I recently had one of those ‘ahhh ahhh” moments. I am one of the millions of people reading and attending the Eckart Tolle and Oprah Webinar - A New Earth. Last Monday night we went over chapter 8, Discovery of Inner Space.

I found this chapter title and information so interesting especially from a space clearing point of view. The total amount of empty space between the molecules of our body is 99.99%. I had to sit with that statistic for awhile.

I thought about how that compares to the empty space in a home. Without any scientific measurement, I would bet it is very close to the same percentage. In the belief system of Interior Alignment™, we believe that our homes are a metaphor for our lives and that we are closely interconnected with our homes and all of Universe. So why would the amount of empty space be different within our homes?

This question led me to think about space clearing. In space clearing, we move stuck and stagnant energies out of a space by using clear intention and divine energies flowing through our tools. I remember one of my clients stating that she could feel the beat of my drum in her body as I was clearing her home. She told me the beat of the drum like her pulse as I drummed. I realize now that I was also clearing the inner space of my client. The sacred sound of the drum moving any stuck and stagnant energies that in and around the client’s body(s).  Was I clearing the 99.99% of “empty space”? The empty space may not be entirely empty as we have energies that linger, such as thought forms.

This uncovers another dimension to my space clearing. I had never stopped to think about the “empty space” of our bodies. The importance of having a clear intention in a space clearing is even more critical.  As a space clearing practitioner, I assist clients to clarify what kind of energy do they want to fill their home once the stuck and stagnant energy is removed.  The question then becomes, “What kind of energy do you want in your empty spaces?”

The discovery or rather the conscious thought of inner space, that quiet place that some tribal nations call, “going into the silence”. Going to our quiet spaces, our quiet inner spaces that are clear of unwanted debris.  A new and broader definition for sacred space.

Migwiitch, thank you for reading Between the Beats.  Blessings, Neshi.

All Rights Reserved.  Copyright, Yvette Neshi Lokotz, April 2008.

Spirit Drum Making                           

The rhythmic beat of a drum is like the heartbeat of our Mother the Earth and our Soul all wrapped up into one.  
 
In Native American tradition the use of a hand drum for ceremony is well known, yet the use of drum for Space Clearing is done by only a select few. Space Clearing with a drum is Big Medicine, with power that comes from the blending of the essence of the animal hide, the wood of the frame, the maker of the drum and of course the energy and intention of the person using the drum.
 
A drum can be even more powerful if it is made by the person who will be using the drum.  Native American tradition tells us how the maker of such tools embed their thoughts, prayers and energy into the drum knowing that it will be used for the good of the people.  It is a privilege and honor to make such a tool.  

To birth a drum is a gift handed down from the Creator.  And, as a very special part of the Advanced Space Clearing course “Beauty Space and Balance” you will have the extraordinary opportunity to make your own Spirit Drum.  In a unique blessing ceremony you will be initiated into the circle of Sacred Drummers.  Sacred Drummers are distinctive, as they are personally connected to the Spirit who brought Medicine Drums to the Potawatomi people.
 
I will be co-teaching this advance space clearing course with Minnie Kansman, author of Spirit Gardens, and Deb Swingholm, Master Reiki.  All three of us are Master Educators of Interior Alignment™.  Deb and Minnie wrote this about me, “We are very excited about this part of the course!  Neshi Lokotz, a gifted drum maker, has been crafting and teaching others how to make beautiful elk hide drums for several years.  As ancient Medicine Women have done for centuries, she brings her Native American heritage and all she has learned to help others walk in balance, and live life in health and harmony.”  
 
I invite you to be with us for this unique and Spirit-filled course.

As a reminder, space at the Inn is limited, so register soon to reserve your place in the course.  Register today by going to the Two Feathers workshop course listing where you will find the listing for Beauty Space and Balance.

Many Blessings, Neshi.

All Rights Reserved. Copyright, Yvette Neshi, Lokotz, April 2008.
 

