Note From Kendra

Dear Friends,

This is not at all what I was going to write as my intro to say hello to you this September morning, but I am moved to speak directly to current events that are before us.
 
Trusting and having faith in our destiny during challenging times is one of the hardest things we are called to do as human beings. What will be will be; it is what it is…common phrases we may tell ourselves as we are trying to find calm in the eye of the storm. In a hurricane the exact center is perfectly calm because the coriolis force deflects the wind away from the center.
 
Listening to news reports and touching base with family, friends, and clients that have been directly impacted by the hurricanes, fires, and earthquakes over the past couple of weeks moves me to fall to my knees over and over again showering light and love over the people who are suffering with grief and fear.
 
When we are in crisis, we can’t hear that things are going to be all right. What we hear is the rapid beating of our heart as pounding fear reverberates through our body. Our emotional body responds with triggers from head to toe, and our body responds to the emotion with animation from head to toe. Not one part of our body is spared when we are in fight or flight, aka fear.
 
What occurs in these moments are surges of energy that run throughout our body, and wherever we already have blocked energy is where we will feel the biggest impact of a fearful experience. Not everyone will have an anxiety attack or panic attack or a heart attack, and many people may not show how they really feel. So it gets stuck in the cells of our body and may lie low until something else happens to trigger a bigger response than before. Eventually we manifest an imbalance in our body ranging from headaches and sore throats to depression and cancer, just to name a few.
 
It is helpful for us to know that we can manage our fight or flight response simply by honoring what we are feeling. This helps to release the energy from our cells and allows it to be channeled through and out of our body in a healthy, manageable way.
 
There are 3 easy steps to activate your own coriolis force to block fear:

1. Acknowledge how you are feeling.This does not need to be out loud to someone – silently to yourself works as well. The key is to make contact with the emotion, acknowledge it, and let it go.
2. Close your eyes and take a few deep belly breaths. When we breathe deeply, we release in our brain a natural inhibitory called GABA, which blocks our fight or flight response and calms nervous activity.
3. Notice if you are feeling any sensation in your body. This is called a triggered response. You will want to acknowledge where you are feeling the sensation and then pay homage to it.

At this point you should be at your center and feel calmer.  With practice, you will become more adept at getting to the eye of whatever your hurricane might be – your center in any given crisis. From here you can make choices that are not from fear but are from a place of clarity, which will serve you well – and help you to be well.

In love and light,

Archetype

Avenger
(Avenging Angel) 

This archetype and its related manifestations respond to a need to balance the scales of justice, sometimes by employing aggressive techniques. Attorneys who work for the impoverished or disadvantaged or who volunteer part of their time for pro bono work are modern Avengers. Bringing war criminals to trial or legally pursuing corporations that harm society are examples of the Avenger on a global scale, fueled by a sense of righteousness in behalf of society. One can also be motivated to avenge an injustice against oneself or one’s family. The Avenging Angel is an expression of this archetype of mythic proportions that suggest that one is on a mission from God, as in the case of Joan of Arc.
 
On the global level, the shadow manifests as avenging perceived immoral behavior by resorting to violence, from acts of ecoterrorism to bombing abortion clinics. The “rightness” of one’s cause can never justify harming innocent third parties. (Gandhi countered the shadow of social vengeance by emphasizing passive resistance to illegitimate authority.) In evaluating your connection to this archetype, review your life for experiences in which your primary motivation was to define or represent a cause on behalf of others. One instance is not enough. You need to relate to this archetype as a primary force through which many of the choices and actions of your life are directed. A burning desire to get even can be so forceful that you organize a lifetime around meeting that end.
 
Films: Ingrid Bergman in The Visit; Jane Fonda in Cat Ballou; John Wayne in The Searchers; Antonio Banderas in The Mask of Zorro; Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton in Nine to Five: Vincent Price in Theatre of Blood (shadow-an actor who kills his critics); Al Pacino in The Godfather (shadow); Robert de Niro or Robert Mitchum in Cape Fear (shadow).
 
Television: The Avengers.
 
Drama: The Oresteia by Aeschylus; Hamlet and Macbeth by Shakespeare.
 
Fiction: To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
 
Religion/Myth: The Furies or Erinyes (avenging spirits of Roman and Greek myth); Baset (Egyptian cat-headed goddess who is the instrument of Ra’s vengeance); Durga (vengeful warrior goddess of the Hindu pantheon); Kali (Hindu mother and goddess and symbol of destruction who annihilates ignorance and maintains the world order). 

Myss, Caroline.  Sacred Contracts: Awakening Your Divine Potential.  New York: Three Rivers Press, 2002, 2003. 366. Print.

Symbology

The Best Workout For Your Zodiac Sign
Contributed by Anne Barton

I often look to astrology and numerology for help in navigating my life choices. I consider these part of my overall toolkit for weeding through what’s true and what isn’t about me and my purpose.
 
I saw this article awhile back and found it to be pretty on target when I checked out the ideal exercise for my astrological sign. See if you agree with yours!
 
~ Anne
 
The Best Workout for Your Zodiac Sign
An Aries dating a Cancer is probably in for a struggle. Same goes for a Virgo taking a dance cardio class or a Taurus doing a HIIT routine. Astrologer Anne Ortelee has the fix. Read more here.

From Oprah.com/health_wellness