Be sure to check out an intro to Mercury Retro thoughts at the bottom of Oct. #dailyroots: here

Life may get a little chaotic or may feel really tense during Mercury Retrograde, but as we talk about in Calm the Sea Within, you have the power to create your personal peace within. How you come to terms with and react to life is up to your mind and spirit. The main concept for today is: reflect on the nature of an anchor. An anchor helps keep a boat in place. It keeps it still when its intention is to drift in place. The anchor is to secure the boat from drifting away in currents. However, when the currents get too strong, sometimes the anchor can be too restricting and actually cause more damage to the boat by forcing it to be still while strong waves rip through it. So today, reflect on when you need to anchor your boat and when you need to release the anchor to be able to better navigate the currents. It is important for you to be the anchor, because sometimes when we put this on something or someone else - we shift our ability to be able to Calm our Sea Within. It is okay for other things, people, and beliefs to be our reasons and purpose in life, but we must be our answer, because we are the common factor in every equation. That answer is not easy and it shifts every moment as the currents and tides of each day changes. Therefore, each moment, each day we have to keep doing the work to create the answers within us. Sometimes, it is even okay to leave it blank for a while, take time to work on other things, but keep doing the work to eventually be able to fill in those blanks. That is what Mercury Retrograde is about; it is the opportunity to reflect on what you once may have missed or did not understand. It is a second or 20th chance for clarity and revisions.

Like above, see October #dailyroots for more insights. Today, create a corner of time to remember those who are beyond.

Life can be a difficult journey, but we were already given the means to creating our life with our minds, bodies, and souls. Each of us has the ability to intuitively create our flow, but it is like a muscle - it must be nurtured. Each one of us must figure out what is right for us. When we do not listen to our internal cues, our minds, bodies, and spirits have ways of letting us know, whether it be physical or emotional pain, things not lining up as we planned, etc. Being your own advocate is about learning to be okay with who you are; your world within, your place in this world, your choices, your path. It is about advocating for the things you need or what you stand for when your world within and all around is not okay. However, this is not easy. The struggle is always real, because there are always things that try to shake us from believing in our truth. These moments have the potential power to define us, but ultimately we are responsible for living with our world within and all around. Many say do not let those difficult moments be the defining ones. I know this is a way of trying to encourage people to move forward. However, sometimes, this can make it even more difficult to embrace those moments that are a struggle; those moments and events in your life that truly did change much about who you are and your journey. You are trying to learn how to cope and embrace such, but then when you try to be your own advocate about it, feeling disregarded or judged can be soul-crushing. Many only see or want to see the highlights and the results and do not listen to or understand all of the in between. None of us are really there for all of the in between of one another’s lives, because this our personal process and all the behind the scenes of truly carving and defining our path. Therefore, being your own advocate is learning to embrace your journey; those defining moments where you broke and those defining moments where you put the pieces back together.

A main feature of Rootin’ for your Life is The Mosaic Project. Not everyone will understand your mosaic, they are all defining pieces that are broken, scratched, scarred yet shining, interesting, and beautiful. How you put it together was an authentic process. Sometimes the broken pieces sat in the box, sometimes you started mapping it out - putting a few pieces together at a time, sometimes you had to keep reworking the pieces, and sometimes the creative flow was pouring in. We are always a #workinprogress; developing our mosaics and reconstructing our gardens.

What do you forage and what do you like to create with it? Edible mushrooms and herbs? Flowers? Sticks, feathers, acorns for crafts or meditations?

Today’s Hours of Power are “sponsored” by what I like to call a blueberry donut smoothie: blueberries, coconut milk, ground flax seed, and pomegranate juice. Enjoy it by the glass or in a bowl with a little coconut granola !! I always crave a delicious fluffy donut, but I fight the craving by going to my blender! Once I start sipping on those yummy flavors, the cravings get kicked to the curb. Sometimes, it takes a lot of work to make the choice and a reminder to be prepared before the craving hits!