Imagine walking up the side walk to a home’s front door. The side walk is lined with flowers and green plants. You see and hear an outdoor water fountain near the front door. The front door area is so inviting, warm and friendly with the tinkling sounds of a wind-chime. As you knock on the door you are met by the owner who has a warm smile recognizing you as a friend.  As you step into the doorway your eye catches a table with a beautiful cloth draping it.

You manage a warm hello for your friend, but the table keeps drawing your attention. As you walk further into the home, you walk directly to the beautiful table. On the table you see a lit candle, smell a fragrant incense and you reach out to feel the soft texture of the silk cloth. There is also a statue on the this beautiful table and a small vase of pretty flowers. The statue is of a woman in standing position with the palm of her hands touching each other as if in prayer at chest height.

The scene I just described is how Chi is invited to the front door and into the home. The table with beautiful items placed on it is an altar. Actually a particular altar known as a protection or guardian altar that is found near the front door and off to the side of the front door (not directly across the door).  The statue is a statue of Kwan Yin in a protective mudra.

I recently read a book by Daniela Schenker called Kuan Yin, Assessing the Power of the Divine Feminine.  Ms. Schenker goes into great depth about Kuan Yin. I appreciated this depth and sharing as I have fondness and connection to Kuan Yin. I have to say that this book also held another surprise gift. The forward was written by my teacher, Denise Linn. I had no idea that Denise had written this forward where she called for Kuan Yin to come and help with the birthing of a baby for a friend of hers.

Kwan Yin is a bodhisattva known for her deep compassion for all sentient beings as she hears the cries of the world.  Bodhisattvas are enlightened beings who have attained the wisdom of Buddhas but have postponed their final “liberation” or ascension. Instead they provide compassionate support to sentient beings in this world until they can achieve their own ascension.  She is also known as the protector of women and children.

A protection or guardian altar counteracts any lower vibrational energies such as negative thoughts from entering your home. According to Schenker, the peacock was the protector of Kuan Yin. The peacock feather holds this energy and will protect the home and its inhabitants from accidents, other disasters and can absorb negative energies.

Kwan Yin is only one example of a Helpful Person/People that can be enlisted to protect your home. You may choose from your own belief system or culture to create a beautiful guardian altar at your front door. For instance, in the “old days” Native Americans living on the great plains used the Medicine Shields which depicted the man of the home (tepee) protection. This could be in the colors used on the shield, picture of animals or birds. The shield was placed at the opening or doorway of the tepee.  It also indicated if the man of the home was in.  Other cultures may use a pair of lions at the entrance to their property (driveway) or a pair of Foo Dogs as guardians.

I believe that the most important element is your intention for the placement and also other items placed on the guardian altar. Your clear intention is the energy that holds these seemly separate items together on the altar. 

All Rights Reserved. Copyright, Yvette Neshi Lokotz, April 2008.

In my Interior Alignment™ training as both practitioner and teacher, Denise Linn, instructed us to hold sacred the preparation for space clearing as much as the purification itself.  As a practitioner sets up for a space clearing with their client, the practitioner assists the client to fine tune their intention for the space clearing as the intention is embedded into the overall ceremony.  The altar that is set up in the client’s home holds items of both literal and symbolic of their intention.

The altar is the focal point through out the space clearing.  The altar becomes the point to begin the opening prayer and the returning point at the end of the space clearing to close in prayer.  Some clients and also students not familiar with ceremony wonder why so much attention is paid to the details of the ceremony itself (preparation).  I believe the reason why we spend so much time on the details of the ceremony is because in the past, people were more connected to Spirit and took time during their normal day to set time aside for ceremony or ritual in a conscious way. In modern times, we are not aware of our rituals or ceremonies on a conscious level, such as our morning showers or preparing a meal.

As Interior Alignment™ pracitioners prepare for the space clearing we are consciously intending.  As the practitioner becomes conscious of all those details, we begin to bring in the depth of the meaning for the ceremony from hearts to our mental minds.  Our mental minds that are going at the light speed during much of our day so when we slow down to fine tune intention and to decide what is meaningful to place on the altar this process brings the practitioner and the client into the present moment. 

