Greetings Star Seeds, 

The simple act of breathing is a gift. Respiration is a process of our autonomic nervous system, like heart rate and digestion. These processes occur unconsciously and keep our bodies functioning and regulated. The parasympathetic nervous system is part of the autonomic nervous system. It keeps us out of fight or flight, and allows us to rest and digest. Conversely, our sympathetic nervous response comes online in survival mode. When the amygdala is activated, and our flight/fight/freeze kicks in,  our breath becomes shallow, we do not fully exhale because we are in survival mode. I find that conscious breathing can be more accessible when we are healthy and things are functioning in a balanced way. Yet, awareness is often born from an experience that compromises our well-being. My prayer is that we not hold our breath during this experience. Can we exhale even while we are not in an optimal place, even in discomfort? Can we be in our hearts, regardless of external circumstances? We are not expected to sprint through this and we are being offered an opportunity to deepen into self-reflection and discovery and feeling into our connections to others and to the planet.

COVID-19 is hitting the collective well-being hard. There are so many feelings that go along with this unprecedented experience and all of them are valid. We may be grieving losses-current or anticipated. We may be going through cycles of anxiety, panic and fear. Perhaps moments of acceptance and even spaciousness grace our days. Our perceptions of time may be shifting. What is essential may be coming into focus. There may be subtle awarenesses available. For me, community connections feel deeper and more vulnerable, more whole-hearted and present and super creative. I am able to see stars in the city and notice a myriad of bird songs replacing traffic, sirens, and the din of the city machinery. For all this, I am grateful. 

Breathing is so important right now. How would it be to start a conscious breath practice? How would it be to take extra breaths for those who are having a hard time breathing right now? There is an expansive quality to breathing, and when we allow for this as a practice to receive, our capacity to give increases. How would it be to love one another more fiercely?  How would it be to intend loving kindness to the Earth and all her inhabitants? We are in shifting times. What will be the gifts of this collective experience? There are things we can control and things we can't, like the prayer goes...Grant me the serenity to know the difference. The heart is where we can access comfort and safety, even when we find ourselves in the dark. Compassion arises from the heart, which is an organ of perception and intelligence whose electromagnetic field extends further than the brain. Love is the antidote to fear. The simple practice of placing  hands on heart and breathing is a calming act that only depends on the commitment to do so.  Add intention and it becomes more potent. Send it out to the world for healing and it amplifies the reciprocal connection to all that is.

We can access support from the Earth simply by feeling her consistent presence under us. Establishing a daily practice where we consciously connect, we can imagine breathing through our hearts and sending our breath down our own root system into the Earth, releasing tension and pulling up qualities that are nourishing. We can visualize our crown opening and connecting with the cosmos and the universal energies for guidance. We can breath out and energetically connect to our loved ones across the street or across the world. 

A friend delivered an abandoned nest to my house the other day. Left it on my doorstep. Such a simple gesture. The sacred is found in the simple. It totally transformed the way I have been thinking of shelter at home. I am now entertaining the symbology of a nest. It can be a metaphor for the physical home, and also a symbol for the heart and our deepest knowing that resides there. The meaning of this for each of us will be different. How are we tending our nest? Are we nourishing our hearts? Can we exhale into possibility?
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We are not isolated even while we are social distancing. Please reach out to one another and connect with nature during this time. Nature is always available in some capacity. We are made up of the same elements, Earth, Air, Fire, Water. As above, so below. As within, so without. As always, I would love to hear from you!

​All my love and gratitude for your resilience and courageous hearts,
Claudia

star+root portal essences are multi dimensional allies created for these times and help support our transitions, disintegrations, ascensions, rebirths, and embodiments as the Earth balances. I am offering a 15 minute complimentary consultation to discover which essence(s) can be your cosmic guide in navigating these dimensions. 

star+root portal essences for support during this challenging time include:
​Easy Breathing, Comfort & Courage when the Unimaginable Happens, New Codes, Ascension Codes I/ II.

The times they are a changin....Collectively we have been propelled into uncharted territory, a realm that is unfamiliar, challenging, scary and uncertain. The Covid-19 virus is presenting us with more than a suggestion: change is upon us and we can no longer ignore it.  From an expanded perspective, the unknown brings the possibility of creative opportunities in how we relate and can show us our resilience, compassion and capacity for generosity and community spirit. Change can cause chaos if we react without mindfulness. When we respond rather than react we can experience change as less disruptive and with more equanimity. Our sympathetic nervous system (fight, flight, freeze response) doesn't go into overdrive. This keeps our stress levels down and is supportive to our immunity.  The ways we respond to circumstances beyond our control is a choice and a practice. 