Happy Nacho Day!!! Here’s a favorite new recipe I cooked up with:

-Beet chips

-spicy fake chicken or spicy cauliflower

-vegetarian refried beans

-vegan cheese

-green onions

-jalapeno peppers

-cilantro

*Bake until warm, cheese, melted, and peppers and cauliflower slightly soft !

then top with a guacamole made with avocados, cilantro, lime juice, & coconut yogurt

Fun food for thought: What ingredient are you most like and why? (Use any of the ingredients listed). Example: the cheese is a delicious topping that helps hold things together in a position where it is most seen, the re-fried beans is the behind the scenes glue that powers the meal with protein and substance, etc.

We are going to be digging into Reiki often on the Root & Flow Blog and in Sessions, but before I start sharing my thoughts and vibes, I want you to simply reflect on The Power of Touch: how is that important for expressing love, self-care, and a guide to life?

Today, let your creative intuition guide you to a good book. Do a little late night reading with a sip of wine or good cup of tea. Get cozy as a group or for a little you time to let the creative energy flow!

In 2010, I was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease. For most of my life I had battled gut health and many other issues, but from 2008-2010 I was often in a critical state off and on. However, there is a reason auto-immune diseases like this are called invisible illnesses, because it can be a journey of getting to the root problems and most symptoms happen “behind-the-scenes”. Those that live with you see it all, but when you are able to pull yourself together and “be seen” in public you can appear to be a “normal”, “healthy” person, but are any of us really normal? Many people think Crohn’s is “just” an upset stomach or a few uncomfortable, inconvenient symptoms, but it is so much more. It can be vicious and life-threatening! Learn more about my story in the Pieces of Me and Welcome page!

This girl, Amanda Santilli, at Rocks with Sass knows how to make an invisible illness be seen in all the right ways! Why sweat Crohn’s when you can Sparkle with it? Learn more about how she turned the struggle of Crohn’s into a journey of light and empowerment: here ! Also, be sure to shop her awesome and sassy rocks, jewels, and goods!!

Today’s reflection word is: TRUST ! Often we think our relationship with trust sours because of how we have been hurt. Being hurt in some way by others or elements and situations of life can cause us to lose trust in beliefs, relationships, actions, and all things around us. However, the only part we can truly control in every equation is our personal relationship with trust and how that guides our own actions and choices. Ultimately, the roots that get severed in situations that cause us pain and doubt, is how we trust our instincts, intuition, voice, actions, reactions, and choices. We cannot control what happened to us, but we can control how we take accountability for healing from those things. The only true way to establish trust is to be responsible for your own healing journey; your own connection to how you establish trust in your beliefs, feelings, instincts, intuition, voice, actions, reactions, and choices. Sometimes, this may include holding those circumstances or people accountable that broke your trust. It is also up to you to make choices of what your boundaries are. Sometimes circumstances that repeatedly break your trust continue to occur, because sometimes we stay stuck in patterns, because they are what is known. The hardest thing to do is to walk into the unknown (even when it may be a better choice). Take T out of Trust and all you get is Rust. When patterns that disturb our peace, tarnish our spirit, stretch us thin, stress us beyond our limits, and causes reoccuring doubts continue, then the rust sets in and we become blocked or numb. You may feel like it is too much work to restore or change or something is too far gone or there are no better options, but sometimes when you roll up the sleeves and get out the tools, things can shine like never before, but how and when you put that T in - is up to you. That T is your connection to all things! It is the pillar and the bridge!

As much as I want to dive in and discuss the realities of military life and more importantly, the long-term effects of life after the military, today is not the day, because it will take more than a day, more than a single post. This is why eventually it will be a main series in Seeds of our Soul and Laugh with Carol. We are also working on a special feature in the Mosaic Project for Veteran Awareness, Outreach, and Therapy (I hope to offer soon). Today, I simply plant the seeds on this very special 11:11 day, a day of manifesting your higher vibes and visions. Such numbers create a flow of synchronicity of the energy within thoughts, vibes, and patterns. The main thing I want to share today to honor our vets is to ask you to invest a little time in hearing their story. Whether you agree with the agenda or not, there is always something to learn and perspectives to gain; someone’s story could be the insight into something you did not know you needed in life or were unaware of. The more we stop to listen rather than being quick to judge, the more we are able to understand about the different paths in life. Vets are use to being forgotten, written off, or receiving thanks on special days, but rarely are they truly heard and rarely are they even able to put into words what they have been through.

