inner voice
A Message From Grandmother Moon
The Moon is traditionally revered as a beloved relative by the Anishinaabe peoples, a large group of culturally-related indigenous people in the United States and Canada. She is known as Nookomis, or ‘My Grandmother.’ Throughout the ages the elders of Ojibwe, one of the largest tribes of the Anishinaabe, shared with younger generations the creation story of their people.
The legend begins with Manitou, the Great Spirit, who created the Universe by dreaming it into existence. Manitou then decided he wanted to create a special creature like himself who could also dream, imagine and create. But he could not accomplish this on his own. He needed the help of the divine feminine energy of Geezhigo-Quae, the Sky Woman.
So, he ascended to her in the sky and asked her to be the mother of his children. She agreed and came down to earth to give birth to twins on the back of a Great Turtle. She named the boy and the girl ‘Anishinaabe,’ meaning ‘human’ or ‘person’ born from the mind of the Creator.
Before she returned to her home in the sky, Manitou gave her a new name: Nookomis, the Great Mother of the Anishinaabe. Grandmother Moon now lives in the sky world as a nurturing, protective energy watching over her many grandchildren by providing light and reassurance in the darkest of nights.
During my meditation today, I received a message from Grandmother Moon, which I am to carry forward myself this year and share with others who also wish to embrace her guidance. The message I am to share is simply this:
You Don’t Have To Be Perfect
Whenever we are focused on a task at hand, whether it is career, business or personal, we tend to focus on our mistakes and worry about what we may be doing wrong. Will it meet expectations? Are we good enough? The loud voice of perfectionism in our ego mind is often saying, “You did not do it right, you did not do enough…you are not enough.”
But constantly striving for perfection and beating ourselves up when we cannot meet those impossible expectations, sabotages the very thing we are trying to achieve. It impacts every part of our lives and also affects people around us, including our friends, coworkers, family and life partners.
Setting unrealistic standards for ourselves and others leaves us constantly feeling disappointed in ourselves and let down by others, over and over again. The perfectionism we are striving for becomes front and center in our in relationships, our careers, our health and our overall well-being. The result is anxiety, low self-esteem, fear of failure, depression, and broken relationships.
Failed perfectionism leads us to constantly measuring our worth against others, and vulnerable to the opinions, criticisms, and judgments of others. Perfectionists are very concerned about what others will think or say.
Striving for perfection is also about a need for control, so that our lives and those we care about will work out perfectly as we had planned. But contrary to popular belief, perfectionism does not lead to lasting success and fulfillment.
Intuitive Breathwork For Inner Guidance
Our angels and spirit guides never want to see us feeling down or suffering, whether it is emotionally, physically, mentally, or spiritually. They are always there to celebrate the good times with us, but they are also there to support and guide in our worst times. Spirit simply loves us unconditionally, no matter what is going on.
I strongly recommend taking a few minutes tevery day to shut out the noise of the world, as well as your own negative self-talk, to be still and open yourself to inner guidance from spirit. Go within to listen to spirit. Shift your awareness out of your heart and mind and into your gut to find your inner spiritual truth.
I speak to my guides daily as part of my spiritual practice. I usually ask them what they recommend I accomplish today, or what direction would be most beneficial for my highest good. I always receive an answer.
Mostly it comes through as a clear inner knowing or gut feeling. At times I receive it as a vivid thought, or an inspired idea, or a clairvoyant glimpse of something or someone significant that will cross my path.
I find get the best results with the answers I get from spirit after a few minutes of my tried and trusted breathwork exercise. I do the same preparation when reading for others and I also use it at times to clear energy blockages from my chakras.
It only takes about five minutes and is something that anyone can do daily to increase spiritual awareness and decrease inner noise and mental clutter. I have seen many of my clients thrive once they included this technique in their daily practice.
Pay Attention To Your Psychic Intuitions
My psychic abilities were evident from a young age. For example, I remember ‘knowing’ beforehand that I was going to have a new teacher’s at school when I was just five years old, while nobody had said a word about it to me.
I often knew days in advance when certain children’s TV program would be broadcast before I could read schedules in newspapers or magazines. I also knew in advance when next I was next going to see my favorite cousin again, even though he lived on the other side of the country and his family had no immediate plans of visiting.
When I was a teenager, I remember causing a commotion with a local hairstylist. I had told her that she would meet a Scottish guy who was a widower and that he would ask her out on a date. A few weeks later, much to her amazement, she did.
We all have some level of psychic awareness. Our intuition is a communication channel through which God, Source, Spirit, the Divine guides us in the right direction along our earthly journey.
