Lesley’s Blog

Besides my two human children, my experience with newborns has been mostly with kittens and their mothers. Many years ago I took a shop apron that the hardware store sold and sewed a large pocket in the front of it. I did this so that I could hold motherless kittens close for long periods of time when they needed comfort and warmth. I would place a kitten on my lap feed it, stimulate the other end, clean it up and lay it in the pocket for a nap. I certainly don’t need to do this with the puppies but I do need the apron. Every time I pick up a puppy to check it out or cuddle with it Kyra decides that it’s the perfect time to stimulate it and clean it up. Of course the puppies do their part by relaxing in my hands and letting go of their bowels. So far I have been spared, although it could be only a matter of time before one of them associates my comfort as a time to let loose. Yuck!

With their eyes and ears open the puppies are making new discoveries. At first it looked like they were just trying to get use to the fact that they could see something by way of focusing and readjusting their vision. With the vision I am told comes the opening of the ears and the new sounds to be made. The first 2 ½ weeks of life I heard grunting, groaning and if mom sat on they squealing like a little piggy. Hence I affectionately call them “stinky little piglets”. You never quite know if the wet mark on them is from mom’s tongue or something else. Puppies seem as surprised as you do when they let out a bark for the first time and the throaty growl sound seem to happen by accident. It must be fun for the puppy for they are trying out the growl sound over and over again.

The most heart wrenching sound is to hear a puppy in distress. They live in the bottom part of a plastic dog crate with no gate on it. Mom commandeered it as a good place to cradle puppies from the moment I placed it in there even though I thought I could be use it as a litter box. Kyra likes that all the puppies stay put and she can get away to another spot. It seems that once puppies have their eyes and ears open they soon discover they have mobility. Not very steady, in fact the larger pups look like they are doing the breast stroke and the smaller ones know they have feet under their bodies only they don’t know where to put them once they start moving forward.  Recently one of the larger puppies managed to make it over the crate door lip and halfway down the side of the crate then stopped. I don’t know if the puppy tried to find its way back into the crate I just know that it started crying like it was dying. I hear it from the house and went out to investigate. I carefully opened the door to find mom hanging out in her special spot very nonchalantly looking at me. I looked down behind the door there was the source of the distressing cry.  I scooped up the puppy holding it to my heart and rubbing its body, I sat down next to mom before placing the puppy back into the crate she reached out to lick the puppy’s genitals and as I leaned forward to lay it next to the others it totally relaxed leaving a mess all over the other five wide awake concerned puppies.

These puppies learn fast, I start talking the minute I open the door to where they are staying and now that they can hear me they in turn start talking. This morning six noisy puppies greeted me by crawling over the dog crate lip and several did their business as mom jumped here and there on clean up. Most of the pack found their way back into the dog crate, litter training has begun. I clean up mom’s nighttime mess, feed her, tend to puppies and then walk mom. Kyra has built trust and a bond with me. I can see that she has had some training and has lost her fear that I am going to hit her. I in turn clean her energy field feeling her become lighter with each session and more self confident in her own skin.

Winter has not let go of its hold here in Vermont yet, yesterday I awoke to the glistening of snow flakes as they covered the ground and fell from the sky. During the spring equinox I gathered the sprays of evergreen boughs that I decorated with dried oranges, lemons and cranberries and burned them in a ritual of thanks for the winter and welcome to the spring. I am still waiting for Mother Nature’s signs of spring to arrive.

Check out my website for up coming workshops in April and if you are interested in hosting a workshop in your area email me at lnase20@moonspinnerstearoomshamanichealing.com

I started writing this update the beginning of the week, got interrupted and just got back to it today. The first four paragraphs is what I wrote last time.

I find that with healing work, that there is sometimes a fine line between knowing when to actually do something such as clearing energy from someone’s energy field and when to just be with someone holding space which means sitting and being still. This mother dog has needed me to be with her, to speak in a soft reassuring way to her, to understand her needs and not to enforce mine. To let her nature rule her action, to let her instinct guide her.

