purpose

The Cacao Journals: Embodiment Medicine

~ nicole
Soul to me means “embodied essence”….[H]ealing comes through embodiment of the soul. – Marion Woodman

How do we get out of our heads and into our bodies? That’s where true wisdom lies. Wisdom comes from accessing the deep soul inside of you. Everyone has access to this deep soul; we just have to believe and remember, so we can reconnect to it….

You probably invested a lot of time and money in training your mind to excel at whatever it is you do. It has served you well, putting food on the table and a home to keep you warm and safe; allowing you a vacation to an exotic locale to escape, rather ironically, from your mind; and addressing almost every need you have. Then, over time and possibly even quite suddenly, you found it was no longer serving you; it was driving you. The sense of control your mind gave you over your life suddenly turned on you and you realized that you were being controlled by it. Inner mind control run amuck.

Where your motivation once came from–the expectation of others, financial reward and competition (even if you were competing against your own standard)–no longer drives you.  It’s like that romantic relationship that you outgrow or that becomes too controlling. The flame of your desire is gone just like that. You suddenly find yourself unmotivated, joyless, purposeless. It feels excruciating. You desperately want to escape and that’s exactly when you need to go deeper, to look inside.

True purpose, joy and love come from within. Your mind doesn’t create joy, it responds to and recognizes it. Your mind doesn’t determine your true purpose, it engages with it and acts on it. Your joy and purpose are the true drivers and they come from connecting to your inner knowing. Love deserves its own blog post.

We all excel at tuning out–not listening to our bodies, our feelings, our gut. To rediscover and reconnect to our joy and purpose, we have to go inside. How do we do that, and given our propensity for wanting to see results fast, how do we find a way that shows us enough of what’s possible that we commit to it as a practice. Awakening can be spontaneous; it’s sustaining and embodying it that takes commitment.

We need embodiment medicine. Not pharmaceutical grade medicine, but ceremonial grade. This is why I work with ceremonial cacao. Not only is it a facilitator, allowing us to access our feelings and work gently with them; it also is a catalyst, giving us a glimpse of what our soul’s path is; and a healer, healing our inner wounds and removing our protective layers, so we can experience joy again. Through my own personal work with cacao and holding cacao medicine journeys for hundreds of people, I have experienced and witnessed this first hand. I am not alone; cacao medicine practitioners across the globe are sharing this medicine. It’s become a thing, a very good, healing thing.

The results of journeying with ceremonial cacao are both immediate and not. What’s immediate is the feeling experience and the initial glimpse into what’s possible, which can be profound and powerful. The glimpse acts as the motivator to keep you on this healing path. Releasing what no longer works for you, calling in what does, and fully embodying your joy, purpose and love takes time. You spent decades creating protections and benefiting from them; becoming who you truly are will naturally take a little time. Cacao is soul medicine and becomes your teacher, healer and guide. The benefits and beauty are beyond anything your mind could ever imagine.

If you’re in NorCal, come to a cacao medicine journey (see my Events page). If you live far away, reach out and let’s find a way to make cacao a part of your embodiment practice wherever you are. For a deeper immersion into joy and purpose, come to Lake Atitlan, Guatemala in February (click HERE for more details). I’m also available for a conversation about designing a path for you as a mentor and guide.

Copyright ©2018 Soulscape Coaching LLC.

The Cacao Journals: Wisdom & Guidance from the Drum

~ nicole
Shamanic journeying is the inner art of traveling to the ‘invisible worlds’ beyond ordinary reality to retrieve information for change in any area of your life–from spirituality and health to work and relationships. – Sandra Ingerman

Journeying to the drum for others is a beautifully intimate experience where I am entrusted with a vital question to which someone wants an answer that they simply cannot access on their own. And it brings me such joy to share this work.

