The Games for Hope series is for you to create a more sustainable life through the metaphor of tending your own personal garden. Each game will help you set up an infrastructure that supports your life, your many projects and your relationships in a way that works with Nature, rather than against it.

These games will help you to:

• Manage your hopes and dreams in a down-to-earth way that is not airy-fairy
• Understand how something from the past is holding you back now
• Deal with stressful transitions such as looking for a new job, deciding what to do next or cleaning up messy relationships

The Magic If – Using intuitive learning to examine the viability of your ideas.

What’s Next? – Remove the blocks to your creativity.

Staying on Track – Free yourself from assumptions that are ruining your life.

Moving Forward – Align your agreements so they work for you, not against you.

Stop the Sabotage – Learning to accept help, love and miracles.

Working with Nature means to be in tune with your own inner nature.

The Intuitive Learning process begins by playing “The Magic If” and “What’s Next?”, with the initial objective of “I am true to my own nature”.

In her classic book, “Silent Spring” (1962, Houghton Mifflin Company), Rachel Carson provides some excellent food for thought and was used as the basis for the Games for Hope Series. Here are some questions and things to think about as you create and tend your garden:

1. We are part of a web of life. Are we willing to fulfill our potential in that web, or are we hell-bent to resist who we are and disregard our natural talents and gifts?
As you play the Games, you can focus on one particular issue, or you can go deeper and explore the rich interactions between the different levels of your life. Make sure that you build a mental container, or web that holds positive energy for each project, relationship and special talent that you’re developing. Otherwise your energy will get diffused and drained.

2. Repelling our allies leaves us open to invasion. Do we shun and destroy our natural allies, simply because society told us to do so?
For example, in 1958, the U. S. Department of Agriculture targeted the common fire ant as a menace and subsequently funded a campaign to eradicate them with new and improved poisons, many times more toxic than DDT. Beginning with a million acres, aerial spraying was launched, without substantiating research, and what resulted was a devastating assault on all manner of wildlife, poultry, livestock and even pets. We will never know the extent of damage that was perpetrated by that misinformation.
In actuality, the fire ant is our good friend. Aside from his unpleasant bite, he aerates the soil and feeds on other insects that are harmful to us. Remember to allow your natural allies to live and work with you in your garden. A good game for that is “What’s Next?”.

3. What can we do to effectively manage the buildup of toxins, both natural and synthetic?
Up until very recently, society has been telling us that there’s nothing to worry about. “Just leave it to us, we’ll take care of it.” But what have they been doing? Can we trust them to handle toxins in a way that won’t come back upon us a thousandfold?
Set up your own internal system for neutralizing and eliminating toxins safely. Going through this process has the potential to do wonders for your health and energy. “Staying on Track” is the best game for this particular issue.

4. Balance is required to create prosperity. Can we sustain how we are currently using our resources?
Be sure that you have the proper nutrients and that they are being assimilated effectively throughout your entire garden. Use your logic and instincts to help you make life-enhancing choices. Keep this in mind when you play “The Magic If”, “What’s Next?”, and “Stop the Sabotage”.

5. Can we use Nature’s own system of checks and balances to handle pests, disease and infestations?
Build in the ability to make adjustments and protect your garden from destructive forces without causing harm to others. Develop your logic and observation skills for analyzing your situations objectively so that your decisions are in line with what will work. This is pertinent for every game, especiallly “Moving Forward”.

Additional gardening tips:

Intuition without common sense, logic, instinct or observation is an undependable source of guidance. For example, without the grounding influence of common sense, intuition twists and distorts into idealism. Don’t build your garden on a bed of idealism, unless you want to grow disappointment. Ask for balance and grounding in “The Magic If”.

Cut down on the amount of weeding your garden requires. Make the soil resistant to bad advice (Staying on Track”) and ill-conceived schemes (“Stop the Sabotage”).
Allow a balanced mix of plants and animals to co-exist with you in your garden. Use “What’s Next?” to help you do that.
Establish a dependable system of irrigation and drainage. Set it up with “The Magic If”.

I invite you to call me at (505) 271-4612 or blog us to get new ideas or to ask questions about your situation.

As you play the games come back every once in a while to review this list. It may trigger an idea or missing piece to the puzzle.

Tips for Using the Intuitive Learning Circles:

~ Breathe deeply and often. Oxygen helps you to think clearly.

~ Trust the very first answer that comes to you. Intuition is spontaneous.

~ Take it easy. Intuition doesn’t respond well to pressure, overuse or impatience.

~ Intuition often uses symbols, impressions, dreams and metaphors. If you can’t think of an answer right away, consider those avenues of communication.

~ If you get no answer, that’s okay. Just write “nothing” or “blank”.

~ You may experience intense feelings. When that happens, breathe deeply, stay focused on the circle and wait patiently for the feeling to pass.

~ Movement helps your mind and body to integrate information and stimulate creativity. Yawn, stretch, walk around, or even massage your feet while playing your game and afterward.

~ Everyone responds to the circles differently. Some people see colors and the circles move all over. If that happens to you, keep looking at the circle until it comes back to normal.

~ There are no “right” or “wrong” answers in these games. Each person sees a situation from a different perspective.

~ Always rest after playing a game. Give your mind and body time to integrate what you’ve learned so that you can use it to your benefit.

THE COMPLETE LIST OF GAMES FOR HOPE

The Magic If – $15.95
Using intuitive learning to examine the viability of your ideas.

What’s Next? – $15.95
Remove the blocks to your creativity.

Staying on Track – $15.95
Free yourself from assumptions that are ruining your life.

Moving Forward – $15.95
Align your agreements so they work for you, not against you.

Stop the Sabotage – $15.95
Learning to accept help, love and miracles.

Rheanni Lightwater is a Medical Intuitive Healer and Feng Shui Consultant in Albuquerque, NM. She is a  Reiki Master/Teacher with extensive experience as a Hypnotherapist, Somatic Educator and Kinesiologist.