Autumn Beginning at La Vida Dulce

It has been a very long time since I wrote a blog article. I have been busy teaching and traveling to teach. I am very happy to be able to sit down and write this post.

I love this time of year — The Autumn Equinox. The weather is more moderate with warm afternoons and cooler nights. It is almost sweatshirt weather during the day. You can just barely feel a coldness at the end of a breeze.

Taking time to clean out closets, the basement and garage feels like we are preparing for the coming winter. The maple trees around our home are beginning to change into their colorful coats and even some are losing their leaves already. Even my teaching schedule is starting to wind down. I am teaching next week a space clearing 6 day certification course, a drum making workshop in the state of New York November 1 and my last drum making workshop in Wisconsin (Aquarian Gardens in New Lisbon)November 8. After that last drum making workshop, I will be snuggling in for the winter as I prepare for the 2009 courses.

I love what Ted Andrews wrote in his book Nature Speak about the Autumn Equinox.  He calls the Autumn Equinox the Beginning the Hero’s Journey.  This is the time of year that is about endings and beginnings.  This is a time of new starts as we clean out the old.  We have a harvest this year.  We had an abundant year of inner work, peace, solitude and joy.

As we begin the Hero’s Journey, I am planning gardens for the next growing season. I am planning my courses for 2009 and setting dates.I will continue to teach certification courses in Interior Alignment™ (instinctive feng shui and space clearing), guiding Rainbow, 12 Gifts and A Song™ ascension groups, teaching sacred geometry,drum making, Medicine Wheel Feng Shui and Space Clearing™, Beauty Space and Balance Advanced Space Clearing, and holding the Sacred Space Fellowship August 2009.

Thanks for reading Between the Beats.

Blessed Autumn Equinox,
Neshi

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

At the Great Lakes Retreat held at Olivet College in July, I presented the first class on Medicine Wheel Feng Shui and Space Clearing. This was a overview class that laid out the basics.

I covered the characteristics of the four directions of the Medicine Wheel using my Potwatomi culture and also drawing from my Interior Alignment training. Since we had a short 2 hours to cover the information, I felt like I was a stone thrown to skip on a lake. I could only hit so many hit spots within the material I brought with me.

I laid a Medicine Wheel drawing over a drawing of my property and home to show how the areas of the Medicine Wheel effect the different areas of my property. Using the compass directions to locate east, south, west and north to lay the medicine down. My drive way (mouth of life force of the property) lays in the southeast as well as the front door of my home. The energies of the east are air, new beginnings, birth, spring, male, and yellow.

As we walked the Medicine Wheel in a clockwise fashion, we walk to toward the south. The energies of the South carry abundance, fast growth, youth, water, summer, female and black. Walking toward the West energies we come to adulthood, harvest, fire, male and red. The energies of the North are about completion, elderly, death, rebirth, earth, female and white.

I had so much fun showing how the Medicine Wheel energies line up with different parts of my property. We also talked about the similiarities to Chinese feng shui. In Medicine Wheel Feng Shui we still have life force energy or chi moving in a clockwise fashion through a space, we still have clutter effecting the flow of the life force energy, we still have to balance the nature elements, we still have the mouth of chi or life force energy, and we still have the balancing of male/female energies (yin/yang). The major differences are between the use of the 5 element theory (air, water, wood earth, metal) and 4 element (air, water, fire and earth), locating how the energetic map (bagua or Medicine Wheel) is laid over a property, and the qualities of the four directions rather than the guas of the bagua.

I can’t wait to teach this course again and to use Medicine Wheel feng shui with my next client.

Blessings, Neshi.

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

Beauty Space and Balance, an Exploration of Advance Space Clearing course that I co-taught with Minnie Kansman and Deb Swingholm concluded on June 23. This course was an amazing experience of sharing information, joy and connection to our work of space clearing.

Our students were able to experience space clearing tools that they may not have used before, we led several guided meditations (syncro-alignments) to deepen our connection to our spirit guides and space clearing tools. Our intention was to assist students to become more confident in their space clearing skills. Our students completed a practicum with real clients. From comments from the students we achieved our goals.

