Things I Love Thursdays: Birdsong

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Four Ways to Renew Yourself

By Kimberly Schneider | February 2, 2012

Happy Imbolc!

February 1^st is the first day of the ancient Celtic season of Imbolc, or spring. It’s a time of hope, promise and renewal, the season to ask “what seeds are stirring deep inside of me?”

In honor of Imbolc today we’ll talk about four simple ways to renew yourself. These aren’t major overhauls, they are “tweaks to transformation,” four simple shifts that can lead to big changes over time.

Before we get to the four Imbolc renewal tips, three quick announcements for you:

Some love for you: Valentine’s Day is coming, so I wanted to offer a gift, from my heart to yours…10% discount on any coaching package (business or personal coaching) purchased between now and February 14^th! Email me at support@kimberlyschneider.com if you’d like me to send you the info on coaching packages.

Group Discount for This Summer’s Ireland Trip The next Dancing on the Edge: A Celtic Soul Experience in Western Ireland workshop is scheduled for June 23-30, 2012. Registration deadline: March 27; Small groups of 5 people or more receive a 10% discount! Trip Details: www.KimberlySchneider.com/trips Email me if you want to take advantage of the group discount.

Everything You Need Is Right Here: Five Steps to Manifesting Magic and Miracles For those who’ve been asking: “when can I get your book in paperback?” The wait is almost over! I’ll be at the Healthy Planet Expo in St. Louis on March 4 launching the book (come say hello and I’ll sign one for you!) and it will also be available that week on Amazon; coming soon to bookstores too.

OK, on to the renewal tips!

In ancient Celtic countries, Imbolc was the season of Brigid/Bridget, the Goddess who later became a Christian saint. Brigid governed poetry, healing and fire. A triune diety, Brigid renewed herself at Imbolc, transforming from the crone of winter to the maiden of spring.

Why is this relevant to you, right now?

Renewal is one of the great promises of life. It’s a concept that says hey, no matter what has happened, no matter who you’ve been, something new is possible. And that is pretty exciting, isn’t it?

So ask yourself: where in my life could I use some renewal?

You may have some terrific renewal ideas, without any help from me (I’d love to hear them!) If you are looking for some simple ways to create renewal this spring, here are four, one each for the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual aspects of your life.

Physical: One Fresh Whole Food Per Meal Add at least one fresh fruit or vegetable to each meal. For instance, cut up an apple for your oatmeal (or eat it on your way to work), stop at the salad bar for lunch, and, if you’re going to do a drive through meal on the way home, pick up some pepper strips or cherry tomatoes at lunch to save for dinner.

Emotional: Appreciation Before you get out of bed in the morning, identify at least one person, thing or situation enhancing your life right now and spend 60 seconds just breathing and allowing yourself to feel gratitude.

Mental: Mini Breaks Take three two to five minute breaks during the day to move your body—walk up and down the stairs or around the block, stretch or put on some music and dance around. Are you crazy busy? Then you need even more breaks. Just set a timer when you take them so you can assure yourself you’ll be right back to work. You’ll return refreshed and more clear to tackle your projects.

Spiritual: Be the Change Choose one quality to embody this year and live it every day. Want a more peaceful world? Be peace. Want more love in your life? Be loving. Want more abundance? Give freely of yourself. Be the change you want to see in the world.

I’d love to know how you are renewing yourself this season!

Meanwhile, if coaching with me or coming to Ireland this summer might be part of your renewal, please email me to request more information on the coaching package savings or small group discounts.

Blessings of the growing light to you,

kimberly

The Manifestation Maven

http://facebook.com/KimberlyVSchneider

http://facebook.com/KimberlyVSchneider

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Things I love Thursdays…

By Kimberly Schneider | January 27, 2012

My friend Jill started a practice on Facebook that I loved and have since adopted: TILT (Things I Love Thursdays).

It’s a fun little way to reflect on what we’re appreciating at a particular moment in time.

