Holistic Feathers

I was a little bit … errr … keen this New Moon to share the abundance cheque ritual with everyone!  So keen, in fact, I announced it yesterday (Thursday!)!

No need to worry, you have a full 24 hours in which to write your abundance cheques out from 7.11am this morning (UST), Friday 15th January 2010 … and I will also share with you here links to:

* the original abundance cheque ritual from Holistic Feathers, along with

* a beautiful free meditation from Orindaben, and

* a blank abundance cheque from The Secret which you may wish to use, rather than use up your own personal bank cheques (checks)

Two new items have slipped onto my abundance wishlist this January – both hearfelt, one entirely luxurious and one (I am sure is) my destiny.

The Kiss Travelwrap

My vision of home

So meditate today with the beautiful New Moon energies and watch abundance in every shape and form come to you over the coming days.

Free meditation from www.orindaben.com

Abundance cheque template from www.thesecret.tv

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Abundance cheques are a useful tool which we can use to create more abundance in our lives; all you need to do is write a cheque within the 24 hour period after a New Moon!

You will be truly amazed at the results: all of those who I know of who have carried out the abundance cheque ritual has seen some evidence of an increased abundance in their lives, in all areas. This doesn’t always mean in a financial sense … it could be in any area which you need a little bit of helpful abundance!

The traditional method (as below) is usually followed. It does not matter if you do not have a chequebook – you can draw a cheque out on a piece of paper and complete the cheque details in exactly the same way. The Universe doesn’t have any interest in where you choose to bank!

Abundance cheque ritual
When: Each new moon
* Within 24 hours after a New Moon, take a cheque from your cheque book and where it says “Pay” write in your name.
* On the line where you would write in the amount in full, just write “Paid in full”
* Next to this line is the little box where you fill in the amount in figures, just write “Paid in full” again
* Sign your cheque “The Law of Abundance”
* There is no need to fill in a date for your cheque!
* Neither do you need to specify a particular figure in the cheque – just pop your cheque away somewhere safe and let the Universe work her magic.

If you choose to add in an amount, remember you are limiting yourself to what you have specified … remember, abundance comes in EVERY shape or form so try not to limit yourself to wishing for a purely financial abundance form.

Try it yourself and see – and do let us know what results you have seen!

Warning: The abundance cheque ritual is a fun way to inject the power of positive thinking and manifestation in to your life. Results are never guaranteed and they will always depend on your intent.

Originally posted on the Holistic Feathers blog in June 2009

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How is Your Relationship with Money?

Written By: Melanie Yost, LCSW – Business Mindset Coach

(I just had to share this with readers of my blog – I love Melanie’s monthly newsletters, she always offers such heartfelt encouragement and advice for those working within the complementary health and healing field.  This article addresses an issue which ALWAYS presents itself!  Enjoy – Callie)

In my 20 years within the healing world, I have watched many healers and heart-centered entrepreneurs struggle to earn a living because they regularly reduce their fees and give their services away. It is challenging to build a profitable business if you are not receiving adequate compensation for your time, knowledge and gifts. It becomes a trap that many service-oriented business owners have a difficult time getting out of. It’s a trap that ends up draining their resources and creating a lot of frustration and resentment.

There are 2 main reasons that heart-centered entrepreneurs fall into this trap. First, healers often get tangled up in the various destructive mindsets about money. The most common one is worrying that others will be able to afford their services. They try to make their services “affordable” for everyone. In doing so, they are setting themselves up energetically for clients not “being able to” afford them. I put “being able to” in quotes because I have learned 2 important lessons about what people can and can not afford.

First, people afford what they want to afford. If it is important to them and they find value in it, they find a way to afford it. Think of something you really wanted. You wanted it so bad that you were able to think outside of the box, get creative and figure out how to afford it. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard people complain about my fees for service in one breath and in the next breath talk about the new luxury car they just bought or the $500 they just spent on a new wardrobe. On the other hand, I have had people tell me they can’t believe how reasonable my fees are and that they would have paid three times what I charge for the benefit they have received. My service is the same. The only difference is the importance and the value the person places on the service.

Second, people value what they pay for. I noticed this early on in my therapy practice when I would work with clients who paid little to nothing for therapy. They didn’t value our time together they way my clients who were paying full fee for an hour of my time and knowledge did. Now that I am coaching and my coaching fees are far higher than my therapy fees, I am only attracting clients who value what I have to offer and are ready and willing to work to accomplish goals.

