Hummingbird

I spent several days out a my new abode – alone. The solitude was much needed. I’ve been experiencing sleep difficulties again and high blood pressure (yikes!). My BP is averaging 140/90+, the bottom number being the most volatile, sometimes going up to 107! My Dr. isn’t concerned because it comes down when I am calm, but I am not calm very often these days. Stress is the culprit, thus my retreat away from everyone and everything for a few days.

Ample sleep was gotten as was plenty of slow, stress-free time alone. I have a sleep number bed that tells me how well I sleep with a range from 1-100, 100 being the best sleep ever. My numbers are usually in the low 70s and high 60s. For three nights my numbers were in the 80s! Yay!

I took a ton of walks and did some breathing meditations. I’ve been exploring Buddhist practices, starting with short, mindfulness meditations. I haven’t gone past 5 minutes yet, but am working on it. I think my guidance approves because I got a message yesterday morning upon waking, “Purpose is in the moment.” It is indeed.

Hummingbird

Two days into my retreat I was in the kitchen cleaning up some dishes when I noticed a hummingbird flying around with something in her mouth. I had never seen a hummingbird do that so I paid closer attention. It wasn’t long before I saw her going back to the same place on a tree. A tiny crook at the end of a twig. I went outside to look closer and saw what looked like a bunch of moss stuck on the twig. The hummingbird buzzed my head as I thought, “She’s making a nest!”

As the day progressed, I checked on her progress periodically. By the end of the day she had a thimble sized nest and I took the opportunity during a passing thunderstorm to sit outside with my camera to take pictures and video (you can hear the thunder on the video). She was not very afraid of me so I was able to get pretty close, about 10ft away, which allowed me to zoom in really close.

Honestly, I was fascinated and appreciative that she would choose to share with me such a private part of her tiny life. Just writing about it makes me emotional for some reason. The pictures and video don’t come close to how beautiful she and her tiny nest are.

I plan to keep a watch over the nest in the coming weeks. I can’t wait to see tiny eggs and, hopefully, babies. I may even take a feeder out just so she has some nourishment close by during the hellishly hot summer days.

Below are some pictures of mama hummingbird. Here is a link to a video from my YouTube channel. Please forgive the shiftiness of the video. My camera is designed to prioritize photos, not video. I need to get a tripod and set it up on my back porch with my camera aimed at the nest. 🙂

While in the midst of taking videos of mama hummingbird I noticed a magnificent rainbow arching across the sky. It remained for nearly the entire time I was outside observing her. Such a blessing!

Hummingbird Totem

“Hummingbird as a spirit animal represents flexibility (our ability to accept and implement change), lightheartedness, and joy. Other associations shared by these Lightworkers include remaining present, freedom, awakening happiness and hope, a lightness of spirit, quick responses, reversing melancholy, tirelessness, and fortitude”. Source

It seems to me hummingbird is a further reminder to me that it is of utmost importance for me to continue taking time to myself, enjoying the solitude of my new home and all the blessings of nature and life. Mindfulness meditation and staying present in the moment go hand-in-hand with her message as well.

Thank you hummingbird, I hear you!

Some photos of my weekend. Hopefully they lift your spirit like they did mine. The colors of the sunset after the rain – breathtaking!

Kundalini Dream: Self-Directed Flow

I was standing in the center of a garden courtyard of what appeared to be an ancient temple or castle. There were others around, mostly standing near the edges of my vision and out of sight. I was wearing a long, flowing, white gown or robe. The events prior to this part of the dream are extremely hazy. All I recall is there was some discussion of “fence cutting” and interaction with a few others, one being a young boy with light brown hair wearing a huge grin.

Feet solidly grounded on the earth, I held my hands up, spread my fingers wide and began to use my hands to summon energy up from my feet into my legs, hips and on upward. I remember feeling powerful and confident as I did this, as if I had done it a million times before. The sense was that I was a priestess or someone with similar spiritual training. As the energy moved upward it grew in intensity, ballooning outward as it spread. When the energy hit my root and second chakras it exploded to the point that I became super conscious in the dream. Unfortunately, the intensity mixed with sudden awareness (which surprised me) instantly transported me back to my bed and my physical body where the residual energy lingered for quite some time. 

