Hear that calling: ‘jaay-jaay’? That’s because Blue Jay is the animal of the week here at Talk2theAnimals, and Blue Jay is calling for your attention.  Blue Jay is related to Crow, so he’s not shy when he wants you to pay attention to him.

Blue Jay connects the Sky, represented by his blue color, the Heavens, represented by the white, and Earth, represented by the black on his feathers.  Blue Jay reminds us we are able to connect with Sky, Heaven and Earth if we desire.  One way to do this is by integrating spiritual practices in our everyday, mundane, physical world.

Because, like Blue Jay, we can connect to both the spiritual and physical, we need to be aware of not becoming too scattered, but staying focused on what is at hand.  We need to be aware when ‘Shiny Object Syndrome’ begins to creep into our lives.

Blue Jay is fearless and has no qualms about harassing and/or driving hawks and owls away.  We can call on Blue Jay’s courage when needed.

Questions to ask when Blue Jay appears:

• Where am I too scattered/distracted?
• What areas would be beneficial for me to explore more deeply?
• What fears do I have?

Thank you, Blue Jay, for coming forward and calling out your wisdom.  You have much to teach, we have much to learn from you if we only open our senses.  For this we are grateful.

Harmony

Janet Roper

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Welcome to today’s Talk2theAnimals Animal Communication Practice Session.  This is your chance to deepen your relationship with animals and see what messages they have for you.

Before you start talking with today’s animal, prepare yourself by gathering your animal communication journal, a writing stick, and, should you so desire, a beverage.  Set aside 15-20 minutes to have your conversation. Make sure this is a time when you are able to be fully present to the animal and the conversation.  Go to a quiet, comfortable place where you won’t be disturbed. Empty your body and your mind of all the ‘monkey chatter’…..thinking of your to do list, your schedule, etc.  ‘Monkey chatter’ is anything internally that is standing between you and listening to the animal.  It helps me to create an imaginary wastebasket.  When those distracting thoughts come along, I simply put them in the wastebasket, knowing I can pick them up after the conversation, if I want. You are in a safe, quiet location, and only that which is for the highest good for you and the animal will present itself.  You have now created your Circle of Listening.

The animal that volunteered to help us today is Hawk.  Interesting enough, as I am writing this, I hear Hawk outside of my window!

Just like when you meet a new person you introduce yourself, introduce yourself to Hawk.  Ask if Hawk is willing to talk with you, and if so, if this is a good time.  Go with what Hawk says: if you caught Hawk in the middle of hunting, this may not be a good time to talk.  Ask Hawk to connect with you when it is a convenient time.

The following questions are to get you started, feel free to create your own to let the conversation flow!

• What does it feel like to fly?
• Even though humans have no wings, is there a way I can create a similar sensation in my life?
• Are there places in my life that I can learn to fly like you do?
• Do you have an individual message for me?

Once you have finished your conversation, thank Hawk for talking with you.  Take time to note the conversation in your journal and what it was like for you to talk with Hawk.

Most likely, your conversation has not finished here.  Pay attention in the upcoming days to messages from Hawk.  Let Hawk stay in your consciousness.  Are you suddenly seeing Hawk all the time? As you’re reading, does the work ‘hawk’ keep coming up? Are your friends suddenly talking about Hawk?  Pay attention to these experiences AND pay attention to what is going on in your mind/body during these experiences.  This is a way the animals keep the conversation going.

Leave your comments here on the Talk2theAnimals Blog about your experience with Hawk.  Others can learn from your experience.

Remember: U2CanTalk2theAnimals!

Harmony,

Janet Roper

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It feels good to be back in the saddle again here at Talk2theAnimals! We’ve been down for a major renovation and facelift and now we are up and running. I hope you enjoy the new look and take time to explore the blog.  I invite you to leave any comments you may have in the comment section.

Meanwhile, many things have been occurring for myself and Talk2theAnimals.

In the early part of October, it was time to put my almost 17 year old perpetual puppy, Teddy, down. Teddy lived a long and happy life, and my dog Emmie and I have since been learning to integrate his absence into our lives.

And Max has been helping us.

Meet Max – a 4 year old part Black Lab/Staffordshire cross.  Max was found wandering the streets in one of the suburbs north of the Twin Cities.  When he was returned to his person, the person decided not to keep Max.  So Max went to one of the humane societies.

The humane society cared for Max to the best they were able. But he needs LOTS of exercise and they simply did not have the means to give him what he needed.  The result was Max became depressed and people passed him by. Nobody wanted to adopt a depressed dog.

So Max was in the shelter for approximately six weeks.  Somehow Midwest Animal Rescue Services (MARS) found out about Max, pulled him out of the shelter and put him under their care.  With MARS, Max got to go into foster care.

