I'm an Advanced Reiki Master Teacher, Spiritualist Approved Healer and Medium amongst other things that people call me.
I'm often asked if I receive messages for people I don't know when I'm out and about and the short answer is yes, sometimes I do and I also 'pick up' or sense a person's mood or energy or an event that is close to them either in the past or coming in the future.
Many fledgling mediums or people who are sensitive but don't recognise their abilities have a habit of telling people when they sense something around them. It's hard enough gaining respect in the field of metaphysics and paranormal activity without acting like a fruit cake when in public. Telling people everything is always a mistake but novice mediums make it time and time again, never learning when to keep quiet or more to the point, never asking their guides if they should speak up. A medium should always question the source of their information.
Just because a medium/sensitive has sensed something about someone does not give them the right to comment on it. People like their privacy and like to believe that their thoughts are theirs alone. Some people are terrified of the idea that spirit people can watch them and dip into their lives when they choose. More people than you would believe have had difficult lives or tragic losses and clumsy attempts at mediumship and advice giving by someone they barely know or is a stranger to them can do more harm than good. Others are deeply religious and view mediumship as coming from the devil himself. That's fine, they're entitled to their opinions. However, telling someone that you sense something or a spirit around them, that they have a message for them, or to be careful when they are driving etc., is an invasion of their privacy.
The only time a medium/sensitive should interfere and tell someone what they are feeling is if they are asked to. There is no grey area, no maybes, the answer to the question of should I? is a straight no. Do not meddle however strongly you feel that you should - you will not be thanked for it.
The same discipline should be applied to absent healing.
Many healers hear of someone in need and are indeed often asked by a well meaning friend to send absent healing to a person in need. That's alright I hear you say. Yes it is - up to a point.
The one thing I learned when I did my Reiki courses after I spent six years as a trainee spiritualist healer is that healing is the same, from the same source, with the same intention and neither method is better than the other, it is merely choice. But the difference in teaching varies drastically and one of the teaching elements of spiritual healing is to attune to the spirit of the person who is asking for healing. This was not taught in Reiki and I have never yet heard of if being taught to Reiki healers (if I'm wrong please correct me, I am interested to know). I did my Reiki courses like everyone else - quickly, but my spiritual healing required me to work with people at healing sessions and I did so for at least three hours per week for years and have a mentor who answered my many questions over that time.
Reiki is taught as a benign source of energy that we can manipulate in our auras and physical bodies in order to bring about balance and well-being. Anyone can access the source because the intention of healing someone or self cannot cause harm hence the benign description. There is no need to attune to the patient, it is not even mentioned but in spiritual healing it is a critical part of the process between patient and healer and one that takes practise to get right (hence the training period - now reduced to two years).
The spiritual healer will sit with the patient and meditate until they connect with the spirit of that person which resides in the heart chakra. Then the healer will ask the spirit if healing should be given and will be received. Permission is sought from the higher self of the patient because there is the possibility that the person should not receive further energy and there could be many reasons for this that the healer and even the patient themselves could be blissfully unaware of. If the healer then proceeded to channel energy anyway it may cause harm in the long term. e.g. A patient asks for healing, the healer attunes with their spirit and it denies acceptance of energy. The healer channels anyway believing that they know best. The progress of disease is accelerated or delayed, causing disturbance to the natural flow of events and experiences for the soul of the patient leading them to have to start the process again, causing the soul anguish. The soul being the highest part of the person and therefore of ultimate knowledge regarding their path and fortune, it is linked directly to the spirit which is linked further to the physical body - making a chain of energy and contact. Therefore the spirit of the person has the answers to their physical life path and events it should contain. The exploration of psychic and spiritual realms may not be in their remit and a distraction from the physical existence they should be experiencing for example and the spirit is the contact the healer should make to determine if hands on contact healing should be given, absent healing where the person does not know they are in receipt of energy at all or none to be given by a healer.
A healer should remember that just because they are not to channel healing to a person does not mean that higher beings are not giving help and energy where it's needed. Perhaps the healer is not developed enough to channel the frequency needed or maybe is just not the right person for the job? The healer may never know why, but must always trust.
In my experience a usual Reiki healer will miss the attunement step and channel the energy anyway without any knowledge of if they should.
I'm not down on Reiki, don't get me wrong, I have after all invested in it myself, I'm just pointing out that the attunement step is vital if healers are going to be effective and successful in improving patients and changing their health and therefore the medical perception of healing practise. Without attunement patients may feel the benefits of restful relaxation and healing energy but their improvement progress may be fleeting and they could return to their previous state of illness and dysfunction if not even worse for the experience. The healers job is to facilitate the healing process for their clients/patients and sometimes this means not giving them what they ask for but instead being a listening ear and support whilst they experience the journey of the soul - however unpleasant or difficult that experience may be.
