calm
The True Meaning Of Inner Peace
What does the word ‘peace’ mean to you? Well, the true meaning of this word came to me recently in an unusual way, while I was doing a psychic reading.
The client I was reading for told me at one point in our conversation that he was finally “at peace.” All of a sudden, I felt as if I was sucked into a time warp. When he said the word peace in that context, it was like my own past went into this time machine and emerged in the present. It felt to me as if spirit was using this client’s words to get my attention about my own personal life.
In recent years things have been difficult in my own family life, especially around Christmas, because I have not seen my son in many years. It has been challenging for me and everyone around me.
I made the classic mistake. We tend to think that if we focus very hard on avoiding something negative, we might block it or prevent it from entering our life. We believe this is the best way to control the outcome of what could happen to us in the future. Ironically, this is often the reason why we attract more negative things into our lives.
We also tend to think that ‘being at peace’ only means to eliminate and overcome stress in our lives. Or we think it merely helps us to sleep better. I have always known that if I try to live in a more a stress-free world in my own mind, I would feel better about my life in general. But I never considered peace to be a tool to use for finding a better way to deal with not seeing my son.
In life we have many potholes to avoid and many mountains to climb, and if we look to truly have peace in our life we need to come to place of deeper acceptance and letting go, instead of merely trying to be stress-free. True inner peace is a powerful medicine that everyone can use every day.
Being Relaxed Is Good
It is difficult for most of us to enjoy a few moments of deep relaxation and inner peace. The many pressures of modern life seldom affords us the bliss of such a ‘luxury.’
A relaxed mindset if vital for our spiritual well-being and soul growth. When we are in a relaxed state, we are better able to channel our higher self and be aware of what our angels and guides are saying to us. But when we are inundated with the chaos of the world, we cannot connect with that higher frequency and we miss all the good things spirit has to offer.
So, I asked spirit what busy humans can do to be more relaxed more often. I received the answer from a cashier who, after I had paid said goodbye with a smile I will never forget and said, “Being relaxed is good.”
I just nodded and said, “Yes, yes indeed it is.”
In our busy lives we forget how important it is to take some time out for self-care. And when we do, we realize what we have been missing!
I believe the best starting point is healthy sleep. Taking the time to get a good night’s rest empowers us to wake up and find that life doesn’t seem quite as difficult as it seemed the day before. Good, adequate sleep helps us see life through the lens of a more relaxed mindset.
Being well-rested is good.
A few additional lifestyle choices that are not so difficult to achieve can further enhance a relaxed state of mind. These include healthy eating and proper nutrition, exercise, taking warm baths, meditating, reading a good book before bedtime, and so on. Continue reading
Transitioning With Grace
Autumn always awakens my awareness of transitions. Not only does the entire scenery change color, but each individual leaf on every tree is in a constant shift of shades of greens, golds, yellows, oranges, and reds. With every shifting shade and combination of them, the pattern of the palette continuously alters too.
Then, of course, there is the falling of the leaves – the gradual transition from tree to ground, from full foliage to bareness in various new measures day by day. The rise and set of the sun, and the length of the night and light incrementally inch through their own thresholds as well.
Like the changing season, life is full of transitions. From the moment the soul enters the womb, an endless sequence of them begins. The body develops in a rapid succession of changes, then carries the soul from womb to world.
In the world, the embodied soul then undergoes transition through various ages and stages, growing from infant to toddler to child to adolescent to adult, until gradually winding down to leave the body behind and proceed to the next one or world.
In between, you and I – the embodied souls – may face a multitude of additional transitions in relationships, careers, residences, levels of consciousness, and more. Such transitions – even the best of them – are not easy. They naturally incorporate intervals of instability in the liminal spaces between here and there. Transitions entail shedding, releasing, letting go of the old that was, and then birthing and rebirthing the next and new phase that will be. They empty us out and fill us up, again and again. Transitions are not easy; they may even make us feel queasy!
So, how can we move through the endless array of life’s transitions gracefully? As with all things, there are probably as many ways as there is individuality among people. What I share are simply some of the ones I have found especially helpful.
Reconnect And Recharge Your Soul
What a crazy place the world is right now! First wave, second wave, third wave. New virus, old virus, mutant virus. To be vaccinated, or not? Fear, chaos, anxiety. Misinformation, conflicting information, false information. What do we trust? Who do we turn to for guidance?
And the pandemic is not our only concern. Scientists are warning us that the polar ice caps are melting faster than they had anticipated, as global warming causes climate change. The oceans are drowning in our plastic waste and animal species are going extinct.
Whatever will be next? Will things ever get better, or will they get worse? Are we worse off than our ancestors? Where will it all end? How do we center ourselves in all the chaos and drama, and foster a sense of inner peace and faith amidst all the upheaval?
