Understanding Anxiety, PTSD, Depression

Warrior Maiden

“Brick by brick, I’ll pave the path for you”, he said.

“And Ill give you the vision to where it should lead!”, she said

“Do know, the journey will be long and arduous”, he said

“But through my eyes, love and the kindness, along the path, you will see”, she said

 

~ An interlude between the Warrior and the Maiden

 

Within each one of us, the Maiden, and the Warrior converse. Through them, our behaviors are directed, and our paths are laid out. So what are those governing forces and how do they shape us to become?

The Warrior:

With a full set of armor and a sword with a deafening blade, the Warrior governs our “action-oriented” side. It is our Masculine-half residing in each of us. It creates plans, assesses potentialities and risks, and with a full force, moves forward towards achieving its goals. It is the side of us that propels us to act, to advance, to eliminate threats, and to achieve our visions. It’s the side that builds, the side that measures, and the side that learns. The Warrior is our own inner show of strength and power.

However, relying solely on your Warrior side creates an inner need for control. The Warrior governs the logical aspect of our thinking. When the balance tilts more towards our Masculine aspect, we tilt towards using logic and reasoning in our day-to-day activities, dismissing intuition, creativity, and passion. We become concentrated on the physical world and feel as if life is a bundle of responsibilities that needs to be taken care of without attributing much attention to the beauty that lies around us nor the splendor of what the path might have instore for us. We suddenly become infused with doubt, and fear of the future. “I only believe what I can see” becomes our governing motto. Life becomes exhausting and troublesome. Eventually, chronic stress and exhaustion becomes our everyday companion.

Characteristics of people with a high and prolonged dependence on the Inner Warrior:

  • Excessive logical thinking; no room for creativity.
  • Feeling of a “heavy weight on their shoulders”
  • Obstinacy and difficulty in altering paths
  • Inability to cope with change
  • Focused solely on accumulating money and “paying the bills”
  • Prone towards negative thinking: Predicts failure before the finalization of the event.

The Maiden:

With grace that charms the winds and beauty that blinds the eyes, our inner Maiden brightens our soul. She leads our creativity and intuition. She lights hope when we can see none and graces us with beauty when everything seems mundane. She is the Feminine-half of each of us. Through her, we discover the depths of who we are and dream of worlds that we wish to create. She is our dream weaver, our passion infuser, and our heart opener. With a strong inner Maiden influence within us, we relinquish many of our fears, experience the full spectrum of emotions, nourish our spirit with faith, and are able to feel sympathy and open our hearts. We become a beacon for others, more forgiving, and less judgmental.

Nevertheless, an excess of the Inner Maiden energy for a prolonged period of time does carry its own disadvantages. When we only rely on our Feminine side, we become dreamers without a plan. Our emotions pour out uncontrollably, failing to be guided by our intentions. We become what’s known as “living in our heads” without feeling a ground that  can supports us.

Characteristics of people with a high and prolonged dependence on the Inner Maiden:

  • Excessive daydreaming
  • Difficulty in grasping reality
  • Tendency to avoid difficult situations
  • Recurrent emotional outbursts
  • Lives in the “future” and “what ifs”
  • Careless when it comes to day-to-day responsibilities.

The current predominant energies in our societies are masculine. We are living in societies that value physical wealth over spiritual. We measure abundance with how much money do we have and how many houses do we own. We work tirelessly in a 9-5 Job (that never ends at 5) and then go on a “vacation” for two weeks without truly turning our minds off of work. We compare our successes with others and feel continuously judged and criticized. We are simply running ourselves dry waiting whether we’ll see the fruits of our continued labor. To show sympathy or understanding is characterized as weakness and to show anger and stubbornness is a sign of strength. This forced most of us to act through our Warrior and tiresomely make use of it without providing it a minute of rest nor the aid from its companion, the Inner Maiden. We keep striving and struggling, trying to achieve the “common” future and to finally become “happy”, without realizing that to truly be happy we need to first discover our own true nature and rebalance our own energies. We are simply trying to pave the path with having no true vision in sight nor see the beauty along the side of the road.

Even though our general aim should always be towards balancing the two energies inside of us. Having a heightened Warrior or Maiden isn’t always disadvantageous. In a life-threatening situation, having a a dominant Warrior can save our lives. In addition, when performing a piece of art, an accentuated Maiden can translate the creativity that lies in our minds unto the paper in front of us. The goal isn’t to suppress a certain side from showing its wonders and beauty, the goal is to give each side room to grow and prosper, and to work together on achieving the wonderful life that we want to create for ourselves.

Stages in our lives and the Maiden/Warrior dominance:

As a cause of pressure from society and a need to conform, we have developed a tendency that many people possess to embody a certain energy throughout a certain phase of our lives. Let’s look at this example:

As a female, Sandra has always been taught how to behave in a certain manner. She needs to wear skirts, play with dolls, and like the color pink to convey her femininity. Henceforth, throughout her childhood and maybe part of her teenage years, her Maiden was in charge. Her Warrior was forced to relinquish his power as it is unaccepted for her to recognize his power. Later on, she started working in the corporate world. In order for her to succeed, she believed that she needed to be forceful, unemotional, and only noticing tangibles. She needed to resurrect her Warrior side however with forcing her Maiden side back into the closet. She believed the power that her Warrior can equip her with will push her towards ultimate satisfaction. She contributed the Maiden to being emotional, which she also contributed to weakness.

