spiritual practice
New Year, New Habits, And A New You!
Many people make resolutions every year that are never kept. They make a sincere effort for a month or so, and then it just slips here and there until whatever they decided to do just falls by the wayside. This is normal, and you should never beat yourself up if you make a resolution or promise and don’t follow through. Growth is a process, not a straight line.
When I decide to do something, the first thing I do is meditate on it. I ask my guides and angels, “Is this right for me? Will this improve my life? If I don’t do this, will it hurt me or someone else? If the answers are yes, yes, and no, then I know it’s the right thing for me to do.
I do not reserve this for New Year’s resolutions. I do this throughout the year whenever I feel spiritual growth within myself or experience something that sparks change, whether positive or negative. A new year can begin any day you decide to change some aspect of your life. It doesn’t have to be January 1st; it can be any day.
Personally, I make a new “resolution” each month. At the end of each month, I reflect and ask myself if I’ve accomplished what I set out to do. If not, I set it aside and move on to something new. Eventually, I return to the unfulfilled goal, knowing that the timing wasn’t right. I don’t beat myself up about unfinished goals; instead, I send them love and leave them for later.
My most important resolution is to get closer to Spirit. I strive to understand what Spirit has in store for me and to guide me to become the best version of myself from the inside out. The outward appearance can be dressed up or down, but the true self must be healed, clear, and joyful. That joy doesn’t come from another person or thing – it comes from loving myself as it should be for you. Love yourself as you are in this moment, and nurture the new version of yourself with daily love, meditation, and surrender to your higher self.
End Your Day With A Restorative Evening Ritual
How we end our days is just as important as how we begin them. Yet this time of the day is often overlooked as an opportunity to promote our personal and spiritual well-being.
Especially when navigating stressful situations or busy schedules, being intentional about how we transition into rest can significantly improve the quality and restorative nature of our downtime.
Creating a simple, personalized nighttime routine allows us to check in with ourselves and make sure we’re taking care of our mind, body, and spirit. It helps relieve the stress of the day and sets the tone for a restful night’s sleep.
There are countless ways to create an evening ritual or routine that resonates with your spirit. The important thing is that your practice feels authentic and meets your needs. It only takes a few simple steps to create a daily practice that helps us release the stress of the day.
Whatever practice you choose, make sure it works with your schedule and is relaxing, rather than feeling like it creates more daily tasks to complete.
Choose activities that help you relax and that you look forward to. Whether it’s journaling, listening to soothing music, or lighting a candle, choose activities that help you intentionally transition from the busyness of the day to the calm of the night.
Many people complain that they don’t have enough time in their day. For them, a daily spiritual routine is a frivolous luxury they cannot afford to waste time on, yet these same people often spend hours each night binge-watching television or endlessly scrolling through their phones. This modern paradox highlights how easily we prioritize mindless distractions over meaningful self-care. By consciously reclaiming even a fraction of this time, we can nurture our spiritual well-being every evening in a way that renews our body, mind, and spirit far more effectively.
What It Means To Align With Your Higher Self
The term “higher self” is a term often used in spirituality, metaphysics, and psychic work, but it can be very confusing. What exactly is it? Is it our subconscious, our conscience, our alter ego, our soul, our spirit?
While these aspects are all related in some way to the higher self, it’s best understood as the most enlightened and transcendent part of our being.
Our soul or spirit is the conscious, evolving part of us in this lifetime, while the higher self is our soul’s highest potential. It is our divine blueprint and our eternal spiritual essence that exists beyond our physical self in the non-physical. It’s the timeless, eternal part of us that embodies the divine essence of who we are.
While the incarnated aspect of soul is the conscious experiencer throughout our lifetime, the higher self is the permanent aspect of the soul that exists in the higher realms.
The higher self is not a separate personality or individual being, but a deeply integrated, higher foundation of our soul. It is like a spiritual archive of all the wisdom, experiences and lessons accumulated from our past lives, as well as our soul contracts and higher purpose for this lifetime, serving as a blueprint for our soul’s evolution and life journey. It reflects the highest aspects of our being.
When we connect with our higher self, we align with this elevated aspect of who we truly are and what we intend to accomplish in this life and the next. This connection gives us clarity and insight into our soul’s path. It allows us to see life from a higher perspective and guides us to make choices that promote personal and spiritual growth. Connecting with the higher self helps us navigate life’s challenges with greater ease and purpose, allowing our soul to evolve and expand.
Everything Happens For A Reason
Challenges, setbacks and disappointments are inevitable in life. Sometimes it can even feel like the entire universe is conspiring against us!
But this perspective is an illusion born of our human experience. Spirit doesn’t desire our failure or suffering. Instead, it seeks to lead us to joy, abundance, and fulfillment.
Many of us, however, fall into the habit of blaming God, Spirit, the Universe, or others for the hardships we face. But to truly grow, we must change this mindset. Instead of dwelling on blame, it’s important to examine the lessons hidden in each challenge. By asking why these situations arose and what we can learn from them, we transform pain into wisdom and setbacks into stepping stones.
