Peace for your Path...

"peace. it does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. it means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart." (unknown) http://www.labyrinthwellness.com

Saturday, May 29, 2010

"The Sea" by Mary Oliver

               The Sea

Stroke by
    stroke my
       body remembers that life and cries for
             the lost parts of itself----
fins, gills
    opening like flowers into
        the flesh----my legs
            want to lock and become
one muscle, I swear I know
    just what the blue-gray scales
        shingling
            the rest of me would
feel like!
     paradise! Sprawled
         in that motherlap,
              in that dreamhouse
of salt and exercise,
     what a spillage
           of nostalgia pleads
                from the very bones! how
they long to give up the long trek
     inland, the brittle
          beauty of understanding,
               and dive,
and simply
     become again a flaming body
           of blind feeling
                 sleeking along
in the luminous roughage of the sea's body,
     vanished
          like victory inside that
               insucking genesis, that
roaring flamboyance, that
     perfect
          beginning and
                conclusion of our own.




Poem from MARY OLIVER: NEW AND SELECTED POEMS Volume One (Winner of the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize) pp.172-173  Beacon Press, Boston www.beaconpress.org
 This poem originally appeared in AMERICAN PRIMITIVE by Mary Oliver (published by Little, Brown and Company)

Friday, May 28, 2010

a beautiful prayer for Grandmother Earth which I just received via email.....

SIOUX PRAYER REQUEST 

>A letter from Chief Arvol Looking Horse
>(Present Chief and Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe of the
> Lakota, Dakota, Nakota Nation of the Sioux)
>
> Gulf Coast Oil Spill - Sioux Prayer Request
>
> ****** A Great Urgency ******
>
> To All Nations
>
> My Relatives,
> Time has come to speak to the hearts of our Nations and their
> Leaders. I ask you this from the bottom of my heart, to come together
> from the Spirit of your Nations in prayer.
>
> We, from the heart of Turtle Island, have a great message for the
> World; we are guided to speak from all the White Animals showing
> their sacred color, which have been signs for us to pray for the
> sacred life of all things. As I am sending this message to you, many
> Animal Nations are being threatened, those that swim, those that
> crawl, those that fly, and the plant Nations, eventually all will be
> affect from the oil disaster in the Gulf.
>
> The dangers we are faced with at this time are not of spirit. The
> catastrophe that has happened with the oil spill which looks like the
> bleeding of Grandmother Earth, is made by human mistakes, mistakes
> that we cannot afford to continue to make.
>
> I asked, as Spiritual Leaders, that we join together, united in
> prayer with the whole of our Global Communities. My concern is these
> serious issues will continue to worsen, as a domino effect that our
> Ancestors have warned us of in their Prophecies.
>
> I know in my heart there are millions of people that feel our united
> prayers for the sake of our Grandmother Earth are long overdue. I
> believe we as Spiritual people must gather ourselves and focus our
> thoughts and prayers to allow the healing of the many wounds that
> have been inflicted on the Earth. As we honor the Cycle of Life, let
> us call for Prayer circles globally to assist in healing Grandmother
> Earth (our Unc'I Maka).
>
> We ask for prayers that the oil spill, this bleeding, will stop. That
> the winds stay calm to assist in the work. Pray for the people to be
> guided in repairing this mistake, and that we may also seek to live
> in harmony, as we make the choice to change the destructive path we
> are on.
>
> As we pray, we will fully understand that we are all connected. And
> that what we create can have lasting effects on all life.
>
> So let us unite spiritually, All Nations, All Faiths, One Prayer.
> Along with this immediate effort, I also ask to please remember June
> 21st, World Peace and Prayer Day/Honoring Sacred Sites day. Whether
> it is a natural site, a temple, a church, a synagogue or just your
> own sacred space, let us make a prayer for all life, for good
> decision making by our Nations, for our children's future and
> well-being, and the generations to come.
>
> Onipikte (that we shall live),
> Chief Arvol Looking Horse
> 19th generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe

Sunday, May 23, 2010

suppertime for the sandhill cranes



Two adult sandhill cranes and their twin babies were feeding right beside the road just on the edge of a protected natural area tonight as we drove past. They were breathtakingly beautiful....