Wednesday 21 March 2012
Tuesday 20 March 2012
blog amendment
Hi there, I have changed the settings on the blog to enable non-members to post comments and questions. I look forward to hearing from you. Avril
an extract from my novel Angelica's Promise
Verity and I take a walk with Rachel and Sean in the park as arranged. We feed the ducks as the sun warms our backs. The park is busy on such a summer day and I begin to notice all the things that people are enjoying that I will never do again.
A couple lie together on the grass and smile and caress each other. The dark skinned young man strokes his girl’s arm and whispers something in her ear that makes her laugh out loud. She flicks her long fair hair and the man kisses her neck while she giggles. I am jealous of their intimacy, something I may never experience again.
An elderly couple stand beside us feeding the ducks, they are so at ease with one another, smiling and holding hands when they leave.
A woman about my age is calling for her toddler son and when he comes running towards her she scoops him up and twirls him around with her cheek pressed against his. Then her husband joins them and kisses them both tenderly, he has his arm around her waist when they walk away.
A group of friends having a picnic laugh and joke around. They open a bottle of champagne, the cork flying into the lake causing more laughter and shouting.
All these things that seem insignificant on any other day to every other person are to me - piercing.
Monday morning comes around easily and the saying 'time waits for no man' is starkly clear to me. I want to suspend time, to have longer whilst I am well but the universe has other ideas. The sun rises and falls just to mock me and the moon orbits our planet to wink at me through the clouds and say 'won't be long now.'
I had no need to consider the horror of leaving my life before I was ready to, I was too busy enjoying it. Too busy grasping for the things I wanted in it. That includes Verity. I wanted a baby so much that I was willing to sacrifice my partner for it, burn his love in a flame of temper and desire to achieve my goal of being a mother. His opinions didn't mean anything to me while my injected hormones raged around in my veins. I was obsessed, some would say. Ben was the casualty in my campaign of war against the biological odds of my ageing and fertility - but it was worth it.
As I lie in bed now staring up at the ceiling, thinking over my actions and sometimes devious thoughts - I have to admit them - I feel ashamed and can feel the heat rise in my cheeks when I picture myself saying some of the hurtful things I threw at Ben. If I had been a man and not the woman he loved he would have punched me and I would have deserved it.
A part of me feels let down that he didn't do something drastic like that to bring me up short. Wake me to my compulsion to ignore all that was good for me and trade it for something wonderful - yes - but something I allowed to cause destruction.
It wont do me any good to lie here chastising myself and feeling bad because it will set the tone for the rest of the day. This Verity's last week of school before the summer holiday and I need to tie up a few loose ends before I can devote our last summer to making it a memorable one.
A couple lie together on the grass and smile and caress each other. The dark skinned young man strokes his girl’s arm and whispers something in her ear that makes her laugh out loud. She flicks her long fair hair and the man kisses her neck while she giggles. I am jealous of their intimacy, something I may never experience again.
An elderly couple stand beside us feeding the ducks, they are so at ease with one another, smiling and holding hands when they leave.
A woman about my age is calling for her toddler son and when he comes running towards her she scoops him up and twirls him around with her cheek pressed against his. Then her husband joins them and kisses them both tenderly, he has his arm around her waist when they walk away.
A group of friends having a picnic laugh and joke around. They open a bottle of champagne, the cork flying into the lake causing more laughter and shouting.
All these things that seem insignificant on any other day to every other person are to me - piercing.
Monday morning comes around easily and the saying 'time waits for no man' is starkly clear to me. I want to suspend time, to have longer whilst I am well but the universe has other ideas. The sun rises and falls just to mock me and the moon orbits our planet to wink at me through the clouds and say 'won't be long now.'
I had no need to consider the horror of leaving my life before I was ready to, I was too busy enjoying it. Too busy grasping for the things I wanted in it. That includes Verity. I wanted a baby so much that I was willing to sacrifice my partner for it, burn his love in a flame of temper and desire to achieve my goal of being a mother. His opinions didn't mean anything to me while my injected hormones raged around in my veins. I was obsessed, some would say. Ben was the casualty in my campaign of war against the biological odds of my ageing and fertility - but it was worth it.
As I lie in bed now staring up at the ceiling, thinking over my actions and sometimes devious thoughts - I have to admit them - I feel ashamed and can feel the heat rise in my cheeks when I picture myself saying some of the hurtful things I threw at Ben. If I had been a man and not the woman he loved he would have punched me and I would have deserved it.
A part of me feels let down that he didn't do something drastic like that to bring me up short. Wake me to my compulsion to ignore all that was good for me and trade it for something wonderful - yes - but something I allowed to cause destruction.
It wont do me any good to lie here chastising myself and feeling bad because it will set the tone for the rest of the day. This Verity's last week of school before the summer holiday and I need to tie up a few loose ends before I can devote our last summer to making it a memorable one.
Thursday 15 March 2012
creation of love exercise
This is a lovely exercise for you to try and was taught to me by a very dear friend (you know who you are). I remember the first time I tried it and was amazed at how easy it was to create the energy of love. Further to that it enables you to realise how easy it is to also create negative energy and how a thought has a form and power that has substance. You will understand more after you have tried this little gem.
