and stopping to smell the flowers! 

Dahlia in Manzanita, Oregon



Bob fills the Bragg's (Aminos) at Mother Nature's Store

  I visited Longevity, a yoga and healing studio, and found a couple great new products for the QuietStar store. Then Bob and I went to the Natural Food store, for provisions, where we connected with more people. 

For awhile now, I've been talking about connecting the Web of Light around the world.  I notice that's what's happening, even though it doesn't look like I imagined it would....

And Yvonne (Roza), thanks for all that you have taught me about attuning energy while travelling! It's so much fun to have all these tools!Thanks for all the prayers and thoughts...we feel 'em!



Collaborative Leadership-Finally

Leadership has been a two-edged sword for me; all my life.  As a kid, I was seen as “bossy”; yet I was always the one everyone turned to when something needed to be organized, created or manifested! Sometimes, even then, I felt like I was “alone out front”.  At the same time, being a leader came very naturally to me.  (For now, we will skip the introspection/examination of my need for control…we’ll save that for another blog!).  So organize and lead, I did.  Almost like I had to.  I was in charge of neighborhood summer talent shows (with tickets, seating, costumes, programs and refreshments!) our little play “store” (complete with bags and price tags) and our restaurant (I vividly remember the great pleasure with which I saved and spent my allowance on the napkins we thought were essential!).

At 15, I took over the disorder in the Band director’s office (much to his delight!) and began a 4-year “career” of organizing the band, drill team and majorettes to get us to all of our trips and performances.  (150 kids, buses, uniforms, gear, places to sleep…). 

Fast forward to 1999.  After re-locating to the Central Coast to create San Luis Obispo Center, I began to long for collaborators.  Although my vision was really clear, it felt like something (someone?) was missing.  First, I connected with the Spirit of QuietStar (the angels, guides and other non-physical energies at the heart of the creation) in a conscious way, and things began to get clearer.  Soon after, I met Bob.  He immediately felt drawn to be part of everything I was doing; first assisting me in classes and events, then taking on parts of the creation as his own, adding his own ideas and energy.  QuietStar could grow, and I could breathe again.  I felt such a relief - and so much support.  In fact with each person who came into QuietStar, I felt more at ease.  With each step of the development of our group here, it became more clear what a co-creation this was going to be.  I discovered more about co-creation; how to be part of a team.  But still, I was the leader.  I liked collaboration, that was clear.  What was next?

In 2008, I was driving home from an amazing trip in the Pacific Northwest.  I had spent 3 weeks staying with friends and friends of friends, people I knew through QuietStar or earlier times in my life.  It was amazing.  Each place I went, I felt the threads that join us all, and a powerful sense of the Web of Life began to come into focus.  Back in SLO, others kept QuietStar moving forward.  It was the longest I had been away, and I felt a bit like a mom leaving her baby.  QuietStar was going through another growth spurt. 

I was driving home, through Southern Oregon when it hit me:  QuietStar was not “mine” anymore!!  It was OURS!  I felt “that shiver” go through me….and I knew this was Truth.  But I had no idea what that really meant.

It was huge for me.  After years of being the one who received the vision and  created the structure, it all began to change.  Now, I could get pieces of the vision, half of the picture, but never the whole thing.  At first this was frustrating and disconcerting.  I knew the paradigm of leadership was changing for me, but I couldn’t see what was coming.

Soon after returning, I began the process of creating the non-profit, “church” that I knew was wanting to be born.  I filed the papers, and received the letter from the State making it official. 

It’s important to note that by this time, QuietStar’s Core Team had grown to include 20 practitioners and volunteers, co-creating a full schedule of workshops and events, and our Store was filled with books, music, essential oils and other goodies for the transformational path.  Many people had discovered “us”!  In all this, I knew QuietStar was trying to grow, and was feeling a bit frustrated by my inability to fully shift into the community co-creation QuietStar was clearly trying to become. 

I began to ask for help; to call in allies. 

And then I took a walk with my neighbor, who was completing a book. She asked how I was doing, and I felt the frustration and the tears spill out.  (I always like to focus on the positive; I am a firm believer in the Law of Attraction…but clearly, this all wanted to be said!)  I loved the gleam in her eye when she said, “That’s it…the new paradigm!  You are right in the middle of the shift to collaborative leadership, and you feel the same way many people do!”  I cried harder.  I wasn’t cracked or incompetent.  I was just on the leading edge, making it up as I went along, and didn’t even realize it.  Relief!  Breath!  This friend was Delia Horwitz, and the book, “Collaborative Soup.”  She continued to tell me that everything I was describing pointed to the new collaborative style of leadership.  Her explanation was that many “conscious” people were having the same issues; she and Paula (co-author) had discovered and developed tools for this process.  The biggest thing she told me that day is that QuietStar knows what it wants to become; we just need to nurture it!  Delia offered to help me (and QuietStar) make this shift.