This morning I woke up thinking that I ought to start sharing these on my blog, and perhaps inspire some of you to share what you appreciate each week.

So, even though it’s Friday, here we go with the first blog TILT, which I shared yesterday on Facebook:

TILT: Things I love Thursdays…

Going back to sleep for a couple hours when I really need it, like I did this morning
Remembering my Dad’s laughter
Celebrating my Mom’s new job with our Celtic group last night at a powerful ritual for Imbolc
The sense of hope and possibility that pervades my life.

And, since it is now Friday, I’ll add another few:

Carrie Newcomer’s music (just added another digital album to my files);
The bright blessings of friends who have known me long and well and love me anyway (two of whom have birthdays today)

I’d love to hear what people, situations and experiences are filling your heart with joy today, want to share?

And if you’re on Facebook, I hope you’ll connect with me at my Conscious Manifestation community page there:

Blessings to you today and always,

kimberly schneider

The Manifestation Maven

http://healthyfoodfashionista.com/lso/index.htm

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You’re Already Perfect…

By Kimberly Schneider | January 12, 2012

I want to introduce you to two friends who have brought joy, peace, and health to me. Each of these women has, in her own way, helped restore a sense of wholeness to my life.

Before we talk about Janie and Becky though, let’s take a moment to remind ourselves who we really are…

If you follow pop culture, it might be easy to decide that there’s something wrong with you.

After all, we are constantly being bombarded with the message that we are either “too much” of this or “not enough” of that.

Too fat. Too loud. Too short. Too tall. Too smart. Too opinionated. Too shy.

Not pretty enough. Not funny enough. Not hip enough. Not smart enough. Not…normal enough.

And of course, there’s always a remedy for what you’re lacking or what you need to remove: this car, this makeup, this diet, this method or this designer label will transform you into an icon of coolness (or normal-ness, if that’s what you’re after…)

For only $19.99. Or $199. Or $1,999.99.

And you even get a bonus of a free ginsu knife, but only if you order now.

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with enjoying a new product or system or solution—as long as you know you don’t really need the product—or the bonus–to be the glorious expression of creative energy you already are.

As one of my poems says:

Here is the truth now:

(you might want to sit down for this).

You are never going to die.

You are a Cosmic Creator,

masquerading as a creation.

And all these dress rehearsals

for you illusory demise,

all these lavish lacerations

of your carefully crafted ego,

are invitations

to step into your eternality.

(from the poem Advice for Psyche).

You’re already perfect.

One of my friends, Janie Oelke, feels so strongly about this idea that she named her healing business “Already Perfect.” Her message is so gentle, so compassionate and so wonderfully healing! I think you’ll enjoy reading about Janie and her work (and finding out about her free initial consultations) at http://alreadyperfect.net/

And by the way, if you happen to live in the St. Louis area, Janie and Already Perect are offering a two hour class on

7 Gifts to Reconnect with Your Soul on Sunday, January 22; for more information you can email Janie@AlreadyPerfect.net.

My friend and coaching client

Becky Bishop,

The Healthy Food Fashionista, www.HealthyFoodFashionista.com, empowers families to heal their relationship with food.

Real food. Whole food. The food our planet has always provided for us. It was already perfect.

Who knew?

Through Becky’s eBooks and blog I have learned that food doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, nature provides everything we need to enjoy tasty, healthy and simple meals—in the form of whole foods. Becky’s wisdom has taught me to rejoice in BUTTER and other naturally fat foods again (and guess what—they are GOOD for you, when you eat them as a compliment to nutrient dense vegetables and fruits). And she’s got me COOKING and enjoying it—an amazing feat!

But even if you know whole foods can dramatically change your family’s health and well being, how can you realistically incorporate whole foods into a household that is used to eating from the microwave or the drive-through bag?

