Wow! What a great hour I got to spend today interviewing prominent teacher of healing and shamanism, Llyn Roberts, on today’s BTR Hope42Day.  Llyn joined us back in September 2011 for a half-an-hour interview and there was so much to delve into that she came back to spend more time talking about her most recent book, “Shapeshifting Into Higher Consciousness” and living well today.

One of the gems that I pulled from today’s conversation with Llyn Roberts is that all of us, all…of…us, can access our guides/angels/God/wisdom/love all the time.   The chapter on “Shapeshifting With Nature” drew me to it because of my deep love of nature.  She writes about how “although oneness with the natural world is innate to indigenous cultures, imbalances result when societies lose this perspective”.  She goes on to say that, “Equilibrium can be restored by embracing more whole values and by coming back into rhythm with our heart, our body, and our planet.” Llyn writes about the Maya “whose prophesies are in the public eye due to the popularization of the Mayan Calendar” and that the Mayans are “masters of cosmic awareness.  In the early part of this century a plethora of literature has been circulated about 2012 and the Mayan Calendar. Yet, often less focused upon the Maya’s deep attunement with the earth.   The lands of ancient Guatemala have endured earthquakes and volcanic eruptions spanning centuries. Because of this, when visiting sacred sites and walking through the jungle of Tikal, Maya Elders ask that we pay as much attention to the pyramids that are submerged, as those we see.  There are hidden spiritual structures beneath Lake Atitlan.  These, we learn, influence human consciousness and effect the waters.”

In the interview today, Llyn talked about the process of writing her book and using all her guides, experiences and wisdom (my words).  I can definitely feel the energy pulsing through the pages and it’s almost like a mini-video flips open in my brain so that I can “see” what Llyn is talking about. While reading this chapter about nature and the Mayan peoples, I can “see” the Mayans who I have met during my many visits to Mexico.  I’m always drawn to the Mayans and find myself  wanting to sit near them and just be.

I was also reminded today that we can connect with nature no matter where we are in the world, yes, even in the middle of Manhattan or Shanghai.  I haven’t been to Shanghai yet, but I’ve visited Manhattan several times.  On my first trip to the famous New York City, I was really anxious because I had never been in such a dense mass of human beings with so much concrete in my life! I remember my husband running ahead of me on the streets trying to find a tree for me to hug or a pigeon to point out.  We finally did find a fairly young tree with a very narrow trunk but I wrapped my arms around it nevertheless. It felt so good!   A few years later I attended a conference in NYC and was also in the middle of training for a marathon so I got to do an eight mile run through Central Park.  It was gorgeous!!  Where there is a will there is a way to find your grounding in nature.  No matter what, there is always the sky.

Whether you are shapeshifting to higher consciousness or simply walking barefoot on this Earth (thank you Barefoot Sensei, Mick Dodge), you can always connect with the natural world around you and feel the loving heart of Mother Earth no matter what is going on in your life.  As many of us (in the Western world especially) head into the holidays that can often make us just a wee bit jittery if not crazy, take a break during the day and walk with bare feet on the Earth, it will do your soul good!

Just in time for celebrating the High Holidays, my husband and I watched the PBC Masterpiece movie, “God on Trial” which was inspired by the legend that a group of concentration camp prisoners conducted a mock trial against the Almighty God. From all walks of life, a physicist, a glove maker, rabbis, a law professor and at least one criminal weigh the evidence and offer thoughtful arguments taken from history, science, theology and personal experience.

Needless to say,  afterward we washed our brains out with two back-to-back episodes of “Modern Family“.

Don’t get me wrong, “God on Trial” is an excellent movie full of all kinds of  beliefs and feelings worthy of exploring, it’s just you can imagine that it is pretty intense.  Earlier today, I interviewed prominent teacher of healing and shamanism, Llyn Roberts about her newly released book, “Shapeshifting Into Higher Consciousness“.  Llyn holds a Master’s Degree in Tibetan Buddhist and Western Psychology and has undergone extensive training with traditional Andean healers as well as having been initiated into shamanic circles by Quechua peoples in South America and Siberia.  And earlier this week I met Rennie Davis and learned some of what he is offering in his workshops on Earth Whispering training.

It seems no matter where you (and I) look today, we will find people asking questions and talking about all the changes that seems to be afoot from the changing weather conditions (drought in Texas, other States and countries, extensive rains, etc.) to political regimes either in turmoil or completely reforming into something completely different.  Where I want to focus my input right now is to those peoples who are looking at this time as one of possibility, one of hope, one of remembering the magic that surrounds us all as one of Llyn Robert’s shamans told her.