Consider the heartache of losing a long-term partner. You may have built a life together – marriage, children, shared dreams – only to wake up one day to abandonment. Questions arise: Why did this happen? What could I have done differently?
It’s important to realize that in most cases these events are not your fault. Free will governs each person’s choices. While her decision to leave may hurt you deeply, it is a reflection of her own path, not your worth. Self-doubt often creeps in, especially for women, as thoughts of inadequacy arise. But self-esteem cannot come from others-it must come from within.
Instead of focusing on what you could have done, consider this: their departure may have been necessary for your growth. Spirit often removes people from our lives to make room for greater blessings. In hindsight, you may realize that staying with that person would have hindered your potential or delayed the arrival of something better.
Inner Journey To The Mystical Isle Of Avalon
Sometimes when the pressures and demands of modern life become too much, I retreat to one of my favorite places in the universe: the mythical island of Avalon.
This legendary island of Celtic mythology is steeped in legends of healing, psychic learning, sacred crafting, and the life and times of King Arthur. Its name translates as “Isle of Apples,” emphasizing its association with fertility, abundance, and otherworldly beauty.
In folklore, Avalon, or Insula Avallonis, was a sanctuary of deep spiritual and psychic knowledge and was known as a training ground for pagan priestesses dedicated to the Great Mother Goddess. These women dedicated their lives to spirituality, honing their skills in clairvoyance, herbalism, weaving, and deep devotion to the Divine Feminine.
But Avalon was not only a sanctuary for women. Men were also an integral part of its story. Merlin the magician is inextricably linked to the history of the island, having trained the young Arthur there for his kingship.
Avalon is also entwined with many other tales woven through the lives of King Arthur, Guinevere, Morgan le Fay, Merlin, Nimue (the Lady of the Lake), and others. Legend also has it that King Arthur was brought to Avalon by his half-sister, Morgan le Fay, to heal after being badly wounded in battle.
The question of whether Avalon really existed straddles the line between myth and reality. Some historians and researchers speculate that Avalon may be based on a real place. Glastonbury, England, is often associated with Avalon because of its mystical aura and ties to Arthurian legend.
Spiritual Self-Care For The Sensitive Soul
For those of us who are highly sensitive, including psychics, mediums, healers, and empaths, practicing consistent spiritual self-care is essential to maintaining our overall well-being.
If you identify with this group and neglect the daily maintenance of your energetic health and spiritual hygiene, you leave yourself vulnerable. This can manifest as emotional, mental, and even physical health problems. The good news? You can safeguard your well-being with a dedicated spiritual self-care routine.
Spiritual self-care is about nurturing your inner being and maintaining healthy energy flow and balance. It includes practices that support your spiritual well-being and ensure that you stay grounded, centered, and connected to your higher self and the universe.
Regular spiritual self-care is also a matter of health. Research strongly supports the positive effects of spirituality on our overall health. Studies show that spiritually active people tend to live longer and enjoy better mental and physical health. For example, spirituality has been shown to correlate with a reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive decline.
Spirituality is associated with better mental health, including lower levels of depression and anxiety. Studies show that spiritual activities promote positive emotions such as hope, forgiveness, and gratitude, which contribute to resilience to stress and emotional challenges. It also promotes healthier lifestyles, including reduced substance use and better stress management.
Forgiving Yourself Is A Spiritual Necessity
Self-forgiveness is more than just a mental health recommendation – it is a spiritual necessity. It is vital for the spiritually aware person to release guilt, self-blame, and self-criticism, because forgiving oneself is crucial to both personal well-being and spiritual progress. It allows for healing, growth, and the ability to live a more fulfilling and harmonious life.
Failure to forgive ourselves can have profound personal and spiritual side effects. Carrying guilt and self-blame leads to chronic emotional distress and contributes to anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem. Over time, this can manifest itself in physical symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, or even chronic illness.
A lack of self-forgiveness undermines self-worth and hinders personal growth and development. Difficulty forgiving yourself also strains your relationships with others, as it can lead to withdrawal, defensiveness, or projecting negativity onto those around you. Without forgiveness, our negative feelings toward ourselves can fester and damage even our most cherished relationships with our loved ones and friends.
Holding onto guilt and self-blame blocks the flow of positive energy through the chakras and hinders spiritual well-being. For example, guilt often stagnates in the solar plexus chakra, affecting one’s sense of personal power. Self-forgiveness is essential for clearing such blockages in the energy field.
Forgiveness is also essential to achieving inner peace and harmony. Without it, one can experience constant inner turmoil and restlessness. When we hold onto guilt, shame, or self-blame, parts of our spiritual essence or inner divinity are suppressed or disconnected. It causes separation from one’s spiritual path or a sense of disconnection from spirit and the divine.