emotional challenges
My Past Life Nightmare In Hexham, England
My friends have a running joke that no event with me can ever be just a normal, everyday experience. Such was my notorious visit to Hexham, England.
I used to have a friend for many years who I knew to be kind and generous. She is a talented singer and we met while performing in a musical together. We were never close friends. Instead, we kept in contact and exchanged birthday presents, but rarely talked or saw each other in person.
At one point she was going through a difficult time. She had ended several friendships, was feeling lonely, had financial problems, and desperately hoped to meet a special guy. Then she invited me to take a special trip with her to Hexham, England. She owned an international timeshare and offered to use it for the two of us for our holiday accommodation in Hexham. Although we shared the costs, she also insisted on handling all the flight bookings, transportation and other arrangements. We had a very good relationship, so it never occurred to me that all of this might later become a major issue between us.
It was a long, 13-hour flight. When we arrived at the airport, sniffer dogs held back by airport employees ran up to us with rabid looks in their eyes. They were barking loudly; it was really terrifying. Neither one of us drank, used drugs, or had ever committed any crime. In fact, she is a devote Seventh Day Adventist. So, being targeted by security dogs was an out of the norm experience for us. The customs officials took us into a backroom and thoroughly searched our baggage. I have also never experienced this before. Of course, they found nothing. I was later informed that do not often receive American visitors in Hexham, so they were therefore instantly suspicious about us.
We then found a taxi and transferred to our timeshare accommodation. To make matters worse, our visit was during an outbreak in the area of Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also known as ‘mad cow disease.’ Everywhere we went our shoes and the wheels of the vehicles we travelled in had to be sanitized with some awful, toxic spray. Not a fun way to start a vacation.
Start Your Healing Journey Today
Yesterday afternoon, I decided to take the bus to the discount grocery store in my area. They are well-known for the best prices in town. When I came out of the store there was a storm brewing. Waiting for my bus ride back, the mounting storm grew worse. Intense lightning strikes were soon followed by pouring rain. I was a little distressed, as my groceries were getting soaked.
But I was not afraid.
Before my journey, I placed an uncut amethyst cabochon around my neck, and also donned a more traditional amethyst ring. Amethyst stabilizes the crown chakra, the highest portal that connects us to the Universe.
A year ago, when I moved into my current apartment, I was still very fearful of thunderstorms, especially living on the top floor of my apartment building. My remedy at that time was diffusing high-value essential oils, such as frankincense and sandalwood.
Years prior to my body-mind-spirit recovery journey, I was so intensely scared of storms that I had to have the news on in the basement of my ex-husband’s house.
It is by tapping into such personal conquests of my own fears, that I hold sacred every client’s concern. Worries about love and relationships, job security, and many other life challenges abound in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. But by remembering my own intense traumas and self-empowerment journey, I can embrace their life stressors. I don’t judge their fears and worries. I only step in their shoes through my memory portal.
Learning about the chakras and aura, after a life changing psychic reading that set the wheels in motion for my spiritual awakening journey nearly ten years ago, I started the courageous process of clearing my severely obstructed spirit. I’m not 100% of where I need to be yet in every aspect of my spirituality, but I do have a solid track record now to look back upon.
Who’s To Say If It’s Good, Or Bad?
Who’s to say if it’s good, or bad? There is a wise Buddhist children’s story I often read to my son that answers this question.
A young boy tells his father in a panicked, desperate tone, that his horse has gone missing. He is obviously very distraught and terrified he will never see his horse again.
The father says, “Who is to say that this situation is good, or bad?”
The son, of course, is confused. How could the loss of his horse not be a bad thing?
They go out into the woods to search for the horse. After many long days, they eventually find the horse. It has since made friends with a wild horse.
The father turns to the son and says, “See? Now you have two horses!”
But on the way back home the son stumbles and injures his leg. Again, he is miserable and terribly distraught. He tells his dad this is the worst possible thing that could happen. Now he will not be able to ride his horse.
His father says, “Who is to say that this situation is good, or bad?”
Of course, the son is perplexed and cannot figure out how injuring his leg could possibly be a good thing?
A week later, some of the son’s friends come to visit him. They tell him that they have been commanded to head out to war, along with all men over the age of 18. They tell the son he is lucky to have broken his leg, because now he would not be required to go to war with them.
Over the years, I have known many people, especially energy healing clients and Yoga students, who had suffered serious illness or injury…who later said it actually saved their lives, or brought them significant personal and spiritual growth, joy, fulfilment, and even bliss.
Find Your Calm In Crystals
It’s been a stressful couple of years for everyone, and stress-relief can be hard to accomplish. Stress, if untreated, can lead to a host of physical and emotional symptoms. But dealing with the stress of everyday life can be made easier with the right crystals in your spiritual practice.
When starting to work with these amazing crystals and stones, consider this: what causes stress in your life in the first place? Usually, it happens when we feel out of control and our energies aren’t properly centered and grounded. Earth-toned crystals such as smoke quartz (associated with the Earth element for stability) and tourmaline (release of negative energies) bring us to a baseline of positive energies to de-stress.