Years later, she realizes that somewhere in the middle, she had lost her identity. She became anxious, angry, and insecure. Physical ailments might have also transpired. She feels imbalanced… she feels lost.

I have heard this story, and others similar to it, from different clients all over the world. We tend to force ourselves into believing that we either have Masculine or a Feminine energy. Both can’t work together. We somehow started believing that each negates the other, while that couldn’t be farthest from the truth. They complete eachother! Their combined forces form a coherent body and mind and show us the true beauty and pleasure of life.

Characteristics of each side:

When working together, the Maiden and the Warrior produce a coherent free-functioning energy system that affects our internal and external environments. However, even though, together, they form a complete picture, each by itself plays its part in sculpting our lives. Let’s dig deeper into each:

The Maiden:

She rules the left side of our body which is managed by the right side of our brain. She is ruled by the moon energy. She governs our creative, intuitive, and emotional side:

  • She allows us to see a situation from a collective point of view.
  • She integrates rather than differentiates.
  • She opens our hearts, focuses on being, and stimulates our intuition.
  • Through her, we feel part of the All.
  • Through her, we dive inwards.
  • We learn how to collaborate.
  • She rules the subconsciousness.
  • She focuses on the connection between two objects.
  • Through her we learn patience.
  • Through her we learn to be comfortable within the unknown.
  • She is process oriented.
  • Yin Energy

The Warrior:

He rules the right side of our body which is managed by the left side of our brain. He is ruled by the Sun energy. He governs our thinking, planning, and systematic side:

  • He allows us to see the uniqueness in individuality.
  • He sees the logical patterns presented in different situations.
  • He rules our analytical side.
  • He opens our mind and focuses on action and doing.
  • Through him we feel our induvial power.
  • He rules the conscious mind.
  • He focuses on the cause and effect between two objects.
  • Through him, we learn urgency and action.
  • Through him we learn how to structure our way of thinking.
  • He is result oriented.
  • Yang Energy

Both are magical individually however their combined energy sets an unstoppable force. Call on them to endow your soul with both of their strengths. Cherish your Maiden and be proud of your Warrior. Allow them to combine their forces and pave the path for you to have a beautiful wonderful life!

 

Through a Child’s Eye

Recently I was in a grocery store line up, and there was a mother with 3 young children. Her baby boy Simon was in a carrier, straddling the grocery cart. I felt an instant connection with this beautiful baby, and saw a light so bright coming from his navy blue eyes. It was as though he was speaking directly to me. His smile was so all consuming and I found I couldn’t take my eyes off of him. I felt he was reminding me that love in its purest form is there for all of us, whenever we want it!

Simon reminded me of the innocence and the purity of childhood that all of us want to feel within ourselves.
At birth, most of us hold the belief that Love is indeed infinite, encompassing, and limitless. We feel deserving of it. We feel nothing but love for our parents, and hold the higher self ‘ideal’ of our lives to come, tightly in our hearts.

Then we begin our journey into the family time line and quickly adopt the belief system that has been present for generations.
During my six week Emotional Blueprint course we begin to map, or explore our family’s tendencies and take a close look at these belief systems. We begin to see the patterns within ourselves that have crippled us in so many aspects of our lives. In discovering your blueprint, you are given valuable tools to begin to create a new emotional landscape for your life!

Through the Eyes of a Mother

“Feed your Children”

When I think of the month of May, I always reflect on my mother, who was pregnant with sibling # 4, and she gleefully said one day” I know what the name of this baby will be”. “I will name this child ’Robin’, because the month of May is the month of the nesting of the Robin’s”. Our baby brother ‘Robin’ was born on May 15th, and lives up to his name with such grace. He is an amazing musician and family man, and immensely loved for his ‘cheerie’, humorous disposition.

Just after Mother’s day this year, I was visiting my son in North Bay Ontario. We embarked on a large project of landscaping over the 2 day visit. In the early morning of day one before my son awoke, I took my coffee down the steps of his deck, only to discover a tiny Robin, at the base of the stairs. I immediately smiled, as I thought of mom, who had long passed, and thought about how I might be able to help this tiny little bird. I looked around and the mother was nowhere in site. I dawned my gardening gloves, and gently moved the little one to a sheltered area by a fence in the garden. I kept an eye out for the baby bird’s mom, and began the arduous task of digging out the first garden bed. Triggered by a conversation I had had with my son the night before, I was reflecting on my motherhood. The baby Robin, made me feel as if my dear mother was reflecting back on my own role as a mother. The baby Robin, made me feel my dear mother’s presence, as often happens with me. I found myself as I was digging questioning my motherhood. Was I the mother that my kids would like me to be? Had I disappointed them...am I giving them enough? Do they really understand just how very much I love them? I found myself weeping as I was digging. The tears were mostly about missing my own mom, who I  feel such a deep love for every single day.