First we frame the question, so that it can be received by my guides in such a way that their answer offers valuable wisdom and guidance. The question is always stated in the present tense in shamanic journeying and often takes the form of a “What, Where, or How” question. “Why” questions are not recommended as the “Why” of anything can be so complex, as are questions about the future.

I’d like to share a journey that I experienced on behalf of someone whose question was, “What am I to focus on in my work?” I knew nothing about this person other than his full name and where he lived. I journeyed to meet (and merge with) my Power Animal, the Jaguar, and she took me on a lovely journey emerging out of a dark underwater cavern into a night sky full of stars and a landscape lit by a full moon. We ran towards and through a forest of evergreen trees, and found ourselves at the edge of a lake flooded with the light of the full moon.

My Jaguar entered the water and began swimming across the lake toward a fire we could see on the other side. She dove below the surface of the water and began walking across the sandy bottom. I said, “Wait, you can’t do that!” And she answered, “In this world, I can do anything.” Note to self: in the Lower and Upper Worlds, anything is possible.

She’s a shapeshifter, a real trickster, haunts dreams, sees the unseen – Katalin Koda

We surfaced and began walking toward the fire, which was sending sparks up into the night sky. Surrounding the fire were four people. I asked my Jaguar who they were and she responded with, “They are engineers.” I immediately questioned this and said to myself, “I can’t share that! What if it’s totally off base?” I had to let go of my rational mind and just trust that what I was receiving had some purpose and meaning. I followed my first question with another, “What are these engineers building?” Her response rocked me: “A gateway.” How was I going to share that?

Up a slope behind the fire was a beautiful, log-cabin lodge full of luminous light. Then suddenly I was being called back by the drum and had to return from the journey.

When I returned I shared what I had received, worried somehow that it would not make sense to the person for whom I was journeying. The language of journeys is always symbolic and sometimes quite literal, and often a mix of both. I began by sharing the journey and my interpretation of the symbols of the full moon, the lake, the fire and the log cabin full of light.

The full moon often symbolizes the feminine, so it seemed to be telling him that he needed to be in touch with and guided by his feminine wisdom in his work. Water is the deep feminine, our intuitive guidance system, so the message was that he needed to dive deep into his intuition and walk there comfortably until he could surface with deeper knowledge.

The fire is a masculine symbol symbolizing creativity and life force energy, and the sparks showed that whatever was being created by the fire had some juice! The log cabin up the hill full of light was a beacon of hope and inspiration.

When I shared the journey and my interpretation, the silence was deafening. I had to ask, “Does this resonate with you?” because I couldn’t tell.

This is what he shared: “Nicole, I just returned from a business trip to New York where I had a meeting with four key engineers, who were arguing about one of our more innovative, but not main products.” I began to breathe more easily when I heard the words, “four engineers”.

He continued: “They could not agree about the product and were thinking about shelving it. Normally, in these meetings I play a certain role, but this time I found myself coming from a different place and being an advocate for this product because my intuition was telling me it was a game changer, would revolutionize the industry and that we needed to patent it because it was so innovative.”

I asked with curiosity, “What kind of product is it?” He responded, “In our world, it would be considered a ‘gateway’ product.” He beamed from ear to ear, having just had his intuition validated. He knew with such clarity what he was meant to focus on in his work. I was stunned, amazed and overjoyed.

This work is powerful. I’d be delighted to journey for you if you have a question you are struggling to answer about your work, life, or relationship. I can do this work in person or remotely, so you can live anywhere and receive this wisdom and guidance.

All you need to is connect with me here: nicole@soulscapecoaching.com.

Copyright ©2018 Soulscape Coaching LLC.

Soul gifts–does the Stork bring them?

~ nicole
At 50, I began to know who I was. It was like I was waking up to myself. – Maya Angelou

So, just where do our soul gifts come from? And are they the same as our purpose or our passion? Both are great questions I’m often asked and well worth exploring.