Since then, Delia has continued to support my understanding of collaboration.  I am delighted that she will be sharing her wisdom with us at this Sunday’s Vortex at QuietStar.  Bring your questions about your own collaborations (in process or wanting to start), and we’ll share in the delight of the discovery. 

Using Sound to Ground and Center

I love to have things to listen to that help me ground and center. I am very sensitive to sound and vibration, and love to find things that shift me quickly. Listening to and creating Sound have become tools that I am very grateful to have discovered!

Recently, I added the "Getting into the Vortex" meditation CD by Abraham-Hicks to our store, and I love it. The first night I listened to the meditation, I had this amazing dream about QuietStar's (future) retreat center. I woke up inspired and passionate (and had been feeling overwhelmed before listening). Now I listen to it every night before I go to sleep. In fact, it helps me go to sleep, which is sometimes a challenge.

Tom Kenyon's voice really resonates with me: Lightship, Songs of Magdalen and the Golden Orb all shift my energy to a vibration of love and expansion.

Other favorite sound healers: Jonathan Goldman, Sophia, Dean Evenson

Simply humming balances the "emotional body" (a layer of the auric field), and there is so much research out there about the power of toning and sound. My favorite part is that it bypasses the conscious mind and goes directly to the more primitive/unconscious parts of the brain to create balance and relaxation.

I also love to "do" sound. It connects me directly to Spirit! When I play the crystal bowls, the native flute or use my voice for toning, it brings me fully into the present as all my awareness goes into creating the sound. I started out years ago just humming to Enya, then "humming out loud" and my sound channeling developed from there. All I have to do is remember that I have this amazing tool, and USE IT when I am feeling scrambled. Now I get to "do" sound in my sessions, in classes and at our Sunday Vortex. It is truly amazing!

Tonight, I am excited that we have Jay Schwed doing a crystal bowl concert at QuietStar. I am looking forward to experiencing his great wisdom and learning so much from him! That's his picture above!

Opening up your voice

Here are the tips I promised for opening up your voice. (Not in any particular order; you can just start with the one that seems easiest!)

Ok, you'll notice that many of them mention QuietStar. I LOVE sound and I can't help but share what I love! So, I have created many opportunities at QuietStar for exploring and making sound! Our store offers demos of many CD's that you can come and listen to; we have singing bowls that you can play, and books to look at. And I have gathered together a wonderful collection of practitioners who use sound and vibration (through their voices and instruments) to assist in the opening of the energy field. The QuietStar Band has its own Facebook page, if you want to check that out.

1. Find some music you like and sing along. Start in the privacy of your car or your own home, then branch out to trying it with friends you trust.
2. Find a group that does "toning" and practice with them. It always helps to be around people doing what you want to do. Try humming along, then become louder as you are ready.
3. Remember to breathe! And relax your throat.
4. Close your eyes and IMAGINE toning. Pretty soon you will be able to do it out loud.
5. Read, study, educate yourself about sound and the human energy field. There are some great professional sound healers out there, with wonderful CD's and books. Have you heard Tom Kenyon or Jonathan Goldman. Also be sure to check out two Central Coast artists, Sophia (Song Healer from Carmel and Aleya Dao from Carpinteria) Visit QuietStar's website for a look at some of their CD's. Click here and choose the sound and vibrational healing subcategory. Just by listening and imitating, you will learn how to use your voice!
6. Use a singing bowl as background. There are metal "Tibetan" bowls, and quartz crystal bowls. You are welcome to come play ours during our open store hours...we'll even close the door so you can sing along and be alone! And for a real treat, check out Deborah Van Dyke's beautiful book "Travelling the Sacred Sound Current".
7. Sing, sing, sing! I like to go to churches and sing all those hymns from my childhood. (Sometimes I change the words in my head to match my current philosophy).
8. Chant, chant, chant! Chants are great because they are repetitive, so the words are easy to learn! Their purpose is to open and connect with the Divine. Google "kirtan" and find a group chanting that you can attend.
9. Visit QuietStar for Sunday Circle. On the first Sunday of the month (except July, closed for the 4th!), we gather to use our voices to create a Vortex of healing and transformational energy. The QuietStar Band provides didgeridoo, singing bowl and drum accompaniment.
10. Open your throat chakra. Usually if you have closed down your voice, you have closed down this chakra. It is located in the center of your neck, about where your "adam's apple" is located. Imagine a ball of blue light centered here. Imagine it being completely safe to express your voice. Breathe into this ball of light, energizing and expanding it. For further assistance try essential oil of lavendar or peppermint (put a drop on the skin or take a gentle breath of it. If you're still feeling stuck, try working with an energy healer.
11. (Shameless self-promotion)....Buy the QuietStar CD "The Bliss of Transformation" and practice along with us. I hope this helps you to find your voice and have lots of fun using it!

Love and Light, Elaina