Saturday, May 22, 2010

parents, educators, counselors: please support this important national study on the effects of using finger labyrinths with children having ADHD

I was so pleased when Dr. Lauren Artress forwarded me Neal Harris's email regarding his Relax4Life national research project. When I immediately indicated my great interest in this research, Neal was kind enough to send me one of his patented Children's Cretan Intuipath finger labyrinths.

This lovely, lightweight wooden finger labyrinth is 17" x 8". It has found its new home on my coffee table, and I can't quite tracing it (see picture posted just below)!  I love the feeling of balance that using both hands at once to trace the dual labyrinth pattern provides.

Read on for more information about the study or visit www.relax4life.com. If you know a child aged 7-17 who has a medically-confirmed diagnosis of ADHD, please consider signing them up for this important research....

Peace for your Path,
Robin

my newest, favorite finger labyrinth!


Parents and their ADHD children and adolescents wanted by Relax4Life for free, non-medication, national research study in your own home using an Intuipath finger labyrinth

In 1998, Relax4Life developed its now patented, mirror-image, 2-person/2-handed inlaid wood finger labyrinth design known as the Intuipath®.   Since that time, they have received numerous reports from parents, school teachers and therapists who purchased the Intuipath® about its calming and attention-focusing effects on their children and adolescents. 

Some parents, while seeing the benefits for their children, asked if the company would consider making a lighter-weight, smaller version of the adult Intuipath® for children and adolescents with smaller hands and reach. They have also been asked numerous times over the past 10 years if their contention that the Intuipath® brings greater relaxation and mental focus to those children who use it, is backed up by any scientific studies.  Since no scientific studies have been performed to date on the Intuipath® concept, Relax4Life decided to create a research project to study this and they developed a smaller, lighter-weight Intuipath® (the Intuipath® for Children & Adolescents) for this purpose.
 
The question that will hopefully be answered by this research is whether children and adolescents diagnosed with ADHD combined type or ADD with Hyperactivity, who use both hands simultaneously to move through a mirror-image wood finger labyrinth design (the Intuipath® for Children & Adolescents) for a specified amount of time (3-5 times per week for 5 minutes each) will show a reduction in the behavioral symptoms associated with this condition (hyperactivity, impulsivity and inattention) over ADHD-diagnosed children who engage in a similar activity (moving both hands through a tray of sand) for the same amount of time.

If you are interested in having your child considered for this study, these are the guidelines; 
1.  He or she must be between the ages of 7 and 17
2.  He or she must have a diagnosis (by a qualified health professional) of either ADHD combined type or ADD with Hyperactivity
3.  He or she can be taking medication for this condition or not

The steps to participation are as follows:
A.  Fill out a questionnaire and return it to Relax4Life.  To view and print out the questionnaire as a pdf file, click here.
B.  Once Relax4Life receives your completed questionnaire, they will contact you within 7 days (usually a much shorter period) and let you know if your child is eligible to take part.  If you do not receive confirmation in that time period that they received your questionnaire, it may be that the questionnaire came through the fax as unreadable or possibly was lost in the mail.  Please contact Relax4Life if you do not get a timely response confirming receipt of your questionnaire.
C.  If your child meets the criteria, they will then send you further information along with a consent form to participate and the first ADHD-SRS Rating Scale to be filled out.  The rating scale and consent form will be completed and mailed back to Relax4Life in a return postage paid envelope. 


Benefits/Compensation:
The benefits to participation are: your child showing a reduction in behaviors commonly associated with this diagnosis.  This might mean better school performance, increased social abilities, higher self esteem etc.
The tangible benefit for participating is that if your child is randomly selected to be in one of the groups that uses the Intuipath® for Children & Adolescents, your child will get to keep it once your completed paperwork is returned to Relax4Life. If your child is randomly selected to be in one of the sand tray groups, your child will be shipped a new Intuipath® for Children & Adolescents to keep once they receive your completed paperwork.


