mental clarity
Embracing The Shadow
When I first began to intentionally and consciously walk a spiritual path, I remember doing so because it just felt so right. Every step I took toward ‘enlightenment’ in this lifetime seemed to bring more brightness into my life, and so many more blessings.
In those early days I was really rolling! I was expecting this to be an easy ride – all joy and light and love. It was wonderful.
What I hadn’t expected was the inevitable emergence of my shadow through as a result of all my spiritual work. And it was not something I was going to be comfortable with – admitting I had places of darkness within me, unloved aspects of myself, disowned pieces of my soul which had been abandoned and in such pain.
Through a series of, what seemed like, unfortunate events, I was given opportunities to face my shadow side. Challenges in relationships with friends and loved ones arose. I couldn’t understand it at first, and felt very alone and misunderstood. I was shifting the blame for this onto the people around me, instead of going inward.
Going inward, into the light, was totally okay, but going inward into the darkness was terrifying. My ego-self raised every defense to keep me from going there. Eventually, I could avoid it no longer.
My life at this point had endured tremendous change in the course of only a few years- so much so, that the entire landscape of my existence and the people in it were now different. While many of the changes were positive, the magnitude of the differences between my ‘old life’ and my ‘new life’ forced me into robust self-reflection.
Where did I want to go with my life? What did I want to do? And who was I going to be? I must admit, these were heavy questions, and I absolutely felt the weight of them. In addition, I was healing from a personal loss, and that was taking more time than I wanted it to.
My ‘aha moment’ came when I was lamenting one day about my relationship with my partner. I had identified that I wanted a deeper level of connection, but felt that he was unwilling to meet me there.
Realign Your Spirit This New Year
With the difficult year 2020 finally in our rear-view mirror, it is time to stop for a moment, clear our minds, hearts and spirit, and embrace the hope, happiness, well-being and prosperity that awaits us in the new year. We do not have to carry the pain and chaos of 2020 forward with us.
The first step to achieve this would be to check our alignment body, mind and spirit. Alignment is defined as the “arrangement in a straight line, or in correct or appropriate relative positions,” as well as a “position of agreement or alliance.” Happiness, well-being and abundance becomes blocked for us when we are not in agreement and alliance with our spirit.
Many of us have been in survival mode the past year, instead of in thrive mode. Dramatic changes in our health and wellness, career, business, finances, relationships, family and social life, and our lifestyles in general, can cause our soul energy to go sideways and out of alignment, just like being sideswiped by a car.
If you step off a curb suddenly, fall, twist an ankle, or pull a muscle, it will often put unusual stress on our spine and central nervous system. When the spine is misaligned a myriad of symptoms such as headaches, lower back pain, neck pain and numbness can manifest. Symptoms like these are the body’s way of letting us know something needs to be urgently attended to.
The same holds true for our spiritual well-being. When our energy, mental processes, and emotions begin to run amuck, our spiritual alignment needs to be corrected to regain our balance. Our body, mind and spirit must all be facing the same direction for us to move forward.
Staying in alignment with Spirit enables us to bounce back quickly, stay on course and manifest happiness and prosperity in our lives. Alignment with Spirit is our natural and preferred state, and while we may find ourselves temporarily off for various reasons, we are never too far to come back.
Walking In Faithful Companionship
I live on a winding country road. Every morning and afternoon I drive along it, bringing my son to and from the farm sanctuary, where he dedicates his days and energies to the care of rescued animals.
Frequently, we pass neighbors enjoying a peaceful walk – sometimes with their partners, sometimes with their pets. There is one pair that has particularly captured our attention and admiration. The sight of them this morning especially started the day with a vision of sweetness!
As we came around a curve opening to a long, straight stretch in front of us, the gentle lady and her golden-colored dog were semi-visible in the distance. Backlit by the brilliant sun and morning mist, they would have been difficult to see had it not been for the bright orange vest the precious pooch was wearing.
What was most stunning however, was the way the dog turned towards the owner, sat down, and looked up at her with perfect poise and patience, as we drove around them. Not only was the scene adorable, but it embodied much spiritual wisdom for me.
The first thought for me was how noticeable the love and trust is between them. The woman did not even appear to speak a command to signal her canine companion to ‘sit.’ She just stopped and stood still with her feet together, looking straight ahead.
While it was clear they had developed their rapport and understanding of communication through prior training, it was nonetheless the woman’s energy that stood out the most for me. She was calm, yet clear; gentle, yet firm; and guiding, yet respectful. The impact of her energetic qualities was evident in the demeanor of her dog.
The dog’s energy also bore more than mere obedience. It emanated ease, faith, trust, respect, security, love, loyalty, and more. The pooch knows it is protected, respected, and loved, and reciprocated accordingly.
How Sticky Notes Can Change Your Life
We live in a world where we are bombarded with negativity every day. Whether it comes from social media or the mainstream news, it’s easy to feel like you’re drowning in a sea of negative information and fear-based messages. And the more we are exposed to all this negative input, the more we internalize it, until it becomes part of our self-talk and general state of mind.
