balance
Honor Your Most Magnificent Self
Taking time to experience the wonder of the final days of summer truly is medicine for the soul. My favorite summer activities include dipping my toes in a nearby lake or ocean, feeling the healing energy of the natural quartz sand against my skin, and finding renewal in the essence of the season.
Too often we move through our days and weeks completely engulfed in work, and the chatter of the bustling world. Our lives tend to be caught up in the motion of the world, with little time for self-care and centering.
Many of us awake in the mornings to the national news that often leaves us drained even before our day begins. We shower, have breakfast, down a cup of coffee, and anxiously show up for our families and our careers.
Many hours later, we return to our homes, where we are met with even more news via network and cable outlets, competing with their own spin on identical breaking stories. We reach for our smart phones or laptops and headlines scroll across our screens. When is enough truly enough?
In light of the endless social and environmental concerns permeating our planet, our species is globally experiencing stress like never before. But surely the Divine Presence within our amazing Universe would not leave us stranded on Planet Earth without the tools to transcend stress and what seems like utter chaos.
Keeping Your Heart Chakra Open
My heart chakra is usually always open. I find that when I open my heart center, it helps me to have a clear mind and be of service to others.
It is very helpful to me in this day and age, because so many people come to me with questions about love, advice for marriages and friendships, really all areas of life. So, for me, to not have my heart chakra open would make it very difficult to do my work.
Every reader is different in the way the work. Personally, I have to constantly be mindful to take time to meditate, and to make time every morning to declutter my mind of useless thoughts.
The best way for me to have a decluttered mind, and be open to dialogue with spirit, is to do my daily heart chakra meditation. I do this by holding my rose quartz crystal, while I simply sit quietly. I then visualize myself with my heart open and connecting with all of humankind, and the planet. It is only after doing this that I will feel ready to do readings.
I was driving down the street the other day, and realized my heart chakra was not open. I was stressed, and worrying about various things, causing myself to have a negative domino effect in my energy flow. As soon as I realized this, I stopped the car. I literally pulled over to the side of the road, and thought about what was causing my heart chakra to be so blocked.
The Spiritual Cleansing Of Negative Energies
Negative energies and dark entities are sometimes misunderstood and misused concepts in spirituality. The term ‘negative energy’ is typically thought of as an ‘evil force’ that is intending harm to you, or something sinister that lies hidden in your home. But this is often not the case. I have a somewhat different view of this.
I believe much of the modern day fear and superstition around ‘dark entities’ may be due to the misunderstanding of old texts scribed in a style that may be too cryptic for today’s language and worldview. There are many instances in both Christian and Buddhist religious literature, for example, in which ‘demons’ are mentioned, but in my opinion they are referring to these phenomena in a poetic manner, as a metaphor.
One clear example of this is the so-called ‘Noonday Demon,’ or ‘Midday Devil’ found in Psalm 90:6 of the Hebrew Bible. It is a demonic figure believed to be active around noon every day to make people restless, distracted and excitable, causing its victims to neglect their work or duties. Well, we all know that sluggish feeling we tend to get after a lunch hour. The digestive process takes quite a bit of our energy, and spikes in our insulin levels, as well as neurotransmitters like serotonin and melatonin, doesn´t help to keep our focus on a specific task.
The solution proposed in traditional texts for this ‘demonic activity’ does not, however, involve exorcisms with Holy Water or other radical metaphysical interventions. Instead what is recommend is mere tenacity and patience. It is evidently more of a normal, physical challenge that one has to overcome, instead of it being a ‘psychic attack by the devil.’
The Spiritual Symbolism Of The Pelican
When a bird flies directly onto your path, or you see images or photos of the same bird repeatedly, within a relatively short space of time, this is often a spiritual sign that the energy of this bird is calling or guiding you.
I live on the coast and I am lucky to be able to watch various seabirds, and encounter other birds drawn to the local water ways. The pelican is one bird that has specifically caught my attention. The day I was inspired to paint this amazing bird, he literally strutted down the hallway of my home!
