On Monday December 27th 2021, a post was shared on TikTok of Shekinah licking out the remains of my Banana Split. The unexpected response from people was one of concern and judgmental of my actions. It was presumptuous of my choices and the story behind the video. Many years ago I would have panicked and pulled the post, or become worried about my reputation, what people thought of me and how should I defend myself and accommodate their fears of my choices.
I am incredibly grateful to Echoe, and my life’s journey over the past 20 years that has landed me in who I am here to be and my service to others. My voice and heart have been the two main areas life has helped me to face and heal. The journey has not always been pretty. Learning to speak your truth and stand in your power are challenging at times and life loves to test whether you are willing to face these opportunities and show up as the unique person you know yourself to be. Speaking from your heart and responding from a place of your own truth, allows you to share your own reasons, rather than a response that is in the energy of the reaction of others.
When Echoe and I first met, I was quite an empty person. I believe now that this was to help cultivate and embrace the person who I am today, almost 20 years later! My path of seeking and understanding holistic health had already begun, following the untimely death of my dog Kobo from the Lyme vaccine. In my devastation, rawness and deep loss experienced daily for almost a year, I began to open up to being conscious of the universal guidance being offered to follow for the many questions I had. This ultimately led my world to create Nikoe Natural Therapies and continue to learn, expand, study and raise my awareness to what I am so grateful to have experienced to this point. It has been a road of learning how to find my voice, how to speak my truth and how to express myself in a compassionate yet clear way. For me, only life could have taught me this valuable and life changing lesson.
Echoe was divinely guided into my life in 1997, he began showing me who I was (I was a challenging student) and after a year or so, started to mentor and guide me into the vibrant, unconditional, and passionate person I have become and continue to be a student of within my own life. (The Rock – Destiny Through the Eyes of a Horse is now available).
Over the years situations have arisen where I have been verbally attacked, the ‘up one side and down the other’ kind of feeling that seemingly comes from nowhere. These experiences have been devastating initially due to the shock of being treated in a way that wasn’t expected. Over time, I began to sit with it and imagine myself outside of the situation, this enabled me to see the whole picture and understand more deeply ‘what just happened!’ In life, we all are faced with situations, people and challenges that will mirror aspects of ourselves that need healing, clearing, or maybe a new outlook. When it becomes uncomfortable, we can shut down, ignore it, walk away from it. We close our hearts and our voices out of fear, or wanting to avoid confrontation, or not trusting our own voice enough to share our version or truth of a situation. Is that you? It has certainly been me over the years. Telling your story without attaching feelings to make a story fit the emotions you are experiencing, is an aspect that I learned from HeatherAsh Amara. Her online course through the Shift Network “Discover the 4 Chambers of the Warrior Heart” involves delving into the chambers of the heart and how to distinguish story, from feelings, from truth. It was a life changer for me!
Echoe’s most distinct teachings was one of facing what felt like confrontation, to simply speak my own truth and my reasons for the choices I make. He often put me in situations where I would need to speak up, and granted when it involved Echoe’s care, it was always easier to be his advocate! So, when this most recent response happened from a 13 second video, I felt compelled to respond. And, the challenge is that TikTok is a visual based platform with limited space for words. So facing the desire to share my story and help people understand my choices and the truth of the video, I realized that I could write about it, and post a link to my blog!!
The responses to the TikTok video were:
“excuse me” “can’t dogs die from chocolate?”, “YES”, “YES”, “Only Americans”
Rather than remove this post, I felt the strong desire to respond, offer an opportunity to understand me, my history, and my choices. One of the most amazing books I read, also a life changer, was ‘The Four Agreements’ by Miguel Ruiz –
*Be Impeccable with Your Word, *Don’t take anything personally, *Don’t make assumptions, *Do Your Best
With all this in mind, here is my response:
“Hi everyone and I thank you for your concern. I am firstly English and in the holistic field. Yes dogs can die from eating chocolate so let me clarify my well thought out choices.
I completely cleaned out the cup prior to having Shekinah lick out the very little remains. There are many things we eat that dogs cannot, of this i am very aware as for over 20 years i have helped many animals who eat or get in to toxic foods or chemicals to help them heal.
I would never put my animals at risk and this pup has the same care. She is toxic free of any chemicals, most vaccines and her food is organic. She is treated for heartworm and ticks using homeopathy and all household cleaning products are completely toxic free.
So a healthy body has far more ability to cleanse itself.
Chocolate is a concern, mainly that which is used for baking or gourmet which is both more potent. (http://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/chocolate-poisoning-in-dogs). Smaller breeds are far more susceptible than larger breeds. Since this post I have spoken to close friends to receive their feedback. All had stories of their dogs eating vast amounts of chocolate through unforeseen circumstances, and following a call to their vet, they were asked for symptoms of toxicity, which in all cases were none, and it was suggested that they allow the dog’s body’s to process it. I too had the same experience with two Ridgebacks many years ago who ‘raided’ a pantry while I was at work and I came home to find food wrappings everywhere!! They had eaten a package of Double Chocolate Chip Oreo Cookies. I was so panicked, but they were absolutely fine. They had black poop for a few days and no other symptoms.
Please know that the wellness of animals is my key focus, my life’s work and my research will always have their best interest at hearts.”
As I walk in each day, I am always conscious of how life is showing up and that I am present in each moment of the guidance, lessons and messages being shared. When working with animals and their people, sometimes the messages are tender, personal, and deep. I will always ask my guides “Help me to find the words that will be heard, and others will feel and resonate with them, to create opening and thoughtful, conscious and compassionate conversation.”
As we walk through life, and challenges confront us, I hope this article helps you to find your way to your own unique expression through truth and passion.