Giving birth to six puppies is enough of a stressful event for any dog. Add in the fact that the dog was a stray who had not eaten well enough to support her medium frame body not to mention the pups she was carrying, more stress. Her body image is one of her head down and her body low to the ground. When lying down with the puppies she is curled up tight making hard for them to find the nipples but find them they do. For the first three days she wouldn’t eat, and then she only ate if I fed her. This weekend I sat on the floor with a bowl of can food and she came to me to eat. This morning was the first time I could get up from the floor while she ate without her being afraid and check on the puppies. We are making progress.

When I ask an animal its name I hear it in my head. Owners have a good laugh when I tell them about a silly name that their pet believes is their name. It is usually a nickname that they use with their pet. With this mother dog I wasn’t hearing anything just feeling fear, so I tried different names on her hoping she would like one. When I called her Kyra her head came up and her tail started waging, I knew I had the right name when she responded every time. Kyra means “Lady” and she is a gentle as a genteel lady would be just very shy.

I am happy to report that the littlest puppy that I brought back to life at the time of birth is doing well. I am amazed at the size difference of these puppies; the largest two are a good seven to eight inches long with broad shoulders. The smallest two are only four to five inches long with well proportioned bodies. Kyra took the littlest puppy with the heart and although she has never growled at me she made it quite clear that was her puppy and she would take care of it. He is finding his way under, around and through the puppy pile to nurse.

Week two update:

Everyone is thriving and growing. Kyra in confidence and appetite, the puppies in length and girth. Kyra tested positive for Lyme disease, the antibiotic started working and I could see that she was feeling better. She greets me in the morning and evening getting out of the topless dog crate where she cares for her puppies. Her appetite has now taken off to the point where the other morning she asked for the whole can of dog food. Since she eats all her dry food at night she gets two cans of food a day.

Kyra has gotten use to my picking up the puppies and I have gotten use to taking advantage of a better shot at cleaning them up. I never realized how much puppies can change in color, born black some with white markings. Next brown appeared on their butts, paws, and eyebrows. On closer inspection the brown on the legs appear to have some silver emerging. Other than knowing that I have three girls and three boys I guess I will have to wait and see what they look like or who their daddy was. I love listening to the grunts and groans they make as they nurse and they squeal like little piggies when mom sits on them. Friday, I noticed eyes were starting to open and with that their ears are on.

The rest of my week I helped with the passing away of two wonderful animals. This involved helping one owner deal with the sudden illness of her cat and his death. The other owner had the difficult decision of putting their dog down. I will write more on this in another blog page.

Sometimes you never know what you going to get when you’re pray is to be of service. I believe in living your life’s purpose. Part of that belief is to be open and available to serve spirit in whatever form that takes. When you open yourself up you also have to trust.

I had been feeling like I had been in my house too much lately and was planning to spend Saturday at some Albany, NY museums. Visiting history, art or natural museum is like an artist holiday, a way to recharge my senses. Friday afternoon, I received a phone call from Second Change Animal Center where I serve on the board. The animal coordinator Pat said “This is an unusual request.” I’m intrigued. “I know you usually do pregnant cats in the maturity ward (a special building build especially for that on my land) but I have a very shy, very pregnant black dog who is too nervous to be at the shelter and she is going into labor. Will you take her?”  So much for an artist holiday, I grinned now that is being called into service.

Within an hour she arrived, belly low to the ground, mammary glands swollen and scared to bits. She wouldn’t walk on the leash; she had to be dragged in to the large shed that has been outfitted for cats with one of the seven cages large enough for a dog to use as a den. She didn’t have a name but she was as gentle as could be. I was given a fast run down on how she was a stray that a man had tied up in his barn and he thought she was pregnant. Pregnant, when she got to the shelter she was in labor.

There were things that they could test her for and the other stuff would have to wait until the puppies were born. One of the last pieces of information was she is not eating and her stool didn’t look good. I was going to have my work cut out for me.  Most of Friday afternoon into Saturday was spent with me on the edge of the large quilts laid down for birthing just talking to her and petting her head. She would lift her head a little and wage her tail. I also got her to eat a few bites of food from my hand.