Research Procedure:
Those children eligible to take part will be provided with either an Intuipath® for Children & Adolescents or a sand tray for the duration of the study.
A parent or other adult, school educator or therapist will need to supervise the child either using the  Intuipath® design or a sand tray at approximately the same time each day, 3-5 times per week for 5-minutes each, for a consecutive 4-week period.
An observational rating scale (ADHD-SRS) with 56 questions will need to be filled out completely on your child (by a parent, school educator or therapist) three times: before your child begins the use of the Intuipath® or sand tray, at the end of the 4 week research period, and once more at 6 weeks (to determine any continuing effects of these activities). The ADHD-SRS observational tool typically takes between 10-15 minutes to complete.


Confidentiality:
All Participants’ identities and information will remain strictly confidential. Research results will be published in summary format with reference given to groups only.


click here for printable questionnaire to get started

For more information:
or call Neal Harris, LCPC
Relax4Life Managing Director
26404 Edgemond Lane
Barrington, IL 60010
Phone (847)842-1752

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Breakage

by Mary Oliver


I go down to the edge of the sea.
How everything shines in the morning light!
The cusp of the whelk,
the broken cupboard of the clam,
the opened, blue mussels,
moon snails, pale pink and barnacle scarred—
and nothing at all whole or shut, but tattered, split,
dropped by the gulls onto the gray rocks and all the moisture gone.
It's like a schoolhouse
of little words,
thousands of words.
First you figure out what each one means by itself,
the jingle, the periwinkle, the scallop
       full of moonlight.

Then you begin, slowly, to read the whole story.

Source: Poetry (2003)

my heart was with the sea turtles as I prayed in the silent center of the labyrinth this morning

a sacred space for every OceanPrayer

sunlit shells welcome us to the entrance

listening to water and praying for the ocean

peaceful reading for the path

Friday, May 14, 2010

abundance

The incredible journey of re-launching The Wisdom of the Labyrinth radio show has brought me to a point of utter awe. Almost daily now, I receive inquiries from people who would like to be guests. Wow....

I quote from my Simple Abundance daily calendar all the time, primarily because "Hold That Thought" is right beside my computer here in my office. Once again, though, today's reflection is "spot on" for me and one I felt I wanted to share with all of you....

"Abundance and lack exist simultaneously in
our lives. When we choose not to focus on what is
missing but on the abundance that's present - love,
health, family, friends, work - the wasteland of
misery falls away and we experience daily joy."
- Sarah Ban Breathnach


Peace and Abundance for your Path,
Robin

Thursday, May 13, 2010

bountiful, beautiful bouquet

Thank you, love. My husband made today so truly special in every way....

Listen to THE WISDOM OF THE LABYRINTH internet radio show - New season begins TODAY!

Today's episode is "Labyrinths: A Special Conversation With Lauren Artress." The show premieres live at 10am Pacific (1pm Eastern) but you can listen to the archived episode any time after its first broadcast. All episodes are available on THE WISDOM OF THE LABYRINTH website or as a podcast on iTunes.



Join us!

Peace for your Path,
Robin

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope everyone has had a lovely, love-filled day.....

I was thinking so much about one of my favorite lullabies that I used to sing to our son when he was tiny. It is actually a poem called "Seal Lullaby" from THE JUNGLE BOOK by Rudyard Kipling. Shawn Colvin recorded it on one of her albums and she sings it much (much!) better than me. I hope you might find and enjoy her recording.

Oh! hush thee, my baby, the night is behind us, 
   And black are the waters that sparkled so green. 
The moon, o'er the combers, looks downward to find us 
   At rest in the hollows that rustle between. 
Where billow meets billow, there soft be thy pillow; 
   Ah, weary wee flipperling, curl at thy ease! 
The storm shall not wake thee, nor shark overtake thee, 
   Asleep in the arms of the slow-swinging seas. 

