loved ones
The Transformational Power Of Self-Care
As you journey towards the end of the beautiful summer season, prioritize self-care, as this is one of the most important things you can do for your mind, body and soul.
What exactly is self-care? Self-care is any activity you do intentionally to take care of your mental, emotional, spiritual, or physical health and well-being. It’s about giving yourself the time and attention that you need to thrive.
When you take care of yourself, the most critical person in your world, you can better care for others, and do your work with greater purpose. It becomes easier to show up fully and more meaningfully for others in your life. In this manner, we can be more present with our loved ones, pursue our passions with greater focus, and feel happier overall.
By showing love to ourselves, we become more open to giving and receiving love from others. When we radiate love and peace, we attract more love and peace into our lives. It’s a beautiful cycle of giving and receiving that creates inner harmony and outer wellness.
It’s essential to find time each day to do something that relaxes and rejuvenates you, whether it is reading, going for a walk, or taking a yoga class. Self-care is vital because it helps you to stay healthy as a whole person.
Making time for yourself can relieve stress and tension, improving your overall health and well-being. Additionally, self-care can help you to avoid burnout on multiple levels.
Make sure to schedule time for yourself every day. You can use this time to do something you love without any obligations or expectations. Nurturing your happiness to be the best version of yourself for others is essential.
Letting Go Heals Our Silent Pain
Too often we are not aware of the emotional pain in others. We are blissfully ignorant of the invisible pain that they are suffering. This is the secret pain of grief, of tragedy and loss. It is often the silent pain that many of us carry inside, a pain we secretly endure every day.
Our grief and sorrow is something we hide from the world, because we tend to feel ashamed, embarrassed or guilty for not being ‘stronger.’ The fast-paced modern world we live in has little patience with those who need time to mourn and heal. Life goes on, they say.
Those who are grieving must get through their pain as best they can, often without having anyone to talk to or no one wo cares to understand. They must simply put on a happy face and get through the day.
Sometimes people are having a hard time processing a loss or disappointment because they do not want to let go. Why would anyone choose to hold on to the pain, you may ask? Well, there is sometimes a strange comfort found in a state of holding on. When our world feels upside down and the future seems uncertain, we tend to hold on to the familiarity of the past, of the life we once knew.
The energy of such an ongoing state of silent pain soon becomes an imbalance in the throat chakra and blocks our ability to heal. The throat chakra plays a very big part, because it is our energy center of truth, the seat of our power to communicate our free will and talk about our true feelings.
Suppressed mental and emotional pain in time manifests itself in our body in many debilitating ways, such as migraine headaches, stomach aches, physical discomfort and a variety of other symptoms and potential health problems. Only when the pain is addressed and processed, will it go away and will our well-being improve.
When Two Souls Collide
Clients sometimes ask me if a recently deceased loved one or pet will eventually reincarnate and return to them. In my experience, they certainly do. Sometimes in this life, and certainly in a next life.
There have been times in my life when I would meet someone and there would be a kind of ‘knowing’ or a sense of familiarity about them, as if I had known them before. I believe we all have these experiences of soul recognition from time to time.
A clear sign for me that I am experiencing a soul recognition during such an encounter is that I feel my body tremble when making eye contact, or my hands are shaking. In my experience, the more intense the physical sensation, the more incarnations I may have had with that particular person.
I have had this experience with people who turned out to be someone I only briefly had contact with, but also others with whom I had more lasting relationships. I also experience this ‘knowing’ with my pets. It is something in the way their eyes connect with mine, as if to say. “Hello, it’s me. I’m back!”
One particular incident, which remains vividly etched in my mind, was an event I witnessed about a decade ago. Someone I knew had fallen pregnant when she was going through a difficult time in her life. Despite the father of the child not wanting to be involved, she decided to keep the baby, and she did her best to make sure her baby was going to have the best she could manage to offer her child.
I was very surprised when she asked me to be the guest of honor at her home for the natural water birth. As honored as I was, I was also a bit stressed about it. She outlined the process and reassured me that a trained doula (midwife) would be present. She had done much research into having her baby at home, as well as substantial prepping with her doula. I agreed, but knowing it might be a very long process, I had mentally prepared myself.
You Are Never Alone
I receive many calls from clients who are feeling terribly isolated and lonely. And ‘lonely’ does not automatically imply being alone. Even while we may be constantly surrounded by people, one can still feel extremely alone. Having lots of people around does not guarantee meaningful connection or a sense of belonging.
I always remind my clients that if they only consider how much spirit is constantly around us, they will never feel alone again. Tuning into these soul energies around us is a great comfort and can even be a life saver.
