Healing
Now Is The Time For Love
There is a lot of anxiety in our world at the moment, due to the ongoing pandemic of the coronavirus, or Covid-19. When this kind of crisis arises, it affects us in the deepest and most primal parts of our inner being. And who we choose to be in such a moment truly matters.
I believe that now is a time for healing. Not only from physical disease, but also from a state of unconsciousness and disconnection that many of us have been fostering, long before we even knew terms like ‘social distancing’ and ‘self-isolation.’ It seems to me as though these terms are just the articulation of an already existing condition that has been in existence long before Covid-19 arrived.
If you are currently fearful and anxious, it is understandable. Be patient and gentle with yourself. If you are struggling to cope, do not hesitate to pick up the phone and reach out to someone that you trust. If you feel isolated, now is the time to freely speak the words, “I love you.” If you have something of value to share, now is the time to give. If you can assist, now is the time to help. Now is the time for love.
There are those that would perpetuate fear at this time. I recommend not listening to such negative voices. Abstain from indulging in conspiracy theories, and trust that, as it is written in Luke 8:17, “There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing concealed that will not be known.”
Instead, turn your ear to voices of unconditional love, kindness and compassion. If you have enough ‘soul force,’ become that voice for others. As it is written in 1 John 4:18, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear.”
Is Your ‘Soulmate’ A Narcissistic Predator?
He must be your soulmate, or twin flame, because he knows you so well. He has taught you so many things about yourself. Surely, this means he is ‘the one.’ I don’t think so. You might want to say something like this regarding your therapist, teacher or healer, but even then I would still be careful.
If you are constantly looking for someone to ‘get’ you, or yearning to be understood on a ‘deeper level,’ you might as well have a target on your back that says: prey. If you are so wounded and empty that you need to be constantly affirmed by another, then you need some serious healing, prolonged growth work on your Self, your inner child and your relationship with your Higher Self and Source.
Even when working with a spiritual teacher or healer, if they are doing most of the work for you, telling you all about your Self, then they are merely telling you a narrative, a story. Stories don’t solve problems, or heal. Information or data does not heal. It can point you in the right direction, but ultimately information does not heal, action does.
So if your healer, teacher, therapist or counselor is telling you all about your Self and that is all they are doing, you might want to reconsider. Reevaluate how much help you are actually getting. It is only a mental boost to receive this kind of information. In other words, your brain feels temporarily happy with the excitement of words. But it is ‘drug’ that will wear off quickly. Soon, you will then trotting off in search of another high.
Who Are You Really?
At some point today you probably looked in the mirror. Maybe you liked who you saw there, and maybe you did not. But, did it dawn on you that the person who stared back at you from that reflection, is not the same person as the one who looked back at you yesterday? Yes, things changed while you were sleeping, and you were not aware of it.
Do we really know who or what we are looking at in that mirror every day? Do we even care? Does it matter to us that we will spend every waking and sleeping hour with that person we see in our reflection? Do we realize that whoever that person is, we will be sharing our deepest most profound thoughts, ideas and convictions with them for the rest of our life?
Instead of merely glancing at that reflection we have grown so accustomed to, why not take the time to truly observe the facial expressions and body language, revealing our inner motivations and latent content.
More importantly, maybe it is time to really get to know that individual we observe in the mirror. That mysterious, fathomless person most likely demonstrates enormous fortitude, determination, strength of will and irresolute character. There may also be an infectious humor buried just below the surface, waiting to be examined for discernment in the reality of our most passionate dreams and mocking glares.
What is important to us today will be important to us always. The problem is we don’t always know what is really important to us. Why? Because, we won’t stay still long enough to study the most important subject in the world: the self. We may claim that we are too busy to care, but nothing is more important than getting to know the real you.
Herbs And Your Spiritual Well-Being
When our physical body is weakened or sick, we take remedies to heal it. We reach for a tincture, supplement or medication that we trust will help us. But, in the same way we care for our physical body, we also need to take care of our energy body and aura.
Yes, the light body or auric field also needs loving care, in the same way our body does. As a certified herbalist I find this is often overlooked in the field of health and medicine.
Many people only think of herbs as something you use in cooking to season food. Years ago, when I discovered that herbs were also a great way to treat the body for illness, I wasn’t expecting to find out all the other benefits herbs can offer us.