Saturday it rained hard by night time the wind picked up and the temperatures fell into the teens. I knew the puppies were coming that night. Sure enough, on my 9 o’clock check she had giving birth to the first with no problems. At midnight while she was working on her third baby I was working on keeping my eyes open. Exhausting hit me when the third puppy arrived and I saw that she didn’t need me to stand watch when she was tending to the business of being a mother.

Next morning I struggled with the door to the shed as it was frozen, opened it with a bang and saw that she had moved the puppies from where she had giving birth. The spot she had chosen was the other side of the door next to a crack that allowed the icy winds to blow in. My heart sank as I notice that she left one puppy behind. Sadly I stepped over to the puppy preparing to dispose of the body only I heard a sound. A small pitiful puppy sound came out of this puppy. Quickly I grabbed a small fleece blanket wrapped up the puppy and held it to my heart. I looked around to see if the mother was alright and went into the house.

I had already stoked the woodstove in the living room I moved toward it massaging the puppy’s body from head to tail. I placed the puppy under the stove with my hands still massaging. The only puppies I ever raise was my Mastiff Malloki and her two litter mates even so they were a week old and that was five years ago. I let instinct take over.

As the body warmed I brought it out to see what this little one was, male or female. I turned it over, defiantly male. My energy field was open wide as I worked on this guy as my eyes lifted to see the white marking on the sea of black fur I caught my breath. On the chest just of center was a perfect white shaped heart. I knew he was a keeper. Not in the human terms of now he was my puppy but that he was going to make it.

I did have to convince mother dog that the place she chose to move to was too cold and damp. I set clean linen back into the original place that she gave birth, quickly moved all six puppies into that dry warm spot. She heard them cry and carry on but didn’t move, she just couldn’t hear me talking to her. She is a shy girl who needs to build trust before she can move forward. Sounds like something we humans need as well.

She moved and all six puppies are doing well, she is a very diligent mother who watches every move I make. I know that I hadn’t come in early that morning to check on the mother and puppies that little one wouldn’t have survived. I also know that he is not out of the woods yet. I’ll continue to let you know how they all progress. I’ll post a picture when you can actually make out something more than black blob.

Check out my website for up coming workshops in April and if you are interested in hosting a workshop in your area email me at lnase20@moonspinnerstearoomshamanichealing.com

Yesterday, was a one of those beautiful sunny just warm enough to get the sap flowing tease of a day that says spring is on its way. Even though we still have a good deal of snow to stomp through the dogs and I took a longer walk than the weather has allowed lately. There are muddy, gushy areas where the sun had been shining brightly and warming up the ground below to melt the snow. Then you find those spots where the sunshine hasn’t penetrated so snow covers the ice that lurks just underneath the surface. If you breathe in the air slowly and deeply it fills your lungs as well as your soul.

Two weekends ago, I woke up on Saturday in pain, I knew my back was out and I need to see my chiropractor only he was away on vacation. I called the office which had an emergency number that didn’t respond to my call, everyone was taking a “winter break” Monday morning I did get an appointment to straighten me out so to say and for that day it worked. The next morning was another matter; it was too painful to attend my exercise class so I did yoga at home. It felt good doing it, only stopping hurt worst than before The chiropractor that saw me on Monday said keep doing gentle stretches and call me on Thursday if you need another appointment. I thought OK its muscle I can still do my daily routine.

No way I kept doubling over in pain when the muscle would grab in the middle of my back. I used a moist heating pad to loosen in up and called my massage therapist. The best she could do was Thursday.

I am one of those people who has a high threshold for pain. I breathe and relax my way gently through the pain. After doing so the dogs and I went for a walk. I wanted to think about why I had created this experience in my life and what was I going to do about it. On that walk I realized that I was not getting enough breath. Every step I took brought pain that made me double over trying to catch my breath. The most pain free time during that week was actually when I went into deep meditation, into the stillness of the moment. My daughter was alarmed when I told her that Advil was my friend. She said “Mom, are you sure you are alright? You never take Advil!”

At my massage I was ready to release what I held deep in my muscles. As she worked on my back between the shoulder blades she said “You have a rib head out!” I suddenly had one of those Ah Ha!! moments that brought into focus all the pieces of why I was having this physical pain and couldn’t breath deeply.

