June 2021 Blog Theme is Community

It has been almost 16 months since the Pandemic began, and as I contemplated my theme for this month, I decided to choose community because honestly that is what helped me navigate these past months.  So many aspects of the community of the light.   There are the friends and neighbors around me right in my little walkable hamlet, my larger Town and the even more expanded virtual community of the light. 

My Hudson River Valley NY town is a patchwork of small hamlets, villages and zip codes that combine into “Cortlandt Manor, NY” about 50 miles north of Manhattan.  There have been countless people across a variety of professions who have worked the hardest they have ever worked in their lives during the pandemic. My friends who are physicians, nurses, food service workers, government employees, sanitation and highway employees to just name a few.   Since the pandemic began a few of my very good friends have led massive efforts to help out our local community and I would like to share a little bit about them right now. 

Kacey and Maria created Let It Shine Inc, a non-profit dedicated to women helping women.  During the last 16 months they started a Food Pantry, a Farmers Market and the Let It Shine Again Boutique as well as several amazing free giveaways – some that were “drive by events” during the most dark times.   Many others got involved and volunteered countless hours to making their community better through Let it Shine.    To learn more about Let It Shine https://gatheringlove.org/the-pantry

Then there is my friend Clare who normally oversee the Nutrition Department of the local school district. Clare and her team knew there was food insecurity within some families in the district and they immediately set about providing thousands and thousands of lunches to anyone who needed food.   They did this day in and day out from the parking lot behind the high school through every type of weather imaginable.   On top of that every day Clare, who happens to also head the school Theatre Program recorded a Facebook Live Video complete with different costumes to let the  people in the community know not only what was on the lunch menu each day but also that they were supported through this time. That none of us were alone.    She dubbed her video’s “Lunch Lady Live”. People starting following those video’s from across the country just to get their daily dose of Clare helping people to laugh even through a Global Pandemic.   Article “70,000 Meals Served out of a Parking Lot - Local Hero”

Then there is the virtual community of the light that included people like my fellow healers and therapists, Yogis, Sound Healers and the Circle of Women on Facebook and Zoom.  Many virtual zoom group hugs with family members clients, and friends.  All people supporting each other. Thank God for the helpers. Learn more about the Circle of Women on Facebook.

“When I was a boy I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping”

— Fred Rogers

I can already sense myself forgetting just how heavy and difficult the past 16 months were. Before we move on to whatever the new normal will be, I really wanted to reflect on how fortunate I was to be surrounded by so many loving resilient people who were able lead others to get involved and support their community.  Kacey, Maria, Clare and Kathleen are just a few incredible examples from my neck of the woods. These incredible selfless acts of courage, community and love took place all over our country.

Often, I find myself referring to “last year when we _____fill in the blank” and then realizing that what I am referring to actually 2019.  You know the year before the Pandemic. Like I am trying to just skip 2020.  It was like the year that wasn’t. But it so very much was and it required so much from so many.

As we emerge into this new post-Pandemic world, we can be impatient with ourselves and others, and we can be stubborn as we hold on to past attachments and expectations. Consider all the structures that have been forced to be flexible during the pandemic. We are being offered an opportunity to go inward, and to reevaluate our attachments and do some work to actively release them. 

We also have the opportunity to embrace and accept change as it shows up individually for each of us. Be open to right timing and accept circumstances just the way they are. Being present, neutral, and available is the best way to manage and navigate these times as there are many unknowns and nothing is predictable except change itself. 

June is the month to get outdoors!  It is a time of year that is filled with celebrations – Pride month, graduations, weddings, Father’s Day to just name a few.    June 21st is the Summer Solstice and one of my most favorite days as it is always energetically powerful. This is also a month where adaptability, transformation and transition are the energetic themes. Keep your vibration as high as you can and navigate it well. Know that we are here at Rose Healing to support you.

May 2021 Blog Theme is Nurture

Welcome May. We are truly embracing the energy of spring now - you can see it in the blooming trees and sprouting leaves.  May is also the month we celebrate Mother’s day and all the incredible women in our lives as well as Memorial Day our sacred day of observence for those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for America. More about that in a bit.

Our theme for May is “Nurture”.   Particularly self – nurturing.   So how do you allow yourself time for self-care?  If you are a mother of young children do you believe that it is even in your realm of possibility?  We each need to give ourselves permission for rest, relaxation and self-care.  There is that old saying on the plane, please place your own oxygen mask on before attempting to help others.  Another aspect of being a nurturing person is possibly also being called an empathetic person or an “empath”.  Empaths’ seem to be getting more and more attention these days as people who “feel too much”. 