Becky has a simple solution. She’s offering a 6-week L.E.A.N. online course to help your family easily (and joyfully) transition to tastier, healthier meals. The registration deadline for the course is Sunday, January 15, so check it out right away if you know you want to incorporate nature’s “already perfect” foods into your family’s way of eating this year:

Whether or not you decide to follow Janie’s work, or Becky’s, I hope you’ll take a moment to feel appreciation in your heart for them today, as I have, for reminding us that we already are already perfect.

There’s nowhere else to go, nothing else to do, no one else to be.

Everything you need is right here.

Abundant Blessings,

Kimberly

The Manifestation Maven

http://www.kimberlyschneider.com/go/

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What to Do in Precarious Times

By Kimberly Schneider | December 30, 2011

Most of us try to avoid precarious situations.

Steering clear of loss, injury, or death seems like a natural thing to do.

The thing is, though, loss is part of life. We can’t avoid it.

And some part of who we are is dying all the time. We just like to pretend it isn’t happening.

But it’s getting a bit harder to pretend, isn’t it?

We’re experiencing massive change as a species right now.

Our institutions are crumbling.

Our understanding of the world is unraveling.

Many of beliefs we never questioned now seem…questionable.

We are living in precarious times.

And maybe that’s exactly what we need.

Maybe our species needs an evolutionary shakeup to allow us to become who we were designed to be. Precarious times allow us to expand our potential.

After all,

Would Harry Potter ever have understood his own brilliance, had he not been marked with that lightning shaped scar?

Would Janeway have been such a dynamic, innovative captain if her crew had remained in the Alpha Quadrant?

Would Frodo have been a hero had he never left the Shire?

(Apologies if you are lost by my references to the Harry Potter series, The Lord of the Rings and Star Trek Voyager).

I believe that, as Clarissa Pinkola Estes says, “we were made for these times.”

So, what do you do when you are living through precarious times?

Show up for your life.

Be present.

Get conscious.

Pay attention.

Wake up.

Watch for inspiration.
There’s a blessing for you in this moment, if you’ll be open to it.

Everything you need is right here.

And speaking of that, my book, Everything You Need Is Right Here: Mastering the Art of Conscious Manifestation, is finally available, in digital form. You can get it right now, along with my new audiobook of original poetry called Terrible Beauty: Poems and Reflections for Precarious Times.

I’m offering both titles, together, right now for only $9.97.

Just go here to download them instantly (you’ll also get directions for reading the book on your Kindle or iPad, if that is your preference):

Thanks to all who have supported me in bringing these two works into form. It has been a labor of love, and I never could have done it without the help and encouragement of so many!

I hope you will join me in celebrating the release of Everything You Need Is Right Here: Mastering the Art of Conscious Manifestation and Terrible Beauty: Poems and Reflections for Precarious Times, and that you will help me spread the word about them.

http://www.kimberlyschneider.com/go/
With heartfelt appreciation,

kimberly
The Manifestation Maven
www.KimberlySchneider.com
http://facebook.com/kimberlyvschneider

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Peace on Earth Looks Like This

By Kimberly Schneider | December 22, 2011

At this magical time of the year when light is reborn from the darkness, it is common to wish for peace on earth.

Do you ever wonder if “Peace on Earth” could really happen?

I believe it can, and it will.

In fact, peace on earth could happen at any moment: as soon as we imagine that possibility and begin living it in our own lives.

Peace on earth begins with the peace we create in our own hearts.

True peace, the miraculous peace that transforms lives and planets, is a state of being. It erupts spontaneously when we create a discipline of reconnecting with our Source again and again and again.

Whether you call that Source God, Spirit, Christ, Higher Self, Wisdom, Adonai, Buddha, Allah, The Universe, Energy, or Goddess is irrelevant. It’s what you experience when you are in touch with the transcendent that matters.

I know that when I am in that place, I’m able to forgive myself, and make a space for all the uncomfortable and ugly parts of who I am.

I have compassion for my humanness.

I can love my messy self and my messy life.

