“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.” ~ Buddha

God is not found in the bottom of a potato chip bag, yet we continue to search every greasy morsel until we come out empty handed. There is a spiritual epidemic going around, and the first place to see it reflected is in the mirror.  The question today is: how do you feed yourself?

 For years, a hoagie bun filled with turkey, shredded lettuce, and diced tomato, accompanied by a single serving bag of chips and a Coca-Cola was my go-to staple when hunger overtook work in the middle of the day. One would think that meals were an established necessity, and still I did not plan ahead or prepare. In fact, after shopping, I generally stowed everything in the freezer so it would not rot;  crystallized bread peered out from every shelf. The cupboards were stocked with cans that patiently watched, like children waiting to be picked for the team as the cupboard slammed shut and the scavenger hunt began for food outside the home.

One could ask, how is it that a chef could be so ill prepared in the area of meal planning? Was it laziness or lack of self-care? Perhaps it was habit. For years this chef ran a kitchen where the staff was expected to prepare meals while a different pattern was instilled at home. This would be a plausible answer; however, should an audience appear at the table, the knives would come out to perform magic and acrobatics, joyfully preparing masterful creations.

Many times in this cook's journey, spirit has put a question mark on my relationship to food. First and foremost was tripping over grace to discover an innate gift for blending ingredients like an artist mixes paints on his palette. Later, several years into this discovery, my pot scorched dry and I was placed in a food disorder unit at the hospital (see Pearls of Wisdom: 30 Inspirational Ideas to Live your Best Life!). During my recovery, my service work included leading an Overeaters Anonymous group for two years. Still, it never dawned on me that perhaps I, too, had soured my relationship to food and self.

This curdled milk floating on top of the fragrant coffee was all too apparent to everyone but me. This is the truth about our addictions; everyone around us can see what blinds us. Recently I had a client giggling as she shared her story about digging into the trash after a bag of chips that she swore off the night before. To me, this was no different than my own addictions, which appeared as a tiger in a cage 25 years ago that needed cocaine so desperately that it stalked the city slums. Or the same look that a gambler has in his eyes, check in hand, heading towards the casino ready to flush down the drain any sense of dignity and self-worth. Although laughter came from her lips, the shame drooled down from her eyes.

When asked how this was funny, she went blank. After we spoke a while longer and I read to her pages from "The Dr.’s Story" in the Big Book of Alcoholic’s Anonymous, (in the preamble it states that the tools have usefulness for us all) she crumbled. At last there was a glimmer of hope when she “got it” and felt that she was powerless over controlling her behavior. From this place of absolute surrender and desperation, the healing can begin. Dear God, please help me to see the truth and grant me freedom from reaching for the crumbs.

Today I cook for myself. I shop, and I even have fresh food ready to prepare. While controlling food was not my drug of choice it is a critical element of self-care. From the vantage point of my cutting board, I can see how good my current spiritual condition is at any given moment. Days when the genie is granting me all my wishes, the house smells of great flavors, and healthy meals are prepared with love. Other days when a dark mood rings the doorbell, water and frostbitten bread were shared; a meager feast for this chef’s guest.

Becoming aware of how I eat and how the food choices I make correspond to my moods has allowed me to make better choices when I look at a menu. It has been six months since I have indulged in chips. However, the movie theater has been off limits, because, like an addict recovering from alcohol, it was necessary to change the people, places, and things for a while.  I cannot bear previews without a coke and popcorn.  Soon I will be ready for this test, or maybe allow myself a treat.  God willing.

If you or someone you know struggles with addiction or recovery, they  should consider The Practical Shaman’s 12 weeks to self mastery coaching program  or her three day intensive this summer. Personal Retreat.

When it comes to dishes, are you the type who will leaves your food-encrusted dishes piled high in the sink overnight and wait for your morning coffee to brew before you start cleaning? Or perhaps you jump from the table after the last forkful of dessert like a whirling dervish in the ammonia bottle, a cleaning tornado scrubbing until every last counter shines? 