I have to admit, it take practice to decide what one’s clear intention is and also how to bring together the elements of an altar as each piece that is placed on the altar from the altar cloth color and texture to the placement of each item on the altar.  When the physical altar is set, then we can move toward the words that will be shared with Spirit in prayer.  As Don Miguel Ruiz states, “the word is sacred”.  The Interior Alignment™ practitioner is taught to bring the feeling we have in our hearts together with the verbal word - melding our heart with our conscious mind. As we begin the space clearing with a prayer that states the client’s intention, we are beyond man’s measurement of time and space.  The practitioner stands in the crux of the present moment. That present moment outside the measurement of time and space is the segue into the physical space clearing.  The practitioner’s space clearing tools are a part of the ceremony and an extension of the practitioner doing the space clearing.  As in any other healing, the practitioner is not “doing” the healing but rather is the conduit for divine energy flowing through them and their space clearing tools which the home and its inhabitants are able to access and receive.

As I bring together the act of space clearing with the act of ceremony, I realize that Interior Alignment™ space clearing practitioners are the bridge between the seen and the unseen, as they work consciously in the present moment. As the practitioner creates the physical altar for the ceremony, their clients are brought to the present moment and consciously takes in or absorbs the meaning of the ceremony. As this meaning reaches their conscious mental mind, the space clearing and its affects becomes real. The affects come into the physical world.

I love being a space clearing practitioner and teacher.  I can sense and see the moment when a client or student becomes aware of the depth of the ceremony in their eyes.  This moment is priceless.

All Rights Reserved. Copyright, Yvette Neshi Lokotz, April 2008.

 Have you ever wondered what you are suppose to being doing with your life? What contribution are you suppose to give to the world?  This is how I began my journey to becoming a feng shui and space clearing professional.  It was back in 1994 that I began asking myself these questions. 

I believe that the Universe answered my questions as I found a very small article in a a Glamour magazine on feng shui. I had not heard of that phrase. Within a 2 week time frame the phrase feng shui found its way into my life. I decided to check out what the Internet had to offer. I found page after page of feng shui related items.  I noticed that there was nothing offered in the Midwest at that time, which was 1995.  I was in a bookstore some months later and found a book on feng shui, Feng Shui-Arranging your Home to Change Your Life by Kirsten M. Lagatree. There was only 3 books available at that time and I chose Kirsten’s book.  I must have read that book at least 4 times.  I started to move my furniture around and our life began to change. Paul received a new duty station in Madison along with a promotion. I was hired by the state to be a policy analyst (a nice raise to boot).  So, we moved to a small town near Madison in 1996.

Do you feel a draw or pull toward feng shui or toward space clearing and not know why? I believe that at a soul level we already know so many things. It is when we make a conscious decision to find out more or to take another kind of action that we begin to consciously step onto that part of our Life Journey, our path, to be of assistance to others. This is what feng shui and space clearing are about, being of service, at least from an Interior Alignment™ perspective. 

There are two distinct areas for consideration. The first area is on the physical or worldly level.  Does something like feng shui or space clearing interest you as a profession. Are you already an interior designer or real estate person who can add this on to the services you already provide to others. It is a business decision.  The second area of concern is in the spiritual world.  Do you feel or have a sense like you have done feng shui or space clearing before?  Do you feel a sense of joy and excitement when you read information about feng shui and space clearing?  This is your soul telling you to follow your heart.  This is a spiritual decision. 

The first time I assisted a friend to move her furniture around, I felt so elated when she felt the change in the room. Or, when my very first paying client sent me flowers to say thank you for their “new home”. The feeling of assisting others to realize their goals, their dreams, their intentions was so way better than I ever felt drafting state law.

I have been practicing space clearing most of my life. I watched my mother and my aunties clear their homes and when I was old enough, I assisted my mother.  When I read Sacred Space by Denise Linn is when I found my heart’s work. Space Clearing to me is like breathing, natural.  When you are drawn to space clearing you also are drawn to a deeper connection to Spirit as we work with the formless. The shifts in energy are not seen but felt, felt at a soul level. When a client describe their home after a space clearing they talk about how they can breath more fully, how it feels lighter or how it feels to comfortable for the first time in their home. They speak about feeling rather than seeing.

