Get better sleep without drugs

5 Easy Steps to Get a Better Night’s Sleep

by Energy HealingFeaturedHealthMeditationSelf Love

This is the third blog in a row I’m focusing on sleep because we simply aren’t getting enough of it!

If you missed the first 2 blogs, you can read them here:

The Best Sleep Ever: Why You Need It and How to Get It

8 Natural Herbal Remedies for a Better Night’s Sleep

This week, let’s talk about 5 more easy, actionable steps you can take to improve your quality of sleep.

      1. Limit your exposure to EMFs.

        We are all very sensitive to electromagnetic radiation, and there’s little data out there on what it’s doing to us. How to counteract all that WIFI that’s coursing through your bodymind? Try grounding every day: in warm weather, walk barefoot. In cold, go outside and stand near a tree, even hugging it when the mood strikes you. Keep your phone a foot away from you, or, radical thought, put it on airplane. Turn off your WIFI in your home or apartment at night. Keep sections of raw silk where you work and where you sleep; silk absorbs EMFs.

      2. Exercise before noon, not after.

        The idea is to keep your core temperature lower as evening approaches, allowing you to sleep more easily because your body is cool. (more on that in my first sleep blog) Exercise will not only raise your body temperature but also release cortisol and adrenaline. Cortisol is a daytime hormone, that is the opposite of melatonin. When cortisol is high, melatonin is low. To get good quality sleep, cortisol needs to be low, so exercise early in the day. Plus, when you exercise in the morning, it produces feel-good brain chemistry that make you feel happy all day. Sleep naked, it will keep you cool and your partner will love it. Oddly enough if you keep your socks on, that will help lower your body’s temp, and you will fall asleep faster.

      3. Make sure the air in your bedroom is fresh.

        Even 100 years ago, we spent most of our day outdoors; now, we spend over 90% of our time indoors. Indoor air can be very polluted and dead, not carrying enough oxygen to oxygenate your cells. What to do? Open your bedroom windows during the day, if it’s too cold at night. Or install an air ionizer or a HEPA filter if your outdoor air is bad and opening windows isn’t an option. Bring in plants, they will purify your air for you. Sleep outside in the summer, like I do, and not only get great air, but exposure to the moon and stars, which balances the lunar, feminine energies in your body, relaxing you, and promoting good sleep.

      4. Take magnesium at night.

        Magnesium is necessary for good sleep; take it with a dash of calcium. Alternatively, eat a few bites of a banana (just a couple of bites, since they are very sweet), which will help you develop melatonin.

      5. Meditate for just 10 minutes, no more.

        That little bit of meditation will take off the edge and allow you to drop off to sleep easily. More would wake you up, so just 10 minutes.

       

Sweet dreams!

Get better sleep

8 Natural Herbal Remedies for a Better Night’s Sleep

by Energy HealingEnergy MedicineFeaturedHealth

Having trouble falling asleep or staying asleep? This may be due to a short-term issue or it can stem from longer-term sleep habits that are incorrect. Beyond a week, sleeping pills are not the solution. Prescription meds don’t address the underlying cause, and they have some serious side effects. 

In addition to the suggestions in last week’s blog, what about diet, can it help with sleep? It may be surprising, but what you eat at dinner or in nighttime snacks can affect your sleep. Certain foods, like cheese and turkey, are rich in tryptophan, an amino acid that helps produce serotonin, which will help you feel sleepy. Almonds also have tryptophan as well as calcium and magnesium, minerals that calm the body and the mind. However, you will want to avoid carbs at dinner (especially potatoes), as they convert to sugar and six hours later, you could very well wake up. You would avoid sweets after lunch for the same reason.

One study revealed that tart cherries help people with insomnia; they are the only food source of melatonin, that necessary hormone for sleep. Tart cherry juice works as well, but stay away from caffeinated drinks, alcohol, and spicy and fatty foods, all which can lead to sleeplessness. 

