self-help
Recycle Your Blessings This Winter Season
As we approach winter in the northern hemisphere, let us be inspired by the seasonal change. Look around and observe nature as it prepares itself for a period of dormancy that leads to renewal and rebirth in the spring.
Change is the catalyst for growth in our lives. Some choose to think of winter as an unpleasant, ‘lifeless’ time, but in truth it is a golden opportunity to connect with the deeper realms of our mind and soul.
Embrace the profound stillness that this season offers and use the longer nights as opportunity for conscious self-reflection. Sit with this stillness and claim your majestic place on the sacred throne that was created solely for you.
Take back your personal power from the turbulence of the outer world and allow the chatter to grow quiet. Trust that in the midst of your most pressing thoughts and that which nags your soul, there is the Divine right path to oneness, healing, balance, peace, reconciliation, spiritual recognition, and soul empowerment.
Along with the obvious holiday cheer, this is one of the many gifts of the winter season; connecting to the eternal flame of the universe that shines on each of us.
As I ponder the personal changes I wish to embark on, I am reminded that nothing new can happen without letting go of the old. Many years ago, a dear friend implemented an annual winter ritual of clearing her closet of personal items she no longer desired. This is always performed just before the New Year.
I recall asking whether she was maybe acting too hastily in letting go of some of her prized possessions, as some of the discarded items were relatively new. She responded that she was creating space for new gifts to enter her life, while passing the old on to others who might be blessed by receiving it. My friend essentially spoke of recycling her blessings, a concept that was new to me at the time. And in doing so, she created a special karma for herself that opened the path for new delights to enter her life.
Embracing The Uncertainty Of Change
One of the earliest life lessons I had to learn the hard way is that change is the only thing that ever consistently happens in life. We cannot avoid it. It is fundamental to our journey in this lifetime to learn to embrace change, as without it we cannot grow and evolve as spiritual beings.
Yet, change causes much fear and apprehension for many people. It can be daunting. This is in fact one of the reasons why clients contact me for advice and predictions. In life it is vital to always be prepared for change.
Being mentally and emotionally prepared gives us a greater sense of control over any forthcoming event and thus alleviate some of its stress. Who wants to remain stagnant anyway? It is vital to look for the good that change can bring, rather than dwell on any potential negative impact it could bring about. We need to take on board the necessity to learn and strengthen from it.
Change comes in many forms. For example, it is estimated some people change their homes up to eight times in their lifespan. How stressful is that? But instead of focusing too heavily on the downside, such as the stress of buying, selling and packing, spirit advises we see a new home as a beautiful new chapter in our lives. Think of it as an exciting fresh start and allow yourself time to adjust. You may soon be happier in your new abode than you could ever imagine!
Beginning a new job is equally stressful. For whatever reason you find yourself in new employment, the very thought of walking into a new workplace on a Monday morning, meeting new colleagues in unfamiliar environment is always daunting. However, rather than be afraid, advises spirit, why not congratulate yourself for being there in the first place?
The Fierce Journey To The Heart Of The Goddess
There are many divine beings around us throughout our lifetime. When I do a reading, a variety of angels, spirit guides, ascended masters, and goddess archetypes may show up to lend their wisdom, love, and guidance to my clients, for whatever situation they are going through.
Not only do we have guardian angels constantly with us, but we also have various ‘inner band’ and ‘outer band’ spirit guides who interchange through different periods and cycles in our lifetime. We also have deities or higher-level beings with us during certain times.
Recently I have had many encounters with the goddess Kuan Yinin during readings. She is the Buddhist bodhisattva associated with compassion and was first known as the ‘goddess of mercy’ among Jesuit missionaries in China. Guanyin, Guan Yin or Kuan Yin, is short for Kuan-shi Yin, meaning she who ‘observes the cries of humanity.’
She is a popular goddess in Chinese folk religion and worshipped in many communities and cultures all over the world. In the mid-17th century outlawed Christians in Japan created statues of the Catholic Virgin Mary disguised as Kuan Yin, known as the ‘Maria Kannon.’
I have always associated her with compassion, kindness, and forgiveness, but I was recently reminded that Kuan Yin rides a dragon! This makes a lot of sense to me, now that I have examined her legend more closely.
Kuan Yin is teaching us by example. To arrive at a place of compassion and kindness, we must first piece through some uncomfortable feelings of anger, sadness, and fear, to arrive at the ‘heart of the goddess.’ Kuan Yin rides her dragon of fierce bravery through stormy waters and scorching fires. She follows through with the journey to a place of completion and does not avoid the challenges that confront her along the way.
Spiritual Awakening And The Segmented Sleep Cycle
One of the most commonly experienced symptoms of spiritual awakening is frequently waking in the early hours from 3am to 5am. It’s important to rule out any medical reasons this could be happening. However, if you are in good health and you have been regularly waking up this early, then you may be experiencing this due to spiritual awakening.