I believe that we’re born into the world with our soul gifts; so, yes, in a way, the stork brings them :). In the indigenous culture of the Maya, those gifts are divined, acknowledged and honored at birth as the local shaman meets with the parents to determine how best to support their child, so she can live into her gifts and path. What a beautiful gift to give your child: the promise and a plan to nurture his gifts as he grows.

Unfortunately, in the western world, we aren’t given this kind of support at our birth, and so often our gifts are diminished, ignored or unsupported, and we lose our connection to them. Without proper nourishment and care, they simply can’t grow and thrive.

What is fortunate is that we can reclaim those gifts and accelerate their evolution (I know because that’s exactly what I did)…. So, all is not lost, dear soul warrior.

Reclaim your soul gifts

The beauty and richness of knowing our soul gifts is why I start my soul path coaching and courses with Mayan Day Sign readings, the ancient practice that Mayan shamans use in their divination work. These readings guide you through the evolving stages of your life; support you in finding your gifts, purpose and path; and show you what will allow you to achieve those goals and live into your destiny. They are an advanced system for understanding the energies that support and awaken your inner knowledge.

In the west, many believe we are a tabula rasa, a blank slate that we can mold into anything we want to be. Undoubtedly, free will and willpower are extremely powerful. However, we tend to use them a bit blindly: we set our sights on getting or being something and we go for it, but what we achieve doesn’t often acknowledge, nurture or cultivate our soul gifts.

When we forget or ignore those gifts, we feel unfulfilled even when we attain our goal. When we leave our soul bereft; it will cry out in anguish at some point–showing up as anger, frustration, depression, and even addiction or dependency–and we ignore its messages at our peril.

When we wisely use our free will and willpower and choose to fully embody and live into our soul gifts and path, we find our voice and our soul power, and we live a life full of meaning, purpose, and joy.

Share your soul gifts and shine.

So where does that leave purpose and passion? Soul gifts lead you to your purpose. Soul gifts are an energetic life force within you made up of specific characteristics, aspects and energies that are seeking realization. To truly understand your life purpose, you must know your soul gifts first.

We’ve all heard inspirational spokespeople say, “Follow your bliss,” or “Follow your passion,” and while that is a beautiful thing, it will not fully satisfy your soul. Your soul desires more. While passion projects may bring you joy, the joy of your soul gifts is deeper. Its joy connects you to your deepest self, the one that seeks meaning, the one that is your highest potential, the one that wants you to be of service to something much larger than yourself. Passions can be a little bit myopic; sometimes we want to keep them all to ourselves. Soul gifts must be shared.

Once you reclaim and start living into your soul gifts, you share your gifts by just being you, who you truly are, not the construct you’ve been trying to live into. Your self realization is their realization. And when you reach this point, and as you release the energy of your soul gifts into the world, your “work” becomes your joy. It’s an unbelievable feeling.

Feel into what it would mean to reclaim and live into your soul gifts. What would become possible for you?

Follow my Blog or Join my Soul Warrior Tribe and be soulful all the time….

Copyright ©2017 Soulscape Coaching LLC.

Healing your core wound by living into your soul gifts: how brilliant is that?

~ nicole
Other people are going to find healing in your wounds. Your greatest life messages and your most effective ministry will come out of your deepest hurts. – Rick Warren

Can your core wound be a gift? Some teachers in the Finding your True Purpose/Soul’s Path space believe that it’s our inner core wounds, which we experience as a young child, that become our gifts. While I was (and am still) fascinated by this concept and agree with these teachers, and could see how their own wounding became their gift, I couldn’t quite apply the concept to myself. Often we’re the last to know, aren’t we?

You see, I came to understand my soul gifts through reflection from friends and colleagues; by studying my Mayan Day Sign, which is all about soul gifts and path, and understanding the qualities of my birth animal totem from the Native American tradition; and only then did I take the patterns I saw there and look back into my childhood to see if they were reflected. I certainly saw my soul gifts–the gifts I came into the world with–and I was aware of my core wound, but I didn’t quite see how my wound could be a gift, my gift to the world…. It felt like, just a wound.