I found out about Max through an email one of my friends sent, who knew I was beginning the search for a new dog. I called MARS, filled out the adoption form and had the home inspection.  Then Emmie and I went to meet Max, Emmie approved of him and the rest is history.

I imagine you would not be surprised to hear that Max is a very laid back, talkative dog.  So much so that he has his own FaceBook Fan Page: IamMaxRoper.  Coming from a shelter, Max wants to help other dogs who are looking for homes, and he’s passionate about spreading the truth about how great black dogs are! Apparently in the shelter Max heard of ‘black dog syndrome‘ and he now has taken it upon himself to single pawedly put a stop to that. You can help him by becoming a fan on his IamMaxRoper fan page!

It is good to be back.  I’m looking forward to reconnecting with you.  Until tomorrow,

Harmony,

Janet Roper

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Except for three years of my life, I have lived either in Illinois or Minnesota, and those three fantastically exceptional years I spent on Bayou Lafourche in southern Louisiana.

My first job out of college was teaching jr. high orchestra and private string lessons on the bayou.  Bayou Lafourche is located south of New Orleans and just north of the Gulf of Mexico.  Nothing in my entire life had prepared me for living on the bayou with the Cajuns.

The Cajuns are of French Canadian descent and live along the bayous of southern Louisiana.  While I lived there, I experienced them as having close knit relationships with friends and families, and living with a joie de vivre in all they did.  During my stay there, I heard many of the Cajuns refer to themselves as “coonass.”
Fast forward a few decades: I’m in Minnesota and while searching for people to follow on Twitter, I ran across the Twitter account “coonassdotcom.”  This belonged to Jill Guidry on Bayou Lafourche, my old stomping grounds!  Jill and I connected and I am pleased to introduce her to you as a guest blogger.  Jill’s love and passion for all things Cajun and the Louisiana coastline come through in her writing.  Jill has also shared her talent as a photographer with Talk2theAnimals by providing pictures of Pelican and Great Blue Heron for Talk2theAnimals Animal Communication Practice Fridays.  You can connect with Jill at her blog Bayou Child – One Cajun’s Life and on Twitter.

Hello, I’m Jill Guidry and Janet was kind enough to tell y’all about my blog and feature one of the many animals that live here in her Friday practice session.   I was honored to see that she introduced you to Pelican.  Pelican got a powerful spirit and very much a part of life here in Southern Louisiana.  This part of the world is full of hundreds of different animals: gators, nutria, otters, raccoons deer possums, naming only a few of them.  We got hundreds of species of birds here: some live here year round and some return here every year to survive.

Our beloved coastland is being eaten away by damage from hurricanes,  but mostly from coastal erosion.  We are losing our bayous and losing Louisiana.  Experts say an area the size of a football field disappears hourly.  When it goes,  a unique culture and ecosystem will be lost forever.  I’m working, along with others, to stop this from happening.  I have lived out here on the bayou my whole life and my spirit is part of this place.  I would rather die with it then live without it.  The voices of the animals, birds and insects here can be heard like nowhere else in the world.  I thank Janet for this chance to speak for my place and for the Cajun people.  I think sometimes animals make their message known better then people ever could, and I want everything that live here to know I’m listening and if it’s in my power I will never let their voices drown.

In order to live in a place like this we got to live with the animals,  not against them, but we do hunt some of them.  Some of them hunt us.  I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else and I invite you to learn more about the animals here.  Some of them exist nowhere else, they are priceless treasures that we can’t afford to lose.

Jill, thank you so much for sharing your love of the bayou with all of us at Talk2theAnimals!

Harmony,

Janet Roper

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This video is marvelous!  My friend Wendy of Inbeaute Photography is kept by two cats.  She forwarded this video to me and I am delighted to share it with you.  A caveat: Cats do love tuna, but it does not meet their nutritional needs.  If you want to give your cat tuna, check with your vet first.  Sit back with your favorite cat, a cuppa joe and enjoy.  This video is just under 7 minutes.

Harmony,

Janet Roper

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Hey Ho, Teddy here.  Dog pals, I got big news to share with ya!  Do ya know my pal Luc? He’s one cool dude, here’s his picture…

…Hey!  How come he has a nice car bed and I don’t????  Oh, that’s right, I’m the co-pilot and I have to stand up so people can see how handsome I am.

Anyway, Luc’s mom and the cool folks over at Stunt Puppy made a map.  And you know what, dog pals?  It shows places here in the Twin Cities that like dogs!  Yes-sirree-pup.  It shows restaurants and dog parks!  Now me and Emmie and Luc, we think that’s pretty special.  It doesn’t show mine and Emmie’s dog park, but Mom said she would add it.