As usual it's quick and simple to do and remember.
Find a quiet place where you wont be disturbed for a while and sit comfortably. The reason I tell you to sit and not lie down is simple, you are more likely to fall asleep if you get too comfortable and you wont have achieved meditation but you will have had a nice snooze!
Breathe deeply and regularly until you feel comfortable and at ease. With every out breath imagine all your stresses and worries leaving you and with every in breath imagine white light travelling into your lungs as it heals and brings peace to every atom of your being.
Now, think of love, how the feeling is, if it helps think of someone that you love deeply and then imagine your love as a pink light that is beginning to grow in front of you. Keep sending love to the pink cloud/bubble of love and do this until it is bigger than you are. Look at what you have created, admire what your mind is capable of. Take note of the colour and movement of your creation.
Now take a mental step forward and put yourself inside the centre of the love cloud you have created. It is safe to do so, afterall it's an extention of you.
What do you feel? What does it mean to you? What do you understand from this experience?
In your own time and when you are ready you can step back out of the love and return your full awareness to your own body. Don't waste the wonderful creation but instead ask the divine angels of light to collect it and use it where it will do most good, you don't need it anymore, you can create more whenever you like.
Do you now understand that creating negative energy is just as easy as creating love? The difference is that it takes more of your energy to create negativity whereas creating love is more natural to us and easier. You have choice over which you create and use in your daily life too.
Now you know how to create - easy wasn't it? - you can apply this to daily life. If someone is giving you a hard time, if they are grumpy, miserable, ill or grieving, whatever their circumstance you can either add to their misery (not deliberately) by feeding their negativity with sympathy, discussion, being angry on their behalf etc., or you can create love and surround them with it and help to dissolve their anger or misery. You can also add the white light of divinity and gold of the angels too if you want to, remember there is no wrong when you work with love, you can't harm another being with love as long as you don't attempt to control them. Love should offer freedom and learning and support, never control. You can use it for buildings and locations too where there is a stain on the atmosphere and also in conjunction with the cleansing exercise on this blog. Don't forget yourself too, cloaking your own aura in the light of love is the best psychic protection there is and creating love in the heart chakra brings about a feeling of self love. You could try the exercise in a pair or group and step into each other's love light and compare notes. Enjoy experiementing with the power of love and spreading it as far and wide as possible, the world needs all it can get.
See how you get on with this exercise and let me know how it works for you. Comments welcome.
As usual it's quick and simple to do and remember.
Find a quiet place where you wont be disturbed for a while and sit comfortably. The reason I tell you to sit and not lie down is simple, you are more likely to fall asleep if you get too comfortable and you wont have achieved meditation but you will have had a nice snooze!
Breathe deeply and regularly until you feel comfortable and at ease. With every out breath imagine all your stresses and worries leaving you and with every in breath imagine white light travelling into your lungs as it heals and brings peace to every atom of your being.
Now, think of love, how the feeling is, if it helps think of someone that you love deeply and then imagine your love as a pink light that is beginning to grow in front of you. Keep sending love to the pink cloud/bubble of love and do this until it is bigger than you are. Look at what you have created, admire what your mind is capable of. Take note of the colour and movement of your creation.
Now take a mental step forward and put yourself inside the centre of the love cloud you have created. It is safe to do so, afterall it's an extention of you.
What do you feel? What does it mean to you? What do you understand from this experience?
In your own time and when you are ready you can step back out of the love and return your full awareness to your own body. Don't waste the wonderful creation but instead ask the divine angels of light to collect it and use it where it will do most good, you don't need it anymore, you can create more whenever you like.
Do you now understand that creating negative energy is just as easy as creating love? The difference is that it takes more of your energy to create negativity whereas creating love is more natural to us and easier. You have choice over which you create and use in your daily life too.
Now you know how to create - easy wasn't it? - you can apply this to daily life. If someone is giving you a hard time, if they are grumpy, miserable, ill or grieving, whatever their circumstance you can either add to their misery (not deliberately) by feeding their negativity with sympathy, discussion, being angry on their behalf etc., or you can create love and surround them with it and help to dissolve their anger or misery. You can also add the white light of divinity and gold of the angels too if you want to, remember there is no wrong when you work with love, you can't harm another being with love as long as you don't attempt to control them. Love should offer freedom and learning and support, never control. You can use it for buildings and locations too where there is a stain on the atmosphere and also in conjunction with the cleansing exercise on this blog. Don't forget yourself too, cloaking your own aura in the light of love is the best psychic protection there is and creating love in the heart chakra brings about a feeling of self love. You could try the exercise in a pair or group and step into each other's love light and compare notes. Enjoy experiementing with the power of love and spreading it as far and wide as possible, the world needs all it can get.
See how you get on with this exercise and let me know how it works for you. Comments welcome.
Monday 12 March 2012
how do you know when someone is close to death?