Even though the massage was helpful to the muscles the problem of the rib head still existed. I saw the chiropractor again. It took the whole session to get the rib head back in place his comment was “It is very deep and very stubborn.” I thought he was talking about me.

It took me a whole week to resolve my issues and be in alignment again. My massage therapist said she got an image of a bowl of oranges and there were so many oranges that the container couldn’t hold them all. Perhaps I was looking at my problem the wrong way. In my life I thought I need to finish up one aspect of work before I could put all of my energy into expanding my spiritual work. When what I really need is a bigger container to hold all aspects of my work since they are all connected to who and what I do in this life.

Yesterday, I had an appointment with my regular chiropractor a very smart knowledgeable man when it comes to chiropractics and nutrition. I related my week of pain when he was away on vacation. He checked me out made a few adjustments and as he was doing so said that I still had some ribs out. As I stood up he said “Walk around and take a deep breath.” I had an overwhelming dizzy sensation as I filled up my lungs to a great capacity than I had been able to do.

I ask Great Spirit to please, please help me to see and understand the changes in my life I need to make in order to do the work of spirit. I ask that these changes be quickly and effortlessly. As I take in a deep breath and slowly let it out.

As much as I like the quietness of a winter storm and the gray days for inner contemplation I know spring is on its way. Although the weatherman is telling us to be aware of the next storm coming our way, yesterday was pouring rain with flood watches followed by freezing rain. Yuck! Mother Nature cares not what the weatherman says nor do my animals.

With daylight filling my bedroom earlier and earlier each day my one of my cats PeaNutty, is there to check my face to see if I’m awake. If he thinks I’m still sleeping he goes to my feet where his blanket is kept. PeaNutty was just a few days old when he came to me and I am the only mother he has had. I fed him, made him defecate similar to what a mother cat would do and I washed him up. The one thing that he and many young kittens like him never get enough of is nursing time, so he has a special blanket for that. Early in the morning he gets that blanket in is mouth starts his front feet kneading and purrs. Only he doesn’t stop there he also gets his back feet moving and he has to be touching me, we call it PeaNutty’s Dance of the Feet. He moves his feet in rhythm as he dances across my feet or legs, if the blanket is found near my back than I get a back massage. My animals know my waking schedule better than I do and there is no sleeping through PeaNutty dancing feet.

Monday was spring fever day for the cats, three are inside/outside cats and as happy as they are to stay inside for the winter they also can’t wait for spring to come. On Monday, Jasper decided that any cat that crossed his path was going to get flatten. Squirt, plays a game of let me out then as soon as he outside its let me in the game ends in is saying feed me. It doesn‘t matter that he just had breakfast he demands to have something more. He has a very distinctive meow language the one for food tells the rest of the household that he is being feed, come running if you want something. PeaNutty is one of those cats that gets bored waiting for spring, he walked around the house the other day talking to the walls as he looks up at the ceiling. People must have gotten that phrase “Climbing the walls” by observing a cat. He finally found the adventure he was looking for. From the cat climber he discovered he could reach out and barely touch the curtain rod, it was just enough to pull himself up onto it. He walked across the rod reached out to the long curtain rod across the sliding glass door, walked across that only to find out that he had nowhere to go. He back up on the rod until he ran out of rod, he couldn’t turn his body around to see where he was going so he looked for something to jump down on. It really didn’t satisfy him for later he followed me around to see if I was doing anything he could be part of.

Out of all the cats Flip is the only inside cat who does not look forward to spring, he loves having the other cats around and he knows how to torture them. PeaNutty is the closest to his age so they play and sleep together.  The play at times can get rough PeaNutty has the advantage of being able to sit over Flip. Flip, on the other hand lies on his back feet up, ears back and belly exposed. He may not always be able to hit is mark but as rough as it gets he always comes back for more. Jasper is our flop master, he tucks his head and flops down on the floor purring, he can also do a somersault. Flip will walk up as close to Jasper as he can then land his body on top of Jaspers. Jasper just gets up and walks away, even though Jasper can flatten Flip with one paw he rarely does. Squirt will not play with Flip in any way or form he will just move away from him. Flip will run after Squirt to see how fast and how far he can make him move.

