Rigor

This Japanese maple was dying, one branch at a time. Finally I found someone who knew what to do to save it. He dug up its roots, which were intertwined, choking each other. He cut out a big root that was the worst culprit. He programmed irrigation to give it the right amount of water. This morning, when I walked out the door, this is what I saw. The tree actually has blooms among the new leaves! Sometimes, to save a tree—or a person—radical treatment is needed. Unless we get to the root of the problem, we experience the same hurt again—and again—and again. My specialty is getting to the root of the problem. One client said that I help people “optimize their lives.”

Gambel Quail

After I finished my coaching call, I walked into the family room and looked out the glass wall to the terrace. For the first time—ever—I saw a male Gambel quail on top of the wall that encloses the terrace. Because it was unusual to see quail so close to the house, I looked up what quail symbolizes: I am protected and safe. Photo by Zach Pallister

You write or draw it: Have you had any unusual experiences with nature lately?

Pot of Coffee

After years of making coffee one cup at a time, today, inspired by my neighbor, I brewed a whole pot—just for me. Unexpectedly, memories flooded over me—memories of my mom and my aunts brewing a pot of coffee after lunch and sitting around my grandmother’s round oak table to savor the cup and conversation. What flooded over me was the gratitude I had for these people who encouraged me, praised me, and let me know in myriad ways that I was loved.

All of that in a pot of coffee.

You write it: What is a pot of coffee to you?

Change

Every day, rugs need straightening; leaves fall and want brooms—or rakes. A flower blooms—or wilts. Words flow—never the same way twice—and people change.

So I say, “I hope I’m different the next time you see me.”

Heart Meditation

Here’s how I begin every meditation class at Village Yoga in Sedona: https://www.villageyogasedona.com/online-yoga-classes

Take three long, deep breaths. Inhale all the way to your navel and whoosh the breath out. Now place your hand over your heart. Realize that this heart started beating somewhere around the third week after your conception. You were a tiny mass of cells. A moment came when some of those cells started pulsating. Ever since that moment, your heart has been faithfully pumping blood and oxygen throughout your system, sustaining your life. So through your hand, to your heart, say “Thank you. Thank you for so faithfully sustaining my life.”

Because your heart has been with you since your very beginning, it knows everything. You have no secrets from your heart. It has a wisdom about you. So ask your heart now to guide you through this day.

Invisible Changes

My bedroom has windows facing east and north. To the east are ancient volcanic hills; to the north Sedona’s famous red rock formations. My sight line is northeast, across a pond and beyond to Lee Mountain.

This view is my daily reminder of constancy and change. The hills are constant. But the position of the sun moves as the seasons change. And what causes this movement?

The rotation of the earth. I can’t see or feel the rotation, but I know it’s happening because of the changes I see through my windows.

Often, change is invisible. But if you look carefully, you see its result.

Energy

The human system derives energy from four sources: Physical (eat, drink, exercise), mental (thinking, problem-solving), emotional (positive and negative, energizing and depleting), and spiritual (powerful, effortless, underutilized).

Do not confuse spiritual and religious. Most often, religion flows from mental and emotional energy.

In my coaching, I work to lessen mental and emotional energy and increase the spiritual, which gives more power for less effort with better results.

How do I do this? In three phases: awareness, acceptance, action.

What is your experience with these energies?

Finding Treasure

A tree near my home produces rose-shaped cones—perfectly shaped woody roses. In my daiy walk-by, I search the ground for one of the treasures. If I see one, even though I have many, I am compelled to pick it up.

You write or draw it: Which of nature’s treasures draws you?

Grace

Seasonal allergies overcame me recently, and I felt terrible. To pass the time, I played Solitaire on my phone, blaming myself every second for engaging in such mindless activity.

Actually, my mind wasn’t fit for much else, and I made how I felt worse by my self-criticism.

My new goal is to take it easy on myself, especially when I’m not well. How about you?

Serenity

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.”

Serenity comes when we realize that the “things I can” change are all within me. Right now, for example, what are you resisting? Change resistance to acceptance. Feel the tension leave your body. Realize that all—truly—is well.

Strength from Horses

Last week I participated in horse therapy, led by Belle Shook in Cottonwod, AZ. It wasn’t the first time I had experienced the sentient power of horses, but it was the most impactful. Horses sense our vibration—what we are wordlessly thinking and feeling—and they respond.