As a medium I am often asked if I can tell if someone is going to die soon and what I sense around such people. (I don't know why people ask me this I don't walk around with a black cowl and scythe.)
The answer is yes, I often can see if a person is moving to their passing stage but not always. Sometimes I just don't pick up on my senses if I'm involved in doing something else or simply not switching in or listening to my instincts, I can't be on high alert all the time, it's neither feasible, practical or worthwhile.
When a person is moving towards the end of their life, no matter their age, a breakdown of the aura can be seen. The aura is the electro-magnetic layer of the physical body and if the physical body is no longer requiring it, then it will begin to disperse. (There are plenty of google images of the human aura and chakra diagrams if you need to look it up.)
I usually see this as a greying aura, there will be no colour visible and there are thinned areas of the aura much like cotton wool when it is pulled and you can see strands joining the larger pieces together but it looks worn and threadbare. This thinning is a result of the spiritual energy no longer being fed into the aura but instead returning to nourish the soul in readiness for the return of an aspect of it i.e. your spirit. (I should point out here that the soul has many aspects to it and you, the being you are now in body, is not the only part of your soul experiencing some form of life right now, you are a fragment of your soul and its learning, not the whole). whew! that was deep.
Anyhow, if the aura is not receiving energy, then the physical body via the main chakras is not receiving energy either and that will in turn lead to a break down of the physical body and its major organs and blood system because it is not being fed properly.
I have seen living people cut off from their soul and this energy connection, they are usually ill, of grey pallor and struggle immensely with life but they keep hanging on because it is not their time to pass over yet. It is possible for such individuals to continue living in a body that is like a shell, it eats, sleeps, moves, has sex, talks but there is no reason or happiness, flow or pleasure in their lives, or feeling or expression of deep emotion.
When a person has reached their natural time, as I said - regardless of age or what we might determine to be their time to die, the aura will begin its natural degeneration.
The aura shrinks too at this time and moves in quite close to the body of the person. They might feel constantly cold, selfish (due to the disconnection with other earthly persons because the aura is no longer giving them emotional information) irritable, tired and frightened.
The conscious brain struggles to comprehend the destruction of the energy field because it is a subtle manifestation and the brain deals more with facts, figures and definite senses. However, those who are mediums or understand energy do recognise when they are becoming weak and nearing their own end as do many people who have never worked with energy, their intuition tells them that they are getting close.
As a healer there is nothing I can do to restore the aura when it has begun to degrade. I can meditate with the person and give them peace and some understanding, I can show them where to go and who will meet them removing any fear of passing that they might have and this gives enormous comfort to them. Neither can I slow the end for them, it's true that we all have a time slot and should we miss it by a long way we will then have to wait to be collected to make the short journey home. Our loved ones on the other side of life try their hardest to make us understand before we pass that they are waiting and excited that we will be joining them, (often through dreams and visions) but some people just miss the point and end up getting lost for a while anyway, usually through fear or atheism, but they will be fetched in the end, when their mind opens enough for them to see the beauty of life.
At the same time that the aura begins to break down the body's main chakras also begin to dysfunction and close. The first to go is the root, (as the energy system will close from the bottom up so as to end with the return to the soul which is from the crown of the head. It closes this way so that the human spirit, that rests in the heart will be pushed up to the crown and out the way it is safest and not be pushed down into the root and trapped by the lowest thoughts of existence that sit there in that chakra.)
When the root is in dysfunction incontinence will be experienced, this state may last for a long or short time depending upon the emotions of the person concerned or their acceptance of life and death, their overall beliefs, their view of ageing and what it brings and their health issues generally.
The next chakra to close is the sacral, bringing with it nervousness, kidney issues, liver problems, lower intestinal issues. Also regrets may be expressed and wishes of 'what if' and 'if only'.
The next is the solar plexus, bringing fear or peace depending upon the person. A disconnection with life and its demands and realism. A clinging sense and fear of being alone.
Then the heart chakra will end its cycle, freeing the spirit to roam out of the body and discover its new invironment whilst the physical body is still alive so the spirit can return to safety when in needs to. This is when the spirit friends and helpers will be around more closely to keep the passing person close.
There may be issues with the heart at this stage if not encountered already or through illness generally.
The person may be in and out of what we recognise as consciousness and be much sleepier than previously.
The throat chakra begins to close next and the person passing may find that there are things that they must say to ease their conscience, let people know that they love them or express their regrets. It's important that the throat ease out unsaid words as the spirit, that is now risen into the throat chakra, will be urging it to do so.
The third eye illuminates when the spirit reaches it. Suddenly things become clearer to the person passing as the third eye reveals a new world to them, one that they can go to, peacefully. The person can still deny this at this stage and many do, sadly, making it harder for them to pass on. It's also at this point that people who are considered to be at death's door often rally and seem lucid and bright for a short period before deteriorating further.