The one aspect of this world I completely trust is Mother Nature. The Earth Mother, Terra, Tellus. Our beloved Gaia. Like any other maternal energy, she continually finds a way to cope. She readjusts, heals and rejuvenates.
I believe the planet will find a way to heal, restore and recover. Our Earth Mother has the innate power to sustain herself, despite the assault and abuse by her thankless human offspring. Unlike us feeble humans, Mother Nature does not resort to hysterics, fear and panic.
I believe there is a divine understanding that at different times particular events and changes will unfold, as the world evolves its own destiny.
The other aspect of life that I have complete faith in is my soul, my spirit, my higher self, that remains steadfast within me regardless of what goes on in the outside world.
Find The Eye Of The Storm
Your relationship is falling apart, you have lost your job, your finances are in a shambles, you suffer an unexpected loss due to a global pandemic. Chaos comes in many forms and at times it touches multiple areas of our lives at once.
The ripple effect starts in one area and then spreads insidiously, until every aspect of your life begins to look very bleak. Your emotional reserves are drained, confusion sets in and you feel stuck, powerless…reeling from the shock.
When things turn bad in your life this way it can have the force and power of a hurricane or tornado. It can be devastating.
Perhaps you sensed it coming. Your intuitive radar was ‘pinging’, sensing imminent danger, or maybe it caught you completely off-guard. Either way, the results are the same.
Now what? How do you get your bearings, recover your sense of direction, recharge your battery and get the inner strength to move forward?
All tropical storms have a center, or an eye. The stronger the storm the calmer the eye, which is characterized by lighter winds and a clearer sky. So, take a breath – a deep breath – and find your center. Find the eye of your storm.
Making decisions from fear or chaos always increases the strength and ferocity of the storm. Remember, all storms do pass. The beauty of life lies in the newness and change each moment offers us.
The Spiritual Power Of Sweet Solitude
In a meditation circle the other day, there were many of us who got the same message from spirit: that solitude is of vital importance for soul growth and for tapping into our spiritual well-being and psychic potential.
It reminded me of my childhood. I was expanding my psychic awareness and started tapping into my psychic abilities at a very young age. I remember vividly spending time in a tree house, meditating and feeling so free and relaxed.
As I grew older, I began recording my psychic perceptions and spiritual insights in a journal, which at the time I simply thought of as ‘my diary.’ Reading back in later years, I discovered that I had unknowingly recorded many predictions that came to pass.
I would spend a lot of time in solitude and quiet contemplation. I would focus on a certain things or persons that were important to me at the time, and I would then receive intuitive flashes about what needed to be done, as well as what would come to pass, or not.
Discovering the power of solitude and quiet contemplation at such a young age made all the difference in my psychic development and personal spiritual growth. I can hardly imagine where I would be without it today, had I not cottoned on to this in my youth.
If you can spend just a few minutes in sweet solitude every day, or even a few times a day, you will boost your mental and physical health and reduce your stress levels. You will find you will hear your body better for what it needs for healing and well-being.
Spiritual practice in solitude will also empower you to become more creatively inspired and you’ll receive more insightful messages and guidance from spirit. If you want to connect with your intuition and psychic abilities, it is vital that you spend more time in alone in meditation.
Take A Moment To Breathe!
In today’s harried, hurried world we all too often go through life just going through the motions. In our actions and in our words, day in and day out, we rarely take the time to stop and smell the roses. We get up, we go to work, we take care of what we think needs our attention the most, often neglecting ourselves in the process.
Then one day you become burned out. You have no energy to do what you used to be able to do. Your energy seems ‘all clogged up’, rather like a blocked drain, and you can’t breathe. You may feel suffocated. The answer lies in all the excess and adverse energy that you have taken into your body over the years, or over a certain period of time.
Our muscles have what is known as ‘muscle memory’ and we inadvertently have become used to doing what we do, day in and day out. And our bodies remember the feelings. It happens with amputees a lot where they often complain about pain or itching where the missing limb used to be.
It can be triggered by stressful situations, things that bring fear or some sense of trepidation into our lives. Our necks begin to tighten; perhaps your jaw starts to lock up from the stress of not saying what you really want to say. The blocked, burned-out feeling comes from this place of tension and remembered circumstances, and it can be cleared by the power of your breath. We hold so much in psychically that taking some deep cleansing breaths to help us expunge the energy taken on during our daily life.
Do some simple breathing exercises for five minutes when you awake in the morning, to prepare the mind for the day ahead. You will be pleasantly surprised at the results. If you are able to take a break during the middle of your day to practice some additional cognizant breathing, that would be great!