As I’ve been sitting here writing the day has turned dark and overcast I can’t tell if it is raining. Yesterday, poured so the dogs had to settle for a ride in the car while I did errands. Today I would like to get all of us out. I have some healing work to do on two dogs and standing by the river is a very powerful place for me to do this energy work. I will work with the element of water as I clean their energy field and check their bodies for blocks of energy that can lead to disease. If the wind picks up then I will ask the wind as well as the water to take the energy I clean off of the dogs and change it so that it may come back in a form that is helpful.

One last look outside tells me I will be getting wet today.

I will leave you with this quote that I like by Joseph Campbell “You must have the courage of your own belief and leave it to somebody else to verify your authority for him.”

January flew by before I knew it and here we are just finishing up February. So first a bit of catching up, for the most part I love winter. It is a time to slow down and reflect. It is also a time for the campground to start taking reservations for the up coming camping season. Most days I rise early to exercise at the gym, then I spend the morning in meditation/journey/healing work, if time allows answer emails. In between 11:30 – 12:30 I go walking with the dogs. This winter that has been an adventure in itself, I have been out in the frigid cold temperatures and the warm up to pouring down rain. My adventures on ice are another whole story. After lunch I work for the campground 2-6 PM answering the phone/doing taxes/paying bills and anything else that passes my desk. Night time is reserved for talking to clients on the phone about their animals and/or themselves.

I enjoy talking to people on the phone. It is a time that I reconnect to their pet after taking the initial journey and while talking to the owner I often connect to their energy field. I am clairvoyant and an empathy which means I see pictures and I feel sensations in my body that correspond to the animal or person I am working with. Although I do not talk about specific journeys I talk for people or animals, I do talk about similarities that I may see from one journey to the next. As an example in the month of December many of the healing/ behavior issue I was asked to journey on related to health/ behavior issues the owners were having. Holiday season can be a stressful time for us humans and that stress we feel trickles right down the leash to our four legged friends, be it canine, feline or equine.

I am a medium and from time to time I am called upon to work with spirits that are attached to a house or land and need guidance to move on to the other side. Early this month, I was at Spirit Hollow to take part in a Brazilian based session where we help disincarnated spirits cross over to the other side. As a medium, I give these spirits a voice by channeling them and a facilitator helps the spirit understand that it (the spirit) is no longer in a physical body and it is time to cross over. Quite often when a date is set to do this kind of work I feel the energy building around me or those spirits who need help to find their way.

Such was the case when I received an email asking for help with a rescue dog, this email also requested closer for a devastating fire in their old animal sanctuary that took the lives of many, dogs, cats, and birds. I have worked horses that had been caught in a barn fire and perished. I know the fear that an animal can feel with the smell of smoke and no way to escape. When I finished reading the email I could feel the spirits of these animals gathering round me, these spirits gather knowing that I will help them.

This email turned out to be an opening for many animals to gather near me during the session to assist discarnate spirits to cross over to the other side. One of the healers at Spirit Hollow that day was Forrest Green and his dog Mystery. Forest had taught a workshop based on healing techniques that he uses the day before at Spirit hollow. Mystery always comes with Forrest and lays down where ever he tells her to. Only Mystery discovered where I was sitting in the circle and choice to sit with me during the workshop. During the break Forrest said that Mystery shot him the message that “She loves me!”

The next day, Mystery and I worked together to help the animals caught in that fire and others who gathered that day to cross over. I was very honored to have Mystery work with me and my power animal guides that day. She sat to my back and calmed any animal that were fearful. There are some animals that are natural healer and/or energy workers, Mystery is one of those animals and that is why she and Forrest have chosen to work together.

If you check out my website look at the up coming workshops I will be teaching on Animal Communication. This workshop is taught with through the Shamanic techniques and experience in journey work is helpful not required. I am still looking for other venues in which to teach and have another workshop in the planning stages. This would be an introductory workshop for people who have never worked with energy or shamanic practices. A working title is Understanding Energy Healing and Animal Communication.

Keep watching for more details or to host a workshop in the New England, New York area email me at lnase20@moonspinnerstearoomshamanichealing.com