During my herbal studies coursework, I discovered that herbs not only help us heal physically, but can also work to bring our spiritual body back into alignment. The herbs work with us on many levels to promote harmony and wellness.
For example, when we drink Lavender tea for stress or anxiety. Try it yourself. Breathe in Lavender essential oil and notice how your thoughts instantly calm and the muscles in your body relax.
But Lavender not only promotes a sense of peace and calm, it also affects our spirit and changes our energy vibration. In addition to the effect it has on our nervous system, Lavender works with us on a spiritual level, to purify our soul and to clear out negative energy clogging our higher chakras.
Gratitude – A Message From My Guides
Sometimes when you are fearful or worried, the last thing you would envision thinking about is gratitude. When you are deep in grief, after the passing of a loved one, being grateful is also not your first thought. When you have lost a job, or have a sick child, the remote idea of gratitude can be the furthest thing from your mind.
However, it is during these times of worry, grief, or fear, that gratitude can be very helpful. If you can focus on even a small success, or a tiny attribute for which you can be grateful, it can make a world of difference to your perspective. Although changing your perspective will not necessarily alter your present circumstance, it can help you cope with your current reality.
Gratitude comes in all shapes and sizes. It can manifest in many forms at any time of the day. It does not have to be something magnificent or worldly, although it certainly can be something momentous, if that is what comes to mind.
Take a few minutes each day to be mindful and appreciative. Your focus can be as simple as having a safe home, or even a nice smile. Or it can be as complex as gradually improving health, or increased financial stability. It might be thoughts of a solid friendship, a dependable baby-sitter, or a full refrigerator. It can involve only yourself, or members of your family. It can encompass your entire neighborhood, your faith, or your workplace.
Resentment And The Empath
Do you have a tendency to re-experience past injustices — real or perceived – while holding on to those old feelings of anger connected to them? If so, it means you are harboring some form of resentment. Empaths are especially prone to resentment, simply because we tap into emotions, past, present, and future, much more than most people.
Resentment forms when we become angry towards a person or situation, and then hold onto that anger. Some people harbor their resentments for many years, refusing to let go of it. Over time, whatever caused the original anger and initially led to the resentment, may be forgotten, but the resentment remains. It is like a still-smoldering ember left after the flames of a fire have subsided. The fire no longer rages, but the ember remains smoldering, and all it takes is a spark to set that fire raging again.
For the empath this rekindled ‘fire’ may be triggered every time they enter a new relationship. No harm has been done, yet, but the empath may be so on guard, and overly vigilant to any slight that resembles their past hurt, that it easily sets off another destructive blaze. They expect the worst and try to protect themselves against it, but in the process the thing they fear the most may re-emerge from the past, unhealed resentment.
For many empaths, lack of boundaries also lead to dashed expectations, typically followed by resentment. As an empath, you feel the heart of the person, and know that there is love. Once connected into the, “I know they love me,” their bad behavior can be overlooked. Continue reading
Shadow Work
Shadow work is the process of learning to speak your fears, anxieties, shame, grief, and rage before Spirit, and having it witnessed by humans. The latter is needed to heal toxic shame and to get you comfortable with being your authentic self in front of other human beings. Shadow work is speaking out whatever is currently uncomfortable for you to say in front of others. For some people shadow work is speaking out about one’s successes, happiness, gains and accomplishments.
Sharing works best when you are specific and refer to date, time, place, and people involved in actual events, as well as describing the specific emotions experienced at the time and describing actual behaviors and actions that occurred.
A shadow work group, like 12-Step programs, provides a safe sacred space and a confidential environment, where others are there to listen and witness your journey of healing, without interfering. Shadow work groups understand that they are just there to witness, and know that the real work is between you and your Higher Power.
Shadow work groups give you a safe place to practice saying things that normally are not spoken, or must be said with careful attention and energy. When you share precarious, painful, fearful or shameful information with such a safe group, you will slowly, with the help of your Higher Power, be able to heal the emotions and energy connected to those issues and events.
In time, instead of those issues and events ruling you, you will have the space to make choices – choices on who to talk to in your life circle about delicate personal matters, as well as when to do it, how to do it, or if it is even safe to share with certain people, or not.