The second reason that service-oriented business owners fall into this trap is that we want to help as many people as possible. The truth is that when we barter, reduce our fees or give our services away, we are actually hurting our clients, not helping them. Clients are investing in themselves, not you, when they choose to purchase your services. If you believe in your services and products and you know that it will change someone’s life if they fully take advantage of what you offer, then you are giving them the opportunity to invest in themselves, their business, their dreams, their health and well-being. How much is your client worth? Cutting the price so they can afford it disrespects and devalues them and robs them of an opportunity to be creative and find a way to make the commitment to themselves and invest in their dreams and goals.

Helping others move to a better place is what we as helping professionals and heart-centered entrepreneurs are all about. I’m not saying you should never reduce your fee or provide services pro bono. I’m asking you to be conscious about your choices in how you decide to do it. In my business I have policies for how I handle special financial arrangements.

I only make special financial arrangements with a client I already have a relationship with. If we have been working together and the person is diligently working, making progress toward their goals, and they run into financial difficulties then I will discuss the possibility of special financial arrangements with them.

I ask them to set the price the think they can pay. I find that they usually pick a higher rate than I would have picked.

I make the agreement to see them at that rate for a specified time period (1 month, 3 months, 8 sessions) and then agree to revisit what they will pay at the end of the time period.

I limit the number of special financial arrangements available. I see only 1 pro bono client and 2 reduced fee clients at a time. When the slots are full, they are full.

Make a commitment to yourself and your clients that you will take an honest look at the special financial arrangements you are making with people and begin working toward setting policies that support your financial health and reflect your clients’ value.

Homework

Look at your business and see how many clients you are bartering with, working with at a reduced rate and servicing pro-bono. Be honest. What percentage of your work is being offered at less than your regular fees?

Put a check mark next to the clients who are working hard and are really invested in improving their circumstances.

Write down how much you would charge them if you were basing your fees on their worth.

Create policies around special financial arrangements that support your financial health and reflect your clients’ value.

(c) Melanie Yost

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An Important Note to Resellers
http://elementalreiki.com/resellers

(Shared with readers as requested by Stephanie of Elemental Reiki)

It has been the tradition in Reiki circles that when a Reiki attunement is given to a Reiki Master, it can be passed along to other Reiki attunements by the recipient.

The positive aspects of this include the ability to share energies to many different people across the globe. It also provides a method of income for many Reiki Masters.

Unfortunately, certain practices have crept into Reiki communities that have not only served to seriously depress the prices of Reiki attunements, but are putting the livelihoods of the most productive Reiki Masters in jeopardy.

There are, you see, Reiki Masters who primarily produce attunements and manuals, and then Reiki Masters who resell the attunements and manuals of others.

The producers are now having a hard time making a living due to the resellers.

The Problem

Reiki attunements used to be sold for $80-150. I remember looking for an attunement in Blue Star Celestial Energy. The standard price for an attunement to this system was $150!! Other systems might be $200 or more!

Now, people are reselling attunements for 99 cents on eBay, or selling them as a package with psychic readings.

The price of attunements has fallen dramatically from an average of $100 to an average of $10. Many people have gone and put up attunements for free on attunement exchanges without even bothering to ask the founders if this was OK with them.

There are apparently groups of attunement-seekers, who split the cost of buying the Reiki attunement from the founder, and then go off and resell the attunements to their customers for a steep discount. Note what this means: Resellers are not actually paying the full price from the founder! If 5 people chip in to buy a $20 attunement to resell, they are essentially paying the founder $4 per person, cheating the founder out of $16 x 5 = $80.

Do these people go back to the founder and give a tithe once they’ve earned money off the founder’s work? No.

Some of the resellers hover around the computer and order attunements the minute they are placed on the founders website. Then, having discounted the attunement, they quickly send an announcement out to their list and spread the attunement with the undercut price across the globe. The founder makes a one-time fee off the attunement while the reseller, who put no work into the attunement other than dropping the price drastically, makes more.

Is this true? Yes, it is true. I have experienced this myself and know other Reiki Masters this happens to on a regular basis. We create the attunement, spend hours and hours, if not days, writing a manual, place it up online…and…it sells ONCE. Just once. And then the buyer goes and resells it at a ridiculously cheap price, and the next thing you know, Reiki Masters in Afghanistan are reselling it. Meanwhile, the founder made maybe $20, if they were lucky.

No-one can afford to write something for days on end and only make $20! It’s not sustainable!