If you are interested in becoming a professional feng shui and space clearing practitioner, you may find yourself asking yourself, “why do I want to become a practitioner?” Doing what you love is a big part of the answer, being of service to others, and getting paid for assisting others in realizing their intentions may just be your answer.  I believe that the world needs more space clearing and feng shui practitioners. As people begin to awaken to their soul’s work, to their life journey, they will need assistance to create an environment that will support their endeavors to reach their goals. They will need a home that will offer them a place of peace to unwind and relax at the end of the day. Just think, or imagine that could be you assisting them. 

All Rights Reserved.  Copyright, Yvette Neshi Lokotz, April 2008.

My journey to New Mexico began about 2 years ago.  I had just finished teaching a practitioner certification of Interior Alignment. I was spending the next couple of days cleaning and putting aware the space clearing tools and such.  As I worked, I could hear
whispers of the name Albuquerque.  My husband and I went out to dinner and as we waited for our table, we sat chatting about our day.  As I was listening to Paul, I heard another voice say in a rather loud conversational tone — Albuquerque.  I had no clue as to why or what this all meant.  Paul teased me and said that I couldn’t go there until I knew how to spell Albuquerque.  I began my research and interest in Albuquerque. 

It was almost 2 years later in September 2007 that I received an email regarding the course, The Way of the Shaman, being taught by Sandra Ingerman in Santa Fe, New Mexico in March of 2008. I loved Sandra Ingerman’s style of writing and had heard such praise for her style of teaching.  I decided the day I received the email message that I would attend this course with Sandra. I wrote out a check for the entire course fee and
mailed it off. 

I shared my decision with my good friend and fellow Interior Alignment™ Master teacher, Deb Swingholm, that I would be attending The Way of the Shaman course.
I sent Deb the class information and she too decided to attend the same course.  I still had no idea why I had to go to New Mexico, just that there was a very strong pull to go to Albuquerque and Santa Fe.

New Mexico is a beautiful state that has many different ecosystems.  We spent our first full day visiting ancient petroglyph sites at the Petroglyph National Monument Park in Albuquerque. My favorite site was the Piedras Marcadas Canyon (Canyon of the Dark Rocks).  This is the home of the densest concentration of petroglyphs along the 17 mile escarpment with 5,000 images.  Most of the images were created between 400 and 700 years ago by the ancestors of today’s Pueblo Nations. This area and the petroglyph carvings were thought to be used to conduct sacred ceremony.

Science shows that 150,000 years ago a series of volcanic eruptions flowed to create the mesa and the dark basaltic rock that were used to carve the petroglyphs. The petroglyphs contained both animal and human forms.  As we approached the trail head of the Canyon, I did a tobacco giving ceremony to ask for permission to pass into a sacred place.  I was given permission and called granddaughter. We hiked some distance, stopping occasionally to take pictures and to tune into the energy of this sacred place.

One petroglyph in particular caught my attention. The image of a woman, a female shaman, at the very back part of the canyon.  This particular carving was different from other shaman carvings as it was plain to see that this shaman had a dress on. Other shaman carvings was shown in stick person form. As I closed my eyes to feel the energy here, I felt compelled to turn and look in the opposite direction.  The view was looking down the canyon to see where it narrowed and then opened up to the valley which Albuquerque is located.  The shape of this canyon reminded me of a womb and birth canal. The female shaman petroglyph was at the very back of the womb.  She held a stick in one hand and a corn stalk in the other. I could hear drumming and women singing as I imagined what it might have been like to be there in ceremony.

As I stood in the center of the womb, giving thanks for the opportunity to experience the energy of this sacred place, I could felt in my heart that this is the reason, the
female shaman, that I was to make the sacred journey to Albuquerque. A special thanks to Ed and Yvonne Boudreaux for being such great hosts and tour guides.

Thank you for reading Between the Beats.  Many Blessings, Neshi. 

All Rights Reserved. Copyright, Yvette Neshi Lokotz, April 2008.