 “Empathy” definition from Wikipedia: Empathy is the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from within their frame of reference, i.e., the capacity to place oneself in another's position.  There are many definitions for empathy that encompass a broad range of emotional states. Types of empathy include cognitive empathy, emotional empathy, and somatic empathy.

If you think you a person who feels “too much” and might be picking up on other people’s energy, then you might want to consider these few steps to self-care:

• Establish a daily practice that you do for yourself.  A daily prayer, meditation, walk in nature or whatever feeds your soul and helps you be connected to you and spirit.

• Learn to say “NO”.  No is a complete sentence. It does not require any further explanation. You can add “NO, thank you.” If it makes you feel better.

• Have regular body work.  Massage, CranioSacral, Reflexology.

• Try a new things perhaps a virtual hands-off energy medicine session.

• Reach out to Rose Healing Center and ask how we can help ;-)

Upcoming Living in the Light Virtual Event - 5/12/21 through 5/16/21

Cheryl Banfield

I am very excited to be a Workshop Leader in an virtual intensive 5 day “Living in the Light” program May 12 - May 16 led by Cheryl Banfield of Love Light Illuminations Center. Living In The Light is vibrational training for all aspects of your being: Mind, Body, Spirit, Soul, Oneness. It is more unlearning than learning: clearing misinterpretations, misunderstandings and assumptions. It is for expanding self and universal awareness.

The morning sessions will consist of guided multidimensional sensory meditation. You will receive: transmissions of light, light code activations, and high resonant downloads with crystalline light frequencies. You will have the opportunity to experience energetic shifts opening to higher frequencies for newer understanding, accessing divine consciousness, stepping into cosmic flow and allowing yourself to receive and transmit divine light in a higher vibration. 

The afternoon sessions will continue your transformational shifting through powerful workshops held by 4 light facilitators, all trained LoveLight Practitioners: Catherine Anesi, Rosemary Boyle Lasher, Mandy Mathiesen and Emily Medri. The workshops will provide interactive experiences and learning self-healing techniques for full integration of all 5 aspects of self: mind, body, spirit, soul and oneness.

Living In The Light will bring you into energetic alignment by shifting your frequency. This allows the opportunity to reach newer understanding, access divine consciousness, step into cosmic flow and receive divine light, which you will then transmit out into the world. More information is available.

Learn more about this Upcoming 5 Day Event from 5/12 - 5/16.

As I think about Mother’s Day this year, I am using it as a time to reflect on the many amazing women in my life who helped to shape and inform the woman I’ve become. May is the perfect month to acknowledge them.  I encourage all of you to make a list of the incredible women/mothers in your life.  As I went through this excerise, I really found myself in such deep gratitude for these amazing women of distinction.

I honor first my mother Harriet and my grandmothers Rose, and Mary. Then my sister Laurie and my nieces Samantha and Isabella.   Then there are the Aunts who had a significant role in my life including Betty, Marianne, Collette, Terry, Jessie, Vera, Sally.  My accomplished cousins who are more like sisters, Ellen, Mary, Kelly and so many more.  The incredible role models, mentors and friends including Muriel, Linda, Ann, Helen, Rene, Jeni, ReRe, Holly, Deborah, Betty Sue, Cathleen, Cheryl, Emily, Mandy, Cori, Kerry and so many more.   Many in this lengthy list are now passed but their wise wisdom and love lives on in their children, grandchildren the many lives they touched including mine.

In May we also honor those who have given the ultimate sacrifice for our Nation in the marking of Memorial Day.     Memorial Day is often described as the “unofficial start of summer” with a 3 day weekend filled with grilling, corn on the cob, and delicious desserts.   But it is (or should be) so much more than that.

Memorial Day itself is a sacred day of observance, centered on acknowledging, remembering, and thanking the millions of people in uniform who gave their lives for this country. Before anything else, it's about those brave heroes and the incredible sacrifice they made so that we could all be free.

Of course, in order to properly pause, reflect, and pay your respects to the soldiers to whom we owe our many freedoms, you'll have to first know when to do so. Memorial day is May 31st this year.

Wishing you all a wonderful May.