Cheap and Free Attunements

This is not to say that cheap attunements are bad, or free attunements should not be available.

On the one hand, if people are actually buying attunements for the purposes of spiritual growth and healing others, having affordable attunements can be a blessing.

On the other, if the only market for attunements is a dog-eat-dog resale market, where others are reselling other’s work at third world prices, this does not honor the energy. It is also taking advantage of the good will of the founders, who through their generosity allow people to resell their attunements without asking for any sort of payback or percentage.

There’s also the question of how good can an attunement be if it is being sold for so cheap that the seller can’t possibly have the time to do a personal attunement.

The Pain of the Producers

I have spoken to many Reiki Masters who produce attunements who are feeling especially crunched in this economic environment. Reiki Masters who are trying to make the world a better place are having a hard time paying for their basic essentials due to not being able to receive enough value from the systems they create.

I am not the only one who has found that the energy I put into writing my manuals is not returned to me financially. It is a problem not just for American Reiki Masters but for those abroad as well.

What makes me angry about this whole situation is that I personally have not gotten any sort of thank you, tithe or donation from many of the people who resell my attunements. There have been a notable few who have helped me out. There is one person who regularly donates to me $10 here and there. I don’t know if she is a reseller or a person who simply got some value out of my work. (WHATEVER THE REASON, THANK YOU!)

But considering that I get emails from people all over the globe about how my energies have CHANGED THEIR LIVES, you’d think that I’d have more than just ONE person giving me tithes on a regular basis.

In hosting my holiday fundraiser, for example, in the course of a month I received less than $75, and some of those donations were from my personal friends, some of whom don’t even know what Reiki is.

I have to say I am absolutely stunned that some people who have apparently resold my attunements time and again can’t come by and even plug in a measly $1 into PayPal. People tell me my energy has changed their life and I can’t even get a small donation for a holiday fundraiser to support free attunements that I give as part of my tithe to you? Unbelievable.

Don’t Kill the Golden Goose

Some of you out there making money of the output of others might be doing more to not kill the goose who gives you the golden eggs.

What is happening is that the more you take advantage of the Reiki Masters who produce, the less they are going to be able to produce. You are killing off your source of income.

I am personally moving away from Reiki attunements into other areas where my work can’t be resold a hundred times over and I make nothing from it. It’s not that I begrudge that the energy has been shared. However, I will say quite frankly that I am angry that more people have not come back to help me out or provide a donation when one is asked. (Especially when there are bonus thank-yous such as a Reiki healing offered as a thank you for the donation!)

If you think this is a massive guilt-trip, it is. This whole system sucks. It sucks for me and it sucks for many other Reiki Masters I’ve spoken with, some who have told me they couldn’t even afford the fees to pay for their eBay store…because other people were grabbing their attunements and selling them on pennies for the dollar before the founder even had a chance to make more than $20 off of them.

What kind of healing community is this when Reiki Masters are disrespected in such a way?

Meanwhile, I constantly get emails from people demanding free support and answers, people who bought my attunements from others, who see my donation button and ignore it.

I can only tell you personally that I simply cannot afford to put as much energy into giving away the free attunements and personal support I do give, if this sort of behavior continues. I am overwhelmed with emails that I have to go through…people asking me if they can translate a manual they didn’t even buy from me, for example.

If this continues, I won’t have the time to write up the manuals for any new energies I get, because I have to do other things to earn a living.

TITHING IS THE SOLUTION

To make a long story short, I believe the solution to this is to create a culture of tithing.

This is very simple. You’ve heard it before. DONATE MONEY TO THOSE WHO HAVE UPLIFTED YOU IN SOME WAY.

More importantly: IF YOU ARE REGULARLY MAKING MONEY OFF THE ATTUNEMENTS OF OTHERS, THEN DONATE A PERCENTAGE TO THEM.

It could be 1%, it could be 10%. If you really can’t afford to donate, then find a way to give in some other manner:

1. Promote the founder’s website on your website.
2. Give the founder a free energy healing.
3. Refer clients who are not appropriate to you to the founder.
4. In the least, send the founder a sincere thank you.

Bottom line, if you resellers don’t start doing this, more and more producers are going to set up stricter rules for resale. At best.

I already limit the amount at which my systems can be discounted. I also give a cooling off period before they can be resold. Furthermore, I have set up a rule whereby my attunement packages can’t be bought by a group for the purposes of reselling.

Some other Reiki Masters have gone even further and have decided to not allow their systems to be resold at all.

