Speaking of Spirit

Photo: (c) 2015 Linda M Neas Living in farm country has a way of keeping me balanced - of keeping me from becoming too obsessed with any one thing - because on a farm, everything runs by seasons. "This too shall pass," is lived out without conscious thought. Change simply is. Over the past month, change has hit many upside the head and left us spinning. The unthinkable has become reality. That reality has strained the very foundations of what we believe. Fear and depression has nipped at our heals.  For many, balance is tenuous. This too shall pass!  What I have learned, living in the community of farms, is that the dawn brings a new day, the harvest brings nourishment and once spring comes, the cycle begins again.  Applying that to life, I find that challenges can be overwhelming if I mire myself in the mud of "what if" or "I can't."  But, if I roll up my preverbial sleeves and fearlessly delve into the problem, a solution, a resolu...

Photo Credit: Public Domain Image  Bears hibernate. We learn this as young children in fairy tales, folklore and picture books.  When winter comes, bears find a nice cozy cave and sleep the winter months away...well, sort of. The fact is that hibernation doesn't mean that bears "sleep. "  They go into a state known as "torpor," from which they can wake quickly and easily if need be. The state of consciousness that bears enter is more akin to the meditative state of a practiced yogi.  The bears bodily functions slow down, but if they need to wake, they can and do. Bears teach us a great lesson in caring for ourselves. Like the bear, we, too, need to have periods of total rest. Times when we slow everything down so that we can process all that has happened, heal and return to balance. Each winter, I remember this - seems easier to remember when it is cold, icy and snowy outside.  Each winter, the call of Bear Spirit invites me to "hibernate....

photo credit: Linda M. Rhinehart Neas (c) 2015 In order to have balanced health, we must be healthy in mind, body and spirit. Low self-esteem keeps many from this balance.  Low self-esteem is like a fog that descends upon us, keeping us from seeing what lies ahead, what possibilities exist.   Where does low self-esteem come from?  Most commonly, it is the result of insidious emotional abuse from childhood , although, happy children can fall into emotionally abusive adult relationships that destroy their self-esteem, also. According to the United Nations' World's Women Report 2015 , over 47 percent of women in the United States have experienced some form of emotional (also termed psychological) abuse in their lifetimes.  The biggest reason for this form of abuse is that it is cyclical. The abused becomes the abuser, over and over again. Healthy behavior isn't modeled and isn't known. Sadly, many people don't understand that abuse can be emotional. They...