As an empath and an intuitive who works intimately with the Earth, elements and plant spirit allies, I try to practice awareness and pay attention to the language of the soul, to symbolic insight and messages and to the interconnectedness of all things. I have experienced how our words, thoughts and actions carry weight energetically as well as physically. Our perspectives hold energy as well. When I am tuned in, when I am able to pause, go within, go into nature for support, and step away from my very human emanation that gets caught in illusion, ego, fear and distrust, I remember that I/we are embodied souls, spiritual beings with access to spiritual tools, unlimited perspectives, and Divine guidance. These moments of grace, surrender and comfort may be fleeting at first, but with practice, participation and faith create a vibration that I personally prefer to many alternatives. When we feed fear, fear expands and fear is not good for the immune system. We can still practice being safe, prepared, hygienic and conscious of the situation without fueling it with panic, anxiety and fostering scarcity consciousness and unkind behavior.

​My inner wise one, my spirit guides and the voice of the trees have whispered that living in reciprocity with the Earth and all beings and developing a connection to the elements, and a respect for trees, stones, mountains and our animal friends is a shift that is essential at this time. My personal and professional practice is informed by the stars, ancestors and messages delivered in dreamtime and through shamanic journeys. The imbalances directly related to climate change have led to devastation on a global scale. Those whispers have turning to screams, whose message has been: the way we are doing life is unsustainable...something's gonna break. We are at the tipping point. 

​No one could have predicted this pandemic, certainly not me. However, I believe that the energies that have been lining up to create a potential for this world catastrophe/catalyst have been hanging out in the ethers for a while now, informing us on energetic,  elecromagnetic, and subconscious levels, resulting in perhaps feeling unsettled, polarized, burnt out or manifesting in a rumbling that shift is inevitable. Energy travels through different frequencies in the collective unconscious until it picks up gravity and becomes a thing, a disease, an earthquake, a pandemic, a healing movement. 

Recently I received information during a meditative state that it is not a coincidence that so many trees have burned recently with the fires in the Amazon, Australia, California and beyond. Trees are the lungs of the Earth. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the lungs hold grief. The Covid-19 virus is attacking our lungs. The Earth is grieving. Our collective souls are grieving. We have abdicated our soul missions for money. We don't spend enough time in nature, playing, creating, singing or dancing. We live in a culture of more, faster, busier. Where productivity, fast fashion, and disposable everything for the illusion of convenience has replaced soul pursuits, stillness and the joy of just being. We are out of balance. The response measures to the virus have hit a giant pause button on the way we go about our days and the pace we keep. Perhaps we are being encouraged to do just that. Pause and reconnect with what truly matters. Perhaps we are being invited to welcome home the forgotten parts of ourselves. The ones that have a slower rhythm, are more present, the receiving and allowing parts. The parts that keep tempo with the heart beat of the Earth. The part within each of us that knows "I am enough" and "I have enough". (And I do not need to hoard to prove it!

Here are some tips for navigating these times from an embodied soul perspective.
As always, take what resonates and leave the rest.

Keep your body moving...there are yoga and exercise apps, free videos on youtube for just about everything.
Connect with nature...even if it's your yard or a tree on the street
Allow your emotions to flow...but don't let fear drive the car
Hold good intentions for all beings...
Do your taxes...
​Start spring cleaning early...
Call your elders...
Call your friends and make each other laugh...
Snuggle your pets...
Limit news and social media...know your limits and step away before you get overloaded. Constantly being plugged in is not being informed, it's being overwhelmed and saturated and it is not productive...
Connect to Source energy and keep up your spiritual practices...
Envision a world with cleaner air, less carbon emissions and healthier ecosystems...
Write letters and make art...
Pray, journey, cultivate stillness in some way...
Find and share creative ways to spend time with your children and share them with other parents...
Have virtual dinners with friends...
Attend to areas of your business that have been neglected due to lack of time...website updating, sharing words through blogs or other channels etc.
Be present and patient...
Start a gratitude practice...
Cultivate self-compassion and compassion for others, these are shocking times and care and kindness is a welcome attribute...
This is a great time to start a meditation practice....going within gives us the capacity to be centered in our own truth and maintain internal equanimity when faced with uncertainty.
Check in with elderly neighbors and offer to go grocery shopping for them..
Help those that are less resourced and are having a more difficult time and give generously in whatever way you can...
Dream a new world into being ...
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I am offering Astro-Soma virtual sessions for those of you who would like support in navigating these times from a soul perspective with the support of essences, astrology, energy exercises, affirmations and oracular readings. 

With love and blessings, Claudia
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