The Four Agreements

I am so grateful for the wonderful technologies we have access to these days.
My mother lives in France, and it’s so easy to be ‘together’ through Skype!

Ancient wisdom helps us to go deeper within, to be true, to connect with our higher self and others more authentically. Modern technologies are pushing the limits to who we communicate with and how many people we reach.
Now we shall be even more careful with the way we communicate and connect with others.
I believe our purpose is to get to know ourselves and help others know themselves. An extraordinary tool to help us in this matter is the New York Times bestseller book from Don Miguel Ruiz: The four agreements. I had the immense pleasure and honor to meet this man last January and his son Don Jose, who co-wrote the 5th Agreement with him.
It was amazing to be in there presence and feel the love that emanate from them.

I’d like to share with you these four agreements and their principles, which are based on Ancient Toltec wisdom. By applying them in our everyday life, we can change everything around us. These four agreements reminded me how the connection with nature and our true nature is important.
The Four Agreements:

Don Miguel Ruiz was born into a family of healers, raised in rural Mexico by a healer mother and a shaman grandfather. He has dedicated his life to sharing the wisdom of the ancient Toltec.
Don Miguel define the Toltec has the ‘women and man of knowledge’ throughout southern Mexico. They were scientists and artists who formed a society to explore and conserve the spiritual knowledge and practices of the ancient ones.

Don Miguel said that if we adopt these four agreementsthe transformation in our life will be amazing. “You’ll need a very strong power in order to adopt them” and live your everyday life according to them, but yes the transformation will be amazing.

The Four Agreements:

Be impeccable with your word
Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

Don’t Take Anything personally
Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their won dream. Where you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.

Don’t Make Assumptions
Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

Always do your best
Your best is going to change from moment to moments; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse, and regret.

If you haven’t read this book, I highly recommend it. Think of these agreements and adopt them in your everyday life. It is not easy to continuously walk your talk. But if you always do your best, you’ll see some amazing results in your life. And you’ll discover who you truly are.

Llama Adventures

Nature doesn't cease to amaze me! And yesterday I went north of northern New Mexico. After a couple of hours driving along the Rio Grande, I finally arrived to our meeting place. Far far away, but what a reward to be in such beauty. The Llama were there and we begun our descent toward the Rio Grande (800 feet down...)

The terrain was pretty steep, and we have to be careful where we put our feet. Along the trail we could see a good sample of the New Mexica

n flora, junipers, ponderosa pines, yucca, sage brush.

The wonderful thing about this hike is that I didn't have to carry anything else than my camera! Thank you Diego, my companion of the day!

Wisdom from Chaco Canyon

Now, even if you stay just few hours in Chaco, you'll have the opportunity to discover a lot. The buildings and construction are fascinating and truly amazing. This is one of the very rare sites around the world known for its building alignment being on the path of theSun course AND the path of the Moon course. The other site in the world known for this is Stonehenge in England. This alignment, which is fascinating to witness,shows how knowledgeable the Chacoan people were, especially about astronomy.This knowledge was in fact extremely important for them, since it confirmed the cycle of the season, the time to plant and the time to harvest. Some doors and openings are aligned in such a way, for two days in the year and two days only (at the equinox), that there is a perfect alignment for the sun to go straight through them at sunrise, without creating any shadow...Today when these alignments are measuredwith precise scientific instruments it correspondexactly to the trajectory / path of the sun and the moon.

Visiting Chaco Canyon (part1)

Imagine a large, open, arid land where you can see far, far away. You are driving for a few miles in this desert under a deep blue sky. Few disperse habitations appear with wooden houses close by. These are “Hogan”, the primary traditional home of the Navajo people.

After a long meander down a dirt road you arrive at another vast open space, you are in the Chaco Wash in the San Juan Basin.Stop before going to the visitor center to embrace this unique landscape, to give thanks to the ancient for welcoming you in this sacred place. Enter the place with an open spirit and open heart. Promise to respect this land, its history, its teachings and its wisdom. Honor and give thanks to the four directions; the East, North, West and South.

When continuing down the road you’ll see Fajada Butte, where the Sun Dagger was discovered by Anna Sofaer in 1977. Fajada means ‘belt’ or ‘band’ in Spanish. This amazing massive butte was named ‘Fajada’ by the first Spaniards because of its layer of carbonaceous shale and thin coal beds, which design a black belt around this monument.

Chaco canyon is not just a site…it is an immense area, a region, where pueblos (villages) and ceremonial sites are linked together by surprisingly long and wide roads.

