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Welcome to Walking in Awareness. Sixteen years ago, I was struggling to find a way to deal with the stress and anxiety of a busy life. Feeling overwhelmed with the day-to-day details of working in a corporate environment. The constant pressure of deadlines, and meeting goals set by someone else.

Then I was introduced to the practice of Shamanism. Shamanism is not a religion. It is the world’s oldest spiritual tradition. It stems from nature itself, tapping into the power of Mother Earth and ancient indigenous teachings that are concerned not only with the health of the individual, but of the entire collective of all people, plants, animals, and the spirit world.

Years ago, we didn’t need alarms to tell us what time to get up in the morning. People woke with the sun and ended their day when it got dark. They didn’t need a calendar to tell them when winter was coming, or when it was time to plant a garden. They lived using the signs of nature all around them. They followed the seasons and paid attention to the plants and animals. They honored the land and all that it provided. They danced in the spring, tended crops in the summer, harvested their bounty in the fall and gathered around the hearth in the winter as they prepared to celebrate rebirth in a new year.

Today, we spend so much of our time surrounded by concrete and glass, our cell phones tucked tightly in one hand, like we couldn’t imagine getting through the day without it. For many people, it’s the first thing they pick up in the morning, and the last thing they check at night.

We spend hours in our cars, traveling to a job we often don’t like, while we wonder how we are going to pay the bills this month or do we need to stop at the grocery store on the way home? The stress and anxiety of life today can place a heavy toll on both our mental and physical health. That’s pretty much where I was at sixteen years ago.

Back then, I began a path of self-study in Shamanism. In turn, my interest grew in learning many other practices that helped me reconnect to nature and create a grounded, balanced life. A life that helped me both mentally and physically deal with the stress I had placed on myself.

I learned to walk a path of awareness, being present in the moment in a way I don’t know that I had ever experienced before. And then, I made a common mistake. Instead of making my daily practices a priority, I allowed that stress and anxiety to sneak back in.

Oh, at first, it was very subtle. So subtle that it took a long time to realize it. My husband and I founded a canine rescue and sanctuary, and our passion for saving lives became the guiding force in our life. As the number of lives we were responsible for grew, our days became increasingly busy and chaotic. Our work hours increased to 16 hours a day with no down time or days off. Holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries became just another day of the many tasks needed to properly care for the dogs that now depended on us for their survival. 

No matter what, I will never regret the last ten years of rescuing and caring for our dogs. And I look forward to many more years ahead. But, like I said, we became so busy that many of the small daily practices began to slip away. Oh, I will celebrate the next full moon. Missing one isn’t a big deal. Oh, I will find time to meditate next week. This week is just too busy. Oh, I will make that oil blend tomorrow. It’s late and I don’t want the smell to disturb the dogs in the house.

So as time has gone on, I’ve found stress and anxiety creeping back into my day. That old feeling of overwhelm coming on more and more. Then one day, I realized that I had no idea when the next full moon was happening. And it really hit me how much of my practices had slowly faded away. I no longer felt connected to everything around me. I no longer felt grounded and balanced, and I knew it was time to do something about it.

Now, I invite you to join me as I return to the beginning. I intend to restart my studies and get back into a daily practice of walking in awareness.

My plan is to go back to the courses and topics that I enjoyed so much before and start again with a beginner’s mind. I won’t be posting anyone’s copyrighted material. That would be wrong and unfair. What I will be posting is my interpretation of what I am learning all over again.

In no particular order, I will be delving into Shamanism, aromatherapy, crystal therapy, shadow work, manifesting with intention, sound therapy, basic astrology, divination using cards and runes, the four elements and the medicine wheel, mindfulness, chakras, herbal magick and any other topics that interest me along the way. I have a lot of interests!

And, I have to find a way to do this within the busy and chaotic life that I live now. This could literally take years.

I will be posting weekly articles and readings in written form at first and adding an audio version of the blog between now and mid-November. Some content will be free, while others will be by paid subscription only. You may subscribe to the written version of the blog, the audio version of the blog or both. Different people learn in different ways, and I wanted to make the blog available in whichever form works best for you.

So now, I invite you to join me on this journey of Walking in Awareness. I hope that together we can find that reconnection to Mother Earth and all that she provides.