View Dog Parks and Dog-friendly Dining in a larger map

So dog pals, tell your humans to add YOUR favorite dog friendly places.  You’ll be doing us all a favor!

I hear the treat jar!  See ya dog pals!

Over & out,

Teddy

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Welcome to Talk2theAnimals Animal Communication Practice Friday.  With as busy as we can all get, isn’t it nice to have one day where you know you can take some time to Talk2theAnimals?

Today we are talking to Great Blue Heron.  Jill Guidry, who lives in the Bayou LaFourche area of Louisiana, has supplied us with the photos.  As a matter of fact, it is her photos that you will be seeing for this month’s Animal Communication Practice Friday.  Jill can be found on Twitter at @coonasscotcom and I invite you to visit her blog at Bayou Child – One Cajun’s Life.  Jill is passionate about the perservation of the culture, wildlife and coastlines of southern Louisiana.  She will soon be appearing as a guest blogger.  Click here to see Jill’s photo of Pelican and to talk to Pelican.

And now it is time to talk to Great Blue Heron.  Remove yourself from any external distrations and make yourself comfortable. Allow your breath to calm you down, by focusing on the inhalations and the exhalations.  You are exhaling any feelings of anxiousness or distraction and inhaling peace and quiet…..exhale anything that is standing between you and talking with Great Blue Heron, inhale peace and quiet.  Continue with this until you feel yourself calm, centered and focused.

Now, select one of the pictures with which to start.  Before you talk to Great Blue Heron, ask yourself why you decided to start with that picture.  Bring to the forefront of your consciousness what it is that attracted you to that picture.

The following questions are only guidelines to get you started; feel free to ask Great Blue Heron your own questions.

• Have I calmed myself down enough so you feel comfortable talking with me?
• Are you most comfortable on land, water or air?
• What is a day like for you?
• What does it feel like to fly?
• What is your relationship with humans?
• Do you have a special message just for me?

Once you have finished your conversation, thank Great Blue Heron for the conversation.  Now, go back to the question I originally asked you: why did you pick the picture you did? Did that picture in anyway influence the answers you received from Great Blue Heron? When you get a chance, talk to Heron in the other picture and see how/if your answers compare.

Thanks for joining in today and talking with Great Blue Heron! I encourage you to leave comments on the site: what it was like for you to talk with Great Blue Heron and perhaps even share portions of the conversation!  Just check with Great Blue Heron and make sure it’s OK to share the conversation with others before you do post it as a comment.

Remember: U2CanTalk2theAnimals!

Harmony,

Janet Roper

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Spectacled flying-fox

Spectacled Flying Foxes have a very sensitive sense of smell, and very good eyesight.

Their favorite roosting locations are in the canopies of trees in rainforests, such as mangroves, eucalyptus, or paperbark while in the sun, and colonies can number in the hundreds.

Threatened Species (in Australia), Least Concern (in the rest of the world’s populations).

Harmony,

Janet Roper

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I can’t help wondering if something like this was the inspiration for Elvis’ song “You Ain’t Nothing But a Hound Dog.”  Enjoy!

Harmony,

Janet Roper

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Here are a couple of events coming up at Talk2theAnimals.  Mark your calendar so you too can share in the fun!

Talk2theAnimals at ScoopyPoo’s DogHaus

Calling all dogs & dog lovers in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area! Janet will be Talking2theDogs at ScoopPoo’s DogHaus.  Sign up for a 15 minute individual time slot!  If you have never been exposed to animal communication, this is a great way to experience it.  Animal communication helps people help their pets by understanding their pet’s point of view.  Here’s the scoop:

When: Monday, May 4, 7:00-9:00 PM
Where: 4402-1/2 France Ave in Edina
Contact: Sonja at 952-224-5007 to RSVP
Website: ScoopyPoo’s DogHaus

Talk2theAnimals May Wisdom Behind the Whiskers Forum

It’s time for the monthly Talk2theAnimals Q&A Wisdom Behind the Whiskers Forum!  Join us on Wednesday, May 6, 7:00 PM CST, for a free TeleConference where you will get your questions about animal communication answered.  This is an exciting forum as the direction and topics of the forum are determined by you!

Here’s how it works:

• Email your question about animal communication with “T2TA WBW Forum” as the subject line.
• After I’ve received your email, I will send you the call in information.

Sample questions include:

• How did you become an animal communicator?
• Why would anyone want to talk to animals?
• Can you talk to any animal?
• How does animal communication work?

The only cost to you is the cost of the call.  As a participant, you will receive a free audio recording of the file, an excellent addition to your animal communication library!

I look forward to talking with you Wednesday, May 6 at the Talk2theAnimals May Wisdom Behind the Whiskers Forum.

Harmony,

Janet Roper

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