Awaken Your Reality

a magical moment…

Over the 4th of July weekend, Tyler and I took a road trip to Yosemite. On the way, I arranged a stop in Parlier, a small town close to Fresno. In my childhood, my family used to own a horse ranch, of which we would visit on the weekends and during the holidays for several years.

All week long, I was excited about this reunion, wondering what it would feel like to be there again. It had been over 30 years since I had stepped foot on the land. I always felt the land in my heart and saw it in my visions, but to actually be there physically was a dream come true.

As we made our way down a long country road, my first impression was that everything seemed bigger than I remembered. The entrance was completely different, as I felt like a stranger in a strange land. It is now referred to as Running Luck Ranch.

Upon arrival, Tyler and I introduced ourselves to the land owner, Vern. We met him in his office, which was the same trailer the caretakers lived in years before. His kindness towards me as well as my excitement to see the land seemed to dissolve all energy of cigar and cigarette smoke looming in the air. After a good half hour of conversation, he invited  Tyler and I to visit with the land. I couldn’t get out the door fast enough. I was so excited.

As I walked out the door and down the steps towards the house we had lived in, I started to feel a familiar sense around me. Everything was the same as I remembered. I walked past our old house, then past the pasture where I used to watch the foals being born in the early hours. Yes, and my beloved hay barn, where I met my first rattlesnake. The hay barn was so much fun. We used to build forts out of the hay and hang out until it got dark.

The moment I looked out over the bluff, I was like a kid in a candy store. I couldn’t get enough of this place. I knew it would be neat, but Wow! This was extraordinary. This was way beyond childhood memories. It felt like paradise to me! Out in the distance, I could see the river, the horses, and the various trees along the river. Everything felt so familiar. I was home. To my surprise, I saw peacocks roaming freely on the land and mingling with the horses. Amazing!

After greeting the horses, and showing Tyler around the land, I felt drawn to visit with the river. As I went off on my own to explore, I began to feel my roots sinking deep into the earth as my whole being expanded. As I began to relax and slow down from all the excitement, I started to tune in with the land. Any sense of time disappeared, as I could see and hear more clearly the details of nature.

Ahead in the distance, I notice two hawks flying above. They were calling out towards me. Simultaneously, out of the corner of my eye, I see and feel three race horses galloping towards me at full speed. They were flying! I stood very still, even though I knew there was a wooden fence between us. The energy was so powerful! The peacocks were even chiming in. They all succeeded in getting my attention. It was quite a magical moment. And then, as I looked over to my right, there SHE stood.

Mama Oak was standing there in all her beauty. Wow! What a wonderful surprise to see her again. I felt energy rising throughout my whole being as I felt immense love and gratitude in her presence. In her reflection, I could see who and what I am and what I have always been. She was one of my greatest teachers and friends in childhood. Being in her presence again was the most wonderful reflections of beauty, graciousness, and timelessness. I spent most of my visit with her, enjoying the river and the shade she provided.

While enjoying the spaciousness of the visit, I could feel that soon it would be time for me to be on my way. As I stood up from sitting with mama oak and walking a bit along the path, I received a call from Tyler graciously letting me know that it was time to go and that the owner needed to lock the gate for the night and that it was time for me to make my way up the hill, now.

I felt such gratitude for these moments shared with the land, while also feeling a little tugging on my heart knowing that this may be the last time I would visit with the land, physically. As I walked along the path, I thanked the mama oak tree, the nature spirits, the horses, the peacocks, and the ancient spirits of the land for our time together. The three horses raced towards me as they did in our initial greeting. I then invited all the beautiful beings of the land to call on me any time if they choose.

A few mornings later, two hawks greeted me in a dream. As I looked around, there I was again on this wonder filled land.
In JOY,
Ali-Sun Trees

Teachings of the Poison Oak Plant

On Easter Sunday I went on a long and inspiring hike up a creek bed in the Santa Barbara area with some friends. It was a great day for a hike. The sky was cloudy with some rays of sun shining through with a breeze in the air. This was my 4th hike in the past week, so I was feeling a little shy of going on a long hike. I felt some hesitation knowing that I would be climbing and jumping rocks, for quite a ways, which I normally love doing, but today I felt tired. I also could feel that something was in store for me, on this day.

By the time, my friends and I reached the trail head, I felt more energized and ready for a longer adventure. On our way, I was pointing out to my friends the poison oak patches, as well as mugwort, which is a great remedy in case one gets poison oak. There was quite a bit of poison oak around on the trail heading towards the creek. As we approached the creek, we began the fun of rock hopping with eagerness to see what lies ahead.  From the beginning, I could feel myself letting go of some old layers and tension in my body. As I let go of my tiredness, I felt the stress surfacing. I could feel where I was not being very present and just trapsing along. This was the greatest opportunity for me to grow and my ally, the poison oak, to come in to greet me. More like meeting me with a kick in the ass. The invitation came, when I found a great place among the rocks, what appeared to be a little island of sand and privacy. It was the perfect place. So, I took off my backpack, and peed. No problem, right. Wrong! As I prepared to leave the spot, I turned and looked to my side as I saw this poison oak plant wavy back at me. What? I didn’t even see this coming. I must have spaced out over the plant, not even seeing it.  Wow! I didn’t even feel it touch my skin.

When I got home that evening, the first thing I did was take a shower. No sign of rash at this point. In fact, 3 days later I didn’t feel it. I pretty much had put it out of my thoughts. The 4th day, I started to itch and then the next day more, until it had fully arrived. 2 weeks of itchy, burning, hair raising irritations. Sleeping, which is one of my favorite things to do, became my least. I couldn’t sit much, for it was by my butt. Clothes against the skin felt like sandpaper. It’s amazing how just a few small spots of this rash can go a long way.