April 2021 Blog Theme is Emerging

Red Tailed Hawk by Ed Frampton

These are our themes for April:  Liberty, Rebirth and Emergence. We celebrate the season of Passover and Easter and the energy of liberation and resurrection as we are literally emerging from the darkness of winter and this year long plus pandemic.   

The symbolic "three days" between the crucifixion and the resurrection represents the time it takes for a situation to transform from fear to love. Have patience and faith during the "tomb time" in between the two. Things might still appear dark, but the light is coming.  Fr. Frank Fernandez 

Energetically April is a month to take risks and have faith, reaching for a better life, more meaningful relationships, increased health or whatever you want to manifest. Spring is the energy that can help it burst into life.  

My husband and I are big gardeners and we always look forward to this time of year to start searching for seeds to grow, raking the yard, tilling some soil and maybe sprucing up some old garden statuary.   There is just something about getting your hands into soil that is so life affirming and grounding – literally grounding.  There is also something amazing about watching a seed you planted sprout and grow.

When we think about transferring that to our spiritual lives, what it is we wish to experience this spring and even into summer?   How can we plant the seeds now for our desires to manifest?  Often we can find when we get in touch with our higher self, we find inspired possibilities, new ideas and creativity. Some thought-provoking themes to consider: This is a time of initiating a new self, a new expression and a new experience. What do you want your life to feel like? What is out of balance and needs to be trimmed? Are you in balance with your doing and your being, giving and receiving? 

It is an exciting time, a difficult time, an unstable time as Spring always seems to be.  Metaphysically the Earth is giving birth to a new landscape and we can work with that energy to bring new experiences into our lives.

Rose Healing Center is here to help you manifest what you wish to bring in to your life now whether it be peace, health, creativity or something else.  We offer a variety of services (either virtually or in person) including intuitive guidance, sound healing and body work.

Blessed Passover and Easter and Happy Spring.  

March 2021 Blog Theme is Expansiveness

Expansiveness by Gerd Altman

We are already 9 weeks into the year of 2021 and almost exactly one year (in NY) since the Pandemic lockdown.  Understandably there is an increased sense of restlessness.  Navigating the line between breaking out of our cocoons and springing into action and remaining aware of the ongoing risks will be with us as we move into March.

There is a push/pull feeling going on.  This energy can be harnessed for inspiration.  Instead of embracing fear and uncertainty use this push/pull to embrace creativity and gratitude.   Gratitude always moves us into a place of being present where we can explore our positive options in any situation. 

“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. -Albert Einstein”

Our expansion can be on many different levels and we have literally thousands of opportunities to grow and expand as a human on this planet.  First we must determine what is it we want to expand the most?  Our Love? Our awareness?  Our Energy?   Our Peace? How can we continue to connect with that idea into March?

Nature is a wonderful guide to assist us.  March is the month of true transition with spring arriving, snow melting, grass growing, trees just beginning to bud. Just under the surface tiny little seeds are about the burst forth.

Spring officially arrives with the vernal equinox on Saturday, March 20, at 5:37 a.m. EDT.  We “Spring Forward” with Daylight Savings time at 2:00 AM on March 14. After what has been a long winter experience, spring will surely be a welcome sign.  

One Year Later

I went back to my blog of March 2020 to look one year ago and found an interesting paragraph which I wrote before we were actually aware of COVID-19 and the looming lockdowns coming. It certainly is timely to re-read one year later.  

From March 2020: Trying times are in invitation to ask yourself - who are you when you are no longer controlled by fear, lack, or anxiety?   If you allow yourself to listen you will hear your own voice and that of Source guiding you. There is real emphasis on how we waste our time and how easily we can be distracted from what really matters. March is energetically inviting us to ask probing questions like what would my life look like if I were free from fear, lack, and anxiety or self-sabotage.   These questions are very resonant one year later.

March brings the energy of the number 3 – it is the 3rd month.  The Number 3 is highly expressive. It encourages us to express our truth, speak up, and communicate our needs and desires to ourselves, others, and the world. The number 3 represents the sum of who we are- a mind, body, and spirit. It represents the harmony and balance that is achieved when we are in alignment.  Staying balanced and paying attention to the messages of your mind, body, and soul is going to be important around this time.

Finally we end the month of March with a Full Moon on Sunday March 28. The following excerpt it taken from the Old Farmer’s Almanac.

This year, because it is the first full Moon to occur after the spring equinox on March 20, March’s full Moon is the Paschal Full Moon. This means that its date determines the date of Easter (April 4, 2021)

WHY IS IT CALLED THE WORM MOON?