When reaching the crown of the head the spirit has the sensation of being born again back into the spirit world. They pop out to see something wondrous and often unexpected. There are loved ones to meet them and they become aware of the immense and powerful energy they carry now that they are out of the heavy and cumbersome physical body. This time should be one of great joy and often is, until that is they remember that they are also leaving people behind who mean a great deal to them. Such is life. It happens on the way here and on the way out again. We all meet together again in between those times and carry each other in our hearts. It is still possible even at this stage for the passing spirit to deny what is happening to them and become stuck in the gloom of the earthbound soul.
For the observer who can see energy at this last stage of leaving the crown the spirit is visible usually as a white mist, but one that has form. Not human form, but shape and outline. It moves quickly and is a beautiful sight.
There are clear signs when someone is going to be leaving us, if you know what to look for. The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying has some interesting observations about the closing down of the energy on the outside and on the inside too. My observations are my own. It's not always nice to see that someone's aura is breaking down, especially if I know that person but acceptance is the key to most things in life and nothing I can do will change when their soul has decided to move on. Death is the choice of the individual, the means, the time, the pain, the duration of demise all amount to the soul's choice. A long life is no measure to a life well lived and the duration of a person's life is no measure to their achievements. So live well, laugh and cram in as much as you can! That way you will have a lot to talk about on the other side.
The answer is yes, I often can see if a person is moving to their passing stage but not always. Sometimes I just don't pick up on my senses if I'm involved in doing something else or simply not switching in or listening to my instincts, I can't be on high alert all the time, it's neither feasible, practical or worthwhile.
When a person is moving towards the end of their life, no matter their age, a breakdown of the aura can be seen. The aura is the electro-magnetic layer of the physical body and if the physical body is no longer requiring it, then it will begin to disperse. (There are plenty of google images of the human aura and chakra diagrams if you need to look it up.)
I usually see this as a greying aura, there will be no colour visible and there are thinned areas of the aura much like cotton wool when it is pulled and you can see strands joining the larger pieces together but it looks worn and threadbare. This thinning is a result of the spiritual energy no longer being fed into the aura but instead returning to nourish the soul in readiness for the return of an aspect of it i.e. your spirit. (I should point out here that the soul has many aspects to it and you, the being you are now in body, is not the only part of your soul experiencing some form of life right now, you are a fragment of your soul and its learning, not the whole). whew! that was deep.
Anyhow, if the aura is not receiving energy, then the physical body via the main chakras is not receiving energy either and that will in turn lead to a break down of the physical body and its major organs and blood system because it is not being fed properly.
I have seen living people cut off from their soul and this energy connection, they are usually ill, of grey pallor and struggle immensely with life but they keep hanging on because it is not their time to pass over yet. It is possible for such individuals to continue living in a body that is like a shell, it eats, sleeps, moves, has sex, talks but there is no reason or happiness, flow or pleasure in their lives, or feeling or expression of deep emotion.
When a person has reached their natural time, as I said - regardless of age or what we might determine to be their time to die, the aura will begin its natural degeneration.
The aura shrinks too at this time and moves in quite close to the body of the person. They might feel constantly cold, selfish (due to the disconnection with other earthly persons because the aura is no longer giving them emotional information) irritable, tired and frightened.
The conscious brain struggles to comprehend the destruction of the energy field because it is a subtle manifestation and the brain deals more with facts, figures and definite senses. However, those who are mediums or understand energy do recognise when they are becoming weak and nearing their own end as do many people who have never worked with energy, their intuition tells them that they are getting close.
As a healer there is nothing I can do to restore the aura when it has begun to degrade. I can meditate with the person and give them peace and some understanding, I can show them where to go and who will meet them removing any fear of passing that they might have and this gives enormous comfort to them. Neither can I slow the end for them, it's true that we all have a time slot and should we miss it by a long way we will then have to wait to be collected to make the short journey home. Our loved ones on the other side of life try their hardest to make us understand before we pass that they are waiting and excited that we will be joining them, (often through dreams and visions) but some people just miss the point and end up getting lost for a while anyway, usually through fear or atheism, but they will be fetched in the end, when their mind opens enough for them to see the beauty of life.
At the same time that the aura begins to break down the body's main chakras also begin to dysfunction and close. The first to go is the root, (as the energy system will close from the bottom up so as to end with the return to the soul which is from the crown of the head. It closes this way so that the human spirit, that rests in the heart will be pushed up to the crown and out the way it is safest and not be pushed down into the root and trapped by the lowest thoughts of existence that sit there in that chakra.)
When the root is in dysfunction incontinence will be experienced, this state may last for a long or short time depending upon the emotions of the person concerned or their acceptance of life and death, their overall beliefs, their view of ageing and what it brings and their health issues generally.
The next chakra to close is the sacral, bringing with it nervousness, kidney issues, liver problems, lower intestinal issues. Also regrets may be expressed and wishes of 'what if' and 'if only'.
The next is the solar plexus, bringing fear or peace depending upon the person. A disconnection with life and its demands and realism. A clinging sense and fear of being alone.