As I went through the irritability of my reaction to the rash, I came to realize that this was the perfect gift for me. It helped me to see the places where I have been emotionally invested in stress, that I would normally hold in and keep to myself. I was letting go of so much trauma and old energy, all at once. I could feel the heat and anger that wanted so badly to be expressed, yet I had not been able to quite get to that surface so easily. It was a challenging experience, but as I began to see it as an opportunity to heal and since there were signs that it was fading, I became more relaxed and allowed myself to really feel and express my feelings and emotions more freely.

As I was running errands around town, I even shared with a few people of the poison oak rash and just by doing so I felt better. It felt great to just share, to say it out loud what I was experiencing, being true to the moment and to the people I would come into contact with; even people I had just met for the first time. So, poison Oak a curse or a gift? For me, I’d say a gift, in this experience. I feel more expansive, free, personal and open, when I opened to the opportunity of the experience. It was also great for my paintings, since standing and creating felt the most comfortable and supportive thing to do at the time.

spontaneous opening with a Mama Oak

Have you ever felt a presence so big, that it stops you in the tracks, spontaneously? I had the honor of meeting an amazing Mama Oak Tree the other day. I was walking and talking along a trail with my dear ally, Carolyn Marie. Among this trail were wildflowers and a babbling creek. We were enjoying each other, nature and the conversation that awakened as we walked. As the road started to turn towards the canyon, to our surprise and wonder, we came across a Big, Giant, Mama Oak Tree. As we came into this trees presence, we both stopped. As we stood for a few moments admiring the beauty of this amazing being, Carolyn asked if I wouldn’t mind staying here for a while and spending some time with the tree. “Yes, of course, I would love to, I said.”

As we first felt her presence, Carolyn shared that she could feel that this mama Oak is the guardian of this particular forest and even beyond the expression of this forest. We could feel how she has the capacity to feel and communicate with trees across the planet, spontaneously. She felt like a universal and a God being, completely. We were both in awe. We felt her to be about  a 600-800 year old tree. As we grew in her presence, we both chose to sit with the tree for a while in our own space to relate with the tree.

After some  time, I got up from the spot I was sitting, which was below the trunk of the tree and made my way towards Carolyn where she was sitting, among many wildflowers, blending in with the landscape. As I started to walk towards her, Carolyn could see all the fairey’s gathering around me. I could feel their presence too, for I felt like I was glowing with little beings all around me. In that moment, I made my way closer to the trunk of the tree, where I sat facing my dear friend. From the moment I sat down, I could feel my body open completly, while feeling an expansiveness so beyond, time and space. I could also feel the Mama Oak, as a partner. We were all connecting as One.

Carolyn and I  began to engage in the wisdom we were experiencing by being in the trees presence. We started to share about relationships and that when we share from a unitive and loving space, that everyone and everything has the opportunity to grow and heal, spontaneously. We spoke of the unlimited nature of how we choose to be in relationship with humanity, nature and the universe. In the sharing, we could feel our true nature as the words flowed freely and with clarity from our whole beings. We could feel an energetic shift that was opening naturally, while feeling in partnership with the Mama Tree. We were all opening together and it felt wonderful.

I shared with Carolyn that isn’t it wonderful that when we choose to relate as what we are only, then we become simply an expression of that, nothing else. If we choose for our bodies to be an expression of health and vitality, it is our choice. As we truly accept this as what we are completely, in detail, we are free and beyond free. This is our choice.

a visit with an Oak and a Red-tailed hawk

Today was a magical day.  I could feel something new awakening within me. Spontaneously, I decided to jump in my truck and took a drive towards the mountains. In these moments of inspiration, I often feel called to visit with the trees. And usually, I have no idea where I am headed. This is what I like to call a spontaneous adventure.

I enjoyed a beautiful drive up in the mountains and upon driving back down, I felt inspired to stop and visit with a beautiful grassy meadow. I parked the truck, and enjoyed the silence, listening to the sounds of the birds, while feeling into the opening that was the opportunity of the day. I can feel that my life is changing in new ways and I am in the place of not knowing, which can be both exciting as well as a little challenging. As I let go of the places where I just want to know, I remember the beauty of not knowing. It is the stillness in these moments, that invite us to see with new clarity.

As I walked down the path, I came towards an Oak tree. In this Oak trees presence, I experienced sweet moments of joy. As, I began to feel more relaxed and open,  I noticed a bird flying swiftly right by me into the bushes ahead, directly in front of me. He was beautiful. I could feel by his presence that he was a red-tailed hawk. He stood on a branch, doing his thing, perhaps searching for food. For a few moments, we exchanged greetings with one another. It was a very sweet graceful meeting, nothing extraordinary, simply and ordinary moment.

As I opened my eyes and heart to the gift of this red-tailed hawks presence, I listened and asked what the opportunity of this moment is? Has he come to share a message with me, I wondered? I then asked him, if there is perhaps a message he’d like to share. In the moments to follow, I saw a vision, one similar to the one I had seen a week ago.  As we connected deeper, I saw the bigger picture of this vision and in this moment, I felt my reality change, spontaneously.  As the vision became crystal clear, the red-tailed hawk came swooping in towards me, quite swiftly, passing me by in a blink of an eye, then reaching up to the sky. It was fantastic. Yes, clearly, I could see the reflection that he bestowed onto me. Thank you my dear friend. May you blessed in every moment.

I felt complete in that moment. Just a few moments later, I stood up, thanked the oak tree for our visit, and went along the trail.

A visit with a lizard