Through out the course we referred to our work as Interior Alignment (feng shui and space clearing) practitioners to honor our space clearing roots. We also honored our teacher and mentor Denise Linn as we shared with our students our humble beginnings as practitioners. We shared with them how we built our individual practices, how we prepared our clients, our tools and our selves for a space clearing.

One of the students contacted me last week to share with me that she had her first space clearing client since the completion of Beauty Space and Balance. She shared that how she prepares for a clearing and the effectiveness of her work has improved and most importantly she felt energized after the clearing was completed rather than feeling tired and exhausted. She noticed that the house she space cleared sparkled and her clients were very grateful for her work.

I love teaching but what most touches my heart is when a student or a client shares with me their success due to the information I shared with them.

Minnie, Deb and I have begun to plan 2009 Beauty Space and Balance course we can’t wait to teach together again.

Blessings, Neshi.

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

The students did an outstanding job on their practicum. They had a real feng shui client to consult with and to prepare a feng shui consultation report. The client is a business owner who is currently going through a transition from a partnership to a sole proprietorship. The client was looking for assistance to balance out the remaining energies.

The students worked diligently with the client and prepared a well thought out report that will help the client balance the flow of chi, balance yin/yang energies and balance the five elements. The client is very pleased with the students and with the work they did for her. The client has already begun implementing the suggested enhancements.

As their teacher, I help the students prepare for the consultation, I begin the consultation so that the students get an idea of how a consultation begins. I then turn the consultation over to the students. I am in the background available for questions and support.

In Interior Alignment we suggest that new practitioners have up to 10 practice homes or business before they begin to charge their clients so that they can build up their experience level. I am available to those practitioners who study with me as on going support. I have had new practitioners email floor plans or pictures of areas that they have questions about. I even have had new practitioners come with me to my own client consultations when the practitioner needs just a little more confidence building.

Two Feathers Interior Alignment certification course have a maximum of four students per course. I love small groups because we can have detailed and specific discussions about their own homes and their practice. I also expanded the building your practice section of the course. I have a marketing expert, Tami Gulland of Graceful Marketing, come to the last day of the course. Graceful Marketing helps a studnet to build to lay the foundation of a spiritually based business. Tami talks about the very basics of beginning a business and career. Tami specifically works with the students with Law of Attraction (having a clear intention). One of the biggest highlights is the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) to clear issues surrounding success. Graceful Marketing will also be joining us for the Advance Course in August as we support Two Feathers students build a spiritual business.

It has been one week since the end of the first certification course and I do miss the students, but I also know that they are consciously beginning their new careers.

Blessings, Neshi.

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

Have you ever prepared for a special gathering? A gathering that you just know will be full of special moments that create opportunities for personal growth. Well, that is exactly what I am in the midst of doing. I am preparing for a special gathering. This gathering is an Interior Alignment™ feng shui professional certification course.

This is the beginning of my fifth year of teaching Interior Alignment™ professional certification courses. The professional certification course is designed to certify others as professional feng shui practitioners.  I love teaching and all the preparation it takes to conduct a course.  I have a checklist of items for the course, the students, and the venue. There are a million details, but it is the details that make the time together special.

My favorite part is selecting the different meditation music. I have lots and lots of cd’s for selection. The synchro alignments that are done through out the course help students to become familiar with this unique tool of Interior Alignment. Synchro alignment is similar to a guided meditation and meant to bring together our conscious self with our higher self.

The day before the course starts it is very busy as the chef brings in the food and fills both refrigerators and both pantries. The cleaning people are in and I am working on flower arrangements for the students bedrooms, the bathrooms, and the dining room. I also put the finishing touches to the special altar for the course.

The morning of the first day of the course has the energy of anticipation. I go from room to room double checking to make sure that everything is in place. I go out to the front walk to sweep and spray it down with water as this gives the walk a fresh appearance. I make sure the fountain is running and the potted plants are watered.

Finally, the students begin to arrive. I meet them outside at the front door with a smile and hug. As they go into the house, they meet the chef who has a yummy snack and beverage waiting for them. We get comfortable in the living room to discuss bedroom assignments and go over housekeeping items.  The students then bring their luggage in and begin to settle into their rooms.