Then the heart chakra will end its cycle, freeing the spirit to roam out of the body and discover its new invironment whilst the physical body is still alive so the spirit can return to safety when in needs to. This is when the spirit friends and helpers will be around more closely to keep the passing person close.
There may be issues with the heart at this stage if not encountered already or through illness generally.
The person may be in and out of what we recognise as consciousness and be much sleepier than previously.
The throat chakra begins to close next and the person passing may find that there are things that they must say to ease their conscience, let people know that they love them or express their regrets. It's important that the throat ease out unsaid words as the spirit, that is now risen into the throat chakra, will be urging it to do so.
The third eye illuminates when the spirit reaches it. Suddenly things become clearer to the person passing as the third eye reveals a new world to them, one that they can go to, peacefully. The person can still deny this at this stage and many do, sadly, making it harder for them to pass on. It's also at this point that people who are considered to be at death's door often rally and seem lucid and bright for a short period before deteriorating further.
When reaching the crown of the head the spirit has the sensation of being born again back into the spirit world. They pop out to see something wondrous and often unexpected. There are loved ones to meet them and they become aware of the immense and powerful energy they carry now that they are out of the heavy and cumbersome physical body. This time should be one of great joy and often is, until that is they remember that they are also leaving people behind who mean a great deal to them. Such is life. It happens on the way here and on the way out again. We all meet together again in between those times and carry each other in our hearts. It is still possible even at this stage for the passing spirit to deny what is happening to them and become stuck in the gloom of the earthbound soul.
For the observer who can see energy at this last stage of leaving the crown the spirit is visible usually as a white mist, but one that has form. Not human form, but shape and outline. It moves quickly and is a beautiful sight.
There are clear signs when someone is going to be leaving us, if you know what to look for. The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying has some interesting observations about the closing down of the energy on the outside and on the inside too. My observations are my own. It's not always nice to see that someone's aura is breaking down, especially if I know that person but acceptance is the key to most things in life and nothing I can do will change when their soul has decided to move on. Death is the choice of the individual, the means, the time, the pain, the duration of demise all amount to the soul's choice. A long life is no measure to a life well lived and the duration of a person's life is no measure to their achievements. So live well, laugh and cram in as much as you can! That way you will have a lot to talk about on the other side.
Wednesday 7 March 2012
how to connect with your own spirit
As with any exercise or tip I will give you this one is simple and easy and quick if you need it to be and can be done anywhere. No special tools or props are required and you can do this alone or with a partner or group. There are no rules only good practise.
The first time that you try this do it somewhere quiet where you will not be disturbed but then later with practise you should be able to do any of the exercises quickly, no matter how much noise surrounds you and you will be able to trust your own instincts.
Either lay or sit quietly (don't get too comfortable or you will fall asleep), a good place to connect with your spirit is in the bath. The water helps you to relax and also aids visualisations and spirit connection and usually the door is locked so that you feel safe and will be undisturbed.
Breathe deeply, a few times until you fall into the natural rhythm of breathing, rest a moment, there is no rush. In your mind, to yourself state that you intend to connect with your spirit, the spirit that resides within your heart centre and in the core of your being, the real you, your light. (Or words to that effect).
Then place the palm of your right hand on your heart centre to mark your intention and the palm of your left hand over your solar plexus to keep your power inward instead of reaching out for guidance as is often done. You are closing your energy circuit to enable your energy to flow around and within you rather than out and searching in the ether for knowledge.
Next take your concentration to behind your eyes, you reside there, you see the outer world from there, you gain information from there about others', about your surroundings, signals to survive your daily life and its demands. From here we are going into your inner world, to find your truths.
Imagine the hara line through the centre of the body. This is a strong centre line that runs from the crown of the head through to the root and down to the ground, it lines up all the major chakras and roots us to the earth as well as connecting us to the divine higher realms. I see my hara line as white and cylindrical, poker straight and full of light. This is the line that needs to be brought into sharp focus when you are asked to centre yourself and is the mainstay of the energy system much like our physical spine is to the human body.
Picture your hara line as a lift shaft - but full of white light. Your consciousness can travel up and down this shaft whenever you want it to. You can access the interior of the chakras by using this method and can cleanse them individually or see what the light inside them is like, how each chakra feels when you enter its environment and what may need attention or healing. It's an interesting exercise to try but do keep an open mind about what you might sense and always take the first thing that you see or sense as being the truth however odd you find it, you can puzzle it out later.
Now take your consciousness from behind your eyes down to the throat chakra and pause. Take a look at the entrance to the throat, what do you see? what is the colour? is the colour bright or murky? don't enter the throat chakra yet but instead travel further down until you reach the entrance to the heart chakra. How do you feel standing before the entrance? what colour are you presented with? is the colour clear and bright or not? do you feel apprehensive or eager to get into your own spirit and meet it?