Ancient Wisdom - Modern Wisdom

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The Water Element

Water is source of life. It couldn't be more true in the Southwest, where so many plants animals and humans depend on it. Water is also source of purification, cleaning, connection, in many tribes around the world. For a long time mans went around the world in search of the Water of Longevity...
What does water represent for you?

L'element Eau

L'eau dans beaucoup de cultures est associee avec la purification et le nettoyage. Egalement associee tres fortement a la vie et la longetivite avec la recherche de la fountaine de jouvence...
Pour vous que represente cet element? Que ressentez vous lorsque vous etes pres d'une source d'eau?

Georgia O'Keeffe Country

More pictures of Georgia O'Keeffe country...

Georgia O'Keeffe Country

Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986) was a major American modernist artist of the twentieth century. Her art ‘revolutionized’ the way to depict landscape. She freed the ri

gid and traditional way of depicting landscape. Her paintings are an expression of th

e emotions of what she saw.

She fell in love with New Mexico, its desertlandscape, its diversify beauty, its raw energy, i

ts simple architectural lines and its soft colors.

Although her artworks count above two thousand pieces,

and even though she is most famous for her oversized flowers paintings, she dedicated much of her work to the stunning ‘land of enchantment’.

In return for these amazing ‘statements’ of New Mexi

co's striking landscape, Abiquiu and its surrounding areas, where she lived are now surnamed “Georgia O’Keeffe Country”.

A well deserved recognition, asit is impossible to mention Santa Fe without talking about O’Keeffe.

The Georgia O’Keeffemuseum is dedicated to here life and her art and exhibitions change three times a year.

Collectors as well as people who are deeply touched by

her art come from all over the world

to see herpaintings and to bask in the experience of being in her paintings.

Lariane Fonseca came from Australia and took a fe

w days to visit the Georgia O’Keeffe Country with me.

This was an amazing experience, and an inspiration for me to have been in the presence of a woman who knew O’Keeffe’s art so well, who was so passionate about her with a beautiful sensitivity.

Lariane, an artist and photographer herself, made this experience exceptional for me. As I often say, my clients are my biggest inspiration! I am so grateful to be in the presence of inspiring and amazing people.

I know these landscapes andhave been around them many times. But being with someone who has such sensitivity to her environment, who is so present in the instant and so touched by the beauty of the land, made me feel as if Georgia’s spirit was with us along these two days. Her spirit was guiding us and creating the most magical moments. We were fascinated and it seemed surreal at times, wondering ourselves if we were in the paintings or in the reality!

Since pictures are worth a thousands words, soI'll let you enjoy Lariane’s picture. (A huge big thank you to her for letting me share her pictures with you.) and Georgia's paintings.

Meditation du Coeur pour l'eau vers le Japon

Kiva et l'élément du Feu

Au dela de la chaleur, la passion...que represente l'element du feu pour vous? Laissez vos commentaires...

Black and White Beauty, Black and White Mood

I recently took a client to White Sands, NM. This is one of my favorite places in NM.
It's simply a pure marvel and the largest desert of gypsum in the world.
Eun Joo is from South Korea and visiting this site was a long time dream of hers. She was about 10 years old when she saw pictures of White Sands for the very first time. Since then, she has held on to her dream and has always believed that she, one day, would visit it. She did everything she could to make her dream come true, and this day had come!

I was so happy to help

her make it true. She was such an inspiration for me!
No matter how big or far your dream seems to be, go for it!
Along with this stunning White desert we also went to the Valley of Fire...Another

amazing site...And that's this week's article: Black and white beauty, Black and White mood...Read the article to understand what I mean.
As soon as we arrived in the White Sands area, the excitement began...
The magnificent beauty immediately uplifted our spirits. When I looked around, everyone was in a blissful mood, playing with the glistening sands, talking and sharing each o

ther's feelings.

Even though the plants are ra

re, as it is a desert, they look glorious. Especially at dusk and dawn, the color gradient is so delicate; I felt like I was immersed in a world of grace and nothing seemed to be able to take away this cheerful mood. White Sand's unique formations are the result of water's work. A million years ago heavy rains poured on the mountain made of gypsum and literally dissolved

it. This gypsum run off created Lake Lucero. The wind continued to break the lake down until it would become a fine sea of gypsum particles, which finally evolved into the smooth round dunes ever moving and creating these amazing sands patterns.

Valley of Fire, as its name indicates is the result of fire's work. The lava formed this dark site, it's flow would run up to 44 miles south from this little peak. A m

illion years after this event, the soil has become a 'paradise' for the plants and offers a very fertile ground for them to thrive.