When it is time for us to reconvene in the living room, we begin the Interior Alignment™ feng shui journey. A journey that will be life changing for some of the students and an introduction to a new career as a feng shui practitioner. I am truly honored and grateful that these feng shui students chose me for their teacher and to share this part of their soul’s journey.

Blessings, Neshi.

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

I can help you clear up some of your confusion. There are several main schools of feng shui and most feng shui books do not tell from what perspective the author is writing the book.  As I went along with my informal study, I came across the book Sacred Space by Denise Linn. In this book she wrote about Instinctive Feng Shui.  Sacred Space became the Interior Alignment™ system, which combines instinctive feng shui, space clearing and synchro alignment. When I read about instinctive feng shui, I felt a solar plexus connection with the information.  I chose to study this form of feng shui with Denise.

Denise wrote that we each have a deep and vast wellspring of intuitive knowledge about the power of placement.  Instinctive feng shui taps into that knowledge.  A great example is, when you move into a new home and begin to arrange your belongings or just moving furniture around in your current home.  Many times we move something then stand back to see how it “looks”.  We then decided if it “looks” good or not. If it doesn’t “look” good, we move again and again until it “looks” good. 

This “looking” good is our connecting or tapping into our intuition. We are actually “feeling” the change in the room. This “feeling good” is the basis of Instintive Feng Shui which is intuition. 

Instinctive feng shui is the blending of the best of feng shui from Black Hat feng shui, Compass feng shui and Form School feng shui.  These types of feng shui share and agree that harmony with the universe is important in feng shui.  Harmony is the balance of the flow of chi, the balance of yin and yang, and the balance of the elements.

The field of feng shui is enormous. Finding the school of feng shui that “feels” good to you is important and finding the teacher that you feel good about is just as important. Take time to investigate each school and teacher of that school, but rely on your intuition to make your final selection. 

Blessings, Neshi.

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

Many of us have read or heard the Native American phrase, “All my Relation”. When I first began my Interior Alignment™ training, I found this same sentiment in the space clearing tenant, “You are not separate from the world around you”.  The founder of Interior Alignment™, Denise Linn, reflected on her native heritage to put the phrase “All My Relation” into her own words. I connected with her words on so many levels. I recently read an the article, All Together Now, in the May 2008 issue of the “O” Magazine, which about how we are all interconnected.

The article All Together Nowis about how Dr. George E. Vaillant brought together science and spirituality in his book Spiritual Evolution: A Scientific Defense of Faith. Dr. Vaillant describes the use of language to describe emotions, which is near impossible to find a word that accurately describes exactly what you are feeling.  The same line of thought is how we describe spiritual people, finding the words to accurately describe them leads us usually to what they do such as serving others. They are not totally focused on themselves but spend time focused on others.  This service to others is the bedrock of a community.  It is a way to describe the social doing and being.

For me this means we are not only in service to other human beings but also to the plants, animals, water…we are in service to the planet. What we do and be affects everyone and everything else – All My Relation and We Are Not Separate From the World Around You.

The other item I found fascinating in this article was Dr. Vaillant’s theory about brain’s limbic system. The limbic system is the site of positive emotions, the site of spirituality.  It is also the site where mammals know how and why to care for their young. The limbic system is also the site that makes experiences memorable and important. It is also the site in our brains that hold the neurotransmitters for addiction. Addiction is the attachment that is an out of balance attachment to something. 

This “addiction” stimulates our feel good in our brain.  We use this in balanced healthy ways too such as when we meditate, interact with someone we love and for some the runners high.  The article stated that “positive emotions work better than negative emotions in an evolutionary sense.” Positive emotions have a higher rate of survival than negative emotions.

I found this article profoundly thought provoking about how we affect others as we evolve our positive emotions and allow our negative emotions to meet their end or rather transmute to a positive emotion as they are released.  This gives rise to another layer and understanding of space clearing.
 

Migwiitch (thanks) for reading Between the Beat.  Blessings, Neshi.

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

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.

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.