As I continue to pray daily for Mother Ocean (please join me at "OceanPrayer" on Twitter), this song seemed particularly appropriate today.

Peace for your Path,
Robin

Friday, May 7, 2010

muse



"Let passion be your muse.
Let her guide and teach you to trust
your instincts."
- Sarah Ban Breathnach
Special thanks to my dear friend, Amy, who sent me this "Tree of Life" from California. It is now my iPhone screensaver (and hers!) and speaks daily to my stormy soul while connecting us across the miles....Love you, friend!

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Today is The National Day of Prayer


I am unfortunately not going to make it up to Tequesta this morning to walk the labyrinth at The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, but I "walked" my favorite finger labyrinth three times already. I sat outside in the bright morning sunshine with my coffee. I listened to a dove cooing and watched the lizards climb the trees. Lily fished a dead baby frog out of the pool and respectively, prayerfully, refrained from eating it (this time). It was a blessed time of reflection and prayer...

How are you spending the day?

How about finding a local labyrinth on The World-Wide Labyrinth Locator? Visit www.labyrinthlocator.org
and put in the name of your city or your zip code. All the registered labyrinths within a mile radius you select will come up for you.

Or, visit The Labyrinth Society website www.labyrinthsociety.org and download a finger labyrinth in PDF form to print out and trace. Walk it with your fingers rather than your feet like I did with my wooden finger labyrinth. There is also a wonderful on-line labyrinth you can walk with your computer mouse, too.

If you are a blogger, blog everywhere about the power of prayer. If you network via Facebook and Twitter, share your prayers there. Email your friends. Reach out to your neighbors. This is a wonderful day to unite with people of all faiths and beliefs.

Spread, speak, share - Love....

Peace for your Prayerful Path,
Robin

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

share your prayers for the ocean on twitter and the motherhood

I just created a hash tag and another site on Twitter. Please join/follow if you are there...

Use #OceanPrayer whenever you Tweet about the ocean. Let's get people praying for the animals, fish, birds, reptiles, plants, and the coral reef.

Follow my newest site at http://twitter.com/oceanprayer and post your own prayers. Retweet often. Get people talking.

If you are in The Motherhood, I started a brand new circle there, too, called "OceanPrayer" in the Body/Soul category.

Let's join our voices all people of faith. Please.

what lies on the horizon for our blessed, holy earth?

take nothing for granted...

visit the "Creation Hope" website where this wonderful prayer was created

A Prayer for the Gulf Coast Oil Spill

Our LORD,

Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer,



You alone are sovereign over creation.

You alone created the heavens and the earth.

You alone sustain and hold all things together.

You alone are the redeemer and re-creator.



We praise You for your wonderful creation,

But now plead with You for your intervention.

In the face of great tragedy we turn to You,

We ask that You step in with works of restoration.



Be with the families of those who were killed,

May they be comforted with Your peace.

Be with those who were injured,

May they experience Your healing.



Be with those whose jobs are affected in an already tough economy,

May they receive Your provision.

Be with those who are working to contain and clean up,

May they be guided and directed.



What a shame that Your creatures should suffer!

Lord, please protect and heal them.

What a shame that Your creation should be damaged!

Lord, please protect and restore it.



As we ourselves are somewhat complicit in this tragedy,

Forgive us for our role in this crisis.

Teach us to reduce our own consumption,

That we might better care for and protect Your creation.



We again acknowledge Your sovereignty.

We pray that Your restorative work would be manifest,

That Your Kingdom come and Your will be done here and now,

That Your name might be glorified in all the earth.



We pray all this in the name of our LORD,

the Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer of all things.



Amen


http://www.creationhope.com/blog/

thankful for people ready to help

http://animals.change.org/blog/view/rescuers_prepare_to_save_animals_from_the_oil_spill

20 Gulf sea turtles - gone forever

http://www.wtnh.com/dpps/living_green/national_green/20-sea-turtles-found-dead-along-miss-beaches-jgr_3340998

please focus your prayer on the animals and the planet

This is a very good article:
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/12-animals-threatened-by-the-oil-spill.html