Are you awake and aware of how you tend to chores?  If you look, I guarantee you will find a ritual in everything from chopping an onion to emptying the dishwasher.  These everyday rituals relate directly to your ability to shift, change, and grow.

In my life, when I started the arduous healing journey, the first task on the to-do list was to learn to make the bed every day.  Simple as this may seem to some, it was not easy to master. Now, twenty years later, the task has become second nature, yet the goal is to be present to this routine, fluffing the pillows with joy and gratitude for another great night's sleep.

Before I travel, I dust, vacuum, change the sheets, and wash the floors for the ghosts who will inhabit my space. Sashi the cat appreciates a clean place to sleep, and I feel scattered and incomplete if the house is left in disorder. Somewhere inside I hold a belief that the quality of my travel is dependent upon how well I vacuum. The more I travel, the more I realize that this ritual is not so much about the away time but rather the meditation I use in preparation to go.

According to the indigenous Shamans, time is not a linear arrow but travels in a circular movement in all directions, backwards and forwards. This leads me to believe that the conscious acts we engage in before a retreat are every bit as important as coming home to a clean home waiting with open arms.

What does it mean to implement a yoga practice into your chores? According to the Yogis, it is crucial that we bring our loving attention to every act. So next weekend you are headed to Joshua Tree to celebrate at Shakti Fest. You will commune with several thousand loving souls who will vibrate to the rhythms of kirtan and expand their flexibility and agility through yoga. How you take it home begins with your preparation.

Before you go to yoga, ask yourself, what is my intention for this yoga class? The answer could be as simple as self-commitment, or as complicated as de-stressing from your job or the care of aging parents. Either way, it is essential that you consciously begin your practice by setting an intention.  

Once you are there (at a retreat or at home on your mat), it is crucial to be there. Being at a yoga retreat and thinking about the dirty dishes stacked in the sink back home will not help you engage in love. Love is an energy that is entirely experienced in the present moment. Therefore, it is important to clean the proverbial dish before leaving home. The simple act of preparation and intention will begin to shift your day. Finally, before locking the door, thank yourself. Close your eyes and center into your heart and honor the willingness that is you for showing up for your life, chores, and joyful retreat.

Now the stage is set for you to attend the retreat, but how to do you carry the love and flow home? Next weekend Renee Baribeau, a.k.a. The Practical Shaman, will be conducting a workshop at Shakti Fest on Sunday, May 13, from 3 – 5 p.m. called "After Yoga, The Dishes." In this workshop Renee will engage in and teach several processes to help you take the love home. Shakti Fest will be held at Joshua Tree Retreat Center, only two hours from L.A. and all of Southern CA.

Hope to see you there!  Save $25 and use my code Renee2012.  Register here.

Please follow The Practical Shaman on FB for updates and highlights.

When going through a personal transformation, we often feel the need to withdraw from the world for a period of introspection. Throughout history, people have returned to nature to immerse themselves in quiet and beauty, to restore and invigorate their souls, or to simply relax and regroup. Renee Baribeau, The Practical Shaman, guides her clients through their personal growth, and sees them take tremendous strides and leaps of faith as they leave relationships, heal marriages, recover from lifelong heartbreaks and personal trauma. "Renee's guidance has enhanced and enriched my journey. Anyone would be blessed to be touched by her helpful presence in their lives." Would you like to be nurtured, fed, supported, and loved unconditionally for 3 days for your own growth and healing? Learn more here

Gramma Hedlund gave me a Steno Pad when I was eleven for Christmas. In the beginning, the scribble on the pages resembled the news feed onmy Facebook wall, a warped report of a teenager’s life, make up’s and break ups. Over the years, the filled notebooks spilled over into dozen of boxes and were shuffled from coast to coast. The illegible markings left a pen trail tracking a life that was like a whoopie pie: gooey cream caked between hardened shell of love and heartbreak. Little did Wilma know that her gift would begin a dance that would last a lifetime, long before "morning pages" was a fixture in common New Age vocabulary.

Writing on demand, however, was a challenge. Taking out the pen to fill the empty pages with wishful notions of wit and wisdom took practice. Many mornings were spent staring at the blue lines propped on my knees, pen in the right hand and mug in the other, waiting on the muse. As I grew emotionally, the writing in the spiral bound notebooks bore witness to the transformation that took place in my life.

