Happy Mother's Day! Karla and Richard share some thoughts and memories that might land in a way that brings peace and connection in your significant relationship..

Finding new ways to pray always lights up my soul. It’s fun to try new ways of connecting to the Divine. Growing up in my Catholic faith, I was guided to consider “spiritual bouquets” as a gift to God and others. Spiritual bouquets are offered to express love, support and appreciation. I have come to learn other spiritual practices and use them in my spiritual bouquets.

The Lakota Prayer to the Four Directions is one such practice. In many native cultures across the North American continent, there is a unifying spiritual element that has been used for many years to bring wisdom and healing to the people, it is called the medicine wheel.

Nick Polizzi describes the medicine wheel is composed of four quadrants. Each direction North, East, South and West carries deep meaning. Each quadrant has its own color and spirit keeper. Envisioning both is part of the meditation. This healing prayer can be used for yourself or a loved one. As you imagine this person laying down, you can consider the four directions as a guide to the focus of your meditation. Their head is the north, East the left side, South their feet and West the right side.

Vera Dery has written a beautiful prayer to go with this meditation.

Karla and Richard share some encouragement and examples of connection on Valentine's day. Sometimes we fumble the effort of taking care of each other on special occasions, however we can keep on trying and be ready to start a new pattern of simply... Loving Each Other. A new play on the word LOVE will help us remember how to be better lovers!

Have you ever felt like your life is a little bit or a lot out of alignment? Do you wonder when there’s going to be some peace or a feeling of stability in your life? You just want things to calm down and be able to go to bed with less worry and sleep through the night? I think John McClane in the movie Die Hard summed it up quite well… Welcome to the party, Pal!

These off kilter times are a party we didn’t want to go to, yet we begrudgingly attend. We want to lose the invitation or say, “we have a conflict”, or “we have other plans”. No such luck... being uncomfortable and feeling like the world is plotting against is a short-term feeling for some and a long-term affliction for others. Most of us kind of settle in between these two polar extremes. When you are off axis, it is time to access the present moment. Karla and Richard share some thoughts on trusting the tilt, while managing what we can control in our lives.

A special thank you to the brave souls that reach out for help. We honor you! Thank you to those that we reach out to for help. We can't do this alone.

Even the smallest fish in the ocean takes water into its gill and changes this water into air for it to live. While there is some science as to how this actually works, the transformation of the water into air remains a mystery. We are invited to learn the secret of the gill, the secret of transforming what we go through into air. Karla and Richard share thoughts and stories of how music and connection through their lives has infused air into the most dire of situations and the most precious times in their lives. What will you discover about your gill?

A special shout out to Mark Nepo and his magical book: The Book of Awakening

How do you connect with each others spirit/essence/being? Karla and Richard explore ways of connection. We can connect in life-giving ways during the best and the most challenging of times. We can notice the energy and embrace it. The Obies struggle like everyone else. We lean into the energy and bring it into the light. What grows in the dark can not survive in the light.

"Karla and Richard respond to an inquiry from a recent retreat they held in CA. One partner is willing to share, while the other is hesitant. The question is: why, and what can I do about it? The Obies explore some of the blockers and consider what type of invitations may be helpful. It takes two, baby!"

The Obies discuss the challenging and surprising effect of grief in our lives. Grief appears in explicit and implicit ways during the holidays. You are invited to seek help and create rituals to honor those you love and miss, while honoring what you may need to get you through and create new memories. Karla shares some thoughts on being curious as to what grief may want to say to us in the present moment. Can grief be a wise companion?... perhaps. 

Megan Devine's Grief Journal: How to Carry What Can't be Fixed

In this episode, Karla and Richard chat about crucial elements that will make your expressions of gratitude stand out and resonate with authenticity. The ability to receive is as important as the ability to give. They share some creative ways to say what you notice as excellent in others. Try some for the Holiday's... with a side of stuffing. 

Rick Hansen Ted Talk   

Paula and Karla Bake - Instagram

Karla and Richard go down a new path and discover old challenges to being masterful listeners. A sobering reality is the more we are around each our ability to be great listeners may wane. The road to listening is always under construction, and sometimes blocked. If we recognize blocks to our listening skills, the journey is worth the connection we discover.