This should be a jam packed newsletter with all the new changes occurring both in our world and with Om Body. Late last year I had made the decision to not take on any new work with Art For Souls and work exclusively on Om Body.  This transition will allow me to focus my energy on what I feel is truly my calling, to help people the best I can.

I believe whole heartedly in a client centered approach to my work. Everything I do in relation to my work is about creating a space for my clients to get the best possible care, to offer tools that will help you outside my office doors, and ways that will bring balance to your life.

Some of the new things I am implanting now are:

• A community forum where you can set up a profile, log your journey or respond to the activities posted monthly. Join Now!
• The new online Om Body Book Store has been launched. In the bookstore you will find my own personal recommendations for books, dvd's, and music.
• The Om Body Blog has been launched, a way to share with clients some of the new things I learn and want to pass on or current "experiments". See the recent plant experiment!
• Om Body Blog Radio - listen to it live or in the archives, shows that relate to spirituality, health, creativity. Some shows will feature guests who I will interview while others will be focusing on single topics of interest.
• "The Power of ..." - join others in monthly exercises meant to enhance, or give new perspective, or help you grow. These will also be featured in Natural Awakenings each month.
• Personal Plans - in the next few weeks I will be restructuring the Om Body menu to offer various plans that will blend Holographic Health, Lifestyle Coaching, and other healing modalities with an emphasis on balancing all aspects of your life.
• Workshops - in response to so many of you wanting to know how to cook healthier meals for less money and in quicker time, we will be doing a monthly cooking class that will focus on all those things.  Sign up for the upcoming Healthy Cooking Class.
• Spirit Workshops - I will also start offering once again my creativity and spirituality workshops.

My goals for 2010 are 1) to build a community for those seeking a better, healthier and more fulfilling life. 2) Assist people in finding their power once again, and 3) to lead by example.

Join me this year in creating this space for all of us.

In Good Health,

by Dakota Walker

1. Be Optimistic
We have a choice between how we see a person, a situation or even a feeling. How many of us jump to conclusions, or are oblivious to our "self talk" - the things we say like "I never have enough time." "I always feel terrible", or "I feel (fill in the blank)". How often do we look at someone and find their faults before we find their beauty? Whatever you say will be your reality. Whatever you think, you will become. If you are always focusing on what you don't have or who you can't be or can't do, then that will be exactly where you land! Be positive, see the beauty in people and places and situations - it changes you at a cellular level. You can't find the rainbow if you are focused on the rain. So seek the positive side of life, it will serve you so much more than the negative. Need proof? Take a peek at the plants from my experiment - if that doesn't prove it to you, I don't know what will!

2. Be Open
When you open yourself up to receiving messages and guidance, you can't shut the door on the messenger! I love the story about the man who sat on his rooftop during a storm while the flood waters inched their way up to him. He prayed for God to save him. A little later a boat came by and asked the man to come with them, he said "No, God is going to save me". A few hours later a helicopter came to save him and he waved them away saying "No, God is going to save me." Next the Coast Guard came and again he said "No ... God is going to save me". So when he finally drowned and stood in front of God he asked God, "Why didn't you save me?" and God said "I tried, I sent you a boat, a helicopter and even the Coast Guard!" Be open to the things that come your way - they are the answers you seek and when you cease to judge the messenger, you will hear the message.

3. Be Curious
Remember when we were kids and we got down as close to the earth as we possibly could just to watch an ant crawl through the sticks while carrying a huge crumb and we wondered "Wow, how do they do that?". Be curious about everything - How was your partner's day? What makes the moon wax and wane? Is there energy in our emotions? Who is the observer in our bodies? What do other religions believe? When we are in that space of being curious we invite Spirit in to teach us new things, to give us eyes as if we are a toddler again - discovering the world for the first time. Question everything, especially your assumptions. Curiosity didn't kill the cat, it ascended it!

4. Take Risks
We never fall if we don't climb. And maybe you don't want to fall but without that risk, you will never climb to new heights either. Don't play life safely ... do what you would do if you knew you would not fail. Follow through on those dreams you tucked inside you and only peek at once in awhile when no one is looking. To risk means putting yourself out there - whether you fail or succeed you will not be let down. There is an exhilaration that wells up inside when you are trying on your truth!

5. Listen
I have been learning to listen more lately. To stop the incessant chatter in my head and listen to that still, quiet voice in my heart that guides me on this path. No matter if the path is straight and easy or tumultuous and scary, the voice is still there - calm, loving, wise and non-judgmental.  There is a constant communication happening but so many times we let it fall on our deaf ears. Slow down my friend, listen intently.

6. Be Mindful
How many times in this past week have you been on auto pilot? To go through life in a way that is rote, and skimming the surface, never really seeing or experiencing life - just counting the minutes until this is done, or that comes. Always looking ahead or behind, silly humans we are! Be mindful of the present moment. Where is your breath born? What does the your clothing feel like against your skin? How open is your heart? Who is the person, truly, that you keep company with? Are you aware of the moment or just the ones that have either gone or not yet come?

7. Be Kind
Our mothers always said to be kind, be nice. It wasn't just lip service. Kindness begets kindness. It also starts with being kind to ourselves. Allow yourself the freedom to make mistakes, and to grow no matter how difficult it is at times. When you nurture the seed of goodness in your own heart it is much easier to extend the harvest outside ourselves to others. When you are kind, when your heart is open and generous in love, there will be peace that surrounds you.

8. Love
Sounds so simple, and really it is. When it all boils down, the one thing that ALL of us seek is simply to love and be loved. It is the foundation upon which all spiritual practices derive from, it is the golden nugget that all beings seek. Studies have shown that those who do not receive love, die. In my recent plant experiment, it was obvious that the lack of love killed the plant. With that type of evidence, how could anyone wish to elude such a powerful thing? How could anyone wish to withhold it from others, or try to manipulate it in any way? Love yourself, love others, love your life, love your spirituality, love all those things that challenge you and when you can also love the people you despise, you will be free.

9. Seek Your Truth
How many of you reading this are in a job that you hate? How many of you live in fear of being who you truly are? I hear it almost daily from my clients "I never have time", "I want to quit my job", "I hate what I do", "I hate where I live", "I feel so horrible all the time". What is it that you fear so much that you would give up your entire life just to avoid the chance of living  your truth, doing what you love? I don't want to be negative nelly here but you only have but a few short years on this planet and so many people waste their time stuck in the what if's rather than living their truth. They build a facade around them with this illusion of safety. Only occasionally do they peek out and say "One day I will ..." Make that day today, don't go to your deathbed wishing you had done things differently. Seek and live your truth, now!

10. Build Healthy Relationships
There are many schools of thought that all of us are connected, that we all came from the same source therefore who you are is also a part of me and vice versa. We are tribal, we long for those connections with others and to feel loved and give love. But build the right relationships - not ones that are controlling, ego based, loveless, or manipulative. Fill your well yourself. When you can do that, you will come from a spiritual place in your relationships. Don't rely on others to build you up, stroke your ego, or be your doormat. Choose to have relationships because they add to your life, not because they are your life. There is a difference between wanting and needing. When you need to have someone, they become your sole source for love and you define yourself by what they give or don't give. But when you want someone, you come from a place of already having everything you need and now you simply want to share.

Etherium Gold