Have you ever ignored a hunch or a gut feeling, but that little voice inside just wouldn’t go away? I bet you regretted it later. It is never a good idea to disregardstrong gut feelings and nagging intuitions. It is usually spirit alerting you to something that requires your attention or immediate action. I learned this in a profound way some 42 years ago, when I prevented a child in a buggy from being blown in front of an oncoming vehicle.
About 12 years ago, my brother sadly suffered a stroke, which he thankfully recovered from. The evening it happened, I remember sensing that he may be in some kind of distress or danger. I did not know for sure exactly what it was, but I felt he was not doing well.
We Should Be More Like The Turtle
Most people seldom give themselves permission to take a breather and just relax. As a hypnotherapist, I often see clients for stress relief sessions. In this case, they usually feel it is more justified for them to take some time out, because they are paying for a form of professional healthcare. After all, they made an appointment for the session and their doctor referred them. So, it must be okay.
Many people cannot even relax on a vacation! They feel they absolutely must do all the tourist things, even if they are tired, or the money they spent of the trip will be wasted. Or they feel compelled to spring clean the hotel room, instead of lying on the beach. Only to feel they need a second vacation to recover from the first vacation once they return home.
In the good old days, folks used to simply take a ‘joy ride’ somewhere with no real purpose or destination in mind. They did it purely for the enjoyment and the adventure. It was a standing joke in my family that if you chose to get in a car with my dad, you had better have the entire day off, because you never knew where you would wind up or what time you would get back home.
My kids still reminisce about our family taking a ride during the holidays to see all the Christmas lights and decorated homes. We used to stop for hot chocolate with marshmallows and everyone received a homemade cinnamon candy cane. It was the tradition.
Today, we live in such a busy, fast-paced world in which we feel guilty for taking time to take care of ourselves. But what is more important: the journey or destination? We all need to rest and restore our body, mind, and spirit on a regular basis. Neglecting one’s self-care is a prescription for poor long-term health, and making bad life choices.
The Intuitive Benefits Of Meditation
Meditation led me to a major spiritual awakening and increased psychic awareness. Meditation allows us to become more spiritually aware, enlightened, and more open to the spirit realm.
When I first started meditating, I would often become distracted or even fall asleep. It used to frustrate me, because I feared I might ever be able to achieve a proper state of meditation. But I persevered and kept trying for a few minutes every night. Eventually, I found that I could get into a meditative state more easily, without losing focus or drifting off. So, be patient and give yourself time in the beginning to get used this different state of consciousness.
Once you become more skilled and meditate frequently, you will soon notice that you are becoming much more intuitive. You will feel more tuned in to other people and your surroundings, and may begin to pick up on more energetic information.
A powerful way to increase your psychic awareness using a meditative state is focus on any point of light or object and then ‘zone out’ as if you are daydreaming. I like to practice by focusing on a silver picture frame in my bedroom. A crystal or candle flame are also good options.
Once you have become good at entering the meditative state by focusing on something, try to do it when you are out and about. You may begin to notice that people and objects look somewhat ‘hazy,’ as if they have a glare around them. This is actually the aura or energy field of the object or person.
With frequent mindful meditation your metaphysical awareness will become more heightened over time. In a state of daily meditative awareness, it feels as if God, Source, Spirit, the Universe begins to speak to you in secret.
Getting The Answer When Spirit Speaks
People have told me over the years that they never hear spirit, or that their guides do not speak to them at all. This is simply not true. Spirit speaks to all of us daily. Spirit is never the problem; we are! It is up to us to be more aware, to pay attention and listen, and then to follow the guidance, heed the warnings, or implement the answers.
In my experience, this is usually due to a lack of spiritual awareness, and sometimes also based in fear. Our spirit guides and angels are not to be feared. They are there to bring you to a place of receiving clarity on what you should be doing with your life and what steps to take to make the right decisions or choices as you move forward.
Another problem I find is the tendency of some people to ask spirit a question and when they do not like the answer, to continue asking the same question, repeatedly, hoping that spirit will eventually give them the answer they want…and not the truth intended for their highest good.
This happens especially with clients who consult with numerous psychics. They will keep calling different readers, hoping to eventually find someone who will give them the answer they are hoping to hear. Or they will repeat the same question during a reading by asking it in different ways, in the hopes of changing the outcome of the reading.
In these cases, the actual question is usually not really the issue at hand. What more often truly matters is why there is the need to ask the same thing over and over again? Where is the obsession coming from? What is causing this persistent state of denial and self-delusion? Only once the person’s true motivation is unraveled and addressed, will they be able to accept the truth and move forward.