So if you want to continue to have new, fresh energies to resell, you need to stop biting the hand that feeds you. DON’T TAKE ADVANTAGE. You are going to push people out of business and then you won’t have anything to resell except old material.

Tithe, tithe generously, and maybe we can all prosper.

Otherwise, the inevitable karma awaits.

Sorry for the lecture but this had to be put out there.

Namaste,
Stephanie
(c) Stephanie – Elemental Reiki

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THE GIFT OF LISTENING
But you must REALLY listen. No interrupting, no daydreaming, no planning your response. Just listening.

THE GIFT OF AFFECTION
Be generous with appropriate hugs, kisses, pats on the back and handholds. Let these small actions demonstrate the love you have for family and friends.

THE GIFT OF LAUGHTER
Clip cartoons. Share articles and funny stories. Your gift will say, “I love to laugh with you”.

THE GIFT OF A WRITTEN NOTE
It can be a simple “Thanks for the help” note or a full sonnet. A brief, handwritten note may be remembered for a lifetime, and may even change a life.

THE GIFT OF A COMPLIMENT
A simple and sincere, “You look great in red”, “You did a super job” or “That was a wonderful meal” can make someone’s day.

THE GIFT OF A FAVOUR
Every day, go out of your way to do something kind.

THE GIFT OF SOLITUDE
There are times when we want nothing better than to be left alone. Be sensitive to those times and give the gift of solitude to others.

THE GIFT OF A CHEERFUL DISPOSITION
The easiest way to feel good is to make other feel good.

~ Author Unknown

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The Network Marketing Revolution: Why Emerging Direct Sales Companies are Redefining the Industry

Thursday, October 16, 2008 by: Mike Adams

The world of network marketing is undergoing a radical, positive transformation. I’ve been investigating half a dozen network marketing companies over the last twelve months, and while I haven’t been surprised by the usual disappointing suspects (Zrii, Monavie, etc.), I’ve also found something rather startling: A new wave of emerging network marketing companies that bring a new level of integrity, vision and product quality to the network marketing industry.

As you’ll see here, this new wave of network marketing companies shatters the myths commonly associated with old-school direct sales. Even more interestingly, the social implications of these new companies are nothing less than groundbreaking. I’ll explain why as we explore their influence on issues like corporationshealth products. vs. the People, the decentralization of power, the “anti-Wal-Mart effect,” the future of money and even the mainstream acceptance of natural

To read the full article, which is quite lengthy, please click on the link contained in Mike’s name:

© Mike Adams, Natural News

Note from Callie: Nature’s Sunshine is an excellent leading nutritional supplements company which offers great opportunities – if you’d like to find out more, just get in touch – www.holisticfeathers.co.uk

About the author: Mike Adams is a consumer health advocate with a strong interest in personal health, the environment and the power of nature to help us all heal He has authored more than 1,500 articles and dozens of reports, guides and interviews on natural health topics, impacting the lives of millions of readers around the world who are experiencing phenomenal health benefits from reading his articles. Adams is an independent journalist with strong ethics who does not get paid to write articles about any product or company.

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Abundance cheques are a useful tool which we can use to create more abundance in our lives; all you need to do is write a cheque within the 24 hour period after a New Moon!

You will be truly amazed at the results:  all of those who I know of who have carried out the abundance cheque ritual has seen some evidence of an increased abundance in their lives, in all areas.  This doesn’t always mean in a financial sense … it could be in any area which you need a little bit of helpful abundance!

The traditional method (as below) is usually followed. It does not matter if you do not have a chequebook – you can draw a cheque out on a piece of paper and complete the cheque details in exactly the same way.  The Universe doesn’t have an interest in where you choose to bank!

Abundance cheque ritual

When: Each new moon

1. Within 24 hours after a New Moon, take a cheque from your cheque book and where it says “Pay” write in your name.
2. On the line where you would write in the amount in full, just write “Paid in full”
3. Next to this line is the little box where you fill in the amount in figures, just write “Paid in full” again
4. Sign your cheque “The Law of Abundance”

There is no need to fill in a date for your cheque!

Neither do you need to specify a particular figure in the cheque – just pop your cheque away somewhere safe and let the Universe work her magic.

Try it yourself and see – and do let us know what results you have seen!

Warning:  The abundance cheque ritual is a fun way to inject the power of positive thinking and manifestation in to your life.  Results are never guaranteed and they will always depend on your intent.

Check our calendar for the latest abundance cheque dates!

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