The full Moon names used by The Old Farmer’s Almanac come from a number of places, including Native American, Colonial American, and European sources. March’s full Moon goes by the name Worm Moon, which was originally thought to refer to the earthworms that appear as the soil warms in spring. This invites robins and other birds to feed—a true sign of spring!

As always we here at Rose Healing Center stand ready to help you become more centered, grounded, peaceful and healthy this spring either virtually or in person.

February 2021 Blog - Theme is Healing

What is the definition of healing? noun - the process of making or becoming sound or healthy again. adjective- tending to heal; therapeutic.

Plum Point by Mark Rosengarten

Rose McGuire Laug and Rosemary Lasher circa 1972

 In 2012 when I was grappling with what to call my newly formed holistic business, I had a dream where my maternal grandmother Rose arrived to assist with the effort.   As a side note, I am often visited in my dreams by family members and close friends who have died so that in and of itself was not surprising.  What was more interesting was the clarity she brought to me that night.  She really is the one who suggested the name be “Rose Healing Center”.   She did not ask that it be named in her honor (she would never have suggested such a thing), but rather she used the scent of roses in my dream and a vision of Mother Mary and she clearly told me to call it “Rose Healing Center.”

Around that time, I was seeking feedback from an eclectic group of my circle of friends and professional connections from government, finance and the holistic practitioner community to seek their counsel on the formation and naming of this new business. Interestingly the word “healing” is what seemed to cause the most concern or controversy for those I sought advice from, especially with those in the more “traditional” roles. Some felt it was like a promise or a dangerous thing to put in a name. Others felt it was too “woo woo”. Finally one suggested it was self-aggrandizing to use the name Rose when it was part of my given name – Rosemary.  By the way another aside I am named for my two grandmothers – Mom’s side Rose and Dad’s side Mary.  I always thought my parents were brilliant to not offend either of their mothers by combining my name. I appreciated all the feedback I was given and certainly listened with interest and curiosity. Finally, I chose what I knew I was being guided to do.  Rose Healing Center is my business name and is named in honor of Rose McGuire Laug.  To us grandchildren she was “Nanny” and as I have mentioned on my website she was a natural ‘healer’.

As the collective consciousness evolved quickly from 2012 to 2021 with massive expansion, awareness and understanding of various holistic methods having gone mainstream this seems almost antiquated now.  But in 2012/2013 these seemed like major concerns. Behind these anxieties were thoughts like, “what will people think if….”  “how will I be perceived if…..”  These were brief in the context of a deep understanding of what I was being called to do.   Rose HEALING Center to me does not mean a promise of a cure but rather it is an invitation for my clients to become more deeply aware of their connection to spirit.

Click image to listen to full podcast from 2019

In 2019 when I was being interviewed by my dear friend Kacey Morabito Grean for her podcast and radio show “Shine On” she asked me one of the most pointed questions and my answer surprised even me!  I share it with you here now at this pivotal time in history. Kacey Morabito Grean to Rosemary during Podcast May 26, 2019:  Kacey: “If you could share a message to everyone from the Rose Healing Center – what would it be?”

“Be curious; be open; be thoughtful about other approaches for the body, mind and spirit to heal in ways beyond that which you have already been told is possible.”

— Rosemary Boyle Lasher

Cardinal in snow by melina cronin

The theme this month of healing is about our collective and individual healing from this pandemic and beyond.  How will we invite that into our own individual experiences?  Are we able to envision a future where there is a new reality?  These are all thoughts I am pondering.

I am also really looking at my own life and behavior patterns during this time.  Am I the best version of myself? How can I continue to improve even when I feel the heaviness (literally and figuratively) of this intense time. Knowing that I have resources and help all around me is a comfort.  I hope to bring that wisdom and comfort to others in my offerings at Rose Healing.  We have two methods to see clients – virtually and in person. Please visit our schedule appointment link for more information.  

In the meantime, know that we enter February with the energy of mercury retrograde, another invitation to pause, re-evaulate and go within. During that time, I offer you a free 10 minute video of the crystal harp. It is available on our home page for you to enjoy.