I couldn’t return to sleep from the excitement I felt. I have never had a K dream in which I was the one who initiated the K in myself. Normally someone else is helping me or interacting with me, seeming to be the initiator of the energy. Not only that, but I was aware of being fully in control and felt powerful and confident about it. It is quite a different feeling than when I am with another or when another seems to be helping move the energy for me.

It was obvious the energy was mine, or me, or however you prefer it. It was very clear and refreshing, like the sense one gets after a Spring rain, flowing and cleansing as it progressed upward. Yet at the same time the desirous sensations that often arise with root chakra were very obviously present, but not in such a way as to make me feel the effect of them.

It is easy to think with the K that someone else is somehow sparking the K fire inside me. Especially since most of my K experiences were in conjunction with someone who I felt a connection to I couldn’t quite explain. This K experience felt empowering and freeing. Even though it did not fully rise, as it has in other instances, I am not disappointed. It felt like it may have burst through a blockage in my second chakra also, which is always welcome! 

I do hope to have more experiences like this one. 🙂

Dream: Mensa

I was in a room with others sitting at a long table. It was somewhat cramped and there was a sense of anticipation, similar to the feeling one gets before the first day of school. 

It was soon made clear we were there to choose our classes for the upcoming school year. I was a bit discourage because I knew I had already graduated – long ago. Still, I listened, considering how it may be useful and help me relieve boredom. They asked me if I wanted to take regular or advances classes. I said, “I will get bored in a regular class…but then I will also get bored in an advanced one.” Sighing, I finally opted to go with the advances courses because the regular ones would be way to slow for me.

I received my class schedule. I saw my first three classes: Algebra, Biology and History. I was not excited about Biology because of my previous experiences. I took my schedule and started off to class. 

The school was enormous! It had a massive central area with stairs going up and down in all directions and there was a massive skylight overhead. There were hundreds of students with backpacks and bags hurrying to their respective classes. I had a guide with me, an older woman with blonde, gray-tinged hair she wore short. I gave her my schedule and pointed to the room number which was a range rather than a number. I just remember the “800”. She said, “That’s downstairs, two flights.” We walked toward the stairs but then stopped at a cafe. She left me there and I waited for her to return. For some reason I chewed on my schedule so that when it was unreadable. I remember pulling it out when she returned and attempting to unfold it. Pieces fell to the ground. It reminded me of how paper looks after it has been laundered.

Then we were downstairs. The women led me to the door of a classroom. She bid me farewell and left me there standing in line with other students. I soon realized it was not the right classroom but without my schedule I couldn’t be 100% sure. I began to look around wondering where I needed to go and thinking it didn’t really matter. I could just skip school and do my own thing being I already graduated. 

A tall, slender man approached and told me I had been selected to be a part of a special group of students. He led me to a room where there were other students. I thought the group was called mensa but when I spoke the word aloud he corrected me on the name but I can’t recall now what he corrected it to. He explained to me and the group that we were selected for our abilities. We all followed him up a staircase as he explained further but he stopped mid-step and touched his neck. I knew he was in pain and instinctively went up to him and placed my hand on his neck as if in pain. I asked permission to heal him and so did. He thanked me and told the others that they all had similar abilities, thus the invitation to the group. Some of the others looked doubtful. I told them I’d had my gifts from birth but forgot about them when school aged. Maybe they also forgot?

The end of the dream is hazy. I remember going into a room with the others and stopping myself from saying certain things, things that would reveal I had already graduated. I didn’t want the others to know. At the end, an alarm went off so that we all had to leave quickly. 

Considerations

I think the dream is in response to my thoughts when I woke briefly in the night. I was disappointed at having no dream recall and felt somewhat depressed, missing the days when information was often passed onto me via my dreams. 

The dream theme of returning to school after already graduating is a common one for me. I haven’t had a school themed dream in a while. This one is promising I think. 

The word mensa is curious here. Mensa is an organization of high IQ people but the word itself means “flat” or “table” such as “a central alter or table”. It is also the name of a constellation. It could be that I was thinking of this word in relation to my being in my last learning stage of life but I really don’t know.

The part about me hiding my previous graduation from the others is likely a reflection of how I tend to hide my true self from others. I keep my guard up and don’t let anyone get too close. I’ve embarrassed myself one too many times.