In this nation, we often discuss how divided we are; there are many Roots & Rhythms to this; it is part of our human nature within and social and systematic patterns within all dynamics to keep us divided. One of those dynamics in this country is the divisions between military members and civilians. During past world wars, the entire nation had to come together in order to survive it. Afterwards, life skipped ahead. There was no time to heal and the effects of such still echo on. Even though those times appeared to have endings, there were always unresolved conflicts in the hearts of many and in the Roots & Rhythms of the Earth.

However, the war we have been at in the last decade does not directly impact every household. Therefore, a percentage of the population has been disconnected from the hardships many military families have had to endure in the attempt to keep the nation safe. Even if you do not agree with the state of things or all of the agendas, it is important to understand not every military member agrees with them either, but have had to sacrifice their rights and freedoms to protect and serve. As much as I dream of a world where we can all come together in peace and harmony, unfortunately this is not the world we live in (yet). As much as I would love for people to solve problems with books and paint-brushes rather than guns, this is not the world we live in (yet). Yes, it requires us to keep doing the work to use our voices, to change dynamics, to create transformations, but these things will not happen, until we get to the Roots and Rhythms of our divisions. We must keep doing the work to better understand one another and co-create healing bridges.

Therefore, especially today, I ask you to create more time to learn about what military life is like for each branch, including the differences between enlisted personal and officers. Create more time to listen to a veteran’s story. Some stories are too difficult to be shared, so just take a little more time to be with them and you will learn things from the deepness in their eyes, random pieces of advice, or cold, hard truths. Sometimes veterans can get a rough and rowdy reputation and there are a few bad apples in the bunch. They are human. Just like all people, we should not judge an entire group from our perceptions of a few. Sometimes we can Calm the Sea and bring a little more peace into the world by listening. Let’s go through the 11:11 portal of shifting and healing the dynamics in our divisions by elevating our consciousness, listening to others’ stories, sharing our stories, valuing one another, and doing the work to create connected relationships. It is okay to dream of better tomorrows where peace and harmony exist, but never forget the realities of the world we live in and there are many vets to thank for living in a place where we can type such things. Yes, there is still much work to be done and a whole lot that is wrong with our state of things and a lot of Roots and Rhythms that need healing, but we are always a work in progress. The more we put the pieces together in our own world, the more it creates a flow in the world around us. Learn more about these concepts: Roots & Rhythms and The Mosaic Project.

For Full Moon Insights, be sure to read the Moon Energy Page: Here and for Taurus Vibes, check out the chart below for ways to connect with Taurus Energy!

You never know what someone is going through, so: Just be kind! If you are the one going through hard times, you never know when you may cross the path of something better or when someone may just open a door for you, so: Just be kind! Kind acts are important, but most importantly is our ability to be kind. Kindness is a skill; it is a trait we learn. Even when deprived of kindness, it is never to late to learn. Kindness can be life changing. Empathy is a natural feature of life and the more we are willing to learn and connect with this feature, the more it will create the roots of our life.

Mercury Retrograde is an illusion. Life is often a matter of finding insight in illusions and perceptions. Retrograde indicates a planet spinning backwards, but it actually just appears that way. Everything in motion is a perception relative to our motion. With Mercury closest to the sun it experiences shorter solar loops (our solar years are 365 days, Mercury’s is 88). During Mercury retrograde when Earth passes Mercury it appears to be backwards, but it is really a matter of speed, position, and perception.

In Astrology, Mercury is associated with travel, communication, and our daily operations. These traits were assigned to the planet through Roman Mythology. When Mercury is in retrograde it may have the mind or body slowing down or revisiting the past or causing chaos due to the concept of illusion, perception, and the power of suggestion. This event may not scientifically hold any power over us, but the nature of suggestion can. The visualization of a planet going “backwards” and the concept of it being linked to traits important to our life can trigger mental and emotional processing that have us strongly reflecting on these concepts; illusion, communication, life patterns, the past, travel, etc. Mercury is not to be blamed for the chaos, because life is always chaotic, it’s just during Mercury Retrograde we notice it more or are working harder to be more conscious during this time, because it has become a buzz word. Empaths may feel this tense energy stronger because they pick up on all shifts in energy. It is possible for us Empaths to sense movement in the universe, but the strongest energy we sense during this time is other people’s energy. It is very possible people’s chaotic, tense energy is stronger during this time, because more and more people have become aware of this event. Mercury may be influencing our perceptions and energy through the power of suggestion, but we have the power to Calm the Sea Within.

