Meditation Is Easier Than You Think!
No doubt you’ve heard of the many benefits of meditation, both physical and spiritual. But how does one start a meditation practice? It doesn’t have to be intimidating. According to the Zen master and teacher, Shunryu Suzuki, approaching meditation with a beginner’s mindset is actually ideal.
It’s important to clear up a common misperception about meditation. Meditation is not simply ‘thinking of nothing.’ Rather it is a spiritual process in which we learn to center, breathe, and achieve clarity.
Meditation is practiced by cultures all over the world and does not have to be associated with a specific spiritual tradition or religious belief system. It also does not have to involve sitting passively with a ‘blank mind.’ Rather it can be anything from coloring mandalas, to a walking in nature.
So, how does one begin, if you’re new to the practice? Consider the goals you wish to achieve with meditation: stress reduction, taming your thoughts, physical relief from pain, spiritual growth? Tailor your practice to build toward your personal goals. Remember, it’s a journey and not a destination.
Keeping a meditation journal, as you go along, can be very helpful. The most important thing is consistency. Make meditation a part of your daily routine, and ideally at the same time each day.
Once you have the basics in place, it’s time to begin. Choose a pose or stance which is comfortable, and a space which is calming, private and quiet. If playing comforting music or lighting candles, or incense, relaxes you, then do that!
The Power You Hold Within
There are days in everyone’s life when it feels as if you are at the end of your rope, and unable to face another day. These are actually the times that you have the most power!
When you are stressed, frustrated or lacking in energy, take time to go within and tap into your inner guidance. Quiet your mind, just for a few minutes, breathe and allow your guides and angels to connect with your energy. It doesn’t matter what type of energy you have going at the moment; it can be negative, positive, angry, happy, sad. It simply does not matter.
Once your guides connect with you, they can either enhance the positive energy, or they can take the negative energy away. They have the ability to lessen the pain, the anxiety, the frustration. They are also able to show you a new path, to enable you to walk away from the drama in your life.
It is vital to “cast your worries and cares to a Higher place.” When you let your guides and angels take these things off your shoulders, you will start to see a clearer path ahead. It won’t happen immediately, but with practice you will find that there is insignificance in most of the issues and drama. Even the ‘big stuff’ will just not feel as big anymore.
Relationships are a huge area of stress for many. Too often someone has chosen the wrong partner to spend their life with. Yet, when the relationship eventually falls apart, they often feel that the end of their world is upon them. They even believe their mismatched partner is the only person that will ever make them happy. This way of thinking is wrong in every way. No one else can make you happy. True happiness comes from within.
Visualizing Your New Reality
We all want certain things in life: an exciting career, financial success, good health, a fulfilling romantic relationship, and a happy family life. Achieving these goals require dedication, hard work and some sacrifices. What many people do not know is that they can boost their efforts to achieve these goals by using visualization.
To fast-track your dreams, begin by shaping and clarifying your vision. What we imagine in our mind’s eye, is what will become manifest in our life.
Some of our dreams are easy to visualize. It is simple to picture yourself on a tropical island, with a gentle breeze blowing sweetly across your face. Or visualize yourself driving down the highway in your snappy new sports car. Imagining such things are not that much of a challenge for most of us.
But what about the more serious, large scale goals? For example, how do you visualize making the huge leap from a mundane office job to an exciting, globetrotting career, that will offer you both financial freedom and sense of fulfillment? Or how do you envision moving from a tiny cramped apartment to a glorious, well-designed home? These things may be more difficult to imagine, since they are outside your everyday experience and seem out of reach.
The solution is to break these visions down into smaller, more practical steps, instead of focusing solely on main outcome. We must tap into our life experience, as well as the creative juices we all have within. Build an image in your mind of the desired goal or outcome by visualizing the different aspects towards accomplishing the overall dream.
Honor Your Ancestors As The Wheel Turns
The Wheel of Fortune in the Tarot signifies change and transformation in our lives. We are now moving into a new season, but also other changes are coming. We can feel them! When we live close to the seasons and cycles of life, nature assists us through this transformation.
As the wheel turns, we come into the time now of Halloween, Samhain, Hallowmas, and then All Souls’ Day to honor our ancestors. Our elders are many: the ancestors, the wisdom keepers, our inner wise one, as well as those who give counsel and pass it on to those who seek them out. They are the healers of old and can come through as ancestors or guides.