However you feel, take a deep breathe, keep your consciousness in the heart and step forward into the cavity of the heart chakra. Be open to feel and sense, to receive and to communicate with your spirit.
What does your spirit look like? is it like you or different? is it pleased to see you? does it have information for you? is it displeased with you for some reason?
At this point you can ask questions, feel the responses, put in requests, express your desires. Whatever you want to do can be done here in complete safety and honesty. You are communing with your interior self and anything is possible. Sometimes you might want to meet with your spirit just to obtain peace and connection and no information will pass between you and that is alright too.
When you feel that you have spent enough time there you can retrace your steps. Notice the colours again as you return your consciousness to behind your eyes and see if there has been a change or improvement.
Remember after any meditation to centre and ground yourself (exercises on this blog) it's very important that you are able to function in the real world and not be distracted.
Make a few notes on what you experienced and compare them next time you do the exercise. It may only take you a few minutes to complete the connection or it may take longer, everyone is individual and you should give yourself enough time to make a strong and meaningful connection. Remember that there is nothing to fear from this exercise unless you are scared of yourself! Enjoy.
The first time that you try this do it somewhere quiet where you will not be disturbed but then later with practise you should be able to do any of the exercises quickly, no matter how much noise surrounds you and you will be able to trust your own instincts.
Either lay or sit quietly (don't get too comfortable or you will fall asleep), a good place to connect with your spirit is in the bath. The water helps you to relax and also aids visualisations and spirit connection and usually the door is locked so that you feel safe and will be undisturbed.
Breathe deeply, a few times until you fall into the natural rhythm of breathing, rest a moment, there is no rush. In your mind, to yourself state that you intend to connect with your spirit, the spirit that resides within your heart centre and in the core of your being, the real you, your light. (Or words to that effect).
Then place the palm of your right hand on your heart centre to mark your intention and the palm of your left hand over your solar plexus to keep your power inward instead of reaching out for guidance as is often done. You are closing your energy circuit to enable your energy to flow around and within you rather than out and searching in the ether for knowledge.
Next take your concentration to behind your eyes, you reside there, you see the outer world from there, you gain information from there about others', about your surroundings, signals to survive your daily life and its demands. From here we are going into your inner world, to find your truths.
Imagine the hara line through the centre of the body. This is a strong centre line that runs from the crown of the head through to the root and down to the ground, it lines up all the major chakras and roots us to the earth as well as connecting us to the divine higher realms. I see my hara line as white and cylindrical, poker straight and full of light. This is the line that needs to be brought into sharp focus when you are asked to centre yourself and is the mainstay of the energy system much like our physical spine is to the human body.
Picture your hara line as a lift shaft - but full of white light. Your consciousness can travel up and down this shaft whenever you want it to. You can access the interior of the chakras by using this method and can cleanse them individually or see what the light inside them is like, how each chakra feels when you enter its environment and what may need attention or healing. It's an interesting exercise to try but do keep an open mind about what you might sense and always take the first thing that you see or sense as being the truth however odd you find it, you can puzzle it out later.
Now take your consciousness from behind your eyes down to the throat chakra and pause. Take a look at the entrance to the throat, what do you see? what is the colour? is the colour bright or murky? don't enter the throat chakra yet but instead travel further down until you reach the entrance to the heart chakra. How do you feel standing before the entrance? what colour are you presented with? is the colour clear and bright or not? do you feel apprehensive or eager to get into your own spirit and meet it?
However you feel, take a deep breathe, keep your consciousness in the heart and step forward into the cavity of the heart chakra. Be open to feel and sense, to receive and to communicate with your spirit.
What does your spirit look like? is it like you or different? is it pleased to see you? does it have information for you? is it displeased with you for some reason?
At this point you can ask questions, feel the responses, put in requests, express your desires. Whatever you want to do can be done here in complete safety and honesty. You are communing with your interior self and anything is possible. Sometimes you might want to meet with your spirit just to obtain peace and connection and no information will pass between you and that is alright too.
When you feel that you have spent enough time there you can retrace your steps. Notice the colours again as you return your consciousness to behind your eyes and see if there has been a change or improvement.
Remember after any meditation to centre and ground yourself (exercises on this blog) it's very important that you are able to function in the real world and not be distracted.
Make a few notes on what you experienced and compare them next time you do the exercise. It may only take you a few minutes to complete the connection or it may take longer, everyone is individual and you should give yourself enough time to make a strong and meaningful connection. Remember that there is nothing to fear from this exercise unless you are scared of yourself! Enjoy.
Thursday 1 March 2012
dreaming of the dead
We all dream. We may remember our dreams we may not. Typically we usually remember the more disturbing ones because our brain and body react to the stronger stimulus within them however we also remember deeply emotional dreams. Sometimes in the waking stage where we are rousing and coming to consciousness we have vivid images that can seem very real. This is the time when you should take notice and attempt to remember the content you receive as it is often in this state that we try to achieve during meditation. The state of being relaxed enough to accept what comes but just alert enough to coherently remember details and understand our visions, thoughts and feelings.
