I started learning about Reiki in 2000, when Brenda, a dear friend and Native American Healer of Women, told me about Beckey’s work. Now I had been working with Brenda beginning in 1996, after the passing of my sister. Sat through many sweet lodges and women’s healing groups learning about my self. Brenda shared the teachings from her mentor, author/healer Jamie Sams, practicing and teaching the healing arts and recovery she learned for herself over several years. I hope to continue be a part of women’s healing groups for many more years. God Bless you Brenda.

Becky is my Reiki Master. Since my first Reiki treatment in 2000, I have been taking Reiki trainings and practicing Reiki for myself and others. Doing the work only gets easier, after it gets much harder of course. These are my first steps in the process of choosing a “daily practice of self healing” which often seems to be like lifting weight that is forever too heavy to get off the ground. The more I let go of the weight, the lighter the practice of self healing becomes. I do need to make choices that guide my awareness of this in order for the healing to take place. I do need to be grateful for the remembering. I believe this process of healing cannot be done in isolation, nor can it be done by anyone else but me. So how does this work, how does this happen?

It happens from my experiences, my courage to be in contact with my feelings, with what is going on inside my body. It happens by labeling/naming my feelings, through taking care of my feelings and needs by giving them the utmost value through my voice.  My voice is my life’s creative work expressed through my stories as an individual; choosing to be responsible for my actions within my role as wife, mother, friend, family relative, sister, daughter, grandmother, all of it. My voice, my life, my story shared with those I trust and feel safe with and within the awareness that I often allow myself to not feel safe, when I am. I must realize the freedom of my voice to create, let go of the weight, remember who I really am, and create my life as a daily practice of self healing.

You are welcome to contact me about choosing a daily practice, to schedule a Reiki  appointment, or to share your thoughts through this blog as we  learn from each others experiences. As I continue this link of  practicing self healing through the arts passed to me from Brenda, Beckey,  my husband and best friend, my grandmothers and mother and sisters, and many other dear friends and healers, I remember we must not allow ourselves be in isolation from each other. We need to be sharing and linking with each other in all ways.

Gratitude to Brenda and Beckey for their courage in not isolating themselves from their healing and self knowledge.

Here is a link my  site  where you can learn more about the art of daily practice

http://www.selftimeout.com/

God’s Blessing of Light be upon you,

Connie

Spomagit Ahkeewah

Spring 2012 has arrived with a quiet and cold brush of late snow. Our fifth grand child, River, had his first birthday. We had a blessed fall and winter. Daffodils planted in the winter by our grand daughter and bought from her schools fund raising event in the fall,  are blooming brightly in the garden. Waiting for the sun to warm up the earth a few more degrees before planting sweet peas and snow peas. Chives, chard, rhubarb, and various herbs coming alive now in the garden. I planted two new roses in February and am looking forward to discovering their unique colors and scents. I have been cooking new recipies and enjoying the outcome of my adventures into new spices and tastes. Time to get onion sets soon and decide on what more I want to grow in my garden beds this year.

Here in this post is a picture I took when we were on Pilgrimage in Israel. This photo was taken at the Hadar in Akka’ Israel, after visiting the Baha’i Holy Places in the area. Next to the beauty of the Shrines were the smells of the spices at the Hadar, astonishing to me.

On March 24th Chuck and I presented the Therapeutic Parenting Tools to 40 participants at the annual Skagit Valley College Connections Conference. Our three hour workshop was titled “Value The Family, Value The Child”. It was presented in English and Spanish. Joining us as our translator and assistant was a wonderful young woman we have been mentoring for some time now. She has been learning the tools and assisting the interpretation of the materials with the goal of  developing a Spanish Therapeutic Parenting Group. To my great surprise, my dear friend attended the workshop and recognized me during her introduction as her long time friend and spiritual sister. I was so taken back to see her that I lost my breath when I began to speak and honor her presence to the group. Her presence in my life is a true honor and blessing. he worshop was a great success.

I recently found this web site and have emailed the creator of it for information in hopes of finding further family links. No word back yet.  http://www.birdclan.org/threesisters.htm

Here a snapshot of the happenings which occurred as I moved forward this past six months. My husband and I transformed our waiting room into a gallery. http://www.ululate.org/ We have had monthly showings since August 6th.  State funds, though slashed, were not as severely cut as we thought and I was able to keep my teaching position at part time. I had a dream with vivid images of helping my mother give birth to myself. The birth was on a beach and I found myself walking freely along after the birth. This dream told me I am fully and directly responsible for my choices and the outcomes based on those choices. I performed with my dance group “Veils of The Wahadi” three times in the past six months. The group practices weekly and we make our own costumes, performing for fun. We had all of our five grandchildren home this summer, with both our daughters and their husbands joining. Very fun to have all of the children together! My garden has produced tomatoes, zucchini, peas, beans, cucumbers, garlic, onions, leeks, lots of beautiful flowers, and little grand children helping to grow and harvest. Such a blessing. We made jam with my mother, and then picked wild blackberries and made more jam for my daughters to take home!!
Autumn, fresh with rain, yellowing leaves, and warm wind, has arrived. I am grateful to my husband, for his enduring love, for the harvest our lives bring to each other, and for the collaborative  endeavors we continue to accomplish here at Skagit Family Study Center. This autumn I am grateful for the continued blessings that the transitions of  life endlessly bring.