There are natural herbal remedies that make it easier to go to sleep and stay asleep. Here are 8 of them:

  1. Chamomile tea: it’s been used for hundreds of years as a sleep aid because it acts like a mild sedative. Brew for 10 minutes using two or three tea bags to calm your nerves and get a full night’s sleep.
  2. St. John’s wort: this flower can be brewed as a tea to ease anxiety and insomnia or taken as a supplement. Make sure you stay out of direct sunlight when you take it because it can make you more sensitive to UV rays.
  3. Valerian root: over 16 studies have shown this flowering plant helps you fall asleep faster and have a more sound night’s sleep. It’s the most commonly used herbal supplement to promote sleep in the U.S. and Europe. Taken together, valerian and hops are well-studied herbal supplements for sleep; they boost production of GABA, a brain chemical that reduces anxiety and has sedative properties. You will want to restrict your use to a week or two, so as not to overly burden the liver.
  4. Kava: Pacific Islanders have long used this root for relaxation. Like valerian, don’t use over a long period of time. Use a high quality supplement.
  5. Passion flower (also called maypop): is not only a delicious tea, but is also a mild sedative. Steep for 10 minutes in boiling water.
  6. California poppy: the bright orange leaves of the poppy should be steeped in hot water for 10 minutes to make a tea that gets you ready for a good night’s sleep.
  7. Lavender: the soothing fragrance of lavender’s purple flowers enhances sleep. Lavender aromatherapy is often as effective as pharmaceutical medications, with no side effects. Don’t take lavender orally. Use a good quality lavender oil in a diffuser around 30 minutes before bed.

So, forget counting sheep and brew a cup of herbal tea to catch some Z’s. 

And if you’d like to hear more about this and other topics, come join our live show on January 22nd at 3PM Pacific. We’ll be talking to expert herbalist and Deborah King Center Graduate Practitioner, Lisa Vander Kaay.

Join the conversation!

Click here to reserve your seat for the show >>

Getting best sleep

The Best Sleep Ever: Why You Need It and How to Get It

by Energy HealingEnergy MedicineFeaturedSelf Love

This is the time of year when everyone focuses on diet and exercise, but it’s sleep that needs our attention – the importance of sleep is vastly under-rated. When you get enough sleep, you rebuild your body and your mind: sleep releases human growth hormone, essential for staying young; it balances your appetite hormones (ghrelin and leptin), keeping you slender; repairs your DNA; speeds up muscle recovery; preserves your memory; and improves your ability to learn. What’s not to like about sleep! (Meditation does all these things too, so be sure to meditate once you do wake up.)

Even one night of poor sleep can throw you out of whack, making you over-do carbs and sugar the next day. Plus, staying up late causes your immune system to plummet, your blood pressure to rise, and inflammation to increase. Not a pretty picture.

To this day, every animal on the planet sleeps, so clearly sleep is not optional. Here are five steps to good sleep:

Step One: Spend a little time early in the morning, outside, letting your eyes be exposed to the morning light, so your all-important circadian rhythm gets set for the day.

Step Two:  Spend a minimum of 15 minutes outside during the day, getting more natural light on your eyeballs, which will reinforce your body’s regular wake/sleep rhythm.

Step Three:  Minimize the amount of blue light you are exposed to both during the day and the evening from devices like computer screens, TVs, iPads, and smart phones; blue light blocks the critical melatonin production that you need to sleep properly. Melatonin is generated in your pineal gland when it’s really dark. To prepare for that production, turn off the TV an hour before bedtime and make sure your devices are on “night shift” settings that warm the color of the screens. Check out an app like iristech.co for ways to minimize the amount of blue light you are exposed to from your screens. Or grab a pair of blue light blocking glasses from raoptics.com and be healthy and hip looking all at the same time.

Step Four: Go to bed at about the same time every evening, ideally within 15 minutes of your routine time. I spent many years on the farm, watching all the animals, and saw how well animals do this – always bedding down at the same time every night. Or sleeping standing up, as horses often do.

Step Five:  Make sure your bedroom is as dark as possible. If you need your phone (on airplane mode, of course) to see the time, choose a red screen for that purpose. Wear an eye mask just in case light is leaking in under the door or around the drapes. Even your skin takes in light, so the darker the room, the better.

Step Six: Enjoy all the benefits of your prep during the day with a blissful night of sleep in a room that is between 60- 65 degrees Fahrenheit/15 – 19 degrees Celsius – your body needs to be in that temperature range in order to continue to produce melatonin and to stay asleep. And, if you wake up too early, simply meditate and chances are, you’ll drop back off to sleep before long. Happy ZZZs!

New Year 2020

Do New Year’s Resolutions Really Work?

by FeaturedLife Coaching

Bringing in 2020! With the beginning of this new year, you have been given a new start, a fresh slate, an opportunity to kick off the next twelve months of your life with hope, love, and healing. But New Year’s resolutions may not be the best way to turn over a new leaf.

The Reason So Many Resolutions Fail

For many people, a fresh start involves making New Year’s resolutions—goals or promises to yourself for improvements. Many common resolutions include losing weight, getting a handle on an addiction, saving more money, or moving up in your career. The problem is that many New Year’s resolutions are externally motivated, arising from outside you – from your parents, or partners, or society, and are therefore set up for failure from the get-go.

