Dear Friends,
 
I have been noodling on a few concepts for this post, and everything that’s come to mind has blown up in some way or another. Too much of something, too little of something else. Until now. This full moon has rocked some things loose inside me. 
 
As we wandered back to our room through the UC Berkeley campus last night, the heavy full moon kept us company, hungry raccoons reminded me of my desire to be a generous protector, and our compadres on the redwood trail kept things interesting and fun. In this state of meandering downhill back into town, I realized that in my dream of balance, perhaps there IS no balance… that maybe it is a case of instead, turning our attention from one valuable part of ourselves to another. From one important thing to another, in an easefully shifting way. 
 
I find myself here again in this familiar place, and surrender to my highest self the parts of my unconscious belief patterns that no longer serve. I have been given the gift of seeing these things as beautifully colored leaves gently leaving my branches, drifting down to rest on mother earth.  I look to the stars to understand the intensity of this time, the struggles for power happening around the globe, and I see my own struggles as a macrocosm of the whole planet.
 
What a perfect time for surrender. My moving into surrender and gratitude for all that IS, has allowed a graceful ease in calling forth that which I believe feeds my highest good. My family and friends who move through the world from the heart. My routines supporting my best health and highest fitness, so I may serve others most easily and in humility. A sense of peace for where we are, and where it is I wish to go. To take my tribe, paddle my canoe, turn my attention in those directions that I have been striving for and dreaming about.
 
This means I am nursing myself back to full health, compassionately. I am gently upping my physical activity in a little time each day, heading back to a full time routine. Approaching my obstacles curiously, and finding my inner aiki to see what it is they wish to share, so I better understand and can move around them. My focus professionally looks like a well-oiled flow, in both worlds of water and wellness. And I strive to shoot for two things in this new moon phase, that stoke the creative fire in my belly!

How are YOU moving through the world in this season?
🔥What is it that YOU envision and enliven in this full moon manifestation?
🔥What do you crave, more than anything else? 
🔥What legacy do you wish to leave this precious world? 
🔥How far can you move those dreams, in the last months of the decade?

Friends, I am serious in my offer to partner consciously with you. I am leading a manifestation workshop to get at the wholest and highest goodness we can each offer through this next wild season of the year. We will move through a guided meditation, celebrate new understandings of our collective shifting mindset, and create together our personal fall signature blend tools to take home! 

NOV. 3: I am working with Copper Cat Studio in Sparks to host an emotional aromatherapy and art workshop on November 3, 10-3: to Unleash your Inner Goddess with supported mosaic making! Grab your seat early for this one!

NOV. 17: I will be opening our home for this ManifestYOU workshop on November 17. Please mark your calendar and RSVP quickly, as space is limited.
 
Thank YOU for all you hold in this precious spinning world.  I am SO excited to see what YOU manifest over these last months of our decade! 
 
Manifesting diffuser blend:
Vision, self-assurance: Cassia (1)
Zest and zeal: Lime (2)
Progress, movement: Cypress (2)
 
So much Love,
Lynell
 

Friends, I need to come out and say it.
"Busy" is not a badge of honor.
"Stressed" is not a healthy way to live. 
Oh, your boss might think so. Your pals might use these words as they bristle with pride, and they well might feel pride in saying it. 
I have learned the hard way, these things can create self sabotage. Adrenal exhaustion, ulcers, tendons that can no longer perform the task of holding bones in alignment - I've been there.  Not fun, and there is no pride in this.
​
Bruce Lipton (The Biology of Belief) speaks about cells responding to stress as if they have been poisoned. We now find that the effects of trauma and stress can be passed along epigenetically to our children!

It's time to unravel this belief system, and find more healthy pathways. Before the mind negatively affects the body in ways we can't un-do.

In meditation this morning, I saw a need to energize myself with breathwork and oils that naturally uplift and energize. 🔥My diffuser is popping this morning with an energizing blend of three oils: Rosemary, grapefruit, and lime. 
 
These oils are expansive and also incredibly supportive emotionally: 
Rosemary:  Knowledge & transition. 🌙 Rosemary brings expansion to the mind, helping us receive new information and experiences. We are invited to feel confident and trust in a higher power than ourselves.  
Grapefruit: Honoring the body. This oil teaches us true respect and appreciation for our physical body. ✨ This oil helps us realize that only love can fill the emotional needs we have. In this, we can find balance through gently acknowledging and filling our cup of self-love.
Lime: Zest for life. When we have been weighed down by discouragement or grief, lime can elevate us above the mire. 🌱Encourages courage and cheer in the heart, and cleanses the heart from apathy and resignation.
  (Emotions & Essential Oils, 7th Ed., 2018)

Friend, whatever you are carrying, you are not alone. Your thoughts become things if not herded like the crazy monkeys they can be. By changing our emotions, we can shift our thoughts. Tame those silly beasts, and please, reach out if I can help.   🙏🏽

Today.  I breathe. Deeply and contentedly. Fully and with intention.
 