Beautiful baby grandson, born March 5th 2011, barely starting to enjoy the little one’s smell and touch, breath and sounds. Sweet grand daughter, excited with the day and what comes from her joy of play. At breakfast with my lovely daughter, grand daughter, and baby grandson, a call to meet with the president of the college where I am full time faculty, needing to meet this morning, March 16, 2011. In meeting I was given notice that “due to short falls encountered by the State of Washington and the impending consequences of what is believed will be a significant reduction to Skagit Valley College’s funding in the next biennium, I was provided with early notification that my position/contract will not be renewed for the 2011/12 year”.  This is my eleventh year at the college, third year full time. I taught 13 new courses in two years, because they laid off all of the adjunct faculty two years before in our department. I give all my heart and soul, loving the work, day and night.  So now I loose my position so more adjunct can be hired again. This was an emotional shock. While there have been layoffs due to  budget reductions, my department chair indicated our department was growing and there was no need for concern.  I watched not only  my husband cry as he held me, but my mother cried when I told her, as well,  so very sad. They both understand this is more than eleven years; it is 35 years of  dedicated work in the field of education, and children and family services, ending. I became physically sick for several days. I applied the  emotional trauma work I teach often to others to myself. Then spring break came, now it’s April and still recovering, yet moving out of and letting go of the shock, looking forward to the weeks ahead.

I search for jobs that I think would be of benefit to me. I  work on redesigning my resume and qualifications to find work, in a world where there is none and searching the web for employment is grueling. I work on creating a new business card. Friends send emails with job openings they think I may be interested in. As I look ahead, I am grateful for the time  spent consulting daily and hourly with my husband. Prayer by prayer, self time out by self time out, focusing not on the fear and anxiety, but on taking care of my feelings and needs, meditating, listening, receiving. redefining my place in the world. Researching possibilities for opening a Montessori school, we discuss and make charts and visit building locations, and make more charts. I invite my daughter to come along and join my in the planning. I consider this plan because it inspires me. I taught a full day class on the Montessori Method two days after getting my layoff notice. A Early Childhood Conference hosted the class through the college. The day long class was a wonderful success, the students told me so! Teachers from three different tribal communities were represented and many other programs and teachers of varying early childhood programs attended.  I loved having a school years ago. Montessori was my first teacher, I raised my children on her philosophy and many, many others, she is my mentor. My first degree was in the Montessori Method. Since my work as a Montessori teacher, I have had many years more schooling and with an MA in Human Development and a license as a mental health, i have been teaching and counseling others for some time now. At this time in my life, today, right now, in the fight for right now,  and for me, I become filled with feelings of joy. I think about how I will move back into my office, working in my private practice as a counselor and Reiki Practitioner, and along side my husband. Working together  in the offices we built with the help of my father and brothers, some 12 yeas ago.

Peace of mind. I will begin a Women’s Group. A women’s healing circle that  will give other women a space to be together to offer support for personal strength and courage. I am finding the strength within, emotionally and spiritually. My voice wil not be shattered. What i built for myself will not be undone, broken or allowed to be torn down.

My beautiful grandchildren deserve no less. I need them, I need me, I deserve me!

Right now. One Woman’s Walk, one step at a time.

My True Eyes

Renewal springs from letting go of false expectations

Pretence, self-doubt and denial of my spiritual self

Renewal is giving in to life, letting in, letting go

I am a dancer

Through my dance I feel uplifted in body, mind and spirit

I am taller, firmer in balance and walk

I dance to give myself renewal, letting go the self-doubt that fills my body

Letting in feelings of happiness as the music lifts my spirit

I dance for emotional release, letting go of outside eyes peering in

Letting in the joy of seeing and feeling through my true eyes

I am a dancer

I dance to hear the music fill my bones with laughter

Spill out my fingertips as I twirl

I dance to let in the rainbow threads of color that have always surrounded my soul