So here’s how my realization unfolded for me. As I lived more fully into my soul gifts –my ability to deeply listen and hold space for others, reflect back a whole and healing perspective, and guide others to find their own gifts and path­–I began to share my experience and my story with anyone who would listen.

And here’s what’s fascinating: my core wound was all about not having a voice, about not feeling worthy enough on an unconscious level to share my thoughts and beliefs and even feelings. My voice (and me by association) did not matter.

When I began walking my soul’s path, I discovered that I finally had something to say, something of value to share, something that just had to be said, so I couldn’t stop talking or writing about it. For the first time in my life, I didn’t care if people glanced at me sideways or thought I was crazy or were just humoring me. I knew that what I had learned and experienced was real and true and beautiful, and that I had no choice, but to share.

It was in the sharing that I was healing myself. It was in the sharing that I found purpose and meaning. It was in the sharing that I found joy. It was in the sharing that I was guiding others to their own healing.

Finding my voice was a bright, new shiny gift. How brilliant is that?

So, the questions I find myself asking are: “What do I do with my voice, beyond what I’m already doing?” “How do I amplify my voice for its highest and best use?” “How do I help others find their voice, so they may have more purpose, meaning and joy in their lives?” “How can this gift keep on giving?” Because you know it’s going to be contagious, but in a good way….

How can our gifts keep on giving?

I’m still here in this new territory of voice, feeling my way through it, but it gives me no end of joy to contemplate it. I have opened the door to possibility. And now I have shared it with you.

May my sharing somehow inspire you to find and truly value your own voice, or find your own core wound, which may not be your voice but another, and heal it, so it becomes your bright gift to the world.

Please share your thoughts with me. I’d be honored to hear from you. And that way, I will have the privilege of responding with my voice to you. I need all the practice I can get :).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Positive intentions & good vibrations: we need more of those….

~ Nicole Gnutzman ~ 2 Comments
When you have clarity of intention the universe conspires with you to make it happen. – Fabienne Fredrickson
An intention synchronistically organizes its own fulfillment. – Deepak Chopra

img_3752Positive intentions set good vibrations in motion. Maybe that’s what the Beach Boys’ song was all about…. Or maybe it was just a song about mutual attraction. In either case, when we set positive intentions and send good energy out; good energy comes back.

Just this past week, three of my clients wanted to set and declare an intention: one around relationship, another around purpose and a third around boundaries. Each needed a little guidance on how to set powerful, positive intentions, so I thought I would share some tips here.

As I guided them toward creating their intention, I could not only feel their energy rising in a positive way, but also mine. Fringe benefits to doing the work I do :). And I was so inspired by witnessing the beauty of intention setting that I decided to set my own….

An intention is a positive, guiding principle for how you want to be, live and show up in the world or for what you want to show up in your world such as the ideal mate, client, work or anything you want to manifest.

Positive intentions are just that: positive. They declare in positive terms and in the present tense what we are or want, not what we aren’t or don’t want because those nasty “n’t” words have negative energy attached to them, send confusing messages to Spirit, and when we really feel into them, make us feel kind of crappy.

If you’re struggling with an intention and have no idea where to start, it’s ok to list what you don’t want or how you don’t want to be. A “not this” list can be very clarifying as to what you do want. Just make sure you find a way to let go of that list and its negative energy (burning the list in a bowl is a great way to do that).

A beautiful, positive intention is not a list (this is very critical to note); it is a statement in life-affirming words of your intention. Allow it to emerge from deep within you (feel into it) and it will naturally be aligned with life and Spirit. After all, she is the one who really makes it happen when you release your beautiful intention to Her.