January 2021 - Awareness, Trauma & Intention

I am thrilled to be one of several excellent presenters at the Let It Shine New Year's Weekend Retreat that starts 10 AM Friday 1/1/21 on Zoom and continues with inspiring and interactive sessions through January 2nd and 3rd.  Sign up for just $35. If you can't make the live sessions, watch the videos later. Advance Signup: https://kacey.co/new-year-retreat If you are looking to release the energy of 2020 and start 2021 with excitement, inspiration, and positive energy then I can think of no greater group of healers available at such a reasonable price over a 3 day period. Looking forward sharing this experience together with all of you.

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My theme word for the month turned into theme words for January 2021.   The first theme word that came to me for the January blog is

a·ware·ness noun  knowledge or perception of a situation or fact. 

Our knowledge of perception of a situation or fact is 2020 is coming to an end (finally) and 2021 is starting!  A new year with a new awareness and perhaps cautious optimism.  I have recently read several musings from talented writers of their own humor in re-reading their 2020 New Year’s Resolutions that of course they started writing in 2019.  How they look back with great laughter and amusement on all they “intended” to do in 2020, you know…..before COVID.  Things like Go to College, Travel, Join a Gym, Be more Social, Get out the House more, have a Huge Family Reunion, etc. etc. You get the picture.  But none of those things happened because we were all given a giant “timeout” and serious reality check.

Awareness around the trauma that was 2020 and is carrying over into 2021 is important.    We went from COVID illness, deaths, shut downs and quarantines to “adjusting to the new normal. But how can we adjust to an ever changing situation?    This Pandemic has had a profound impact on our daily lives and it is different than more localized disasters like a tornado or a hurricane. With those types of catastrophic events – the damage is more immediately visible and there are disaster recovery systems in place to help.   During COVID, for many people the destruction is quiet, maybe invisible and ongoing.   Radical shifts in work, school, home, businesses for sustained periods of time are traumatic. That leads us perfectly to my second Theme Word for January  - Trauma.

trau·ma noun - a deeply distressing or disturbing experience.

In New York, when the COVID shutdowns started on 3/13/20 and extended into the phased re-openings and maybe we can do this with masks on everywhere over the summer and more recently “targeted shutdowns” starting again, we collective experienced what psychologists call the “7 Stages of Grief”.

1. Shock and denial.

2. Pain and guilt

3. Anger and bargaining.

4. Depression.

5. The upward turn.

6. Reconstruction and working through.

7. Acceptance and hope. 

There are days when I think I experience all 7 of these stages before lunch. But I am hopeful that we are now in the phases of “reconstruction, working through, and most importantly HOPE”.  I remind myself every day that there is so much to be grateful and happy about. Maybe this is my “working through” phase.  The acceptance phase for me is embracing letting go of the idea of “going back to normal”.  There is really never any “going back” when we think about anything.  In the course of time, we always move forward.  The past created the present and present is creating the future.   That leads us perfectly into our 3rd theme word for January.

in·ten·tion noun  1.  a thing intended; an aim or plan.  2. In Medicine: the healing process of a wound.  Similar: HOPE

“The number one principle that rules my life is intention. Thought by thought choice by choice we are co-creating our lives based on the energy of our intention.”   Oprah Winfrey

How interesting that there are two main definitions for intention and one of them is Medicine: the healing process for a wound.  The other is the aim or plan.  Both are perfect as we close the books on 2020 and welcome in 2021.  We are certainly in the healing process of a wound (2020) and a thing intended (2021). There are many ways to set intention all year long but it is by far most popular at the New Year.

In intention setting our first task is to have a better idea of what we want the outcome to be. “We’ll see what happens” is not an answer to “What do you want?” What do you desire? How do you want things to change?  Desire forms our sense of direction and moves us forward.    

Instead of the usual lose weight, eat better (always good ideas by the way) try instead digging deeper.  Reflect on the principles you might want to embrace as you embark on in 2021. Maybe this year, be a little kinder, a little gentler. Consider just a few things.  Utilize what I like to call your “direct connection” to Spirit and allow some thoughts to come up around what you believe your guiding principles are.  Then ask yourself what is it you truly desire in 2021? 

“When you tend to what you value, what you value thrives.” Carolyn Myss as quoted by Kacey Morabito Grean to the Circle of Women.  

Rose Healing Center is here to help you stay grounded, centered and healthy in 2021. Please contact me for a session either virtual or in person. Thank you for reading this.  As my dear cousins wrote in their card to me - “May the trials of the past year be our future inspirations”. Love, Light and Blessings to everyone.  Wishing you health, safety, peace and happiness in 2021.