Where Energy Flows

On an early Saturday morning, I sit in a quiet place with a warm cup of tea.  As I sit comfortably and relaxed with an uncharacteristic quiet mind, I hear the tingling of wind chimes which hang outside my door.  The sound is so special and reminds me of healing through Sacred Sound.

In Interior Alignment™, practitioners are taught that Sacred Sound affects people and all things both emotionally and physically. Using Sacred Sound in Space Clearing is one way to remove stuck and stagnant energies in a space.  Sound creates form even those sounds that are not audible to the human ear.  As the sound moves out from the source of the sound, the sound travels through the space and even through what we tend to believe are solid objects.  Science now tells us that nothing is completely solid as there is space between the molecules that make up the “solid” object.  Sacred Sound moves through all things with in a space.

Space Clearing with Sacred Sound can take many forms: Bells, chimes, gongs, singing bowls, tuning forks, ting shas, Drums, rattles, prayer wheels, clapping and voice (such as toning or chanting). Each space clearing tool is unique to the practitioner using the tool as the tool is an extension of the practitioner and the practitioner is an extension of Spirit.We have written about the importance of Intention many times within our blog articles.  This article is no different. Intention is the most important tool in space clearing.  The practitioner holds the client’s intention for the space clearing as well as the intention that the Sacred Sound will break up the stuck and stagnant energies, dispersing them and releasing them to Spirit. When I teach this part to students, I use the analogy that learning how to consciously space clear is like learning how to drive a stick shift car.  As you first learn how to drive a stick shift car, you wonder how you are going to remember to do so much at one time.  Driving the stick shift car you are shifting the gear shift, using the clutch and the break at the same time, using the turn signal, listening to the radio and turning the wheel.  This is all at the same time.  At first driving the stick shift car feels difficult and at times over whelming, but with practice you become very adept at the new skill.  After some time driving the stick shift car you become relaxed and enjoy the experience.

I love space clearing.  I love to space clear using my drum.  I use a 15 inch Elk skin hand drum that I made in my Advanced Interior Alignment™ practitioner course in 2002.  As I begin to clear space, I feel the connection between the drum and me, a partnership.  The connection is palpable.  We are allies. I listen for a change in the sound of the drum as we space clear.  The speed of the drumming will also change as we move through denser energy and the denser energy begins to break up and move out of the space.  I will go back over the same space with my Eagle feather to smooth out the space after it has been shaken up.

As I stand in the center of the space, I sense or feel the space.  I can feel the change, but more importantly my client can sense and see the change as well.  Colors look brighter, and it is easier to breath.  The room looks crisp, clean and feels fresh.  The feeling of a Sacred Space.

There is an old saying, which I believe is Tibetan, “when a bell rings, its sound travels throughout the Universe and back to the bell”.  I like this belief as it can be attributed to all Sacred Sound.  This is a true blessing.

All Rights Reserved.  Copyright, Yvette Neshi Lokotz, March 2008.

Staying in a hotel when on vacation or business trip can be uncomfortable from a feng shui and space clearing perspective.  I just returned from a trip to New Mexico.  I traveled with my friend and fellow teacher, Deb Swingholm. 

Deb and I shared a room while attending a shamanic course in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  When we entered our shared room we both had the same feeling, “get a different room”.   Deb did inquire but there was not another space as nice! We knew that we had to do some Feng Shui and Space Clearing in order to feel comfortable in the room.

As we went out to our rented car, I turned to Deb and said, “we are moving the bed from the extra room into the larger space”.  The extra room was next to the bathroom and felt isolated.  So, that is exactly what we did.  We dismantled the single bed and it moved between the fire place and a large walk in closet which was in the main room.  We also moved the small club chairs.  One chair was moved to a corner we had designated for reading and the other chair next to the fire place.  The second bed was in an windowed alcove that opened into the main room.