Here are my go to methods for Calming the Sea Within during Mercury Retro:

-Reiki

-Yoga

-Art (the art pictures in the graphics are ones I did when I first started this “Spirit Quest”/ Committing to my dream of finally opening Rootin’ for your Life in 2014. However, before “opening” I soon learned I had a long journey ahead of creative healing to be able to format my dreams into the right flow. Stay tuned to learn more about what these pieces mean to me and how/why I created them.

-Protect & Prosper Spray (@FeyHerba on Instagram)

-Tea (love this tea from Lake Gaston Coffee Company)

-Cleansing showers

Protect + Clean-up our Earth + Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!!! We always keep trash bags with us when we are out and about, especially at lakes and beaches, because the amount of trash left behind is always unreal!! It would be easy to say; “we did not leave it, so it is not our responsibility”, but this Earth is our responsibility! As caretakers of such - there is no way we can just walk away or turn our eyes another direction. Below are also a few looks at recycled projects from past #dailyroots.

Living with Intention

Co-creating and Manifesting from Dream Work & Mindful Living

The power flows from releasing expectations | Being grateful, humble, & present | Believing in seeds turning into gardens

Our life has taken many turns with a whole lot of life in a short amount of years. It has been chaotic, heavy, and terrifying, but worth all the magic, beautiful moments along the way. There have been many times we have had to uproot and follow the rhythm of transformation. 10 years ago, we made a pledge to living with mindfulness and intention. It made the journey harder because it often means taking the roads less traveled; the inconvenient choices or the actions that make you an easy target for misunderstanding and judgement. Because it is from a personal, intimate state of mind of your own perceptions and experiences, few will understand your choices, but that is okay. When you start living with more personal intention for what is right for your soul-light-path - it may appear as if you fell off the face off the Earth, walked away from things that once mattered to you, etc, but sometimes those chapters only stayed opened because we were forcing them to whether it be from ego-based reasoning of keeping up with the masses or excelling in a validating way or from shadow-based reasoning; fears, doubts, guilt, etc. When we commit to pursuing our true path, our world of dreams can become realities. However, the biggest thing often standing in our way is; expectations. Living with intentions is about releasing expectations to be fully present in the journey. Stay tuned for upcoming posts to learn more about these concepts + our personal experiences.

National Take a Hike Day!!! Enjoy the Great Outdoors!!!!

Before we get into meal plans, recipes, and nutritional facts, it is important we keep working on the mindset of eating. Everything is a relationship! Our food choices are a matter of the relationship we have with our mind and body. Like we discussed above in Dream Work, living with intention is about releasing expectations. Eating well should be about the daily journey. A journey you must be fully present in to make conscious choices. Listen to your SOUL cravings. Sometimes our ego wants to eat because something looks good or its at our fingertips. Sometimes our shadow self wants to eat to fill old wounds that left us feeling empty, scared, or unworthy. Sometimes we eat out of habit and nerves. All of these pathways in the mindset can keep creating dangerous, defeating habits and choices. When we want to correct these actions, we often look to expectations to change our ways, but the pressure-cooker nature of expectations often sets us up for eventually returning to our old ways. Expectations make us believe something must happen when and how we picture it, but were these pictured expectations created from the ego, soul, or shadow self? Ego-expectations may be because you want to look a certain way, but appearances are not permanent. Our image changes as time changes, therefore these changes will fade. Shadow-expectations may be an unconscious method of self-sabotage. Things that imprinted us to feel insecure control our choices. Example: Growing up in poverty can create possible hoarding habits due to the fear of not having enough. When those shadow-expectations remain in the dark (in the unconscious state of mind rather than the conscious) they can lead to binge eating or habitually choosing unhealthy food even when you know it is not the best choice for you. Therefore, intuitive eating is not about following diets or trends, it is about following the soul. It is to create mindful choices by releasing expectations, being fully present in the journey, silencing the negative inner-voices, and listening to the positive inner-voices. It is okay to listen to your cravings when you are in a positive relationship with your consciousness. Otherwise, you may need to do a little detoxing and uprooting first, because sometimes our intuition is unclear due to the ego and shadow clutter that has been covering it up. Also, when we have expectations we often do not have balance, because we are always trying to race ahead because we are so focused on the end result. We can create balance when are focused on the journey; moment by moment.