Yesterday, I forgot to ask others for help. I was filled with so many “to-do’s” that I lost track of the “to BE.” I may have lost sight of the gifts of others, and so I lost the gift of community. For a moment. For a breath. I see what gifts my friends and family are, and I am in such gratitude!
 
Today I breathe in the blessings of all that is, of abundance of breath and possibilities. I know that I am to be the link to some solution for children of the earth. That by my letting go of tension and relaxing into all that is, I AM my highest good. I AM problem solver, I AM dreamer, I AM connector, I AM giving and receiving. My breathwork completes these circuits. 
 
Do YOU ever feel like you just can’t get the cobwebs cleared out during the day?
If so, maybe a five minute energizer would help! Grab an oil that you love, that brings in oxygen: peppermint, frankincense, rosemary, breathe, sandalwood. 
Apply it to your pulse points, tip your head back and breathe deeply for three long, slow breaths. 
Sit with your feet planted squarely on the floor, head reaching to the heavens, shoulders low, hands gently on your lap. 
Breathe consciously, filling first the lower belly, in and up all the way through your core so your collarbones rise. As you breathe out, empty first your upper chest and lungs and feel collarbones sink, then belly last, squeezing every bit of air out of your belly firmly. Repeat for a count of ten breaths, then return to normal breathing.  Rest into this place.
Slow your breathing so each in breath extends out to 7-8 seconds, longer if possible… then breathe out completely and gently for the same count. 

Feel yourself expanding as you sit with your inner eye trained to the stars, the connections we all share filling you with light, with hope, maybe with a subtle inspiration… and spend five minutes in this space and time.  Feel your energy rising to meet this “new” you. Step into this energy and stand face to face with your brilliance!
 
In this time of waxing crescent moon, this is a great time to simplify and get life into “ship shape” – I feel an urgency to be focused and move boldly into the invitations of the universe! 

Can YOU feel it? 

I energize myself with breathwork and using oils that naturally create a sense of uplift and energy. My diffuser is popping this morning with an energizing blend of three oils: Rosemary, grapefruit, and lime. 
 

Happy Monday! Today is the first quarter moon, halfway to a full moon! 

🌓 This is a time for strength, determination, concentration, decision-making or re-evaluation, and commitment to action. 
✨ So, friends… What is needed for you to fulfill YOUR biggest dream and BE the light? 
During this time, we must remember to keep soldiering forward, despite any fears, emotions or doubts that might get in our way. Turn around any emotional energy into creative passion so that you can get things done and finish goals. 🍈
(Want an easy way to transform fear into Coeur-age?) Lime oil. I am diffusing it this morning (with my Clear Out the Cobwebs blend), and it works! Lime is a gentle detox to our systems, when we use it in our drinking water or tea. This is a happy agent to uplift ourselves emotionally and is easy on our enamel😁. 
🌙This week is a great time for visioning new paths... fresh starts. I invite you to join me in seeking more clarity for laying out your path, because this energy will now grow for the next week plus, until the full moon. 
I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.
-Thomas A. Edison
✨For clarity, since this is such a powerful mental visioning time, I reach for Balance blend for my wrists, and Frankincense for the back of my neck. I am keeping up with my raw food supplements/ allergy support, as this is my foundation for easier recovery from outdoors fun! As we move forward into this week, I also ground in with OnGuard (bringing up immune defense) and Peppermint (great for cooling & oxygenating the brain), and Clary Calm (good for visioning & calm multitasking). 
🔥In order to re-ignite my own creative projects, I am kicking off a Wellness-Writing Accountability group this week. If this rings your bell and you’d like to learn more, reach out.  
✨Step into your highest good, friends! It’s time. I am excited to be here, walking this path with you. I am here to bring some fresh eyes of support to your wellness goals, creative inspiration, and financial and time freedom needs. Let’s get together for a 1:1 sit down, I’d love to harness this moon energy to help YOU, in reaching whatever goals you set out to live your dream. 😊
🙏🏽 Simply reach out! This is such a powerful time to be here together, doing the work that matters.  