My greatest gift was the moment when the three horses lined up behind me. Overwhelmingly, a feeling came over me that I was safe—that they “had my back.” It was the first time I had experienced that feeling since my husband died. It was a void that I had not acknowledged.

Emotions are powerful. Maybe this is a good day to acknowledge what’s going on with you and look around for helpers.

You write it: Have you ever derived strength from horses? What was it like?

Why Am I Not Getting What I Truly Want?

Please do go to my website, https://www.NancyOelklaus.com, and listen to the 5-minute recording entitled “Mirror Neurons.” Then read The Hidden Messages in Water by Masaru Emoto. These two sources provide the scientific basis for the adage that, from our thoughts and feelings, we create our own experiences, moment by moment. No one does anything “to us.” So, if you aren’t living the life you truly want, look within. Set an intention that IS what you truly want.

It might also help to participate in Serenity Meditation on Mondays at 12:00 noon MST. Register here at least one hour before the meditation begins: https://www.villageyogasedona.com/online-yoga-classes

Peace be with you.

Fellow Travelers and Light Load

When there are no more mountains to climb, you walk

Valley paths, not entangled with vines

Or cragged with steeps and rock.

Not littered with struggles of other climbs—

Just level paths, with fellow travelers and light loads.

You write it: I’ve just described what my life is like today. How about yours?

Forgiveness

When we choose not to forgive, we choose to feel the original hurt again—and again—and again. Who is actually hurting us? Our own thoughts.

I’m working on forgiveness these days. Maybe you are, too. If you want more about forgiveness, email me at NancyOelklaus@gmail.com

You write it: Who/what are you ready to forgive?

Reconciliation

In the preface to A Love Story, I wrote, “His mischievous sense of humor was intact, and I saw a familiar flicker of a smile. It was clean between us.”

It is a great blessing to have a relationship that is “clean.” But many of us have the other kind, in which resentments have been allowed to remain. That is why I recorded “Reconciliation” and posted it to my website as an audio tool. www.NancyOelklaus.com

If you would like to experience reconciliation, I offer these simple steps: Feel all the feelings. Decide how you want to be in this relationship. Say or write, from your heart, what you truly need to say. Begin your writing with, “What I truly need to say is. . . .”

Going through this process may be all you need to do—because, you see, the problem and the solution are within you.

You write it: With whom would you like to experience reconciliation? What is your next step?

Serenity Meditation Livestream

At 12:00 noon Mountain Standard Time, a livestream of meditation that I lead at Village Yoga in the Village of Oak Creek, Sedona, will begin. Here’s the meditation design:

1. 5 minutes of focused attention on the sound of waterfall, flowing through and cleansing us.

2. 20 minutes of meditation designed to get us out of our heads and into our hearts. (The 5-minute introduction to this “heart meditation” may be found on my website, www.NancyOelklaus.com, under “Audio Meditation.”

3. 20 minutes of meditation launched by a passage from my book entitled Simple Serenity.

I hope you’ll join us. https://www.villageyogasedona.com/online-yoga-classes Please register online at least 1 hour prior to the start time of 1:00 MST.

Constant Change

On Christmas Day I hiked to the place where we spread my husband’s ashes. I had not been there in over a year. It is a place I dearly love. I know it well. But on this day, I had a hard time finding it. In fact, I passed it and had to circle back. Then I realized NATURE IS CONSTANTLY CHANGING! Logs get moved; rocks shift. What I thought were solid markers are actually only temporary.

As I journaled and reflected on this experience, I wrote this intention: I yield to the constancy of change.

You write it: How well are you yielding to the constancy of change?

A Poem

I love being awake in the early morning,

When darkness covers the village

And the white dog lies warmly beside me.

Then, all is clear—simple—well defined.

You write it: When is life clear, simple, and well defined for you?

Reconnect

Some time ago I learned that favorite cousins had retired to Prescott, which is only a little more than an hour away from Sedona. I got their contact information from another family member, thinking, “I’d like to reconnect with them someday.”

Yesterday was that day, and our reunion was warm, loving, kind, and meaningful. Of course, we had to spend some time catching up with news of what our children are doing now and what had happened in the more than 25 intervening years, but that took surprisingly little time. We quickly moved the topic of conversation to what has meaning in our lives today.

This reunion was uplifting for me, and we promised to meet again in the spring, opening a new door to a treasured relationship.

You write it: Is there anyone with whom you would like to reconnect? When will you do it?