As the New Moon Solar Eclipse comes and goes today, leaving behind the energy of going from darkness to light and from old to new, I too feel a sense of completion.

I returned home from a week of teaching at the annual Great Lakes Retreat in Olivet Michigan. I taught a drum making workshop, I also taught a single session about Medicine Wheel Feng Shui and Space Clearing - Harmonizing, and also presented a lecture about my Medicine Dress. I love to teach, to share information and be a witness to others spiritual growth.

I have actually been off line for a month to six weeks. As I prepared for the Beauty Space and Balance Advance Space Clearing course which I co-taught with Deb Swingholm and Minnie Kansman in June, I took a week to finish preparations for the Great Lakes Retreat travel and course material. I had held energetic space for both teaching venues for almost a year and now that both are completed, I feel a huge sense of personal completion. Today, I am cleaning off my desk (yes, I can finally see the top of my desk) feeling like I should be doing something, much like when I finished my Masters degree course. After a few years of juggling a full time job, family, and an accelerated Master’s degree course, I had lots of time to myself when I completed the degree — time on my hands.

This sense of completion reminds of the journey through the Medicine Wheel. I began both teaching projects in the Eastern portion of the Wheel where birth and new beginnings occure. As the projects began to come together, building energy, I walked the Wheel through the south and young adulthood. As I moved the teaching projects to the West energies and experiencing the abundance of the south with the sense of harvest from the west energies, the courses came to fruition and completion. As I file away notes and copies of course information, I feel the energies of the North and dormancy as we begin to gathering energies to begin germinating seeds for the next teaching dates for both Beauty Space and Balance and also the Great Lake Retreat for 2009.

Its good to be home and turning my energy towards the upcoming Feng Shui and Space Clearing certification courses I am teaching in September, turning my enery toward the short story I am writing about the Drum Mother for a new book called The Wisdom We Gained, and also spending time with my family.

I am looking forward to writing blog posts both for Two Feathers and Where Energy Flows.

Migwiitch for reading Between the Beats. 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.

Listening to gentle rain fall on the roof as you are drifting off to sleep or to feel the ahhhh as you soak in a hot tub of water you feel the comfort from the Spirit of Water. The Spirit of Water can be so soothing and relaxing. Here in Wisconsin we have had a little too much water as rain and severe weather has brought the cleansing and clearing aspect of the Spirit of Water.

My state has been in the national news this past week due to flooding and the failure of dams or levees. We have had a lot of rain in the past few days. The most watched video of the flooding is the result of the water in Lake Delton drain after exploding through an earthen levee. In the video there are houses being torn from their foundations and float away into the Wisconsin River as the lake drained into the river.

I grew up in Wisconsin Dells and know Lake Delton well. I heard about the disaster at Lake Delton within an hour of the levee failure. The news traveled much like the water draining out of the lake…fast and furious. My husband and I drove down to the city of Lake Delton which is about an hour south of where we currently live to see for ourselves. It was sad and surreal.

We have fond memories of Lake Delton. We both worked at a giftshop/museum called Parson’s Indian Trading Post. We met and fell in love here. Paul’s family owned a summer home not too far from Lake Delton near the Wisconsin River. I worked in the “Little Post” located in Tommy Bartlett’s Water Show. I learned how to waterski on this lake to impress by new boyfriend who was to become my husband. Seeing the drained lake felt much like a friend’s death. Their passing marks a new chapter and in this case a whole new book.

As I thought about all these memories and knowing Spirit of Water, I had to consider that maybe this “disaster” is really nature balancing it self. The Wisconsin Dells/Lake Delton area changed so much over the last few decades. It went from a place where people vacationed to be close to nature to a place where people vacation to play in water parks, miniture golf and enjoy carnival type rides. There is a lot of concrete and black top. There is also a lot of hotel and motels to house all those coming to vacation. Once a long time ago, vacationers came to stay in lodges along the Wisconsin River and enjoy the quiet beauty of the sandstone bluffs, eagles, deer and of course watch the Native American dances.

The Spirit of Water is both gentle and powerful. As we can see it can be a major player in a space clearing. In the Medicine Wheel the Spirit of Water is one of the four elements and resides in the south winds or the west winds depending on the belief system of many Native American Nations. The spirit of Water represents or symbolizes emotions.