You may have found by now in an online search that you are waking up at 3am because it is ‘the witching hour’. You may also have read that 3am is an auspicious time to wake, or the opposite, that it is a ‘time of dark magic.’ Or that during your spiritual awakening you may be ‘spiritually attacked’ and this is why you are waking in the wee hours. While some of this may be true for some people, I am going to have to say that it probably has nothing to do with your waking up at or around 3am.
Yes, it is a sign of awakening! And a very, very common one too. But the reason you are waking at 3am is not metaphysical; it is biological. It is biology which is influenced by your spiritual progression. But essentially it is a return to your natural state of being – your natural sleep cycle. This is called the circadian rhythm.
Most people just accept that we sleep naturally for about eight hours a night. But there is a great deal of evidence that this is not actually the natural sleep cycle for human beings. In fact, evidence suggests that prior to the industrial revolution, our sleep cycle was very different.
To demonstrate this point, we must return to the concept of awakening and what awakening really is. We call it spiritual ‘awakening’ for a reason – we are waking up. Waking up means being conscious in an otherwise largely unconscious world. During the process of awakening people often find themselves becoming very sensitive to things that never really bothered them before. This is because they are suddenly present and hyper-aware when things are out of alignment with the natural order.
Small Steps To Big Changes
Making positive changes in your life can often feel like an insurmountable task. At times it can be so daunting that it might even seem easier to just have things stay the same, no matter how uncomfortable it has become.
This is especially true when we have been working on the same aspect of our life for years and still not seeing the results we were hoping for, whether the issue is weight loss, finances, health and wellness, family, career, or relationship.
For me the challenge was a particularly frustrating relationship situation. I felt that no matter what I did, no matter how hard I tried to grow and move forward, I always got sucked back into the drama and negativity.
I continually called on my angels and spirit guides to help me improve the relationship, to heal our issues, release our karma, and so forth. I tried anything and everything I could think of to achieve some of the harmony and peace I so much desired in my life.
This went on for years, and I was ready to throw in the towel and just accept that this one area of my life would always be out of balance. But as soon as I let go, I received the most amazing piece of information from my guides!
They showed me how I was focusing too much on the big picture, or the end result. I also realized that because everything wasn’t miraculously healed over night, I was becoming frustrated and disregarding all the tiny steps and improvements I had been making in repairing the relationship.
My guides further told me to break the steps in the healing and reconciliation process down into smaller parts. Instead of seeking instant and complete resolution, I should be working towards small daily improvements. If I do this consistently, I will soon reach the end goal.
The Healing Power Of Positive Self-Talk
Most people indulge more in negative self-talk, than positive. But self-talk is not supposed to be negative and overly critical. We are supposed to use it to encourage, empower and motivate ourselves to achieve success and follow our dreams.
Our brain has the conscious mind, the subconscious mind, and what is known in hypnosis as the critical factor of mind. This critical factor is that part of our consciousness that checks and filters every through and idea that enters our mind. It is like the gatekeeper or the guardian between the conscious mind and the subconscious. That is how hypnosis works – it is a way to bypass the critical factor so that we can access the subconscious and reprogram it with new information and insights for healing and self-empowerment.
The role of the critical factor is to protect our mind, but this is not always a good thing. Because of the job the critical mind is tasked to do, it tends to be critical of everything. It is unfortunately also that part of our brain that says we are not worthy or deserving, that we cannot do things, or achieve things.
I cannot get the job I really want.
I’m not worthy of a happy, healthy relationship.
I am not smart and pretty enough.
People just don’t like me.
Why do bad things always happen to me?
The one big problem with the critical factor is that it does not always see or hear things the way they really are. It can convince of things that are not true at all. For example, it may you that others are trying to get you fired from a job, when in fact the boss is trying to help you keep your job.
The Spiritual Aspect Of Physical Ailments
As a medical Reiki master and teacher, I have come to understand that there is often a spiritual aspect to almost every illness, pain or symptom that comes up in the physical body. When we are not in alignment with our spiritual self, it can create imbalances in many aspects of our health and wellness.
Note that I always recommend seeking and following professional medical advice. Despite the possible underlying metaphysical and spiritual aspects of any illness or disease, you must never assume that the intervention of a registered medical practitioner is not needed. Always seek medical advice if you are not feeling well, and do not stop using whatever medication and treatments have been prescribed for you without consulting your doctor. It could save your life.
What I can however recommend is to supplement your conventional medical treatment with energy work and other spiritual healing practices. The Eastern practice of Reiki is something you can use effectively to compliment your western medicine treatment.
Reiki is an energy healing modality that brings our chi into alignment. Chi is the energy of life itself. It is an electromagnetic energy which flows through everything in creation. Reiki brings the chi of the body, mind, and spirit back into alignment and can reveal which areas need to be worked on, or released, or simply acknowledged.
Here are a few examples of common spiritual meanings behind some of our ailments. Headaches are often associated with self-criticism and fear. They are also a source of feeling invalidated in some way and often aimed at the self. The solution is to start affirming how amazing you are, how divinely perfect you are, how much you love yourself. The best affirmation you can say is:
I love myself unconditionally. I am perfectly perfect as I am.