spiritual practice
Cleansing Rituals Are A Vital Spiritual Practice
Energy cleansing should be a key component in our regular spiritual practice. To achieve and maintain a state of higher consciousness and enhanced spiritual awareness, we must constantly aim to purify and rebalance ourselves mind, body and soul.
Purification rituals are traditionally practiced in many world religions and various spiritual traditions embrace tangible cleansing rituals as a way of communing with and manifesting the Divine energy. Water-based rituals of purification are practiced, for example, in the Baháʼí faith, Christianity, Hinduism, Indigenous American religion, traditional African spirituality, Islam, Judaism, Mandaeism, Neopaganism, Shinto, Western esotericism, and Wicca.
It is no accident that animals also clean themselves regularly by grooming their fur or feathers. Nature instinctively understands that ‘cleanliness is next to godliness.’ Mother Nature also cleanses herself throughout the year with changes in the weather and the succession of the seasons.
I’ve never been much or a ritual or ceremony person myself, but I have come to embrace the need for a regular energy cleansing routine as I have grown in my own spiritual and psychic awareness.
For many years now, one of my go-to rituals is a simple spiritual cleansing bath with Epsom salt. I find it is a wonderful practice to realign my energy flow and restore inner peace and harmony. Nothing beats a proper ‘soul detox’ every few days.
Another practice I’ve adopted of late is chakra candle work. I often use these scented candles to jumpstart a client’s cleansing process, or cleanse and rebalance my own energy. The candle for each chakra is infused with its own combination of essential oils. The heart chakra candle is my personal favorite. It’s laced with sandalwood, jasmine, and rose essential oils and really packs a punch!
How To Access Universal Flow
In the spiritual community it is often said that one must aim to constantly be in ‘universal flow,’ but what does it actually mean? And how can one achieve this state of ‘flow?’
If you personally haven’t experienced this, I can assure you it truly is as amazing as you may have heard it described. It is a blessed state in which opportunities flow in effortlessly, and joy, connection and well-being abound.
Being in flow gives us access to wisdom and understanding in a way we just don’t see when we aren’t riding that divine wave. It feels like one is prepared for absolutely anything in life!
But what exactly is universal flow, and how can you tap into it?
‘Universal flow’ means you are tapped into the divine guidance that is always available to us, and you are in alignment with your path, purpose, and the divine flow of the creative life force. It means that you are tapped into this flow of sacred energy and allowing it to guide your choices and your perception. It is a surrender to the benevolent will of God, Source, Spirit, the Divine, and coming into alignment with to the limitless flow of abundance and well-being in the Universe.
In this state of allowing, the right people, opportunities, and resources can flow into your life, for you to access and make use of as needed. It can provide you with everything you need to manifest your dreams and fulfill your purpose.
Faith As A Spiritual Science
It is generally assumed that all forms of ‘faith’ is merely matter of ‘belief.’ In other words, to have faith is seen as having belief that is blind; it is a belief without reason, evidence, or experience. However, there is another kind of faith that develops through a reciprocal relationship.
According to the Vedic teachings and the practices of Krishna Bhakti (awareness of, and affection for Krishna, the Supreme Person) faith begins with hearing spiritual knowledge from a liberated soul, who is beyond the four defects of material conditioning.
Ordinary people (or conditioned souls) have four defects due to their contact with material existence. These defects are:
- The tendency to make mistakes.
- To be illusioned.
- The propensity to cheat others.
- To have imperfect senses.
At the initial phase of faith, there is an appeal to the intelligence of the conditioned soul that evokes exploration of knowledge through hearing deeper spiritual insights, which in turn appeals to their intelligence to apply it.
From the experiment of applying it, comes observable experiential results that corroborate the truth of what was initially heard from the transcendental authority (liberated soul).
This confirming experience not only yields faith in the knowledge and process applied, but it also forms an evidential knowing beyond a mere baseless, ‘blind’ belief. Therefore, developing a relationship with God through Bhakti-Yoga or Krishna Consciousness is a spiritual science.
Intuitive Breathwork For Inner Guidance
Our angels and spirit guides never want to see us feeling down or suffering, whether it is emotionally, physically, mentally, or spiritually. They are always there to celebrate the good times with us, but they are also there to support and guide in our worst times. Spirit simply loves us unconditionally, no matter what is going on.
I strongly recommend taking a few minutes tevery day to shut out the noise of the world, as well as your own negative self-talk, to be still and open yourself to inner guidance from spirit. Go within to listen to spirit. Shift your awareness out of your heart and mind and into your gut to find your inner spiritual truth.