Resolutions that are born out of a need to please others rather than being born from a deep desire for yourself are often not realized. How can they be? They don’t reflect the true you. And yet, when you abandon them, the cycle of self-blame and shame makes you feel worse than if you’d never made any resolutions at all! Does that sounds like a good way to start the year—with a vow that is unrealistic from the start because it’s inauthentic and only makes you feel worse when you don’t meet it? You deserve better.

Focus on Intention

So this year, I’d like you to break the cycle of bound-to-fail resolutions and instead, make non-resolutions that are less about the end result and more about the journey. Rather than trying to plan goals, focus on intention. What is the reason behind the goal? That’s what you need to pay attention to. When you are clear on what your purpose is—your intention—it’s much easier to make decisions that support that purpose.

For example, let’s say your resolution is to lose weight. When you make a resolution, it’s usually a simple statement: “I will lose 20 lbs this year,” without a crystal clear plan in place. If you use energy healing techniques to dig deeper and understand the emotions behind the weight gain, your chances of success increase exponentially. Thinking about why you want what you want, why it has not yet happened, and how you will move toward your desired result are essential for transforming yourself this year.

Here are a few ways to figure out what you want your intentions to be for this year and how to go about making those intentions a reality in your life.

  1. Practice energy healing.
    Energy medicine is the single best thing you can do for your emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual wellbeing. Energy healing expands your awareness, brings you into closer contact with Source and your higher self, and helps to clear your chakras and energy field of any negativity that might be causing you problems. (like not being able to lose weight) Energy medicine gives you the tools you need to get to the root of your problems so that you can address the cause of your bad habits, or the self-sabotaging or addictive behavior you’d like to change. Attending healing courses and working with a spiritual teacher is a great jumpstart to healing yourself, and journaling, meditation, and being of service are a few of the other methods of self-healing you will learn in energy medicine that will help you clear your chakras and reveal the real you. Uncovering the real you that lies underneath the expectations from others that so often color your resolutions is just one of a million life-changing benefits of practicing energy medicine.
  2. Find your true purpose.
    With energy healing, you will be more and more able to connect with your higher self, who intimately understands the deepest parts of you and knows your life purpose: the reason you incarnated in your body at this time. Your life purpose is the driving force within your soul, and lining up your intentions with your soul’s plans is the best way to speed up your spiritual progress, heal yourself, and actually manifest your intentions. Try journaling about your true feelings, wants, and desires, writing down your most honest thoughts, and see if you can’t discover an intention for the new year that comes from you and not from anyone else. Trust your intuition, which is from your higher self and your guides, the best source of guidance.
  3. Consider adding rather than subtracting.
    So often resolutions are about stopping something, which can feel limiting and may make you resistant. But adding something positive feels happy and fun, like Christmas all over again. Perhaps your intention is to lose weight in order to get in better shape so you have more energy to do the things you love, so try adding a walk after dinner each night, before TV time. Maybe you want to intend to be happier or more fulfilled, so try scheduling in one thing you love to do for an hour each day, or join a group of people who have similar interests.

Remember, do not feel bad if you “fail.” You can’t fail at trying! Or rather, failure is part of trying, it is a part of the process of succeeding, so when you intend to improve your life you aren’t making a vow that can be broken, but rather a choice to move toward a new way of interacting with one particular part of yourself or the world. That simple fact gives you hope and decreases self-blame, and is why intentions are so much more effective long-term.

I hope you’ll try intentionality rather than resolutions this January so you can enjoy a happier, healthier, more light-filled year ahead. Happy New Year!

Perfect Christmas

Christmas is a time when you get homesick

by EventsFeaturedLife Coaching

Are you looking forward to a holiday right out of a Norman Rockwell painting, with the whole family singing around the piano or enjoying a spirited snowball fight before gathering, rosy-cheeked and glowing, around the holiday table? Or are you dreading long days of forced togetherness, the rehashing of old grievances and the airing of new ones as your family falls into its old, dysfunctional patterns? For most, holiday gatherings with family fall somewhere between the two scenarios. These three tips will help you to navigate though the family minefields, large and small, with your spirit and sanity intact.

 

Put the power of forgiveness and unconditional love to work for you:

 

As a spiritual teacher, I encourage my students to give themselves and those around them the gift of forgiveness and unconditional love. This holds especially true during the holidays.