I’ll demonstrate. This is my intention for how I am in my work:

img_3101“I am a soul warrior, a guide, a pathmaker, a light of possibility, who embodies my soul gifts, acts in integrity with my soul’s path, speaks the truth wisely, shares my voice for transformation, is powerful and empowering, fiercely compassionate and caring; I adore, value and respect my clients as they do me, my gifts, my time and my wisdom.” When I wrote this, just this morning, it flowed. And when I read it out loud to my husband, he closed his eyes and said it was beautiful and true. Love him.

And this was my husband Scott’s intention for manifesting a loving partner (that would be me :)) 11 years ago:

“I want a healthy, abundant, nourishing relationship with a whole, happy, beautiful and creative woman.”That’s it; so simple and yet it has such depth of meaning. And I showed up seven days later….

Here’s one more from a client, who was making everyone else’s needs a priority over her own, wanted to reclaim her power and her creativity, and set better boundaries with her customers and in her personal relationships:

“I am powerful, I prioritize me and my creative side, I am valued and paid well for my work, and I love my customers, who value, respect and appreciate me and my creative gifts.” She felt that its guiding power would help her make positive, life-affirming plans for herself and her business.

img_3755Can you feel your own energy rising as you read these intentions? Are you feeling inspired to write one of your own?

I’d love to have you share your intention either here as a comment or send me a private email, so I can celebrate you and who you are becoming or what you are inviting into your life!

Feel into and write your intention. Be guided by it. Say it out loud. Make it your daily mantra. Let it inspire you. Spirit has your back on this.

Copyright ©2017 Soulscape Coaching LLC

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Valentine’s to the Eagle & the Condor, may they be one again

~ Nicole Gnutzman
I honor myself…As the divine feminine blends with the masculine. I now come into balance. – Trudy Vesotsky
When the sacred masculine is combined with the sacred feminine inside each of us, we create the “sacred marriage”of compassion and passion in ourselves. –Matthew Fox

img_2816This past Saturday, I held cacao ceremony for a women’s group and their partners in a gorgeous yurt nestled in the redwoods. To honor their coming together as couples in ceremony, which is a rare and beautiful thing, I created a theme that called on western astrology, Mayan cosmology and Amazon prophecy to reflect the energy of the divine feminine and masculine. I knew it would be a wild ride full of potentiality, which in itself is such a luscious word full of rich, nuanced meaning, that I simply had to share the experience here with you.

This past New Moon on January 28th was in Aquarius, an Air sign, that is independent, innovative, rebellious, evolutionary and brings the winds of change and inspiration. It is full of spirit energy, symbolizing “the eternal giving of life and spiritual food of the world.” * Aquarius brings the gift of expanded consciousness, a paradigm shift towards “love, inclusion and integrity”* while balancing intellect and insight, intuitive energy and integrated, transformative power. It is a powerhouse of the most inspired qualities of the divine masculine and the divine feminine.

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Right now we are all being called to awaken together to use our voices and power to defend and protect our rights, the planet and all people–we are rising into our truth. This is our vision and our inspiration, and one we need to embrace together to attain.

From the stars and planets of western astrology, we reached across time to Mayan cosmology and the day sign of February 4th, 2017: Kame, which means death, the cycle of life, and transformation. It is a time of profound change, soul level choice and higher expression. It asks us to face and release our fears, so we can relax into our soul’s true purpose and potential. The number 2, associated with this day, signifies duality and choice, relationship and self-sacrifice; it is the number of lovers, of course.

img_3720From the Mayan world, we entered the Amazon rainforests to honor the prophecy of the Eagle and the Condor, which foretold that human societies would split into two paths: one of the Eagle, which symbolizes the path of the mind, the material and the masculine; and the other, the Condor, which is the path of the heart, intuition and the feminine. The prophecy also foretells that the potential exists within all of us for the Eagle and the Condor to come together and fly in the same sky when we create a new level of consciousness and live in balance with nature and within ourselves. It is up to us to activate the potential.***

Each of these reflections of energy–from the prophecy of the Amazon to Mayan cosmology to western astrology–show us the path of where we are being asked to go, towards a higher expression of ourselves, the balancing and integration of masculine and feminine energies.

