spiritual guidance
The Transformative Power Of The Moon
Does your energy change for better or worse when there is a Full Moon? Every person has some notion of what a Full Moon means to them.
When the Moon is full, it has an energy pull and charging capability that is unlike the new or quarter moons. During a Full Moon, I usually find it difficult to sleep – no matter how hard I try. The energetic pull is powerful. This is when my mind is most active.
A Full Moon is in fact the best time to open yourself to receive healing or spirit messages, to recharge your energy, or set intentions for manifestation to transform your life for the better. Crystals can also be put out under the Full Moon to charge them up and bring new life to them.
The Full Moon is a time to breathe in the good, release what does not serve you, and allow the Moon’s energy to take lighten your worries and lessen your burdens. A simple clearing ceremony becomes ‘super-charged’ under a Full Moon. Write down what does not serve you: your hurts, your disappointments, your anger and so on. Then burn this list outside, under the Full Moon, while asking the Universe, Source, God, Spirit, the Divine to cleanse the energy from your being.
I live close to a lake and when the Moon is full, no matter what time of year, it reflects off the lake in its various hues and colors. I always take a walk to the lake to allow this energy to feed my soul. It uplifts my spirit and makes me smile. Gazing at the beauty of the Full Moon brings new energy to you if you do it properly.
The next time there is a Full Moon, venture outdoors, look up and contemplate her beauty and power. Ask yourself, how do you feel standing there under the Full Moon? Ask yourself what you want to accomplish or change in your life? You need not do anything further. The manifesting and healing powers of the Moon will carry your intentions forward.
Eye Gazing As A Spiritual Practice
Eye gazing is a powerful, ancient practice in which two people engage in a shared meditation practice during which eye contact is maintained for an extended period of time. Eye gazing is usually done for about ten minutes at a time, although it can certainly be any duration preferred.
Eye gazing can be used to access past life information, promote healing, connect to your higher self, guides, or angels, and almost anything else you can imagine. The eyes are the windows to our soul, and our soul is the singularity that connects us to everything else: the Universe, Source, God, the Divine. Eye gazing is also a profound manifesting tool we can use to further develop our ‘spiritual muscles,’ so to speak.
Before you include eye gazing in your spiritual practice, I recommend you read my previous blog on the essentials of eye gazing. Once you are more familiar with the basics, you can also apply the following guidelines to your eye gazing practice.
To use eye gazing for a specific purpose, you must set a clear intention beforehand, and then hold that intention throughout the gaze. You hold an intention by simply keeping a gentle awareness in the back of your mind that what you are seeing during the gaze is relevant to your intention, and trusting that whatever comes forward is always relevant.
It’s important not to simultaneously hold any expectations about what you’re going to see, or to resist anything that comes up spontaneously, just because you don’t immediately see its relevance or connection to your intention. Keep an open mind and be flexible and accepting in the flow of your gazing experience.
If you’re gazing alone, sit comfortably in front of a mirror, take a few centering breaths, and then state your intention out loud. I prefer to speak aloud in my spiritual practice whenever possible, as words are energy forms and therefore add a ‘weight’ to our prayer requests, intentions, and affirmations. State your intention out loud and ask Spirit to provide insight around this intention. Use language that feels right for you.
Make Time To Listen To Your Heart
The heart is a wondrous place, the keeper of all your dreams, desires, hopes, and wishes. The heart is your protector and guide and the holder of your very own sacred flame.
No matter where we are in this life, or what role we have embraced as our life’s mission, we must always honor the calling of our heart. It’s built-in GPS will never lead us astray. The heart’s invitation is always one that guides us to our greatest purpose through the love of the Divine, love of life, love of self, love of others, and love of service.
There are times in life when the heart calls for us to make a sacrifice to bring to fruition a special dream or mission. But the fast-paced world we live in provides little time or space for the calmness necessary to hear the sometimes faint calling of the heart. This is why we must take time away from others to honor the commitment of the soul. It is as necessary as the medical student in the preparation for becoming a great surgeon.
For a tree to grow, a seed must first be planted, which requires retreating into the stillness of the forest or the garden, breaking the soil, and carefully nesting a seedling into the heart of mother earth. Similarly, to overcome the many distractions of our worlds, we must create the time and space to tune in to the song of our heart.
In doing so, we are honoring our heart, which requires consistent practice, beginning with baby steps. Over time, we can cultivate a spiritual practice of listening to the heart in much larger steps, and then bold, giant steps.
Mahatma Gandhi, the great activist, and humanitarian, once said that prayer, regardless of one’s religion or spiritual path, purifies the heart. Gandhi cultivated a deep stillness in his own life by making time to listen to his heart through the daily practice of meditation.
Trusting Your Inner Truth
Who in your life would you define as someone you could completely and totally trust? A parent, your spouse or partner, best friend, or a co-worker? Do you rely instead on the support of your angels, spirit guides or loved ones that have passed on? If you have someone you feel you can unconditionally rely on, be it in this life of the next, consider yourself blessed and fortunate.