Sometimes the darkened room became light and the words became lists. While other mornings words flowed doing cartwheels and somersaults, scrambling children in the schoolyard, lining up at the bell to be accounted for.

Whatever the outcome of the morning scribbles, by the last sip of coffee, the page would bear witness to another day. Sometimes there was little more than a to-do list, ideas for a new chapter, a newsletter in the offing, and occasionally my next great idea. The early morning pages are illegible, and if not immediately transcribed to the computer become forgotten banter.

Over the last forty years that single Steno Pad was replaced by numerous, colorful spiral bound notebooks lining shelves in the garage. One time I revisited my works documenting the timeline for my memoir, The Shaman Chef: My Life and Other Recipes, about how cooking saved my life. 

About a year ago the city had five big trucks lined up in the parking lot in the local park shredding paper. On that day the weighty boxes were stacked into the car , driven to the park, and the energy set free. After all, most of what was stored there was unreadable even to me and had long been committed to my memory and memoir.  

Several years ago, I began the process of rewriting. To me the process was like preparing a glace de viande , refining and reducing to make words that stick to the back of your tongue, leaving a  fragrant taste after your last bite. This process took discipline and many hours of sitting and examination of every smell, texture, and personality that I had ignored. In addition, there was now the external critic, the editor who required reading of book after book on writing. So what came easily at eleven became refined at fifty. Then the work began. Still today I am grateful that my grandmother gave me the first glued pages that began my dance with the bear. So today, after all these years, I write.

I encourage you to begin a daily ritual. It could be a walk, a meditation, or yoga. It is a one day at a time proposition. Many years ago, my friends stashed me away at a house in the woods to heal in solitude. He was a painter. I was amazed that he had so many canvasses lined in a bin. I wondered, How he had done this; in the silence of the woods? The answer: one painting at a time.

Text from client: "I am fighting to choose me."

Reply from mentor: "Stop fighting, surrender!"

The fight will wear you down, and the more you engage in battle with your ego to change the firmer the grasp—no different than pulling out nut grass from dry earth. Changing from the inside out is a process, and it always helps if we soften the earth with love and water, first.

Have you heard the saying, "No pain, no gain," or "Pain is the greatest motivator of change"? We all have. But for one moment, can you be willing put this idea aside? Let's look at this "if I hurt badly enough I can change" mentality. In this model, you remain a victim to your suffering. Remove the hurt and what is left? Change. Inherent in this idea is a limiting belief that without the hurt you would be happy. Once again, in this paradigm we are looking outside, that something other than the current moment or drama will make us ok.

What if you assume for one moment that the hurt is perfect? Right now this is the perfect place for you to be. Not forever, not in an hour, but in this moment, you are getting accurate feedback that something internal needs attention. Become the observer of the feeling, find where it is living in your body, and ask this energy, what is needed right now? Look and see; is there a color associated with your discomfort or a shape? Focus all your attention into your discomfort as the observer not the victim.

Change is the moving element. Life is a constantly flowing river with its bends, rocks, and dams. Perhaps right now you feel like a greasy sink full of dirty dishes or leftover picked through scraps of food from a dinner party. Pull the plug, run the garbage disposal, and watch how easily the water flows.

Putting the discomfort into a new light will allow you to shift naturally. A year ago I decided to get into better shape. I had gained 15 pounds that to me were an unnecessary accessory to my health. However, I did not beat myself into misery. One day I decided to live in more joy. I chose the path of happiness. I am happier when my clothes fit. I was not unhappy, but I did want more joy. Exercise makes me feel better. Slowly, from this place of desire, not disgust, I made a new plan. Eating habits changed as I grew from the inside out. This process took a whole year.

This photo is from day 3 of my personal challenge to find more fun and healthy exercise in my life. Yesterday, I learned the basics of kick boxing. The smile on my face is proof that I surrender to joy.

