This past month has been an intense emotional experience for many.  So many changes are happening in the world, and we are being challenged to relinquish our hold on outmoded perspectives of reality.  We’re seeing relationships dissolve and new ones emerge.  We’re seeing Earth changes galore across the planet.  Many are seeing the end to their homes, their savings, their hopes for the future.  More truth is being revealed about global economies and the intentions of politicians and world leaders.  Indeed, ethics is intervening in the Power Game and escorting truth to the forefront of our consciousness.

So how do we deal with whatever truths are surfacing in our own minds?  How may we handle a deeper, more intimate connection with reality?  This month’s Feature Article provides information on how we can better understand the process that is unfolding within each of us right now.  All too often we are told that ‘thinking differently’ will change our reality, when in fact, we need finally to FEEL our reality before we are able to transform it authentically.

Read on and let yourself be challenged and inspired.  You are the one you’ve been waiting for!

In Lak’ech,

Jeremy & Rick

Calendar of Events

August 9, 2008
The government of Guatemala will officially recognize the Mayan people and provide an official seat in the government for Don Alejandro Perez Cirilo Oxlaj as head of this new counsel of the Indigenous Peoples. This is truly an historic moment.  Visit www.commonpassion.org for more information.

August 10, 2008: Earth Spirit Reiki Gathering
The Earth Spirit Reiki Gathering meets the second Sunday of each month in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.  We begin with a healing meditation and then share Reiki treatments.  The Gathering is intended for Reiki Practitioners, though it is open to all those who have experience in energy healing.  Space is limited to 6 participants.  Reservations are required.
Suggested donation: 50 pesos

September 8, 2008: Introduction to Visceral Manipulation in Tucson, Arizona
In this class, students will learn basic techniques for releasing restrictions in the abdomen using Visceral Manipulation. The stomach, esophagus, liver and abdominal sphincters will be covered.  The techniques presented are very effective in working with hiatal hernias, heart burn, liver congestion and digestive upset.  Join Dr. Schwehr to learn these amazingly powerful and simple tools.  Anyone with some experience in CranioSacral Therapy or other body listening techniques is eligible to attend.  (I took this course with Dr. Schwehr last year, and I highly recommend it. - Jeremy)

       Time:  9:00 am to 1:15 pm
       Location:  Tucson, Arizona, USA
       Cost:  US$80
       CEUs:  Approved for 4 continuing education credits by the NCBTMB.
       Instructor:  Dr. Maureen Schwehr, NMD
       To Register:  Call (US) (520) 971-1186; drschwehr@msn.com

September 14, 2008: Earth Spirit Reiki Gathering

November 13, 2008: The Beginning of the Sixth Day
Today begins the Sixth Day of the Galactic Underworld, according to the Mayan Calendar.  The Sixth Day (Nov 13, 2008 through Nov 8, 2009) marks the time in the evolution of consciousness during which spirituality develops beyond technology.  It is said to be a year of healing which we will need after the close of the Fifth Night.  Visit www.earthspiritmedicine.net for more information on the Mayan Calendar and for additional links.

November 14 - 25, 2008: Journey to the Sacred Land of the Maya
Join the 13th Generation Grand Mayan Elder Don Alejandro Oxlaj as he guides you on a mystical tour of the Mayan lands and sacred sites in Guatemala.  You won’t want to miss this wonderful opportunity.  Visit www.IntendBalance.com/maya2008 for more information.

News & Views

This month, Shannon Yates of Casas de los Suenos in Yelapa, Mexico presents us with her perspectives on the Yelapan life…

Two workshops, Usui Reiki Master Training Retreat and Karuna Reiki® Class Retreat  offered by Jeremy, are being billed for Yelapa, a small once-upon-a-time fishing village south of PV accessible by boat taxi. I want to present Yelapa to you, as the owner/operator of Casas de Los Suenos, the property that will become yours for a week, if you should attend one of these workshops.

I came to know Yelapa like many, by taking a day trip from Puerto Vallarta to Yelapa. However cliché this may sound, my husband David and I ‘fell in love’ with Yelapa. Since that day in 1997, we returned many times. Finally, in 2007 we decided a small casa was desirable that we could lease and be available to us for the winter months. Completely unpredictable and unplanned, we ended up leasing a huge property that we call Casas de los Suenos (Houses of Dreams). After a major renovation between May and December of ’07, we opened for business in January ’08 and have not looked back. 

Experiencing our property, like Yelapa, is a step back in time. Only trails, some with concrete as a base, connect the neighborhoods. There are no streets, no honking horns, no police or ambulance sirens, no glaring street lights (only a few lights on parts of the trails), no vehicles with the exception of a few ATV’s used for transporting supplies. What there is –  braying donkeys, crowing roosters, bellowing cows, crashing waves, singing birds, humming insects, mating frogs. Each day, these sounds connect people to nature and to each other. The superlative sunrises and sunsets, the azure sea, the wind, the smells all aid in grounding us in the reality of our lives in this community and the world. Since common conveniences like telephones, computers, advanced medical services and so on are rare, interdependence of the people and people with their environment is evidenced every day.