And I remember that everyone around me is doing her or his best to muddle through this sometimes bewildering existence.

Peace on earth looks like this:

Offering a compassionate presence to your own pain.

Noticing the urge to smooth out the rough edges in your life, and then letting it go.

Reminding yourself what you love about your partner next time you feel irritated.

Making space for your child to be who she or he is, not who you want them to be.

Praying for the people who have hurt you (which may or may not include allowing them an ongoing place in your life).

Forgiving yourself.

Remembering that every person you encounter is both an expression of the Divine, and a mirror of your Self.

Allowing yourself to imagine something more than you’ve known.

Peace on earth begins with us.

Whatever holy days you celebrate this season,

May the seeds of Peace take root in your heart and bloom in your life all year.

kimberly

The Manifestation Maven

P.S. The digital versions of my book, Everything You Need Is Right Here: Mastering the Art of Conscious Manifestation and my audiobook Terrible Beauty: Poems and Reflections for Precarious Times will be available next week, and you can download BOTH for under $10. Look for an email after Christmas.

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Aligning with the Will of Heaven

By Kimberly Schneider | December 12, 2011

One of the most difficult aspects of Conscious Manifestation is the understanding that it doesn’t necessarily (or even usually) mean getting what your ego wants.

As I often discuss with my clients and at my events, our goals have one purpose and one purpose only: they are there to help us to become who we want to be. They invite us to step into our potential. And so sometimes, as we move toward those goals, we have to release our attachment to the form our desire has taken, to make space for something else.

Once in awhile, this is quite painful because we realize we really really really want things to be a certain way.

And yet, if we can, in the midst of an ego shattering experience, surrender to something bigger, if we can release resistance and trust that our soul’s agenda is larger than our ego can understand, then we make space for magic and miracles to happen

I was thinking of that earlier this month as I drove to the airport to pick up the musicians who were coming in from Ireland for the Celtic Soul Experience.

The Celtic Soul Experience was a week-long series of events in Missouri, including a three-city concert tour, an Irish music workshop and a Celtic Spirituality retreat.

This event was, quite literally, the biggest thing I’d ever done in my career. I’d been nurturing the seed of the project for over two years, and working intently on the specifics for over six months.

It all centered around three musicians: Noirin Ni Riain, whose heavenly voice had been transforming my world since the mid 1990s, and her sons, Owen and Moley O’Suilleabhain of Size2Shoes, whose inspiring, brilliant and heart-healing tunes I wanted to bring to an American audience.

So here I was, on my way to collect them at the airport.

But, due to last minute Visa issues, Moley was still in Ireland, and Owen, who had been let out of the country on an emergency tourist Visa, was given strict orders not to perform.

As you might imagine, I was having difficulty with this set of circumstances.

Having Noirin perform without Owen and Moley was not on my ego’s agenda.

So I was hoping that, miracle of miracles, Moley would somehow make it to Missouri and Owen would be allowed to perform, since we were waiting hour to hour for news from the Embassy.

That didn’t happen.

And I had some choices to make about who I wanted to be in this situation.

Did I want to resist what was happening? Or, did I want to align myself with the will of Heaven by trusting that somehow, some way, there was a Blessing waiting for me and others in the midst of this apparent crisis?

Did I want to pretend that I knew exactly what form a miracle should take? Or did I want to trust in a miracle beyond my designing?

Thanks be to God that I had a lot of support to help me be who I wanted to be: My Mom, Mary Lou Schneider, who went on the road with us and kept me in one piece all week. Cindy Caldwell, my volunteer coordinator and all around wonder woman. The spirit of community among the musicians and promoters in all three cities.

We rode a roller coaster of emotions as I took Noirin and Owen to KMOV Channel 4 in St. Louis, where Owen and Moley were to have made their first American television appearance on Great Day St. Louis, and watched other people perform with Noirin in their place.

We drove through Missouri where, time after time, Owen and I got up in front of each audience to apologize and explain why Moley wasn’t there, and why Owen couldn’t sing.