Welcome to July, Friends!
​July 2nd brings us a total solar eclipse during the New Moon in the Water sign of Cancer.  A new moon signifies new beginnings and is a great time for new  fresh starts. This July new moon allows for change, it's unavoidable!  We can see our lives and situations in a new light right now, with more clarity and optimism... today is also a powerful solar eclipse. The sun being eclipsed by the moon means that we have access to seeing our shadow side today. If we are gentle with ourselves and can observe our inner voices and work through challenges, this is a powerful time to BE the light in the dark. 
 
So, Inspired yet? What is needed for you to LIVE your biggest dream? 
 
I invite you to join me in seeking more clarity for laying out the future path, because the energy will now grow for the next two and a half weeks, until the full moon.  Full moons have magical manifesting energy to set these new goals and energy into motion!  For today, I’m writing down the steps to reach my vision with today’s clarity, and over the next two weeks, I will step down the well-crafted trail in fullest creative mode. 
 
It’s a social time, as this new moon creates a newness and fresh curiosity for being with others. Today, the trick might be socializing without triggers.  This can be hard because Cancer is so emotional, and the sun and moon are both in Cancer today!  If we do find ourselves set off by something, It’s important to identify what those triggers are, and be gentle with everyone. 
 
We are traveling, and I had a strong emotional reaction while visiting my parents two nights ago. It was reactive and difficult. That night and next day I asked the universe for insight, and then we saw a fawn hop across our path. Deer medicine is about Gentleness, with self and other.  With the solar eclipse today, we can use this time to see into the darkness and the fears that may be creating obstacles for us in reaching happiness. It’s a good time to see past patterns and resolve them by treating ourselves the way we would treat a good friend who has been hurt in some way. Kind. Gentle. I have my selenite crystal in my pocket, for receiving positive energies and letting the rest go on by.
 
Feelings right now can be intense, with both the sun and moon in Cancer, so taking downtime and time for self-care are super important! This helps us better practice emotional sobriety. Understand what is ours, and what is not and don't take on extra stuff. This feeling that is created by treating ourselves like a good friend, can be liberating, and creates a better space for us to be open and receptive to positive people and happenings in life! 
 
This is such a powerful visioning time, for mental clarity, I am using Balance and Frankincense. I also love to powerfully vision through meditations with the focus blend, InTune, and Align (from the yoga collection).  

Step into your highest good, friends! It’s time. And you are supported, in reaching whatever goals you set out to live your dream!  This is the time! As Nike says, Just Do It.
The Universe thanks you.
​For in reaching out and living your highest intention, you give others permission to do the same. 

In this week of the full moon, the Strawberry moon and our dynamic start to summer, I have energy on my mind…. What we allow, what we accept. How we find Inspiration in a full circle as giving and receiving. And when that sacred balance is not upheld, how that can feel. Slighted. Anxious. Angry. Taken advantage of. 
 
We had a moth infestation this Spring. Moth sightings had been getting more frequent, and I dedicated a Saturday to investigating. I took the bed apart, moved it off the large Asian rug in our bedroom, and broke out the vacuum. It was worse than I thought, at least 25% of the rug had been destroyed by these parasites.  They were under the large rug, in the closet, and in wool pieces we had from travels. I put all sweaters into the freezer, made a magic blend of powerful essential oils, and started the vacuum. 
 
How it is that I allowed moths to take hold, in my bedroom, under our bed… yikes! Is it time to fly towards the light?  It feels like this is a good season for vigilance. For paying attention to energetic balance, for listening to those asking for more of something. 
 
My magic potion that went into the glass spray bottle:
Cedarwood- Is fantastic for helping us to focus or sleep, and is fresh and grounding.
Arborvitae- This tree called the Tree of Immortality. So many aromatic compounds in the wood, fallen logs will not rot for 100 years. 
Peppermint- Peppermint is great as a repellent, for fleas, ticks, mice, and spiders. And oxygenating our human brains. 
Melaleuca- This oil, or Tea Tree oil, helps prevent fungus from growing. It is fantastic for ending any stink, helps freshen a space and repels some pests. 
Outdoor blend – This oil repels all forms of pests and can be used for ticks and fleas without exposing pets and kids to nasty chemicals. 