This is a topic we will really be digging into soon, but for now I want to simply drop a few words for you to consider:

-Genetic memory -Bloodline Roots & Rhythms - Repeating Patterns - Ancient Echos

We cannot control or make a difference in the past, but we can make a difference in the here and now. We can break the cycle of negative patterns in our Roots and Rhythms by being consciously present. Learn more about this concept on: Energy Roots + Roots & Rhythms + stay tuned for upcoming lessons and posts!!!

Take a deep breath to reflect on the past few weeks. What insights did you gain? What plans did you revisit? What people did you reconnect with? What goals, dreams, or practices did you reconnect with? Are there any course corrections you need to make in your life flow? Today, reorganize and prepare your strategy for your life intentions. What do you want to accomplish before the end of the year? What do you want to get in flow in the new year? Whether you believe in the influence of Mercury Retrograde or the power of suggestion, a common knowledge is we all like to have a method for managing our life flow. Even us free-spirits need some kind of routine to help us organize our life flow to make sense of it all! Personally, I find organizing my life flow to the movement and rhythms of the stars, planets, and moon help me to be more conscious of my connection to all things and patient with the flow of all things in my life.

The holidays are around the bend and you may be connecting with loved ones or familiar faces, but today may be a good day to choose one person to reconnect with or reconnect with something that makes your heart feel all warm inside; maybe it’s a social gathering, texting or calling someone you have not talked to in a while, or reconnecting with a social goal. Maybe it was on your 2019 resolution vision board to do more outreach or good deeds. There is no better time than the season of giving and 2020 approaching to still make the effort to reach out to someone in need. Today, I will be at a VA hospital. My husband has an appt., but in such a place - every moment is an opportunity to connect with so many people in need from so many experiences and journeys in life. However, there are many loved ones and people I hope to reconnect with before the end of 2019. There are still many things I have to check off of my resolution list and even more I hope to add for 2020!

Welcome to Sagittarius Season!

A time and astro sign for exploration, adaptability, and discovery. This energy encourages us to become trailblazers of freedom and knowledge. Even though they are a Fire sign, they typically move or “burn” with a slow and steady energy to cultivate precision. The Centaur Symbol of Sagittarius represents bravery and loyalty. This energy can be chaotic, which is why the freedom to explore is so important. However, like the archer when they establish their targets, they become very focused and dedicated. This sign is ruled by Jupiter, the planet of fortune, expansion, willpower, and knowledge. It also associated with optimism, social connections and responsibilities, and developing higher purposes.

Explore a summary of Sagittarius vibes in the chart below! Kick of Sagittarius season with a #wineandroot night of cooking up some Sagittarius and Sacral Chakra related foods. Get cozy by a fire or candle-light!

Explore Sagittarius crystals in the chart!

Use the chart above to channel a Sagittarius movement and flow. This sign is associated with the physiology and anatomy of the Sacral Chakra and the hips, legs, and back. Yoga poses and flow can help engage and align the muscular and skeletal system. It can help calm and regulate energy by focusing on breathing and mindful movement techniques. A chant used in Buddhist and Hindu meditations is Shanti. It is said three times to symbolize the connection and flow of the mind, body, and spirit (or speech). It means: “be calm”. This meditation is to help channel peace and tranquility. When we can calm our energy, center our state of being, and create inner peace, we can create our own bliss.

This is our main method for meal planning and one of our planners. We always use the Root and Flow Method, but we apply it in different ways and create different planners based on the needs of our lesson topics. This is the main one for keeping meal planning simple. The best way to create time for food is to plan ahead. By eating only what you have in the house, is a great way to minimize unhealthy habits. The root of changing habits is always mindset. Therefore, this chart encourages our mindset to focus on 3 things with meal-planning:

-The Root Essentials (what are the essential nutrients and survival foods - your go to items?)

-Love your Food: these items are what you use to add flavor or a few items that are not going to completely break your wellness plan.

-Grow: this is about getting out of the comfort zone to add things to the grocery list you may not usually buy.

Learn more about how to choose your items in upcoming guided sessions and services & more free posts!