We did put together a wonderful lineup for the concerts: Margaret Waddell, Hannah Satterwhite, Lydia Ruffin and Gerald Trimble were among the many superbly talented people who enhanced Noirin’s lineup of songs and stories. We will always be grateful to the folks who stepped in at the last minute.

We watched Noirin touch 700 people’s hearts, ears and souls in three cities with her magical voice.

And at each concert, listening to that ethereal music, I was present to my own pain, and witnessed Owen’s and Noirin’s, as Owen sat, voiceless, watching other people do what he was put on this planet to do, unable to sing for people who wanted to hear him. And each day, wondering how Moley was doing in Ireland.

We dealt with sound issues and misunderstandings and our own disappointments, and we laughed until we cried over some of the zany things that happened on the road.

We were blessed to be part of something bigger than us. We raised enough money at the concerts for over 1,000 meals at Missouri food banks and sent more funds to Joplin to help people recovering from the tornado there. We announced the winner the raffle for next year’s workshop in western Ireland– and discovered that her uncle lives in Glenstal Abbey, where Noirin lives and works (so she’ll be seeing him when we gather there next summer!) And we ended the week with a magical Celtic Spirituality Retreat Noirin and I taught together in St. Louis.

By the time Noirin, Owen, Mom and I had a couple of meals together with my family at the end of the wild week, we realized something truly wonderful had happened: we had become more than business acquaintances and admirers of each other’s work. We had witnessed, up close and personal, how each one of us responded to intense personal and professional stress. And we liked what we saw. We were soul friends whose journey together was just getting started.

Noirin, Owen, Moley and I are already planning myriad other ways to work together again once Owen and Moley’s Visa complications are resolved–including Celtic Soul Experience II in Missouri and Noirin spending a day with us at my workshop in Ireland next summer. And there are many other beautiful things brewing from the Celtic Soul Experience that I’ll share when the time is ripe.

For now, let’s just say that I am grateful I had the tools and the wonderful people to help me trust in the miracles I couldn’t yet imagine, rather than the one I thought I really wanted.

Because aligning with the will of Heaven gets me a lot closer to who I want to be than striving and pushing and resisting.

And manifesting peace and joy in the midst of a painful experience: that is a miracle in and of itself.

“Who you are, in any given moment, changes everything.”*

(Noirin Ni Riain sings Ode to Brigid to our daughter Bridget, who was named after the Irish Goddess and Saint)

Sending you the Peace that comes from remembering who you are,

kimberly

The Manifestation Maven

*from the poem I Need A Sky that Moves by Kimberly V. Schneider

www.CelticSoulExperience.com

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What Do the Dalai Lama, Steven Spielberg & Sinead O’Connor Have in Common?

By Kimberly Schneider | November 18, 2011

When we talk about the word “genius” in common parlance, we usually mean a person with an extraordinary ability that sets them apart. Geniuses are rare and special.

However, the original meaning of the word genius is a bit different: it refers to the Divine aspect that lives in every situation, place or person.

We all have genius inside of us, but many people go through entire lifetimes without finding or expressing Divinity in a way only they can do it. And that’s a tragedy.

When a person DOES meet her or his inner genius, that’s a beautiful thing.

And when genius is given an environment that allows it to flourish, and then the stars align so that their genius can be an inspiration for others to recognize what is real and true and brilliant in themselves, well, that’s just magic.

Genius can take the form of seeing the beauty in every soul and every moment of life, like the Dalai Lama.

Or the ability to inspire through story, like Steven Spielberg.

Or a voice that touches our deepest emotions, like Sinead O’Connor singing Nothing Compares 2 U.

What’s your genius?

Do you know?

If not, when was the last time you looked for it?

And if you do know what your genius is, what do you do to nourish it every day?

One of the things I do on a regular basis to remind myself of the Divinity that lives within me is to surround myself with people and experiences that awaken my joy and wonder.