For most visitors to Yelapa, the inescapable connection to nature – plants, birds, water and soil, make it possible to decompress, detach and let go. At Los Suenos, we have kept the traditional palapa style accommodation, with the exception of one casa, all with modern amenities; maintain beautiful gardens and a water lily pond; and ensure a quiet, peaceful environment all in an attempt to connect the physical and spiritual worlds. Our property is nearly the ideal location to declutter your mind, to meditate, to write, and to just BE.

For more info on the Usui Reiki Master Training Retreat and the Karuna Reiki® Class Retreat, visit www.earthspiritmedicine.net.

For more info on Casas de los Suenos, visit http://www.palapainyelapa.com/pages/suenos.html

Feature Article

Removing the Veil of Shame
By Jeremy R. Werner

Through my recovery process, I have come to understand more about the nature of shame and its insidious effects.  I define shame as that feeling we carry that tells us we are not good enough, that we have little or no value.  I might add that shame is the experience of the absence of unconditional love, the absence of the knowing that we are intrinsically precious, valuable and without a doubt, lovable.  I say it is the feeling we carry because we internalize shame from an outside source.  It is “not-self.”  It is not our own. 

In one way or another, we are all impacted by the effects of shame.  So, where does shame come from and how is it evident in our world today?  We carry shame from the trauma and wounding that occurred to us at the hand of our parents and primary caregivers when they were ignorant of, in denial of, or unwilling to care about how their precious child was feeling.  A child has the right to be, the right to feel (whether that feeling is anger, sadness, joy, fear, loneliness, or pain), and the right to have these feelings lovingly received.  The parents or primary caregivers are responsible for listening to and caring for the child, and when a child does not receive from them the respect and validation (s)he needs around her/his emotional experience, the child internalizes that those experiences are worthless and that (s)he is worthless.  This plants the seeds of what is called the shame core, the core sense of self upon which the child develops.

As the child moves through adolescence and into adulthood, the shame core continues to influence the person’s ability to self-love, self-care, generate self-worth, create and hold functional boundaries, and live in moderation.  This core sense of worthlessness, or shame, will also manifest in relationships with others through the projection of the internalized shameful parental figures and the repetition of childhood trauma.  In this case, the adult is not really an adult at all, but what Pia Mellody at The Meadows would call a Wounded Adapted Adult Child (or WAAC) - that is, a wounded child trying to be an adult by mirroring the dysfunctional behavior of his/her shameful parental figures.

This WAAC sees the world through shameful eyes and will continue to seek out an external sense of self-worth (e.g. relationship, job, money, house, material possessions).  This person will fail to see his/her innate preciousness and will exhaust him- or herself trying to fill the infinite void inside with something from outside.

The world banking system, capitalism, sexism, racism, classism, to name a few -isms, are all shame-based systems, which are reflections of the shame cores of all of us collectively.  No president or corporation is “The Evil One.”  There is no villain “out there.”  What we each suffer from is the shame that we carry and about which we are not allowed to know.  Speaking about shame is shameful, and so revealing the truth about our family dysfunction and its roots may be seen as criminal, disrespectful or hurtful.

And yet revealing the shame is something we all must do to heal and transform ourselves.  We each need to remove the veils of shame that blind us and keep us disconnected from our own preciousness, from the little innocent child that is still alive in each of us.  Valuing all of our feelings and holding accountable those who shamed us in childhood are essential steps of authentic love (for ourselves and others) that we, the emerging functional adults, must take in order to free our inner children from the burden of carrying shame that is not theirs.  Through the process of shame reduction work and inner child work, we begin to come alive.  We begin to see the world through clearer eyes.  We begin to awaken to our own creative potentials and to the bliss of healthy, functional relationships.  We stop demonizing our feelings and stop projecting them onto others.  We finally begin to experience unconditional love within ourselves, the love that we have always needed and never fully received.

As the relationship between the emerging adult and the inner child grows, we begin to experience greater trust and intimacy with ourselves and therefore in relationship with others.  We begin to trust our own instincts, intuitions, feelings and thoughts.  In today’s world of great change and upheaval, this provides us with a strong foundation, a stable self-center, that allows us to weather whatever storm is waging in the outside world.  We then know that money is not our worth.  Our house is not our security.  Others are not our saviors.  We begin to understand that we are each responsible for ourselves and for our own inner child.  We are responsible for holding our inner child in esteem regardless of what others feel, think, say or do.  We become more self-empowered and have a greater ability to navigate chaos and the unknown.

So, as you see the world that you’ve known begin to shift, change, or even crumble, remember that there is a small child voice inside you waiting to be heard… a voice needing your love.  Begin to remove the veils of shame and listen to what this voice has to say.

Questions?  Comments?  Feedback?  We encourage ongoing discussion and dialogue about the various topics we present, so please send us your feelings, thoughts and perspectives, and let us know whether we may post your responses in future newsletters.  Send your emails to info@earthspiritmedicine.net.

For more information on Inner Child Work, visit www.earthspiritmedicine.net.

Monthly Meditation

Become the I of the Storm.