The movie, “God on Trial” explored the various beliefs of several of the Jewish concentration camp victims in their most desperate of times. It seems that we humans are compelled to share our beliefs and thoughts mostly when we experience fear and pain.  It’s very easy for me to go back to sleep in my consciousness and be lulled into complacency when all is well.  Not to say that I don’t explore my beliefs when I am feeling good, but to remind myself that when situations do arise that challenge what I believe that is when I am more likely to know what I truly think and also to feel where the gaps are in my trust.

All reason enough for me to keep doing those things I do to keep growing in my awareness and investigating what I do and don’t believe.  Taking care of ourselves physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually by eating good nutritious foods in moderation, exercising, handling issues with the help of counselors or a trusted spiritual adviser, meditating, enjoying the world around us are all deposits into our insurance policy of — well, I would call it faith but you may call it something else — so that when things around us are changing at a rapid pace we have a deep unending resource within us that keeps us going.

Really, when you come down to it,  this life on Earth thing it is not that the God of our understanding (or misunderstanding as it were) is on trial but it is more that our perspectives and beliefs are up for examination under a really big and bright mircroscope.

What kind of deposits are you making into your spiritual bank these days?

This past weekend I ventured outside in the 100+ degree heat (47 straight days!) to check the bird feeders outside of our bedroom windows and much to my surprise looked down amongst the ivy growing wild to find a very long snake skin which had recently been shed since the last time I checked the feeders in the morning.  It was a big one!  In fact, I was so impressed with the snake skin itself that I momentarily forgot that “said snake” could have been very nearby.    I took it as a “sign” from the powers that be that they were reminding me how our old selves can be shed and actually need to be shed so that the new selves/self can grow upwards and out.

A couple of week’s ago a publicist that I work with closely sent me a book to read called, “Shapeshifting Into Higher Consciousness” by Llyn Roberts. The tag line says, “Heal and Transform Yourself and Our World with Ancient Shamanic and Modern Methods.”  Whatever the word “shapeshifting” may conjure up in your mind, Llyn Roberts has a very respected academic background that not only includes her being a prominent teacher of healing and shamanism, but additionally she holds a master’s degree in Tibetan Buddhist and Western Psychology as well as having undergone extensive training with traditional Andean healers, and has been initiated into shamanic circles by Quechua peoples in South America, and in Siberia.  The list goes on and on so suffice it to say, she is someone that you can trust has done her homework and research.  I am thoroughly loving this book and highly recommend for you to read it as well.

Above the opening of Chapter One, Llyn has a quote by Joseph Campbell which says, “We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.  The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come.”

Today in our lives as humans, no matter what culture we come from, we are all feeling the effects of generations of choices which  have been made both good and bad.  For some of us who may be more sensitive than others, right now can feel overwhelming from many standpoints such as the heating up of the planet to the economy if you live in a place that is driven by their economy.  Llyn writes, “As the consequences of wreaking havoc with our host planet play themselves out they look dire.  It is at precisely this time that so many of us are searching for hope.   We are looking for a way out of this nightmare.  But balance will not restore overnight. Humanity has devoted centuries to cultivating societies that see themselves as separate from nature. The deeper solution demands that we live by higher values.  We must dive deeply to reshape the consciousness that got us here in the first place.  This is a journey to our higher human qualities that help us live from our hearts and minds combined. There is opportunity underlying these times of change, which indigenous cultures have long foreseen.”

I don’t know about you, but I sure felt relieved and hopeful after I read that paragraph.  And the timing of reading this paragraph along with my finding the snake skin felt like Mother Earth was tweeting me  that all of the emotional and intellectual storms that I’ve been feeling and we’ve all been going through lately are a reflection of where we are growing through to the next level.  Oddly enough, when I heard my favorite NPR newscaster telling us that the high in Austin was expected to rise to 105 today, I did not feel that usual sink of oppressive despair that I have felt for several weeks now.  I do believe that everything is moving towards our highest good.  When I can hold on to this hope, it somehow gives me room to continue growing and shedding my skin along the way.

Take a moment today to stop and reflect on the messages that Earth is sending you.  Even if you work on the 45th floor of a skyscraper in the middle of New York City, Mother Nature can reach you there as well.  Look for the clouds and birds and/or the glint of the sun off of the Hudson.  We are all related.

mitakue oyasin