And in that regard, I have something in common with the Dalai Lama, Steven Spielberg and Sinead O’Connor, because each one of them has recognized and celebrated the particular genius of three people who are very special to me: Noirin Ni Riain and her sons, Owen and Moley O’Suilleabhain of Size2Shoes.

I would be bringing Noirin, Owen and Moley from Ireland to the U.S. for the upcoming www.CelticSoulExperience.com concert tour, Celtic Spirituality retreat and Irish music workshop regardless of their celebrity recognition, because they are truly spectacular. But perhaps a little star power is appropriate here, since we are talking about genius:

– Noirin has been invited to perform for the Dalai Lama on multiple occasions (he’s bowing to her in the picture at the bottom of this email).

– Steven Spielberg is a big fan of all three musicians, so much so that, in addition to buying lots of their music, he has hired Moley and Owen to work on one of his film projects. In Spielberg’s words, “Size2Shoes fits all!”

– Sinead O’Connor calls Noirin “my biggest influence and heroine in music.”

Many other geniuses of entertainment have recognized the special qualities of this musical family, including actress and film producer Anjelica Huston, who says,

“Nóirín Ní Riain has the voice of a Byzantine angel. She is surely the High Priestess of Gregorian Chant.”

And actor Russell Crowe raves,

“I’m a huge fan of Size2Shoes. From the inspired mastery of their harmonies, to the streetwise intellect of their humours. Unique, unaffected, awesome.”

If you live near St. Louis, Kansas City or Columbia, and you want to remember who you are and why you are here, I urge you to join us the week after Thanksgiving at one of the 3 concerts, the Celtic Spirituality Retreat and/or the Irish Music workshop. Do you really want to miss an opportunity to experience “the voice of a Byzantine angel” ? And did I mention that the spectacular Margaret Waddell will be joining us for all three concerts? And that Gerald Trimble is opening in Kansas City…

And, if you’ve been thinking about making the trip to the Midwest for one or more of the events, you’ll be so happy you did, and we’ll be delighted to have you there!

Come one, come all! Bring your friends! Share the joy!
Tickets and info available on the website; Columbia concert is nearly sold out and tickets are moving for the other two venues so this is a good time to get your tickets!

And of course, whether or not you join us for the Celtic Soul Experience, I am wishing you many experiences that awaken your wonder and remind you where the genius lives inside of you.

(Noirin Ni Riain with the Dalai Lama)

Blessings to you,

kimberly schneider

The Manifestation Maven

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The Healing Power of Compassion

By Kimberly Schneider | November 16, 2011

Wretched morning with our daughter Bridget this morning.

Preadolescent angst and hormones combined with Bridget’s developmental delays and difficulty articulating what she is feeling, mixed together with my own adult worries over things that have nothing to do with her.

It did not make for the best start of the day. I did not like who I was being this morning.

As I watched myself start to succumb to a tantrum of my own in response to Bridget’s outrage that I had opened the front door rather than waiting to let her do it (believe it or not, in our house, this is a big deal), I somehow remembered to breathe and practice Tonglen, the ancient form of meditation I learned from western Buddhist nun and teacher Pema Chodron.

Tonglen de-armors the heart by teaching us to sit with difficult emotions and difficult circumstances. In Tonglen practice, contrary to our inclinations, we breathe in what is uncomfortable, and breathe out what would soothe the discomfort (sending that healing breath to ourselves and to others who are experiencing difficult emotions).

Rather than running away or masking the feelings, we discover, through staying present, that we can do anything, for one breath. We discover that we are more connected to each other than we realized. And that underneath all of the difficult emotions is a boundless compassion that is large enough to hold anything we bring to it. Once we have experienced it, this compassion empowers us to be awake for our lives.

I needed another dose of Tonglen in peace and quiet after Bridget made it on the bus this morning. So I sat in the quiet and breathed some more. And underneath my anger and frustration I felt sadness. My own and Bridget’s.