Surprisingly they found their way into crevasses and lava cracks. Given the amount of lava still visible I was very surprised to see the diversity and quantity of plant species.


Valley of fire is a beautiful site, but I couldn't help but notice that all this black color certainly brought a different mood than White Sands. W e arrived with an uplifted and positive mind. After being around this surreal landscape and dark colors for a while, I realized that sadness and quietness were the emotions and state of mind that took over our mood.

This confirmed the importance of our environment, and how nature influences us. If you don't like the environment, you are living in, be sure to take some time to think on how you can change it. Add some lighter or brighter colors to your world, or simply colors you like. Add some plants. Give smiles to others, as you will receive them back!
This week I challenge you to be creative and make a pos

itive and lasting change in your life, your environment, maybe by changing a habit, maybe by changing some décor... Do something that make YOU feel good! And please let me know how it changes your everyday life:

Connect with Mother Earth

The power of the Stone

I have been blessed to come to Sedona again, a sacred place; not just because of it's beauty, powerful rocks, the earth's energy and famous vortex; but also because of the wonderful people who live there or visit.
A couple of weeks ago, I helped my friend Lilou to interview a few of them.
A true journey of the heart, from the heart, in the heart of the Southwest!
Speaking about energy and rocks, I'd like to introduce to you a new teachings' series: the properties and power of gemstones.

Last year I told you about the Animal totems, how to use them and what they are teaching us. This year, I'll share with you in this newsletter the power and energies the stones, crystals and gems can give us. This is called: Lithotherapy.

The very first stone of this series is the Beautiful Turquoise.
It is a very typical stone of the Southwest. It was mined here, traded, and made into amazing jewelry.

I love this stone for its color and properties.

Navajo Turquoise, is a mixture of the turquoise stone and sard which forms the beautiful lines you see in the stones.

The combination of turquoise and sard, give you the love and connection energies from turquoise mixed with the attachments to family, home, and your roots which come from the sard. It is to help you stay in a place of love and connectedness with others so you can feel at "home" no matter where you are.

One of the main compounds of the turquoise stone is copper which gives it that amazing blue and green color. Turquoise itself is also wonderful for drawing out negative vibrations from a person. Placed by the feet, worn in a sock or shoe, turquoise draws the negativity out of the person and as it dissipates, allows the negativity to go back into the ground.
This beautiful stone can also be helpful in uplifting, bonding with your spiritual nature, and opening us up to giving and receiving.
One of the main compounds of the turquoise stone is copper which gives it that amazing blue and green color. Turquoise itself is also wonderful for drawing out negative vibrations from a person. Placed by the feet, worn in a sock or shoe, turquoise draws the negativity out of the person and as it dissipates, allows the negativity to go back into the ground.

About.com Holistic Healing
Spiritual and Healing Properties of Turquoise

Board Breaking...in New Mexico

Last week, we did an amazing experience of going beyond our fears, and Lilou with her Juicy Living tour filmed it!

I have to say that it was awesome. We did that in the beautiful setting of Galisteo, NM. When Gwendolina arrived with the boards, I began to worry a little bit...I didn't expect it to be so thick!

But Gwen prepared us very well, and we spent some time talking and visualizing about going beyond our fears. Then the excitement began. And I couldn't wait to try.

I love the fact that Gwen had us write on the board what we were looking to achieve, and let go of. I believe this helped to break the board.

That was my first 'board-breaking' experience...and I am looking forward for the next one....and...the fire-walk!

Want to experience it? Check it out and contact Gwendolina to set up a workshop...

Have you ever done this? What was your feelings once you broke the board?

Bring your Heart to White Sands

The first time I went to White Sands, NM it was the end of summer, and I was really amazed by this white desert. Although it is a desert and a 'moving one,'

some plants have succeeded in surviving. Yes it is moving, because as with any dune, the wind is a huge factor, and makes the landscape change and move, which of course becomes a big problem to maintain the paths and roads within this exceptional area.

Here, again, you are confronted with the immensity and the very long work of time through the landscape.

When in this desert, you are definitely inspired towards meditation and rejuvenation. If you are looking for some inspiration, it is a fabulous place to reconnect with nature and, by simply being in the moment, enjoying this unique site, immensity, and calm.

Even in the middle of the hottest summer days, when touching the sand, about ½ inch under, it is cold; the sand is such a pure white, that it deflects the sun heat.

So be careful, don't get lost and stay too late in this fascinating beauty, or the cold will get you at dusk...

White Sands' dune