Even to this day, pelican continues to literally soar into my experience whenever I need to draw on his wisdom. Even though they seem large and clumsy, there is something gentle and caring about their nature. If pelican has waddled or soared onto your path, let his wisdom and symbolism guide your way.
I started building my connection with the pelican’s energy by observing and sketching the local birds. Through the process I found a sense of awe for the pelican’s beauty, which was a shift in my perception, as I had never before considered them to be very attractive birds.
I also noticed they followed a set routine, and similar flight paths, depending on the weather. It inspired me to become more aware of my own patterns and habits. At this time my work schedule had become somewhat unbalanced and dysfunctional, without me being aware of the impact. Pelican taught me that it is vital for my self-care to ensure that I work within a routine and structure that better supports my creative outlets and energy levels.
The Healing Energy Of Plants
Now that so many of us are spending more time in our homes, it has become even more important to consider the principles of Feng Shui.
The energy flow in our home affects us in many ways, including our psychical well-being and mental health. One of the easiest, fastest, least expensive and most efficient ways of improving the energy of our home, is the use of plants. Plants add oxygen to the atmosphere and filter toxins from the air, making breathing easier and our environment much more pleasant and healthy.
Plants also have a healing energy that most people can sense. The color green resonates with the heart chakra energy center and it promotes calm serenity and healing, peaceful energy. Adding plants is an easy, affordable way to invite peace and tranquility into your daily life.
The life force in plants will raise the energetic vibration of any room. Plants in the bedroom can improve sleep, for example, while plants in the living room and kitchen can help to absorb radiation from electronic devices. Plants are a quick, inexpensive way of improving the energy in your home and balancing the Feng Shui.
How To Be Patient In Times Of Crisis
Just about every day, we face some sort of obstacle, delay in communication, or a situation that doesn’t go our way. And in times of an unexpected crisis, our first response is too assume the worst, or panic.
Negative feelings can creep up and overtake the mind, sending us into fits of rage, sadness or disillusionment, due to the lack of patience in surrendering our control and allowing those emotions to pass with total acceptance.
When we become impatient, our entire being is out of balance and the auric energy field becomes muddy and chaotic. Agitation and strain then become the primary motivator, and there is a loss of self-awareness within.
Impatience never makes things happen faster, or better, and the worst way this can manifest is when we try to force an issue, or get a person to instantly say yes, or go along with our vision.
Whenever impatience or uncomfortable feelings arise, it’s vital to make a conscious effort to redirect that negativity and nip it in the bud, so you can stay calm during the toughest times. Here are some strategies to help alleviate impatience when your feeling triggered.
Breathing
Take several deep breaths from your stomach and exhale out the stress, focusing on your third eye as you release your breath. Think of something funny or inspirational so you don’t unleash unnecessary aggression.
Review The Day For Better Sleep
Many of us are having trouble getting enough sleep these days. Even if we are currently not going many places and meeting a lot of people during the Covid-19 pandemic, we are still experiencing a lot of stress and disruption, which upsets our minds and unsettles our bodies.
In more normal circumstances walking outside might be a great way to relax in the evening, but even that might not be enough as to allow our body-mind to reach a fully natural balance.
There are also many medical resources for better sleep, of which the most common is the use of various sleeping tablets and herbal remedies. But sleep medications and even medicinal herbs require some caution and care, as they are not always harmless, and the side-effects may differ from person to person.
Some Yoga breathing exercises and meditations may also be useful, as they help balance the blood-flow and deepen the breathing. This is not a visualization technique, nor it is a ritual, but a simple process that may aid your sleep.
There are also shamanic techniques that include breathing, but the core idea remains the same: there is energy locked in stressful or painful events of the day, and the way to release it, is to remember them with a calm mind and a healing intention, maybe even a healing prayer, mantra or meditation.
Recapitulation, as technique taught by Deepak Chopra, is the process of reviewing your day, from beginning to end, every night before you go to sleep. It means to go through the events of the day, and digest mentally what has happened, instead of suppressing your thoughts and feelings. If we try to distract ourselves continuously, we might find we feel tired, but we remain restless.