 Then… a brief trip to the Bay Area and our car was broken into and wallet taken. All cards, ID, receipts, gift certs… again. What all WAS in there?  I am using this analogy for all of life, clearly it’s time! NO more taking and not giving for entities around us. I am taking back my power from disparate chaos like this, with clearing, setting boundaries, resetting ideations… so we can say YES to our dreams. Boundaries are supported with immune-enhancing oils, including OnGuard, Melaleuca, Manuka, Rosemary, Frankincense, to create energetic boundaries. 
 
Friends, this week and full moon is a whole new beginning for new intentions as we move quickly this Friday into Summer. As we step into the busy season that summer can be, I invite you to cast your eyes to the stars for the best summer yet!  Find your balance with energies around you and in your home, your campsite, your train compartment or airplane seats. Don’t let the pests in life get you down, be vigilant and once those boundaries are set, enjoy relaxing into your time.  Truly, it is through using our frustrations, anger, or other powerful feelings – transformed as vigilance and discipline, that our dreams can be made manifest. 
 
Excited to see what we grow together, from these intentionally planted seeds. Wishing a blessed summer to you! ​

​Witnessing or perceiving environmental/habitat destruction is something of despair. I experience a feeling of hopelessness, disbelief, and helplessness – and when this happens commonly, it becomes our norm. Most people I have talked with have experienced this at some point in their formative years, and it has greatly contributed to our current state of apathy here in the U.S. 
 
I have written about this for years, but published (The Secret Life of Streams) to help children avoid a state of apathy.  To jolt us as adults into actually creating space and time for our engagement. Get out to that which you love. I believe active engagement and familiarity, heartfelt emotional connection, is what will save our communities and our world. And yet, teachers and other adults, can become so overburdened we take on an overwhelm that looks like being beaten down. In the Nevada Reads Week conferences over the last few years, I echoed wisdom that active environmental pursuits and engagement fight apathy among teachers, and their students.

What is the balance between being educated, and being overwrought?
 
Have you seen your childhood meadow, creek, one ancient tree with hollow limbs that was your spaceship, your pirate ship, your clubhouse… paved over? That place that was your secret safe space… that place where your heart felt held, comfy, and open? 

I have. And so has everyone I know. This is not normal around the planet. We need only look to countries where open spaces are protected, family properties stay in the family for many generations, where there is constancy and connection, to know better. England. Sweden. Paraguay. And yet, vigilance is needed. Being woke.
 
We are such a young country. From unregulated development, to ignored rules for protecting our water resources (“it’s easier to ask forgiveness than ask permission to break rules”), to well-intentioned master plans being revised for the sake of development in allowing Less Than Common Sense to prevail where well thought out guidelines and planning had previously been in place.  These are one form of the great cancers of our time. Praising the expansion of hardscape in a twisted form of manifest destiny, ignoring the heart of community. The heart of generations.
 
Not just here, but everywhere. This planet is not limitless!  Forsaking the lifeblood of our breathing planet, rather than gathering around the fire to celebrate, to create common ties, common desires, and common unity with our neighbors. We are distracted daily by a lack of tax returns, by dishonest and false media, by politicos who promise change and deliver an erosion of civil rights, womens’ rights, school funding, lest people again begin to critically think and question this new status quo that keeps rats running harder than before.  By the unfunding of the arts, which reaches across time, space, race, and unbringing to a shared human condition, which creates community and gives us a common thread to weave with. 
 
So until we find this thread, trace it back to its source, and learn to get real with it, to dance it and romance it, to see its roots and wings as our own…there will be no saving our planet, our mother.  This requires us getting out INTO it. That which we appreciate most. Give it our attention, for where our attention goes, energy flows.  Celebrate this place. This state. This space. This time. 
 
Reclaim what has turned into Anger. Do something. Get it out of your body and move it. Hike it. Run it. Stretch it. Transform it into exhileration. Into celebration.  And turn off the news. Consciously decide where you will place your valuable, precious intention. Your focus. Your heartspace. Maybe start just right now. And right here.
 
When the hawks lost some of their sequoias down the street this last week, I grieved.  Then, our family put up a new birdhouse and a bat box. My sweetie put a new tree in the ground yesterday and we blessed it heartily. I danced as I watered our garden with more intention this morning.
 
It is time to light that fire in the darkness, and pick up the thread that can save us all. Your thread. My thread. Our voice. It is time.

​

​I am SO enjoying the celebration of our feminine community this week... and  i pulled some Animal Medicine cards to get my bearings. Once I settle down and ground into the earth through my meditation, I had two cards call to me… Badger and Mountain Lion. Both powerful medicine, both were upside down.    ...Ruh-Roh.