Renee Baribeau is a mentor, healer, coach, teacher, and writer.  Over the past fifteen years, she has trained with a long list of traditional shamans and modern-day mystics. She has received rites of passage from Q’ero elders in Peru and a Mapuche shaman in Chile, and apprenticed with a Lakota elder in Southern California for nine years. A graduate of the Healing the Light Body two-year program with the Four Winds Society, she then studied directly with Jose Luis Herrera. She has also received the healer’s blessing from Swami Kaleshwar. She works a a coach/healer helping her clients discover balance and passion.  Join her for one of her teleclasses, journeys, or workshops.

Last night, at a holiday dinner party, I met a woman who was turning 90 years old. She made a conscious decision not to engage her mind learning the computer or other smart devices. Instead she finds Judge Judy a relaxing alternative to Facebook. Watching her daughter’s frustration from the sideline was more than enough to keep her from choosing to talk to Sari, the human robot.

Do you feel left out because you don't have an iPad or iPhone, but wonder if you need one?

Lately it is becoming ever more difficult to keep up with the fast-paced change of technology. Everyone insists they do not know how they ever functioned before owning a sleek and portable device with access to information 24/7. However, I am distracted and increasingly overwhelmed by my cell phone, Facebook, tweeting, and website maintenance. It is more than a full-time job keeping up with Zuckerberg’s endless barrage of unsupervised attempts to garnish more private information than the FBI.

Looking around, I see that I am not alone. Forget chemtrails, social media distraction is a more blatant and serious threat to the survival of community. Last week at a birthday celebration, the table set with three generations of family, I was shocked; no sooner was the desert served than the grownups took out their smart phones and began playing a game separately—together! The children were perched on their parents' shoulders watching. Cruising the rest of the restaurant, it was clearly spring break and every other table was engaged in a similar display of poor manners: the parents teaching their progeny that cell phones are acceptable table companions, and worse, a way of spending time together! At a recent party, the same thing, 20 people sitting around a room and a third of them texting to each other?

Adults are the worst offenders. Last night at the holiday dinner, the conversation zeroed in on iPods and iPads, leaving little time to find out how an 89-year-old woman thrived so well in our changing world. Vote me guilty; I, too, was perched on my elbows listening and engaged—but I find myself increasingly separate from real dialogue and honest connection. Lately, despite my 12,000 or more connections on Facebook, I feel disconnected from the mountains and community. Engagement now defines the number of people who share your post or comment on a picture.

 The glassy touch screen has replaced debate and engaged conversation. It is a poor substitute. But she who has kept up fastest on technology sits in the throne leading the conversation.

The ham was washed down with talk of shortcuts, security infringement, and frustrating conversations with scripted technicians from India. This is what we have settled on as a community as worthwhile dinner conversation.

Perhaps it has been a slow process of putting ourselves to sleep. Front and center in my mind was the black and white movie I watched the night before, To Kill a Mocking Bird, which reminded me of my childhood, an era of black and white T.V., racism, and a lifestyle that invented large screen stories of the imagination based on one's immediate surroundings. Don’t get me wrong, I'm extremely happy that a global world is helping to end racist mindsets based on ignorance. However, even though I can now communicate with clients in Europe using Skype, I also mourn the loss of familiarity with my community and current location.

Driving down the road you see people looking down instead of looking out at the mountains.

Yes, I am as guilty as the next. One friend has me turn off the phone when I visit, while another continues to text while we hike. This spring I am ready to work on a moratorium in my life to unplug several hours a day. Reading text messages before my morning coffee will no longer be allowed. Clients will have to accept that I check my messages a few times a day rather than the moment they send. This pressing topic is going to be a chapter in my forthcoming book, Tools for Awakening. This is surely a place we are sleeping.

In May I will go to a small village in Mexico. Perhaps you should join me in unplugging for a week. I am 98% convinced that despite an additional 700 e-mails in my inbox, not much else will have changed, unless of course they come out with the iPad 5.

Renee Baribeau also known as The Practical Shaman is a business/life coach and social media expert. She teaches monthly teleclasses on Soul Inspired Business Networking. She is also a life coach who specializes in restoring balance to your successful life.