Fortunately, the solution to some of life’s most complex challenges can often be found in the most mundane. Enter the simple sticky note! By writing down simple, positive affirmations or slogans on a bunch of sticky notes, and placing them anywhere you will see them frequently, you can significantly change your inner dialogue from constant negativity and nay-saying to one of possibility, hope and optimism.
Choose simple, short affirmations that resonate with who you are, and what you truly want in life. Whether it’s something like, “I am worthy,” or “Love surrounds me,” or even, “I will get that dream job,” it will inspire you to change the narrative and negative self-talk each time you read one of these short statements out loud.
This technique always reminds me of the famous opening scene of the television cartoon, The Simpsons, with Bart Simpson writing a phrase over and over on the chalkboard. There’s actually some method in the madness of this old-fashioned way of disciplining schoolkids. When our brain repeats a word or phrase over and over again, new neural pathways are created with new associations. Saying something once or twice only, we’re just as likely to forget it. But if it’s something we repeat many times, our brain will literally change over time, and so will our patterns of thought, feeling and action.
It’s been shown that establishing a new habit, or making new behavior automatic, takes on average about two months. Try placing your sticky notes in those places you spend most of your time every day: in your workspace, your car, on the bathroom mirror, the kitchen refrigerator, or on your bedside table. The more you see (and repeat) the words written on them, the more you will start to transform your thinking.
Let It Go Like The Leaves Of Fall
Sitting at my living room’s huge picture window this morning, I saw the trees blowing in the wind outside and the colorful leaves that are slowly turning, before they will finally let go of those branches that they were a part of for so long.
The turn of the season is in full swing outside my window and the morning rain has passed. It is a typical fall day here. You really truly never know what you’re going to get with our weather. People often say the weather here is bipolar! We tend to get all the seasons in one day – summer, fall and sometimes even winter, all in one day!
Earlier it was raining outside – a great time for me to sit quietly and indulge in some deep mediation and chakra balancing. I do this to raise my vibration for the day ahead, which will include the channeling of messages for my clients, courtesy of their spirit guides, ancestors and dearly departed loved ones.
After calibrating my energy centers. I invited my main guide to share with me some general spiritual guidance that may benefit all of my clients today. Is there anything that I need to share with them at this time?
I closed my eyes and went in deep. My guide told me to help heal those who need it at the core level in these difficult times. I am to help them to let go of feelings that they have struggled with since childhood, and to replace it with healing light and invite in new, higher vibrations.
Keeping pent-up emotions is causing much dis-ease these days, and it has been hindering many people who will be approaching me today for help, spirit said. I need to plant seeds of healing in their minds and teach them that they have the power to do it too!
Multi-Tasking Does Not Cultivate A Quality Life
I’m sure there has been a time in your life when you may have been too active on a hot summer, day without adequately hydrating, or juggling far too many tasks at once without taking a break. While you may have crossed the finish line, or pleased your boss by checking off all the tasks you completed, your sense of well-being was probably rock bottom, and your nerves frazzled. You possibly also questioned whether or not the best version of yourself showed up for life the next day.
Although many of us have found ways to multi-task our hectic lives, research is increasingly showing that effective multi-tasking is in fact a myth. Working on multiple projects at once doesn’t necessarily make us high achievers, or a successful super humans. Multitasking for most individuals merely replaces quality with quantity, and often leaves us feeling overwhelmed and disconnected from our deeper purpose.
As a spiritualist, I make it a practice not to judge how others achieve their everyday objectives and goals. But I do counsel many people who seem to have traded quantity for quality in their lives, and are missing out on the gift of savoring the sweet taste of personal achievement that is purposely focused and uninterrupted.
While old habits are tough to break, each of us has the innate capacity to build new processes within our mind. Psychological tools, such as Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) for example, can be used to re-program the mind to think differently.
Metaphysics and New Thought spirituality also teaches that through positive thinking we can manifest healthier outcomes in all areas of our lives. Many indigenous peoples also have a long tradition of spiritual practices, such as vision quests, dream interpretation, divination, and rituals and ceremonies, to help seekers find their best path.
Keeping Your Cool In These Stressful Times
This is a stressful time, but my feeling is the Covid-19 pandemic has happened in our world for a reason. It is has been making us take a real long look at what is most important in life. It has been teaching us to not take our daily lives and our loved ones for granted.
The situation has been causing tremendous stress for many of us and has been challenging many relationships. And some of us are dealing better with it than others. If you have been struggling too, then there are some simple self-care strategies that could be helpful if you are feeling overwhelmed by a situation at home.
Start by holding some space for yourself, by carving out some time to just be by yourself, even it is just an hour. Use this time to do whatever makes you happy. If it means doing absolutely nothing, that is fine too! Having some ‘alone time’ helps to declutter your mind, improve your mood and restore your sense of self. If you cannot find peace at home, then go for a walk, or just go get cup of coffee somewhere nearby.
Meditation or quiet contemplation is a wonderful tool to gain a sense of calm and clarity. Take a moment to reflect on whatever may be bothering you, and try to gain a new perspective on the situation. There are always more than one side to a situation, and many tensions and conflicts can be resolved with cool heads and calm discussions.