After we finished moving the furniture around, I placed one of my shawls over the full length mirror that hung on the walk in closet door.  We stood back and assessed our work by tuning into the energy of the room.  The room felt so much better as the Energy flowed with balance and harmony.  We used the room off the bathroom as a dressing room and storage for luggage.  This worked out so well as the extra room also had a door that we could close.  I also placed a sheet over the bureau mirror at night which comes from my Native American culture.  This transformed the main room as the room felt like a safe haven in the evening.

When we were finished arranging furniture, we set up a small altar.  Deb and I set our intention for the space and began a space clearing Ceremony.  We used our Drums and a [tag[bell[/tag] to space clear the rooms.  This is the first time Deb and I have worked together as a space clearing team.  I have to admit it was so much fun.

The bell is one of Deb’s primary space clearing tools and watching them work together was magical.  We transformed a space that began as a confined with stale energy to one of beauty and easy to take full deep breaths in.  And, we did all of this in less than an hour. 

We all know that keeping a sense of humor is vital. Well, Deb and I wondered what it would have been like to video tape this feng shui and space clearing to show on YouTube. We would have entitled the video, “What do Two Feng Shui Teachers Do on Vacation?!”

On the last morning that we stayed at the Inn, we had breakfast with a few of the other course attendees.  I asked them how they liked their rooms.  Their response was their room was fine and loved the view of the mountains. Deb and I told them that we were Interior Alignment™ Master Teachers and that we incorporated feng shui into our room by changing the furniture around and doing a space clearing ceremony. Their reply was, “I wish you could have done my room too I could have slept better!”

I believe the important thing to remember is that if you have a basic feng shui knowledge you can create a comfortable place for your soul and physical body anywhere you go.  If you add a space clearing ceremony to that same space, you create an intentional sacred space. 

All Rights Reserved. Copyright, Neshi Lokotz, April 2008.

At this moment, I am in Santa Fe New Mexico and traveling with me is my friend and fellow Interior Alignment™ Teacher, Neshi Lokotz.  It has been a sacred and fascinating journey…  and it has reinforced the way we both view travel as a mystical adventure! 

As Interior Alignment™  feng shui teachers, we have been attuned to the spirits of the land and observing the way the energy changes dramatically from place to place.  We have also taken time to visit the sacred sites along the way. 
 
We spent one day at the Petroglyph National Park and another full day at Chaco Canyon. These two sites are sacred ground and as we entered, Neshi performed a traditional tobacco giving ceremony, asking permission from the ancestors and the spirts of the land to enter. 

It was wonderful to experience the energy of the land and connect with those ancient people who were here before us.  We could sense the ceremonies that had been performed there and felt the presence of the Ancient Ones on many occassions.  A few time we even heard the sound of drums or heard the Ancient Ones laughing or singing. 

From the designs of the petroglyphs and the alignments of the ancient ceremonial kivas, it was clear that the ancient people had a deep awareness of their environment and watched the movements of the heavens. 

Visiting the petroglyphs and the kivas brings the ancient knowledge that we all carry to a more conscious level - we know it is here and available to us, when we listen.
 
We are still on the road, but wanted to share with you just a tiny bit of our journey so far.. Visit my photo gallery here. 

© Deb Swingholm 2008. All rights reserved.  

What is space clearing? This is the number one question I receive when speaking to a new space clearing client.  Space Clearing is the act or process of energetically cleansing a space of unwanted residual or stuck energies.  What this statement means in every day terms, for example, is that in a space clearing a practitioner can remove negative past memories held within a home or clear away a feeling of stagnant closed in feelings.  The practitioner uses intention and special Ceremony to clear away these residual energies.

Why is it important to space clear your home? Many of my clients first want the residual energy removed of past owners or of past issues that held a big emotional charge.  For instance, have you ever gone into a room soon after an argument occurred in that room?  Many times you can still feel the emotions.  This is where the proverb, “it was so tense you could cut it with a knife” comes from.

A space clearing practitioner creates a special ceremony based on a clear intention set by the client.  This preparation for the space clearing is vital as a clear intention and the emotion around that intention is the fuel to bring the ceremony to life.