Thinking I was going to be eating humble pie, I read the pages on each, in their inverse.  I received insights on how I have sent energetics out into my community lately, and not altogether positive. Perhaps aggressive and misplaced anger at times. Time to get some balance back into my psyche and show gratitude for my tribe!  

I like to look to the moon for context of where we are...The moon symbolizes the power of female energy with its control over tides and water around the planet and if we pay attention, can track for us a sense of our own energy as women. The cycle of the moon is similar to the wisdom in the cycle of a seed. As the seed grows, flowers, blooms, and dies; too, the moon starts anew, grows, hits its apex, recedes, and disappears.

After the magnificence of this weekend’s intense Scorpio full moon, I am conscious of holding gratitude as we move through the waning gibbous. If the full moon captures and holds an abundance of harvest for us, and all intentions that have manifest, then the five days following it holds a deep gratitude for all we have been given, all we have harvested. So I know it is but Spring, but this phase can hold much significance and meaning in our day to day energy. 

Essential oils carry forth emotions and are associated with various emotional cues which can prompt certain emotions in us. It is through aromatic use that oils are so supportive of our limbic system, and help us move from one emotional state to another, more desired state. Since our emotions create our thoughts, which creates our reality... How do YOU want to feel?

I dipped into my assortment of oils, because I want to show up differently, for my family and community. I choose based upon my desire to manifest these specific emotions:  Inspired Action, Authenticity, Courageousness, Discernment, Encouragement, and a notion of Be-Ing Buoyant. This is my intention, to hold these qualities in abundance, through the full moon phase. I have been focusing on using some of the oils which hold these desired qualities… Wild orange, Yarrow-POM, Green Mandarin, Blue Tansy, and the Joyful blend, Elevation. 

I call in energies that are consistent with these qualities, or at least complimentary of them. I seek deep down into the darkening moon as we head towards crescent, and am aware of my own desire to go within and honor those lessons lurking in my own depths. I honor light and dark, both, and see tremendous value in learning from each as they walk hand in hand.

Honoring women in a safe basket of grateful female energy, of learning and openness, of shared experience and growth, are at the core of my being. 
It can be a challenge, to have a vision and work hard despite all the other things in our lives, to make that come to fruition! It can be a challenge to grow in a consistent way with our own hearts, despite what the rest of the world may be showing us. And it is when we are each able to tap in and shine our brightest, that we give others permission to shine their brightest. 

And so, I honor both you and me, and our circle and larger community, as we move forward through this phase. I choose to hold celebration and gratitude, in sacred time and space, with joyous integrity as we grow.
​
Thank YOU for all you ARE! 

GET REAL!⁣
How many things do cells do in your body?⁣ Truly, it's innumerous... when you think of all we rely upon cell functions for: breathing, digesting, rotating out old cells, replacement of cells, growing skin and hair, nervous system, muscular growth and support...the list goes on.
​This Yarrow-POM certified pure therapeutic grade nutritive duo helps to support so many of these functions.

I have been using POM internally, in a veggie cap (2 drops at a time) twice a day... as well as topically on my face and hands. You know, those years of racing road bikes and having so much sun on my hands and face, over 5,000 miles per year, has left traces!  

⁣I love feeling brain fog lifting and calmness (thank you, Yarrow POM for supporting my cognitive functions like memory and calming!), how moist my skin can feel (I've been doing this a couple of weeks but wow! In the desert? The POM oil is incredibly moistening!), smoothness and reduced sun damage on my skin (Yarrow POM actually help reverse aging effects to the skin!)...
​and I saw Emily Wright's pictures (the one female founder of doTerra) from before and after using Yarrow POM on her hands daily for two months. She lost 20 years of aging on her hands, at least!  AND... the skin's normal collagen levels decline as we get older, resulting in a more mature look. I understand Yarrow POM also reduces the decline of collagen in our skin, for a more youthful, dewy look.  This incredible nutritive duo also supports normal cholesterol levels and healthy blood pressure as well.
Could YOU benefit from these plethora of benefits too?

I hate to think my mileage and years are catching up. It doesn't seem like they should, and living a wellness lifestyle with reduced chemical levels in the home, on my body, and in my life, is a certain way to let that aging process linger a bit. I'm not ready for all this, and I surely don't feel my age! Haha. And this weekend, I don the body suit to transform into Loralei the Mayfly for a day. Yep, I'd better not be feeling my age! 

We are all in this together. Reach out. Let's change the world, one drop at a time.