Our departed loved ones and our spirit guides are around us all the time, but especially present when we are going through a challenging or painful time. Whether we are aware of their presence, or not, they are there.
Through meditation and other spiritual practices, we can raise our vibration and make it easier for us to feel their presence, and even ‘hear’ them. All interdimensional communication is telepathic. We just need to tune in to a higher vibration to meet them halfway.
Spirit is in a different dimension. Their energy is very fast and ours are very slow. They need to slow their vibration down and we need to raise ours in order to meet in the middle and communicate.
Many years ago, a friend’s father passed. Her dad soon after came to me in a dream. He was giving me several messages he wanted me to relay to her, but I was having a very hard time understanding what he was saying. The messages were coming in too fast. To my shock and surprise her dad then became impatient with me! In fact, he was quite annoyed.
Making Time For Our Loved Ones
With our hectic schedules in a fast-paced digital world, and everyone seeming to need something urgently, our lives can be crammed with to-do lists featuring mountains of tasks, duties, and obligations.
Sometimes it is hard to believe how quickly the time goes by and how long it’s been since we’ve last spent quality time with family and relatives. Social media ‘likes’ can never substitute meaningful interaction and connection with our loved ones.
We must create opportunities to maintain these connections, foster better relationships, and touch base with young and old. We will regret not doing so someday, when it is no longer possible or viable. I have been witness to many of my clients over the years having to reach out to their loved ones in spirit with a mediumship reading, because many things were never said or shared while they were still in this life.
For years, I used to call my 95-year-old aunt every weekend. She lives about 3,500 kilometers away in a different province. So, I haven’t seen her in a few years, more recently specifically due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
She is the last remaining relative in our family from that generation, on both sides of the family. She doesn’t hear well anymore, so the calls usually aren’t very long, but she always tells me how much she appreciates hearing my voice.
My dear aunt still has a wonderful sense of humor and sometimes she enjoys reminiscing about my mom and her other siblings. Although she has four grown children, as well as grandchildren and great grandchildren, it always seems to bring a spark of joy to her day whenever we catch up and share a quick story or two.
When You Wish Upon A Star
My dad always said one should make a wish on the very first star that you see every night. Anything your heart desires will come true. When you see, or hear the word star…what emotions arise in you?
Think of how many up-lifting songs have been written about the stars. The first song many people learn on an instrument is often Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. It reminds me of the theme song for the Walt Disney classic, Pinocchio. It is such a ‘feel-good’ song. When you wish upon a star it makes no difference who you are.
For some of us a star was the very first symbol that made us feel good about ourselves as children. In kindergarten getting a star for a job well done was a big deal! It always had such a sense of pride to show my parents at the end of a week how many gold star papers I had acquired.
A great pastime for children, especially at summer camp here in Maine, is laying on the ground looking up at the stars and hoping to see a shooting star.
Night people often say they get their batteries recharged by looking at the moon and stars. It brings them a sense of peace and hope for the future. One thing we can always count on is the sun, moon and stars will shine again.
Looking at the heavens for answers, ancient mariners used the stars to navigate where they were on the ocean. Sailors learned how to navigate by watching the movement of the stars.
According to natural navigating coach, Tristan Gooley, the North Star, known as Polaris is directly above the North Pole. “This means that whenever we point towards the spot on the horizon directly below the North Star, we must be pointing north,” he writes.
Shine Your Heart Light This Holiday Season
Times have been tough this year. The alignment of the stars have not been overly kind to most of us. Public health crises, economy, politics, mayhem. And in this atmosphere relationships are even tougher than ever to navigate, especially with Venus and Pluto aligning in Scorpio.
My beloved dad, who passed twelve years ago, often said, “It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.” Situations or people may appear hopeless and dark in these times, but it is important to remember that even the smallest flicker of just one tiny candle can shine a light for others to hold on to. Astrologer Pam Gregory, reminds us to breath into our heart centers, to raise our vibrations. In doing so, each one of us can be that tiny candle, flickering in the dark.
The holidays will bring families together. But holidays can either be celebratory occasion of merriment and cheer… or a war zone of toxic viewpoints and unwelcome meddling. It can often be an unresolved issues ‘free-for-all.’ A nosy sibling might tell you what they think, while you did not ask their opinion! Or, Uncle Bob may dip a little too frequently into the spiked eggnog, drowning all the fa-la-la in his wake.
It occurs to me now that the happy Bing Crosby tune Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive I heard on the radio earlier was no accident.
You’ve got to accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don’t mess with Mister In-Between
You’ve got to spread joy up to the maximum
Bring gloom down to the minimum
Have faith or pandemonium
Liable to walk upon the scene