In Interior Alignment™, we call this special ceremony, Purification.  Purification is like clearing debris from a stream.  We remove the energetic blocks so that Chi, Life Force, can energetically flow smoothly though out the home or space.

As professional space clearing practitioners we are trained to use our intuition and space clearing tools such as bells, Drums, incense and feathers as part of the purification ceremony.  When we are finished space clearing the entire home or space, we then instill the clients intended positive energies into the home, such as love, peace and Abundance.  The client then has an energetically clean space to enjoy their positive energies that fill their home.

© Copyright Yvette Neshi Lokotz, 2008. All rights reserved.

Today’s Autumn Equinox was beautiful in Tomah Wisconsin.  We had beautiful blue skies, with maple trees beginning to change their colors from green to brilliant reds and oranges.  I spent this equinox by myself.  I usually celebrate with friends and family, but this year, I found I wanted solitude, reflective solitude.  I took time to consider what kind of ceremony I wanted to share with nature, with Spirit– sacred space.  I took my time to select stones from my property, sage, tobacco and I brought my Spirit Drum.

I created an Earth Medicine Wheel large enough for me to comfortably sit and stand in the center.  I gave thanks for all that nature has done to support me and my family this past year.  As Ted Andrews states in his book Nature Speaks, this is the Beginning of the Hero’s Journey Time.  A time to harvest and clean out the old to begin anew. 

As I sat in the Earth Medicine Wheel, I drummed my thankfulness to Mother Earth, to Spirit, to the devas and elements of the land, and to my friends and family.  I also prayed that I been give the support for the my new seeds that I am sowing for the coming year.  As I plan the dates for my up coming courses, I look forward to continue teaching Interior Alignment™ practitioner courses; sacred geometry; Rainbow, 12 Gifts and A Song ascension courses; Drum making; and my new Medicine Wheel courses.

Autumn Equinox…a time to reflect, a time to gather the harvest and consider what new seeds to sow for the next growing season. 

Many blessings to you.  Neshi.

All rights reserved.  Copyright, Neshi Lokotz, 2007

Sacred drumming is an exciting part of my personal and professional life.  As a Native American woman who was raised in what is known as a “traditional Indian home”, becoming a sacred drummer was not a common occurrence in the culture that I was raised in.  The culture happens to be Ho Chunk (Winnebago) and Potawatomi. 

My mother happens to be the North American Indian and we lived among my mother’s side of the family.  I was taught that a female was not allowed to touch a drum or drum stick.  Drummers were only male tribal members.  I did the next best thing and that was to learn how to dance to the beat of the drum, the sound of Mother Earth.  I became a sacred dancer at age 5.  I became a sacred drummer at age 42.  How did this occur you may be wondering?

I attended my Advanced Interior Alignment™ course with Denise Linn.  In that particular course, Denise, taught us how to make a Native American hand drum.  I was just a little nervous, okay a lot of nervous.  I explained to Denise my feelings and she was so gracious and such a great teacher.  She offered to make the drum for me, or if I chose to start the drum and found I couldn’t finish the making of the drum, that she would do that for me.  Denise made it safe for me to explore the possibility of making my own drum. 

I have to admit, I was waiting for the lightning to strike or some thing awful to happen, but it didn’t.  It did however take me a whole year before I drummed in public or even shared with some Native American friends and a few family members that I owned a drum.

I know that I stepped so far past a belief.  I had to find out for myself if that belief that women couldn’t drum was a truth for me.  It is believed that the Creator chooses a drummer as they are the connection between Heaven and Earth as they drum the beat of Mother Earth. I believe I was chosen to be a sacred drummer as I did not ask to make a drum, but it was offered to me.  I didn’t even know that making a drum was to be a part of the Advanced Interior Alignment™ course until I arrived for the course!

And, now, 5 years later, I not only drum and use my drum for space clearing, I teach others how use a drum in space clearing and also teach others to make their own hand drums and assist in their intiation as a sacred drummer.

My mother is supportive of my drumming and teaching about drum making as long as I hold it sacred.  This I can definately accomplish.