And then I got on Facebook and read about a little boy in the St. Louis area who lost his life yesterday. I don’t know all of the circumstances, but I think it is safe to say that until we adults learn to be present to our own difficult emotions, the innocent of this world will suffer. It is tempting, when we read about horrible things like this, to project all of our anger and fear outward, on to the perpetrator, the enemy, the bogeyman. But that won’t break the cycle of violence and despair.

Those of us who are committed to a conscious life have to stop passing our own shadow material around, unloading it on each other because it is too uncomfortable. One by one, we are called, moment to moment, when we are faced with emotional challenges, to be present to our emotions—to really feel them, so that we don’t dump our unconscious energy on to the people around us.

This is how peace begins. We find compassion for ourselves, even in the most unattractive aspects of who we are. We demonstrate that compassion by being present in each moment. And as we practice, we find that this compassion, which is much larger than our personalities, bleeds out of our broken hearts to heal the world.

I am a long way from practicing Tonglen perfectly. I have some very ugly and awkward responses to the people around me, even the ones I love the most. And sometimes I forget to do Tonglen when I am upset. Sometimes, I forget how to reconnect to my Source. And that’s the genius of this work. You don’t have to have it together. The healing begins, again and again, in the middle of each messy moment.

So today I am grateful, even for the sadness welling up inside of me as I ponder my conflicts with Bridget this morning. And for the pain I feel as I consider what Tyler Dasher’s mother must be feeling. Because I know that I am alive. And I know what to do with that pain.

I may feel helpless to offer any sort of comfort to Tyler’s Mom. But I can be compassionately present to my own feelings, which will help me find a large enough space inside myself to breathe for her. To pray for her. To pray for us all. To begin healing this broken world, one breath at a time.

Several years ago, as we awaited one of Bridget’s heart surgeries, I felt overwhelmed by fear and anticipated grief. A passage from scripture about King Herod’s slaughter of the innocents in Israel kept coming to me: “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” (Matthew 2:18)

I wanted to run, screaming, from that image, the image of the crying mother. Because I did not want to be that woman. But I knew that the fears and feelings I was experiencing would just go unconscious if I covered them up. So I decided to practice Tonglen.

Below is a poem I wrote about that experience. Today I offer it up for Tyler’s family, and for all who have experienced great loss. May we keep breathing together, compassionately present to our own pain, so that we may create a world that no longer needs this sort of weeping.

The Week Before Open Heart Surgery

I watch her face soften

in the blessed trust

of sleep. And I feel the weight of her trust

in me, the awesome

and terrible weight of

motherhood, hovering over my life

like a wrecking ball.

I try to practice the

tonglen

of mothering.

Breathe.

Breathe into my fear and

meet it where it lives, in that closed off

part of my soul that used to run

from the pictures

of the childless mothers

whose babies’ lifeless bodies were

pulled from the river or

lost in the rubble or

left to rot under

the overpass after

the kidnapper had satisfied

some unfathomable

need.

Keep breathing.

Breathe in

the shock

the cry

the mute

despair.

Breath out….

what?

What could soothe

The raw and screaming

Emptiness

of a childless

mother?

I do not know.

Breathe in the

uncertainty.

Live the uncertainty.

Breathe out the

certainty that I am done

pretending

that the pictures of

the childless mothers:

those women in

Israel and Palestine

and Iraq and Rwanda

have nothing to do

with me.

“Rachel weeps, for

her children are

no more.”

I do not want

to know you,

Rachel.

I do not want

to be you.

But I will weep

for you, Rachel.

I will weep

for me.

I will weep for

a world that

has to know

this sort

of weeping.

Today may you discover the boundless compassion within yourself. Blessings and Peace,

Kimberly

The Manifestation Maven

My favorite resources for learning Tonglen are Pema Chodon’s audios, Awakening Compassion and Good Medicine.

www.CelticSoulExperience.com

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President Obama Was Cleaning out My Garage…

By Kimberly Schneider | November 8, 2011

If you want to find out about the funny dream I had last night, (it involved the President of the United States, some chickens, our cat, and a few pigs…) I’ll get to that in just a moment.