Soothing colored colors like blue (chrysocolla, aquamarine, lapis lazuli, larimar), violet (rhodonite, amethyst, tanzberry quartz, lepidolite), and white and grey (scolecite, howlite, agate) are traditionally associated with tranquillity and serenity. The cooler hues reflect the elements of water, or emotions, and air, our thoughts.
If you use some of these stress-relieving crystals in your meditations, imagine them help tame the runaway thoughts or feelings which cause so much turmoil. In the chakras, these are the Crown Chakra (thoughts) and Third Eye Chakra (emotions, psychic intuition), which are also represented by blues and purples.
Sometimes stress is less generalized and more related to one specific area in life. Which area is this for you? Knowing will help select the best crystal for your needs. If you’re overcome with panic attacks, amethyst (a well-known stress reliever) or blue sodalite (the Stone of Peace) are good choices.
Perhaps you’re having difficulty with communication at work or in a relationship, so blue lace agate (opening channels) or lapis lazuli (confidence) will work better for you. The possibilities for your crystals are endless: you might want to keep them with you in your pocket, in a necklace or bracelet, or create a special arrangement in your home or office.
Leave Some Space For Grace
When I read energy, it is shown to me in terms of the strength of that energy. In other words, the strength of the energy is directly tied to its manifestation here in the physical realm. As above, so below.
When we are angry or in conflict, we are often heavily invested in simply being right. And the more the argument evolves… the more virulent the energy becomes. This is never a hopeful, healthy precursor to manifesting better things in our life.
Fortunately, there is the powerful spiritual and emotional energy that love and forgiveness can also manifest in our lives, to counteract the impact of negative emotional energies.
A sister to the energies of love and forgiveness that is not always afforded equal honor, bit is equally powerful is the gift of grace. You may have heard of ‘grace under pressure?’ Essayist William Hazlitt defines grace as “the outward expression of the inward harmony of the soul.”
So, what is grace? Webster’s Dictionary defines grace as both a noun and a verb. Noun: unmerited favor, kindness undeserved. Verb: to confer dignity or honor on, or to add beauty to.
Grace is the ‘breath’ we take between anger and forgiveness. It is a choice to be silent, hold our tongue, and open the door for peace to enter into a challenging situation.
Angels naturally possess infinite grace, and many times the angels I work with have to remind me to hold my tongue, think before I speak, and simply be silent and listen to the person I am angry with. Being heard even if we are not understood is very validating. It says to the other person, “you are important to me, what you are feeling and thinking matters to me”. What you give you will receive.
Keeping The Family Out Of Your Love Life
Family and our relatives have a huge impact on our romantic lives, whether we realize it or not. We bring so much from the way we were raised into our love relationships and marriages.
But having had a difficult childhood does not necessarily set us up for challenges and failure in our relationships. In fact, for those who are self-aware it can be an advantage of choosing not to bring the toxic drama of your childhood home into a current relationship.
For example, if you saw your father treat your mother without respect, you might set your mind to never allowing that happen in your own relationship. This kind of courage and personal responsibility can break the cycle.
We all have things that happen in childhood things that happen that are out of our control, it is all in how you deal with them that forms us as adults. We have a choice always.
The other aspect is culture and the values and customs with which we were raised. Depending on the circumstances it can have a significant impact on our relationships. Once again it is a choice how we want to handle it. Do we follow the family traditions, or not?
It takes courage and an open mind to march to your own drum. Standing up for what you believe can also go a long way. Sometimes this is vital to ensure a healthy, happy relationship that will last.
Of course, the biggest challenge for most couples is having the family up in your relationship business. Do your relatives influence your decisions and interfere in your relationship? Navigating a relationship or marriage successfully in this day and age is challenging enough.
Conscious Conflict Resolution
Dealing with tension and conflict is one of the most challenging dynamics in friendships and relationships. We have all found ourselves in a shouting match with someone we love, or concluding an argument feeling awful and unresolved.
Getting to the root of an issue without all the drama sometimes feels impossible. But conflict resolution is a skill, and one that can be honed with practice and patience.
The following strategies are helpful in shifting from overreaction to consciously seeking resolution when faced with difficult conversations or conflict scenarios.
Pause For Self-Awareness
Pause and identify what you are feeling. Step back from the feeling and merely observe it, as well as any thoughts that come along with the feeling.
Recognize that ‘you’ are not the feeling; it is a simply a sensation you are experiencing. Often people will say they are ‘angry,’ but words are powerful and this indicates that you have identified with the anger. You are actually saying: ‘I am anger.’
Do not choose to ‘be anger.’ You are merely experiencing anger. Shifting this mindset can help to separate your rational mind, from the emotional sensation of anger (or hurt, or whatever feeling you may be experiencing).
Once you are able to observe your emotions and thoughts in this way, it becomes much easier to avoid reacting from them. By not reacting, you give yourself the opportunity to think about your response first, and consciously choose your course of action.