As the supine couples emerged from their cacao journey, each was transformed. The men in circle expressed their gratitude for the powerful feminine energy they felt in the room, and within themselves, while they had tears streaming down their faces. The glowing women shared how fearless they felt connecting to their divine masculine. Their tears and their joy at being reconnected with themselves, their partners and life itself was testament to what’s possible when we live into our fully conscious potential. It was truly divine.

I echo what one of the women of light shared as we closed the beautiful and powerful ceremony by wishing you a “Happy Valentine’s Day.” May it be a day of the divine expression of the power of love and reconnection.

moon-sun-art

 

Copyright © 2017 by Soulscape Coaching LLC.
*from Aquarian Styles: http://aquarianstyles.tumblr.com/post/100854962887/the-water-bearer-symbolizes-an-eternal-giving-of
**from Mystic Mamma: http://www.mysticmamma.com/new-moon-in-aquarius-january-27-28th-2017/
***from Pachamama.org: https://www.pachamama.org/blog/the-eagle-and-the-condor-prophecy

Accept or decline the mission

~ Nicole Gnutzman
You may think you have no resistance to finding your purpose, but if that were true you would probably already know it. – Tim Kelley

IMG_1545Finding our purpose in life can be terrifying and sometimes perplexing. I know. As I was first exploring mine, I received a guided message saying I should make a documentary about ceremonial cacao. It came as a total surprise.

While I know a little something about cacao ceremony and am fascinated by the history of cacao, I know absolutely nothing about making a documentary. I, being the “doer” that I am, starting wondering how I could fulfill this “mission.”

My sister has an MFA, has taught film production and now heads the Media Studies program at a community college, and made a documentary film (a very long time ago), so I thought, she can help me! I even took the step of approaching her and she was mildly enthusiastic (she’s Canadian and still lives in Canada, so maybe I should have taken that mild enthusiasm more seriously :)).

Anyway, I soon realized that I actually didn’t want the responsibility of making a documentary. There are far better, more qualified people who could do it, and I had an inkling that my path lay elsewhere. It would have been a fun diversion, but documentaries need to be passion projects, they can take forever to be realized, and I just didn’t have quite enough passion or time.

Plus, to be honest, the thought of traipsing through the rain forest looking for indigenous shamans; the depth of relationship needed to gain their trust, so they would allow us to film them; and the time required to do this away from home and my husband, scared me. It was so far away from my current experience and I felt it put things I valued at risk.

I know now, and I even knew then, that what our soul wants for us is not always on the easy path. Could I actually say, “no,” to this?

So, I asked myself, why did Spirit give this to me? And then I just happened upon Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic, in which she reveals that “inspiration will always try its best to work with you–but if you are not ready or available, it may indeed choose to leave you and to search for a different human collaborator.” So, I was off the hook…. I could leave this for someone else to take on as their mission and continue to look for my soul’s true purpose. Which is exactly what I did.

Just recently, not that I was looking for further confirmation, I read Tim Kelley’s True Purpose: 12 Strategies for Discovering the Difference You Are Meant to Make, in which he shares that “you can accept [your mission] or decline it” and “your soul can give you a new instruction that is at a higher level.” That’s what keeps happening to Tim, and that’s exactly what happened to me. I declined one mission only to have another one be revealed to me, one that fully supported what he calls my “blessing,” or what I like to refer to as my gifts, the things for which I am a “catalyst, a facilitator of some process.”

The reason that I like to talk about being on your “soul’s path” is that, while our purpose and gifts are foundational, our mission or “highest level instruction” continues to evolve and grow, building on that foundation. Our soul’s path is an unfolding, one which is revealed to us as we walk forward with trust.

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Copyright ©2016 Soulscape Coaching.