These wise ones can slip between the worlds, transforming inner reality into outer reality, reminding us that we can too. They ask us: what do you want? What is your dream and vision? What’s holding you back? What are you willing to give up for something greater, a bigger vision? What needs to be healed? What would you do if you tapped into, and trusted your own wisdom?
Our European sister, the Baba Yaga, Hecate, the Greek Goddess of the Crossroads, is someone I deeply connect with, as is Mother Mary and Archangel Azrael. In my practice one of my specialties is working with those going through transitions and metaphorical crossroads of all kinds. Crossroads are places of power. It’s a place where we can give an offering of gratitude, or petition, or prayer.
At this time of the year the veil is thin, a time when we celebrate and honor our ancestors. There are many ways we can do this, for example by changing up our altars or creating a sacred space where we can display pictures of our loved ones, friends, pets, and adding things around it that they loved in this life, along with candles, and flowers.
The Mediumship Messages That Matter The Most
After the passing of a loved one, many people turn to psychic mediums for confirmation that their deceased loved ones have transitioned safely into the Spirit realm.
Typically, during a mediumship reading our deceased loved ones will relay evidence through the psychic medium to prove that they are the ones communicating from the Other Side. This may include references to jewelry, or other personal possessions, they have left behind; mentions of the things they enjoyed while in the living; places they used to love going to; shared family memories; as well as very specific personal information, like their first or last name, date of birth and passing, and so on.
It’s always very rewarding to create this psychic link to connect with a deceased loved, because much information can flow through in such a short amount of time. Sometimes our loved ones offer guidance and advice to better our lives, and even predictions about forthcoming events in our lives.
Some mediumship clients are concerned that they did not get the opportunity to say goodbye, or show their love and gratitude to a loved one while they were still in this life. Some clients are also curious about opinions their deceased loved ones may have regarding current issues in their life.
For example, if there is family conflict about an inheritance, they may want to know how the deceased loved one feels about it, and what advice they may have to offer on the matter. Most of the time the departed loved one will encourage the family to strive for peace, compassion and forgiveness, but the rest of the decisions are usually left up to those in the living.
The material things we are so attached to in this life, are typically of no interest to our deceased loved ones. They have moved on from this material world, and have more important matters to address when they communicate during a mediumship reading. Our deceased loved one want us to know they’re okay, but in my experience what seems to be most important to them is our spiritual growth while we are here. I can’t be sure of why this is, but it seems to have to do with lineage work.
Embrace The Many Blessings Of Autumn
As we approach autumn and transition through yet another season of beauty and wonder, let us reflect on our place within this most magnificent Universe. This beautiful time of the year is sometimes overlooked for its lack of summer and winter adventure. As it is neither hot nor cold, autumn brings us balance and provides us with the perfect climate for ‘cooling off.’
Metaphysically, this a period for each of us to step back and become more introspective, acknowledging the blessings that have been placed at our feet. This is also a time to peel away the old, to make room for the new. It is a time of self-renewal at a deeper level, that will guide us through the winter of our lives and ultimately into the newness of spring.
Science teaches that the cycles of the seasons occur as a result of our planet tilting on its axis, as well as its orbit around the sun. As the axis faces the Sun, our respective hemisphere celebrates the warmth of summer, while the hemisphere tilting in the opposite direction, away from the Sun, welcomes winter. This seasonal change, in turn, makes our days shorter and our temperatures cooler.
We can further observe other changes within the natural world around us, as vegetation slows down, trees lose their leaves, and animals scurry to prepare their nests and dens for winter’s dearth. But autumn is also a season of vast abundance, with the harvesting of a plethora of crops, especially here in North America, where much of the world’s staples ripen and fall at our feet.
Tarotscopes October 2019
ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 20)
Ace of Swords
The Samurai say that once a sword has been drawn it cannot be re-sheathed until it has tasted blood. This could apply to you and what you confront and resolve this month Aries. Once you’ve made up your mind exactly what needs to be done or said there’s no going back, only forward. Use your newfound ability to ‘cut to the heart of the matter’ to take you where you may have wanted to be for some time. Don’t allow this opportunity to slip away.
TAURUS (Apr 21 – May 21)
Ace of Wands
If you’ve anxiously been awaiting the ‘green light’ to look for a new job, start a business or a new relationship Taurus, then October is your month to go. You find the spark that has been absent until now to light the way forward to achieving what you’ve set your heart and mind on for so long. Banish any feelings of self-doubt and remember, if you don’t ask you don’t get! Make this your mantra and prepare to enjoy what comes next.