Read about Sagittarius Energy in the above lessons and Astro Summary Chart and use the chart below to channel the energy for Today’s Hours of Power. We do Hours of Power every other Tuesday to learn how to do doses of wellness throughout the day that are in alignment with the current seasonal vibes. New Moons are about beginnings. It is the introverted state of inner-work to reflect on your life path and goals. It is a time to plant the seeds for the things you want to manifest, but remember you are the co-creator. Once the new moon has passed you must keep doing the soul-work to nurture the seeds to provide them with the care they need to grow. If you want to learn more about moon energy: click here

To rise into the higher self it is essential to maintain Core Care. As much as Routines and Rituals can help create a steady flow, sometimes it is important to mix it up. One of the best ways to mix it up is with a self-care dice. You can write things like: meditate, meal prep, exercise, bath, walk in nature, etc. Roll out your dice when you are in need of a little self-care time.

Today, I honor the intentions of Thanksgiving by coming together with family and focusing on gratitude. However, I feel many aspects of this holiday are skipped over by not showing more dedication to it and by not telling the full story of what happened to the Native Americans. It is often portrayed as if everyone lived happily, ever after. What started off as a peaceful co-existence (Thanksgiving) and could have further progressed as such, soon became a trail of tragedy. Therefore, I also honor the day of mourning to remember the Native Americans that once thrived in this beautiful land. As much as I wish this holiday was simply about gratitude, too often it turns to greed; repeating the patterns of history. Except rather than eyeing the material items of beautiful land, people get into the frenzy of eyeing everything they need to check off their Christmas list. As soon as people finish giving their thanks - they rush into the masses to prey on all the material items they must have. I would love to focus on only the peace, harmony, and gratitude of this day, but it would be to deny the other half of the story of the past and present of how humanity behaves.

My Personal Beliefs and something I first wrote in Pieces of Me:

The Human Journey is connected to the roots of conquerors, healers, warriors, travelers, story-tellers, artisans, makers, movers, lovers, fighters; the best and worst of humanity. Such traits do not belong to one group of people, the nature of good and evil is in every person. There are always roots of trauma and roots of beauty. Life is not without pain and struggle, but there are those moments, people, movements, and stories that change the tides for better or worst. The gift of being human is the consciousness of free-will. However, power rises. Sometimes, it is driven by dark forces sweeping through masses of people causing catastrophic events that forever change the course of the roots. Sometimes, the light comes out to power healing and enlightenment; to bring the roots together and restore positive experiences of diversity. As humans, we are at our best, when we share our spirits with one another through the art of living; cooking, creating, dancing, etc. We are at our worst, when we do not think outside of our own bubble; how past choices and our own choices cause harm to others. We are out our worst when we allow the negative shadow and ego self of fear, greed, hate, etc. We are at our worst when we turn our backs on compassion.

I AM NOT HERE TO FACILITATE CONFLICT, I AM HERE TO CREATE A SAFE SPACE OF COMMON GROUND OF TRYING TO LOOK AT LIFE THROUGH MULTIPLE LENSES TO CONSTRUCT A PATH TO PEACE BY BRINGING A HEALING VOICE TO ANCIENT BLOODLINES AND CO-CREATING A FUTURE FOR CELEBRATING BEING HUMAN WITH MANY ROOTS & RHYTHMS.

Personally, I have never been able to walk this land and look at the water flowing and the leaves blowing without thinking of the blood of the past. I give thanks for my time and place on this Earth, but I try to do my best to remember the Roots and Rhythms of how it came to be and to honor that with how I live my life.

Therefore, today, I ask for you to take some extra time to reflect on the Roots & Rhythms of the past and how we can work to break the cycles of greed and materialism. How we can work to better co-exist and be in harmony with nature.

As fun and festive as Black Friday can be, it can also take away from the true holiday spirit and feed into the beast and cycles of consumerism. It is important to keep in mind some of the greatest gifts of the holidays; sharing our time, giving to those in need, and honoring life with back to the roots living. Sometimes the greatest gifts cannot be bought from the store. However, if you are looking to shop, tomorrow, Small Business Saturday, is a great day to do it. Support your local businesses or local makers. End November with gratitude, mindfulness, and togetherness. Roots of Love to all!