However, if you struggle to trust anyone or anything, there is one source you can always trust if you allow yourself to be open to it. In fact, if you accomplish this you never have to rely on any external sources, both secular and spiritual.
This one true source is your inner guidance, your inner voice, your intuition, your soul wisdom. When we become more aware of our inner guidance we can discern for ourselves when there is a ‘twinge’ or a ‘gut feeling’ that we are being presented with a truth. If you are in alignment with what truly resonates within, it creates a strong bond with your higher self that ultimately places you in a position of complete self-trust.
To achieve this we need a strong personal belief system. Our belief or faith must be such that we are able to accept without question that we have an inherent ability to discern complete truth. We must have total faith in our own inner guidance and embrace our spiritual wisdom within.
If we do not believe and do not honor the inner wisdom that exists in all of us, we need to ask ourselves why not? What can we possibly find in the external world or in others that is more reliable than our own inner voice? Why might we trust what is outside ourselves more than what resides within.
Choose To Contribute, Even In Difficult Circumstances
Over the recent Easter holidays, spirit has once again been making me aware of the dire need for gratitude and generosity in our world. Spirit asks us to reflect on those less fortunate who live in war-torn countries where they must survive daily atrocities.
Also, we must think of families closer to home who, due to illness or work issues, don’t have enough to live in appropriate housing, or even know where their next meal is coming from. It is our spiritual duty to volunteer or donate to charities to help those currently living in adverse circumstances.
It is also important to give thanks for what we have, even if we are currently hoping for so much more in the future. Irrespective of our current circumstances, we can still radiate kindness and generosity. We can give our time to help others or just listen to someone in need of a confidant.
Meanwhile, regardless of where we stand right now, we can continue to visualize the outcomes we are expecting, for just a few quiet minutes per day. Remember to set achievable goals and give yourself a timeline to follow.
Stay focused. Stay committed. Stay strong. Lead by example. Smile and act as if your gifts have already arrived. Be excited by the small accomplishments and the little wins as you aim higher and stronger.
We all face challenges in life, and sometimes they can seem insurmountable. Instead of giving in to fear and worry, focus on something that makes you happy or someone who lights up your life. Stay the course and maintain balance as much as possible, while you work through those challenges.
When it comes to conversations and relationships, remember that we either contribute or contaminate with every interaction. Make the effort to choose to contribute, even in difficult circumstances. Solve disagreements without resorting to posturing and name-calling.
Less Stress, More Meditation
We do our best to not be in a state of constant stress, toxic environments and unhealthy situations. We try so hard to keep our life in a state of contentment and happiness.
We intuitively know that if we keep our stress levels down, we sleep better and we think more clearly. Being in a state of zen is our original state.
When we are at peace, we are more able to hear that inner voice telling us what to do, and not do. It is what I call our inner GPS. We can hear it much more clearly when I we are centered and grounded, and not stressing.
I have found that only through meditation can I fully achieve this state of ‘less stress’ in my life. Of course, we can never eliminate stress completely, but meditation does empower me to achieve that state of contentment more easily.
After many years of practice, I can even achieve this within a few moments by simply focusing on my breath. But it is best when I take a good 30 minutes to go through my meditative steps. This includes breathwork and visualizing my body relaxing from my toes to top of my head.
During my destressing meditation I also take some time to send out love, light and peace to everyone that I know and love, including those who I don’t necessarily like very much. I also visualize the things I want to manifest in my life.
Empowering Life Lessons From My Abusive Father
My father Jim had to grow up quickly in the tough pre-war years. He was the eldest of six children and he did not have an easy childhood, nor tolerant parents.
But life became even more challenging for Jim as he reached adulthood. My parents were married at the age of 21 and had three kids by 23, and another baby at 34.
Jim faced many challenges. As a result, to vent his frustration and process all the stress, he often took it out on those closest to him, namely his wife and children.
Let’s just say my father was not always the ideal husband and parent. It became so bad by the time I was an adult that he would do whatever he could to disrupt my life and my family in any way that you might imagine. The sad part was that he actually wanted to hurt us, as doing so gave him a bizarre sense of satisfaction and control over those closest to him.
I first became fully aware of my father’s desire to disempower his kids when I was about 22 years old. The year was 1982, and jobs were very hard to come by in the United Kingdom in those days. I had an office job but wanted something better. So, I decided to attend school for a year to learn shorthand and typing at the local technical college.
One day, I asked my dad if I could get a ride with him to college, because I had to sit an important exam at 2pm that day. He said I need not worry, as he would drop me off in plenty of time. But then he proceeded to make every excuse not to leave the house!
By quarter to two, I started to panic, as I could not possibly walk or catch a bus from my house to the college with so little time. At ten minutes to two, he finally agreed to take me to sit the exam, but then when we got in the car, he said he needed to go to the garage for gas. I looked at the fuel gauge and saw the car’s tank was full.
I suddenly realized he did not want me to sit the exam, as he did not want me to pass it and better myself and become more independent. Thankfully, his sabotage attempt failed, as I did pass the exam and went on to get a higher paying job.