Will the world end of the world on December 21, 2012? Perhaps this is not a literally" end of the world". but of a "Great Cycle" 

according to global indigenous elders. This is an important year for spiritual renewal and rebirth. Are you ready?

Will the world end on December 12, 2012?

An oyster can’t produce a pearl without first suffering

from a grain of sand…

In PEARLS OF WISDOM, New York Times bestselling authors Jack Canfield, Marci Shimoff, Chris Attwood, and Janet Bray Attwood along with today’s brightest stars in transformational leadership, offer 30 inspirational ideas for turning your own grains of sand into brilliant pearls.

Providing a wealth of practical wisdom and advice, each of the 30 authors share a meaningful idea that can be acted upon immediately – each designed to remove the blocks that interfere with living your best life now. 

Buy your copy now

 Renee Baribeau of Palm Desert, CA is one of the contributing authors. Renee is known as The Practical Shaman working as a modern day coach/healer and mystic for the past fifteen years. She is well known in the desert as a chef and director of Desert Holistic Network a chamber of commerce supporting over 100 heart-centered business owners.

Her chapter “Recipe For A Creative Awaking” was picked for this book out of thousands and thousands of submissions from around the world. Join Renee for a talk and book signing at Barnes and Noble in Palm Desert on April 14 from 11am-4pm.  Her talk entitled, Creativity: a Recipe for Awakening “will begin at noon. 

Renee Baribeau

                “I believe in the power of prayer combined with earth-based traditions and that it is time to get back to basics so we can move forward with clarity”

Jack Canfield

“Sometimes inspirations occur without our even seeming to ask for them.  Other times, we have to ask for them then create the quiet space within which to receive them.”

Marci Shimoff

“Most people aren’t in the habit of taking good care of themselves and honor­ing their own needs. Luckily, beginning that process is actually quite simple: you start by becoming aware of those needs. Three times a day, stop what you’re doing and ask yourself, What’s the most loving thing I can do for myself right now? Then pay very close atten­tion to the answer.”

Janet Bray Attwood and Chris Attwood

“What you love and God’s will for you is one and the same. What this means is that the universe doesn’t play tricks. It’s not a mistake that you love the things you do. By consistently choosing in favor of your passions, you will find that you will naturally have the courage you need to live a fulfilled, success­ful life, one step or one huge leap at a time.”

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About the Authors

The journey begins in magnificent Mexico City, steeped in mystery. Now the capital of Mexico and center for government, Mexico City was originally built on an island by the Aztecs in 1325, known then as Tenochtitlan. After the siege of 1521, the city was eventually rebuilt in traditional Spanish architecture and is now a bustling, cosmopolitan metropolis laced with centuries of torrid history and breathtaking architecture.

The itinerary includes exploration of the Mexican capital from the centrally located hotel near the main Square and churches, and travel to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Five hours from the nation’s capital the group will spend four days in Tequisquiapan with accommodations and meals provided at The Maridelfi hotel and where the real magic of the trip begins working with various forms of plant medicine and herbal remedies.

The tour includes a visit to hot springs and the town of San Miguel de Allende to marvel at the beautiful baroque and Neo-classical structures that have appealed to artists through the centuries. This multicultural trip is not only a hands on adventure studying traditional Curanderismo herbal remedies and local plants to use in your own life but an opportunity to join and get to know other local people from Mexico.

Cost is $1450 if you reserve before March 14^th. Price will increase to $1550 after March 15^th. The trip is limited to 16 people, men and women included so be sure to sign up soon!  Registration and itinerary.

Gaetano's new book Messages from the Angels of Transparency: Powerful Words from Gentle Souls addresses the questions, "Could wise and wonderful beings contact us from beyond this world and unveil our true potential? Would knowing that we really mattered enable us to uncover the truth behind our reason for living?" This fascinating book offers answers, spiritual practices and comprehensive meditations by teacher, healer and author, Gaetano Vivo, which have the potential to strengthen, heal and transform lives and bring hope and inspiration. It also clarifies the true nature of Reiki as a simple, yet profound tool for accessing and accepting the power of universal energy—what we might call ‘love’ or ‘God'—and touches on our fundamental dilemma: Who are we and why do we exist? More than 20,000 people have already enjoyed Gaetano’s earlier offerings in both English and Italian. This book offers the reader a chance to digest messages from ‘higher beings’ for greater understanding of our own personal evolution. Anyone seeking to live a happier, better life, and has felt the desire to undertake life with greater confidence and self-worth, will relish this book.