Suddenly as I was digging I heard that all too familiar song of a Robin. I was shocked that she came sweeping down and was  excitedly feasting like a kid in a candy shop! At this point I had turned the rich soil enough, to expose juicy worms, and grubs and I could see her excitement in the score!

I kept an eye on her to make sure she found her wee one, and from a distance I could see her feeding  her delighted baby. Naturally I was thrilled, and again thought of mom. A few moments later, momma bird came back to the garden. Very quickly though I began to sense something. This bird was clearly wanting to be close to me. She came right by my side and stayed with me for 10 minutes at a time. I got a rush of shivers and somehow knew that this mother bird was in fact wanting to deliver a message to me. It was too out of the ordinary to ignore...she was at times inches away from me, as she happily hopped all around me. If there is one thing I have learned in this life, is that there are no accidents. The signs, and answers for the questions we ask within ourselves are always there is we open up our awareness to the signs.

One thing I noticed with this Robin, as she would hop over to me repeatedly with a mouth full of natures best and simply stare at me. I thought to myself...ok mom...what is the message. The robin from time to time after boasting her find with clearly an overflowing beak, would go over to her baby with another feed, she then however would come back to me for another visit as she filled her beak again!

Suddenly a rush of insight came to me. It was as though my mother’s voice was speaking directly to me. “Continue to feed your children darling one”..... Suddenly I had to sit right in the garden and I found myself weeping heavily. The robin came back and stayed close by the whole time I wept. It was so amazing. When My son woke up he stood on the deck and witnessed this happening between the momma bird and me, and he was delighted with the regular visit’s from this bird all day.  The following day, the robin once again was with us all day long!

The message for me was crystal clear. I recognized that I do feed my children on a regular basis. I feed them messages from the heart, share with them my hard earned wisdom, as passed down from my mother and her mother before. I am blessed to be the mother of the three most amazing children that could ever be. Thank you to Cameron, Ian and Emily-Jane for the gift of you and all that you are to me. Your Gammie is with us everyday...all we have to do is watch for the signs!

Follow The Signs

Throughout our lives, we have narrowed our definition of “communication” to become either an explicit word or conversation, or a written memo that’s sent to us specifically. If you are pushing someone dear to you to succeed, you would have a motivational conversation with them. But how would the universe communicate? At the end, the universe wants us to succeed… the universe wants us to achieve our purpose. Then, how would the universe “talk” to us?

Ann is a client of mine who experienced life as a journey devoid of colors. In her own words, she stated, “I have been living in a world of “Beige””. She is mesmerized with the idea of having emotions, as she witnesses others in her life experiencing them. However, she couldn’t find a path.

As the universe is our ally, it will always try to provide us with opportunities for our betterment. With Ann, that opportunity was my Emotional Blueprint Sessions. An inner intuition led her to subscribe to a 6-week workshop followed by a 2-day Emotional Blueprint intensive course. Throughout, she dug deep inside of herself, and used the methods with admirable determination towards changing her inner programming and her future perspective of life.

One day, after one of the sessions, she looked outside and saw a magnificent rainbow. She questioned herself on whether it was meant to be a sign from the universe. Nevertheless, she couldn’t confirm it to herself not until it re-occurred after a different session. For few hours, she was delighted and change was starting to imprint in her genes as she was digesting the message from the universe.. a message of affirmation. Nevertheless, as the days went by, her self-doubt and her need for control and safety resurfaced, and what was starting to be infused with colors, returned back to its original form of Beige.

Days later, on a cloudless Sunday afternoon, as Ann was driving back home from a session, a huge, beautiful rainbow appeared capturing her full attention. She was simply blown away. There were no clouds to be seen! That was the moment that it was starting to truly hit her: “Is it possible that my tepid version of life is actually becoming vibrant? Am I truly starting to feel? Is the universe truly agreeing with what I am doing?”

That same night, with a heart filled with energy, she decided to start her vision board. She daydreamed and starting cutting scraps of images of what she wants her life to be. She lived through each image and poured her emotions out. After couple of hours, and a huge mess of scraps on the table, she started cleaning up with the beautiful thoughts of her desired future still simmering in her mind. She built a beautiful vision board, and now she is determined to manifest it.

Doubt creeps in as it does everytime we are on the verge of attaining a higher understanding. However, even though doubt can be your enemy, the universe will always be your ally.

Hours later, after the room being sorted and the vision board hung, she noticed a small scrap of paper that has survived the cleanup. As she was approaching it thinking it was just a scrap that she had missed, she noticed that it was a perfect cut-out of a phrase… and the phrase was “Follow the Signs”. A wave of shock and joy filled her heart and she knew then, the universe is her true friend, and it has been trying to tell her “You are on the right path, Follow the Signs”.

Months later, her transformation is nothing short than magical. Her emotions are vibrant and her joy is encompassing that it was noticed by everyone around her. Her life has changed and its all due to her abiding to one message “Follow the Signs”.