recreation
A Beginner’s Guide To Forest Bathing
The spiritual healing practice of forest bathing, also known as tree bathing or Shinrin-yoku, is more than just a casual walk in the woods. It’s a conscious, mindful immersion into the living energy of the natural world.
In a time of constant motion and information, nature offers a different kind of wisdom. When you enter the woods with humility and presence, the trees respond. They speak in stillness, they heal without fanfare, and they remind us of the sacredness that lives in all things.
Originating in Japan in the 1980s, Shinrin-yoku was developed as a form of eco-therapy to combat stress, burnout, and disconnection from the land. But long before it became a modern wellness trend, it was an everyday way of life our ancestors took for granted.
At its essence, forest bathing invites you to slow down, breathe deeply, and reconnect with nature as a living, healing presence.
It isn’t about hiking or exercise. There is no goal to achieve. You don’t have to meditate, journal, pray, do or achieve anything at all. Simply being with the trees and plants is enough.
When we stop and listen, we realize the forest has its own language, and it welcomes us into an ancient dialogue of peace and renewal. Trees are masterful purifiers. They filter the air of toxins and breathe out oxygen rich with life force.
When we stand near trees, they seem to do the same with our energy. They absorb some of our anxiety, tension, and fear, and offer us steadiness, grounding, and quiet wisdom in return.
Protect Yourself From Toxic Noise And Psychic Junk
How often do you consider the health of your auric space or personal energy field, which is constantly being bombarded with so much negative energy these days. Are you doing enough to protect yourself?
First and foremost, you need to have healthy boundaries. Each of us needs and deserves to have a safe place, a sense of self-worth, and protection from others. Think about what happens to a beach that is battered constantly by waves. It will wear down and eventually disappear. If you don’t have boundaries, your very identity will be like those grains of sand.
Learning to connect back to the Earth and nature is essential to our well-being. This can be as simple as walking without shoes in a natural space, or by keeping plants in your living space. When we are separate from our natural selves, we lose perhaps the most important part of our soul.
By walking in nature, you are literally reconnecting. Like a lightning bolt discharging energy when it strikes solid ground, you are releasing all the negative energies that accumulate in your body. Take a friend, or walk your dog if you have one.
If these energies, and their associated negative effects, are like frantic little animals in the cage of our bodies, we need to find ways to calm them. Centering rituals using meditation, candles, crystals, or whatever individual tradition you may follow, need to be part of your day, just like meals and baths.
The Sweet Nectar Of Romantic Relationships
The energy of the hummingbird brings immense wisdom to be shared with us. When he appears it is always such a treat, as I have learnt so much from this amazing bird, including about love and romantic relationships.
When the hummingbird comes into my life asking to be painted, my vision blurs. I can then only see my artwork clearly and the brush strokes needed to finish his painting. I have learned that sometimes our own vision needs to become blurred, so that what we are seeking can be shown to us.
I have also learned that the ‘narrowed vision’ of hummingbird is vital to the health and vitality of our relationships, especially those of a romantic nature. When we keep our focus firmly on the present moment and the feelings we share with our partner in this moment, rather than on the negative thoughts, concerns or expectations, we blur out the noise.
This allows for a breaking away from the old energy patterns and lack consciousness that too often govern the roles played out in our relationships. It allows for a simplicity to arise in the communion and communication with our partner.
The hummingbird gathers nectar from the flower through its power of focus and natural instincts. It trusts its own innate nature to choose the flowers that will nourish and feed it. Finding trust in our own feelings and intuition is important, so that our relationships are nourished and allowed to blossom from within.
Finding More Balance In A Busy World
Do you ever feel the busier you become, the harder it is to remain focused and stay in control of everything? Then you are not, I promise you, alone! Sometimes life can seem like you are always juggling and struggling, but not always winning as a result.
As a professional psychic, I have always been of the opinion that if we want something to manifest in the material world, we have to get the inside of ourselves, as well as our lifestyles, balanced and more harmonious first. Otherwise, we would simply attract more chaos.
By putting ourselves in a healthy, positive, and balanced place, we not only draw more abundance to ourselves, but we also achieve a less stressful lifestyle as a result.
This is not just spiritual philosophy; it’s energetic truth. The Universe is always responding to the vibration we emit. When we’re frantic, overextended, or emotionally scattered, we become magnets for more of the same.