If, however, you want to skip to the part about how you can WIN a spot at next year’s workshop in western Ireland, where you’ll be trekking to ancient sacred spots and immersing yourself in poetry, music and the elements with me, my family and an intimate group of spiritual seekers, that’s at the bottom of the email….

Now, back to the dream:

Last night I dreamed that President Obama was cleaning out my garage.

He was very cheery about it too! My husband David and I came home to find him there with his sleeves rolled up, finishing the job.

We waved goodbye to the President, then walked around back to look at our new hen house, where our chickens were sleeping contentedly on their nests, along with a few happy pigs. I told David that the chickens were going to begin laying “in a few weeks!”

One of our cats walked in and at first I was concerned about him eating the chickens, but he did not bother them. The three of us, David and Tiger and I, just stood there in the hen house, smiling and looking at the sleeping animals.

At first when I awoke, I was puzzled by the dream. I’m not at all political anymore, and even when I was, I have never dreamed about a President. And I haven’t lived on a farm. So what was the deal with the chickens and the pigs?

Luckily, I had a bodywork appointment with my friend Marilyn Eagen and a phone conversation with my Mom this morning. Those two wise women held a space for me to discern the meaning of my dream:

The chickens laying in a few weeks represented the wonderful blessings coming our way as a result of the Celtic Soul Experience I’m facilitating with Noirin Ni Riain,Owen O’Suilleabhain and Moley O’Suilleabhain (world class musicians from Ireland) the week after Thanksgiving.

The pigs sleeping in the chicken house came from something I just read the other day about the Chinese symbol for security and happiness being “a pig under a roof.”

The pigs, chickens and the cat peacefully co-existing reminded me of the many different faith traditions coming together for the Celtic Soul Experience.

And the President represented a higher power—an aspect of the Universe that had access to resources that I did not—and he was taking care of things for me.

It was a wonderful message for me this morning. A reminder to be in the joy, to smile as I watch those sleeping chickens, and to expect happy surprises.

Because the best things in life often come to us in unexpected and wondrous ways, and all we can do is marvel!

For instance, have you been thinking about coming to Ireland with us next summer for the Dancing on the Edge workshop June 23-30, but weren’t sure HOW it could happen?

Well, if the thought of being with us in Ireland next year makes your soul sing, then the Universe will take care of the details. And here’s one way that might happen:

We are selling raffle tickets for at all 3 of the Celtic Soul Experience concerts in Missouri (Kansas City, Columbia and St. Louis) to raise money for charity—and the Grand Prize is a spot at next summer’s Dancing on the Edge Workshop with me in western Ireland! www.KimberlySchneider.com/trips

Just think, you could experience an incredible evening of uplifting, transformational live music from some of the most talented and spirit-filled vocalists and songwriters I’ve ever witnessed, AND win a spot at the Ireland workshop too. (Prize includes 14 meals, 7 nights lodging, all sacred sites and guides, plus the weeklong workshop with me and an intimate group of spiritual seekers . Plane fare and travel to and from the airport to Ballyvaughan are Not included).

We’ll be choosing one finalist at each of the 3 concerts and then do a drawing for the Grand Prize at the December 1^st concert in St. Louis. Raffle tickets are $5 for 1 or $20 for 5 and the money will go to Missouri charities.

So, are you joining us at one of the

Celtic Soul Experience Concerts?

Tickets for all three shows, plus the Celtic Spirituality Retreat and the Irish music workshop, are beginning to move quickly! Find out all the details and get your tickets at www.CelticSoulExperience.com

And in the spirit of the Chinese character for security and happiness,

May you always have a pig under your roof (and a President to clean out your garage).

kimberly

The Manifestation Maven