I speak to my guides daily as part of my spiritual practice. I usually ask them what they recommend I accomplish today, or what direction would be most beneficial for my highest good. I always receive an answer.
Mostly it comes through as a clear inner knowing or gut feeling. At times I receive it as a vivid thought, or an inspired idea, or a clairvoyant glimpse of something or someone significant that will cross my path.
I find get the best results with the answers I get from spirit after a few minutes of my tried and trusted breathwork exercise. I do the same preparation when reading for others and I also use it at times to clear energy blockages from my chakras.
It only takes about five minutes and is something that anyone can do daily to increase spiritual awareness and decrease inner noise and mental clutter. I have seen many of my clients thrive once they included this technique in their daily practice.
Online Dating Is Seldom The Problem
How does one find that everlasting love so many of us seek? This is the big question. In today’s era of social media and online dating, romance is so very different from the old days, when one would more often meet someone through friends and relatives, or at work. I am not saying that oes not happen anymore, but chances are slim in a new era where more of us are working from home and studies reveal that more than half of adults are experiencing loneliness.
I believe nowadays most people are actually scared to enter the dating scene. Not only does it take one out of your comfort zone, but we have all heard horror stories of people who tried online dating and now feel they will never want to date again. Some people are also adamant that online dating simply does not work.
The truth is quite the opposite however, when one looks at research statistics. For example, in a 2019 study found that meeting online has become the most popular way for couples to connect in the United States.
A 2021 study estimated that about 323 million people worldwide were using dating apps and matchmaking sites to meet new people. A recent survey found that about one in every three people who use these platforms found someone to have a long-term relationship with, and at least 13% of online daters eventually get engaged or married because of using these platforms.
In my experience the dating apps and websites are not the reason why some people fail to meet the right person or have bad experiences with online dating. I have seen time and again in readings I do for clients all over the world that the key elements for dating success are self-love, self-worth, mental health and spiritual awareness.
We Should Be More Like The Turtle
Most people seldom give themselves permission to take a breather and just relax. As a hypnotherapist, I often see clients for stress relief sessions. In this case, they usually feel it is more justified for them to take some time out, because they are paying for a form of professional healthcare. After all, they made an appointment for the session and their doctor referred them. So, it must be okay.
Many people cannot even relax on a vacation! They feel they absolutely must do all the tourist things, even if they are tired, or the money they spent of the trip will be wasted. Or they feel compelled to spring clean the hotel room, instead of lying on the beach. Only to feel they need a second vacation to recover from the first vacation once they return home.
In the good old days, folks used to simply take a ‘joy ride’ somewhere with no real purpose or destination in mind. They did it purely for the enjoyment and the adventure. It was a standing joke in my family that if you chose to get in a car with my dad, you had better have the entire day off, because you never knew where you would wind up or what time you would get back home.
My kids still reminisce about our family taking a ride during the holidays to see all the Christmas lights and decorated homes. We used to stop for hot chocolate with marshmallows and everyone received a homemade cinnamon candy cane. It was the tradition.
Today, we live in such a busy, fast-paced world in which we feel guilty for taking time to take care of ourselves. But what is more important: the journey or destination? We all need to rest and restore our body, mind, and spirit on a regular basis. Neglecting one’s self-care is a prescription for poor long-term health, and making bad life choices.
Developing Your Herbal Intuition
Herbal medicine is becoming increasingly popular, and many people are increasingly turning to herbalism as a healthcare supplement, or even a substitute to conventional pharmaceutical medicine. Plants, flowers, and herbs all have unique energetic qualities that make them suitable for various purposes. They are alive and respond to their environment and how they are treated in the same way humans do.
When we think of herbs, we tend to narrowly categorize them according to the medical conditions they can be used for, or what aspect of our health and wellness they can improve. However, like people, herbs are much more complex and multi-faceted, and have many uses and applications, alone or in combination with other herbs.
To obtain the most benefit from any herb, we need to take the time and have patience to truly get to know the herb. When you meet someone for the first time at a social event, would you diminish the other person’s true worth by instantly deciding they have only one useful trait or redeeming quality, and leave it at that? Taking the time to get acquainted with a particular herb is much like getting to know someone in an intimate friendship.
Selecting herbs to work with or draw upon for healing is a highly intuitive process. The appearance, aroma, taste, texture, and energy vibration of the ideal herb for a specific purpose must speak to us mind, body, and soul. They convey a distinct energy signature and frequency of healing that the intuitively aware user will innately know is best to use at that time.