But when we take steps to ground ourselves, reconnect with our inner guidance, and honor our natural rhythms, something beautiful happens: the energy around us begins to shift.
This shift isn’t just internal because others begin to notice it too. Opportunities feel more aligned, relationships grow more authentic, and daily life feels less like a struggle and more like a sacred flow. In essence, when we become energetically clear, we create space for the Universe to meet us halfway. That’s where true transformation begins. Continue reading
Are You Experiencing A Spiritual Awakening?
As a psychic reader, I sometimes have clients who quietly confess that they are afraid they might be “going crazy.”
In truth, they are usyally just experiencing the early signs of a spiritual awakening. These profound shifts in your awareness and energy can feel disorienting, yet are deeply meaningful.
So, how can you tell if what you’re feeling is part of a spiritual transformation rather than a personal unraveling?
The term ‘spiritual awakening’ is somewhat overused these days in metaphysical circles. Just about anyone who has a ‘woo-woo’ moment, or gains deeper insight into a situation, or suddenly sees chakra colors, seems to believe they are having a true, full-blown ‘spiritual awakening.’
Spiritual awakening does tend to occur spontaneously, and from what I’ve witnessed, the more open-minded the person is and the less attached to outcomes they are, the more available or ‘ripe’ they are for a spiritual awakening to occur.
Just the other day a client was telling me of her experience while peeling a carrot over the kitchen sink. She said she was looking down at her hands, watching them, and wondering what was animating them?
It can be a strange moment when you discover that you are not really who you thought you were. It can be disorienting, to say the least, to see yourself from such an objective position. However, if you know ahead of time that this is perfectly normal, and others have experienced these signs too, it can make your life a lot easier.
The Power Of Creativity To Transform And Heal
Creative play is a crack, or a doorway into another part of ourselves… into our intuitive and spiritual nature. To explore our creativity is to open that door of possibility.
It is easy to doubt our creativity when we compare ourselves to others, and to great artists of the past. Through their life stories and work, the master artists left reminders, showing us that creativity is not something we are taught, but rather something we are. Tapping into this is about experiencing this for ourselves, in whatever form that may be.
I took up painting as a hobby in my late 20s. It began as a desire to learn to paint, although I held the belief that I wasn’t really creative, given my Finance and Accounting background. I had never considered Art to be healing, or that it held personal healing benefits.
At the beginning of my journey, I immersed myself in art books and read about other artists. I also joined a local art group. In class one day, I felt inspired to paint the Buddha. From the moment I picked up my brush to paint him, I could feel a presence by my side and I could see in the blank canvas the face that was to appear, long before it was visible to anyone else. That painting is the piece that changed the direction of my life path, as I embraced my creative and spiritual gifts.
Turning up to a blank canvas, is like saying yes to life and the unknown of what lays on our path. And there are many benefits of saying ‘yes’ to painting. Painting allows us to express ourselves through our work, it allows us a time and space to reflect on our life and the meaning we attached to our experiences.
The Endangered Spiritual Wisdom Of The Prairie Dog
In Native American wisdom tradition, when a prairie dog crosses our path, it brings a sacred message of retreat. During times of stress and overexertion, this wise little creature reminds us to pause and step back from the chaos of modern life to recharge.
Prairie dogs often appear when we find ourselves in situations we’d rather avoid, encouraging us to disengage and reset. It teaches us to choose our battles carefully and not expend energy where it isn’t needed.
If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed, emotionally drained, or spiritually disconnected, the prairie dog may be offering you a compassionate wake-up call.
Like this gentle guardian of the grasslands, you are invited to retreat to your own sacred space of stillness and safety, where you can restore your strength and clarity.
In nature, when the prairie dog senses danger, it instinctively retreats into its burrow, which is equipped with multiple escape routes. It doesn’t flee in panic, but rather responds with grounded wisdom and preparation.
In this way, prairie dog medicine teaches us how vital it is to create our own safe haven in life. We all need a place of inner peace, ritual, and refuge.
Paradoxically, the prairie dog also symbolizes the importance of reconnecting. If we become too withdrawn from our loved ones or isolated from community and nature, this magical creature encourages us to reach outward toward laughter, kinship, and shared purpose. It reminds us that solitude and social connection are not opposites, but rather part of a sacred rhythm.