Yesterday, Gaetano visited Dana Taylor at definitelydana.wordpress.com/2012/03/07insights-from-reiki-master-gaetano-vivo, where they talked about becoming a Reiki Master, multi-dimensional living and cutting cords.
Today, I'd like to share with you a recent interview I had with Gaetano when I got to ask him some questions on healing the inner child, cutting chords and transparency. I hope you enjoy it.

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How does your book relate to healing the inner child?

Gaetano Vivo: The Angels of Transparency helped me to come to terms with many things about my life. Some of them appeared to me as childlike angels. They told me that the time had arrived to look inside myself and heal my inner child. So I got in touch with that part of myself that I had hidden, abandoned and rejected for such a long time. I felt like a new world was coming to life—like I was reborn. It felt like my skin was being regenerated somehow and that all my old issues were being healed and addressed. When we heal our inner child then we can think of moving forward and healing other people or showing them how to heal themselves. It is very important that we do this at this particular time on the Earth when there are a lot of people who have fear for the future: they have lost their jobs and are in need of a big shift, a big change, a greater transformation that can only come from within first of all.

Do the Angels help you cut chords?

Gaetano Vivo: One of the most important things you can do is to ask Archangel Michael to cut the energetic cords with the people you have interacted with during the day, so that your energy stays pure and intact without having any debris, or energetic thoughts coming from any of the persons you have met during the day.

Ask Archangel Michael to cut, using his sword, all the cords from people and go to sleep safely and full of love energy. With Archangel Michael, I learned to cut the cords that bound me to people with whom I had interacted and who had left imprints in my aura that didn't need to be there anymore. Archangel Michael taught me how to cut those cords that are made of fear, resentment, anger and hate so my aura could be more expanded and filled with love, light and joy.

What do you mean by transparency?

Gaetano Vivo: A need to clearly see into the hearts belonging to 'people of influence' has never been more necessary than now. Teachers, physicians, politicians, business leaders and the like are being asked to lay bare their souls, in order that we all feel they are doing 'their bit' for everyone else. As I watch the news and see media moguls exposed, politicians forced to be made accountable I am actually 'seeing' the layers peeled back to bring to the fore the true intent of their actions…and though it is not a pretty sight, it is necessary.

But in order for people to pull together as we are forced through a bottleneck into the unknown, we all have to be confident of the authenticity of everyone's words and deeds in order to progress on our path of conscious evolution. Transparency is all about the unveiling of our true intent, the nature of our hearts desire and the possible outcomes of our actions. Then deciding what is worth pursuing. Transparency is not just about shedding pure light on others, but having that light shed on ourselves too, to investigate if we are being all we can be. Are we true to ourselves, expressing the qualities of compassion, patience and understanding outwardly as well as within? Only when we have the full, untainted version of the human hearts before us can we execute discernment and make better choices for ourselves, our families and our communities at large.

Right now, no one shoe fits all. No one belief resonates with all hearts, nor can one way of thinking be enforced successfully upon billions. I know that to suggest that we live transparently in an age where 'illusions' and false promises spew forth at us from all forms of media and indoctrination will shock and surprise some, and perhaps instil anxieties in others. But ultimately 'being ourselves', expressing what is true for us and allowing others to do the same will make our life choices easier and help us to better change or discard that which does not serve us or our living planet any longer. And this may vary between people, but that sense of diversity will allow us to see the various possible outcomes play out in real terms and then live accordingly.

———-

I hope you enjoyed this interview with Gaetano Vivo and that you’ll check out his book Messages from the Angels of Transparency: Powerful Words from Gentle Souls at http://www.gaetanovivoblog.com/book-launch/pages/pre-launch.html