If you have a vivid dream or vision or even daydream that concerns a deceased person known to you then pay special attention to your emotions at the time, as you will be receiving the emotions of that person trying to communicate with you. Emotions often tell us more than words or expressions can as people are very good at hiding their true feelings although spirit people rarely do this - whether they can or not I don't know for sure, but I suspect not as they are pure energy and thought.
When you have a strong connection with this type of vision or dream it is often the spirit person trying to give you a message, so try to listen. You may dream of them if they are on your mind or you are concerned about them and this can just be your psyche reaching out to them and creating a meeting with them but a real meeting will have the emotion attached and you may receive information that you were previously unaware of rather than if the meeting is of your own creation so take your time to understand what is happening and keep a notepad and pen handy to record your feelings before you forget.
The thing I regard as most important is our gut instinct, our feelings about situations tell us more truths than we can question. We should always ask ourselves what makes us happy, what gives us the most pleasure, what fires us up and enthuses us with ideas and excitement? The answers you receive are from inside yourself, from your own spirit and it will never lie to you or mislead you. If we sense danger we shouldn't ignore that feeling, we can investigate our fear, check it is grounded in reality or phobia or deep rooted anxiety before panicking or acting upon it.
By the same token we should express ourselves freely too. We shouldn't fear our emotions, if we want to cry at a film, give someone a hug, pay someone a compliment or laugh - then we should. Our spirit demands that emotion for a reason and often that reason is for a release of energy or for an intake of energy. The spirit lives moment to moment - children are a great example of this as they haven't yet been conditioned to control their emotions or time. They do what they want when they want to do it. That of course is not practical in every day adult living but living emotionally intelligently is possible and necessary for a healthy body and mind. Radiate your spirit from within and let the love and hope that your spirit carries reach other people and don't be afraid to be yourself. In doing that you will find immense strength, creativity and freedom and your energy will flow healthily leading to positivity and mental well-being.
When you stifle your spirit, ignore your desires, suppress your nature then your energy becomes stale and a sense of stuckness comes about along with feeling trapped, depressed, uncreative and unhappy.
Being free of course does not mean that you can be offensive, aggressive or self-interested. All your actions demanded of the spirit must be for the highest good and harm no-one. You are meant to be spreading love and light, that is everyone's life purpose. Tolerance and understanding and development of the mind are the aims of the human spirit.
Try the energy cleansing exercise on this blog then meditate with the intention to connect with your spirit self which I will add tomorrow.
If you have a vivid dream or vision or even daydream that concerns a deceased person known to you then pay special attention to your emotions at the time, as you will be receiving the emotions of that person trying to communicate with you. Emotions often tell us more than words or expressions can as people are very good at hiding their true feelings although spirit people rarely do this - whether they can or not I don't know for sure, but I suspect not as they are pure energy and thought.
When you have a strong connection with this type of vision or dream it is often the spirit person trying to give you a message, so try to listen. You may dream of them if they are on your mind or you are concerned about them and this can just be your psyche reaching out to them and creating a meeting with them but a real meeting will have the emotion attached and you may receive information that you were previously unaware of rather than if the meeting is of your own creation so take your time to understand what is happening and keep a notepad and pen handy to record your feelings before you forget.
The thing I regard as most important is our gut instinct, our feelings about situations tell us more truths than we can question. We should always ask ourselves what makes us happy, what gives us the most pleasure, what fires us up and enthuses us with ideas and excitement? The answers you receive are from inside yourself, from your own spirit and it will never lie to you or mislead you. If we sense danger we shouldn't ignore that feeling, we can investigate our fear, check it is grounded in reality or phobia or deep rooted anxiety before panicking or acting upon it.
By the same token we should express ourselves freely too. We shouldn't fear our emotions, if we want to cry at a film, give someone a hug, pay someone a compliment or laugh - then we should. Our spirit demands that emotion for a reason and often that reason is for a release of energy or for an intake of energy. The spirit lives moment to moment - children are a great example of this as they haven't yet been conditioned to control their emotions or time. They do what they want when they want to do it. That of course is not practical in every day adult living but living emotionally intelligently is possible and necessary for a healthy body and mind. Radiate your spirit from within and let the love and hope that your spirit carries reach other people and don't be afraid to be yourself. In doing that you will find immense strength, creativity and freedom and your energy will flow healthily leading to positivity and mental well-being.
When you stifle your spirit, ignore your desires, suppress your nature then your energy becomes stale and a sense of stuckness comes about along with feeling trapped, depressed, uncreative and unhappy.
Being free of course does not mean that you can be offensive, aggressive or self-interested. All your actions demanded of the spirit must be for the highest good and harm no-one. You are meant to be spreading love and light, that is everyone's life purpose. Tolerance and understanding and development of the mind are the aims of the human spirit.
Try the energy cleansing exercise on this blog then meditate with the intention to connect with your spirit self which I will add tomorrow.
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