My true eyes fill with knowing my life is fragile, I let go

yes! I let go

Dance is like prayer in motion, I offer my dance as prayer in motion

I let go of fear and let in the experience joy brings through my dance

My true eyes are not abandoned,

I have not abandoned my self, my spirit, my mind or my body

Letting in renewal, letting go of out side eyes

I am a dancer

Dahaderah

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PARENTING TOOL BOX

Nine Therapeutic Parenting Tools
For Parents and Professionnals
by
Connie Bonner-Britt, MA
and
Chuck Britt, MA

The content of this book is drawn from the work of many social scientists, theorists, and Wisdom Keepers in the fields of child care, psychology, child and family therapy, and human physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual development. Particularly influential have been, Joan Erikson, Erik Erikson, Margaret Mahler, Maria Montessori, Stanley Greenspan, and the principles of the Baha’i Faith on consensus building. Our inspired colleague, Rob McCauley, participated in the early stages of the collection of these ideas.

Two guiding principles at Skagit Family Study Center are:

1. Human beings do not automatically know how their feelings serve to draw attention to their needs.

2. Humans must learn from other loving humans how to take responsibility for taking care of their own feelings and needs.

When we impulsively make plans based only on what is happening outside of us in the world, and with other people, without reference to what is happening in our own bodies, we will often find ourselves feeling frustration or even hopelessness. We believe the Five Step Self Time Out process helps human beings move through the natural stages of human development by providing a tool to help us pay attention to our own feelings and needs. We have also found that this process helps us stay attuned to our deepest spiritual beliefs. We have found that when parents choose to use the Five Step Self Time Out and the other principles in this book, over a period of months, their children begin to choose to use Five Step Self Time Outs to make plans that are more effective.

We are devoted to supporting families and being part of the community effort to help families of every description feel whole and be whole. We believe that this can be accomplished only when each family member feels whole and is whole. We believe that this can only happen when each family member continues to move through his or her natural stages of social, emotional, and spiritual development.

The Parenting Tool Box and the Therapeutic Parenting Tools are intended to support parents in reducing the need for therapy by showing them how to stay “in role” and by giving them the tools to heal their own families. If your family or your child is currently in therapy or counseling, one of the best ways to make the most of the therapy is to use The Parenting Tool Box and become a partner at home in the process of healing.

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THREE SISTERS: ONE WOMAN’S WALK

February 26, 2010

In our family, I am the oldest daughter. My sisters both passed away in separate, unexpected illnesses, over the past 15 years.. My mother and father, my sisters children and their families and my brothers live close by. I especially love visiting my parents to talk about generational family history. My father has done a wonderful job documenting our family with photographs. He has also done a great job writing his memories and stories of his family history. My parents are both inspirational in all they have contributed to me  and in their consistent ability to grow and change for themselves. They live their lives with love and sacrifice in behalf of their five children, seven grandchildren and ten great grandchildren.

I am  a first generatilon college graduate, faculty instructor, and Licensed Mental Health Counselor. I am very happily married to my best friend. We have been married eleven years. I have two beautiful, gifted daughters, raising families with their beloved husbands. We have four grandchildren. My husband has one outrageous, on fire son, and his wife is adorable. Our marriage has been built on respect, trust, safety and enduring attention to how well we care for each other and most importantly how well we care for ourselves individually. This is the key to our relationship, self respect and self care.Working professionally with my husband  has been one of the most honorable experiences of my life.

My husband and I have built beautiful gardens to work in. The gardens are a reflection of our love for each other.  I delight in growing flowers in our gardens and taking pictures of them in the summer time. This summer our four Grandchildren were visiting for the first time all together. We danced and played and picked the flowers and vegetables in the garden beds!

Six years ago I started taking Middle Eastern dance lessons for fun and exercise. The doctor recommended I exercise three to four times a week (you need to sweat when you exercise, she said). So, I had a business card that I had picked up at a Greek restaurant advertising belly dancing and setting by my computer for a year. I decided to call the number. After the first class, I knew I was going to be learning and dancing for a long time. I am still dancing and having fun practicing and making my own costumes for the annual MedFest performances! This year will be the fifth performance for our dance group. Our teacher is a very dear person. For me this is a story of determination and fun hearted will power. I fight off the hidden voices of destruction that tell me I am not good enough, or to old, or too this or that, and still I face the dance and the fabric and the “full catastrophe.”

This blog is dedicated to my beloved sisters, Diana Marie Bonner 1950-1995 and Barbara Lorain Bonner 1953-2000.  Over the past 15 years the loss of each of my sisters tumbled me into a transformation. I am now taking joy on fully, and throwing off every bit of trepidation that clings to my bones as I day by day learn to overcome, recover, uncover, and discover my walk. The path begins with me. Rebirth is a choice.