I pray that those affected by the recent flooding be blessed with a multitude of angels that can help them heal and find peace as they continue on the soul’s journey. I also pray that nature finds its balance gently and easily for the highest good of all.

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

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

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.

This post is from my most favorite book on Space Clearing, Sacred Space by my teacher Denise Linn.

There are three basic tenets that are the foundation of all space clearing techniques:

• Everything is composed of constantly changing energy.
• You are not separate from the world around you.
• Everything has consciousness.

“Your home is an evolving being much as you are an evolving being.  You home’s Beingness is one that you may communicate with, it provides protection and healing”, Denise Linn.  Learning how to communicate with your home can help you to create a life that is balanced and in harmony with life (nature).

The Sacred Spacebook is the basis for the professional Interior Alignment™ certification course and most of the workshops I hold for the general public. 

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

I recently wrote a blog article for Where Energy Flows blog regarding creating an altar and space clearing my office cubicle.  I thought maybe it would be an interesting read for Between the Beats, if I shared a little bit more of that experience.

I worked in a government building with a grey concrete exterior much like most government buildings built in the 1970’s.  The last 4 or 5 months of my employment, I had many mornings where I felt like I was in the movie Joe versus the Volcano starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.  In the very beginning of the movie, Tom Hank’s character, Joe, is walking toward a big grey building in which he works.  As he gets closer to the building his steps become slower and slower.  Joe then pauses for a very long while before he actually enters the building.  I know what that actually feels like.

The building I worked in is well known for its possibilities of having the Sick Building Syndrome.  I knew that in my training from Interior Alignment™ that I had options to create a sanctuary in my cubicle.  My cubicle could be a space that could support me both physically and spiritually.

I took steps to clarify my intention for my cubicle. How did I want to feel when I was there?  How could my cubicle support me in my work?  Most importantly, how could I be a role model for my co-workers?  I wanted to live by Gandhi’s famous quote, “be the change you wish to see in the world.”

As I used feng shui principles in my cubicle such as adding color, placement of bookcases and binders, as well as placement of pictures and altars.  I also had to deal with a computer monitor that was situated in a way that had my back to the entrance, doorway, of my cubicle.  I placed a small round mirror next to my monitor that allowed me to see the reflection of someone standing behind me at my door.  Most of my co-workers thought I was using the mirror as a communication tool for phone calls.  You know, people can hear your frown or smile over the phone.

Once I had the feng shui set in my cubicle, I then performed a space clearing ceremony.  I went in much earlier than usual.  I created a very small and simple altar for the ceremony.  Since there was a rule about not having open flames, I still used a candle to symbolize fire, but didn’t light the candle.

I also used a very quiet method of space clearing called the Breath of God.  I couldn’t use my drum or bell as it would have been too big and too loud for the space as I was only clearning my cubicle and not the entire office.  Since I was not asked to perform a space clearing on the entire space, I could only take responsiblity for my own cubicle.

The results from creating a sacred space in my cubicle is that I had visitors.  My co-workers would stop by because it felt good in my cubicle.  The best example of how my space supported me and those who came to visit was 9/11.

I was at work that day.  I remember our receptionist telling a co-worker and I that she had just  heard on the radio that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center in New York.  A short time later, the receptionist came back and told us that there was a second plane that also crashed into the World Trade Center.  I remember saying to my co-worker that something was wrong and that it sounded like a terrrorist act.

As the morning wore on and our employer placed a television in our conference room, I could feel the energy shifting within the staff and office.  I went to my cubicle to be met by two co-workers sitting in my cube waiting for me.  They just wanted to be in my cubicle because they felt safe.  At one time I had 6 people in my cuble besides me.  At lunch time, I stayed and space cleared my cubicle and reset the energy.  I cleared away the released emotions from that morning.

As I look back and remember that time, I know in my heart that my cubicle was an island of comfort and safety during a time of such distress.  The intention I set for the energy of my work space is important even now as I work from my home office.

I will write a future blog article about creating an altar for space clearing.  Or, if you like, please visit http://www.wherenergyflows.com to read my articles about space clearing and feng shui that I have already written.

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

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