If you know in advance that you’ll be seeing a family member who has wronged you, take the time to forgive them before the event. Close your eyes and imagine the person standing in front of you. As you breathe in, silently say, May you be happy. May you be well. May you be safe. May you be peaceful and at ease. This powerful Buddhist exercise, called “Metta,” dissolves anger, resentment, and guilt, and will help you to feel more loving and in control as you journey “over the river and through the woods to Grandmother’s house.” When you arrive, don’t undo the good you’ve done by telling the person that you have forgiven them—that will only bring the old issues back to the forefront and put them on the defensive. This processing is for your benefit. Simply send them love, and move on!

 

Stay outside of the emotional fray, and celebrate your own spiritual progress:

 

The holidays are not the time to resolve old issues, or confront other people. Enjoy the time with family, and set the limits that you need to keep yourself healthy emotionally, spiritually, and physically.

 

Take care of yourself. Take walks outdoors, meditate and consume alcohol, sugar, and caffeine in moderation. If you’re tired, give yourself permission to leave a family event early. You’re not obligated to stay till the bitter end. Fighting and drama tends to escalate as it gets late, especially if the alcohol is flowing. If there is family drama, step out of the fray and observe; pretend you’re watching a play, rather than allowing yourself to be pulled in.

 

 

Finally, capture the holiday spirit by looking outside of yourself and your family circle:

 

Are you trying to recapture the breathless excitement and holiday magic that you remember from your childhood? Or do you have old, traumatic memories of the season that you’re desperate to replace with happier ones? As an adult, you can experience the very best of the holidays, the spirit of joy and love, but you might not find it wrapped in a box, or around the table with your extended family. For many people, the formula for a light-filled season includes not just family time, but time spent alone and time spent helping others.

 

Gandhi said that the best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. Don’t depend on the “big event” to fill you with the holiday spirit. If, despite your best efforts to forgive and forget, an overdose of family time is causing you to dwell too much on past hurts and disappointments, shift your focus outside of yourself. Figure out a way to help others, and by doing so, you’ll nourish your own spirit. Serve holiday dinners at a homeless shelter, deliver gifts to the lonely or sick, visit a nursing home to sing carols, send cards and packages to the troops, and remember what the holidays are really about—bringing more light into the world.  Doing that is a sure way to fill your own soul with the spirit of the season!

Winter Solstice

A Long Cold Night: Healing with the Winter Solstice

by Astrological EventsFeatured

Here’s a riddle for you:

When is growing darkness and disappearing light a reason to give thanks?

When the sun moves south toward the Tropic of Capricorn and the shortest day of the solar year arrives in the Northern Hemisphere—in other words, the winter solstice.

This annual planetary event—which comes this year on December 21—has been celebrated for its spiritual importance since ancient times. The days grow shorter and the nights longer until the solstice.

At the winter solstice, the balance of dark and light tips, and the sun begins a return trip that promises such good things as new life, new growth, increasing warmth, and those bright spring blossoms that gladden your heart! Whether your longest night is truly frigid or just chilly, those hours of darkness are a gift and a time for special spiritual reflection.

Are you ready to pause for a prayer of gratitude for the gift of another year of life and love?

As a spiritual teacher and energy healer, I invite you to celebrate this seasonal cycle by creating your own personal rituals to mark the passing of darkness and the coming again of healing, life-giving light. The winter solstice is a time of rebirth, a special window of peace and renewal. The quiet calm of a long winter’s night welcomes you to look within and nurture your connection to Source. Now is the perfect time to honor your own inner light with renewed attention, awareness, and gratitude.

What are some healing gifts that you can give your spirit this December?

Winter solstice healing practices:

1. Give thanks for the sheltering night

Meditate on the blessings of restful darkness when the busy daytime work is done. Reflect on the amazing spiritual gift of being able to restore your strength and energy whenever you need to. You can create light whenever and wherever you need it. Embrace the quiet, the calm, and the peace you have been given.

Send forth prayers for all who need rest, including yourself, and give thanks for the wisdom to recognize your need to reach out for loving assistance from the Source of All Being.

2. Reflect on the need to let go

At the winter solstice, the sun changes course and begins to move in a new direction. It’s a perfect time to think about the course of your life and decide if you, too, are ready to change direction. With the return of the sun and the longer days to come, what will you do with your “new light”?

Use your journal to reflect on ways you might deeply long to change course.

  • What would you do with a new chance to reinvent your life?
  • Do you need to let go of negative thoughts and beliefs that are holding you back?

Let go of fear and let feelings of love and gratitude rise and refresh your spirit.

3. Imagine ways to re-engage

The return of the light that follows the winter solstice has long been seen as a time of awakening for higher consciousness. The growth of your inner light reflects the growing return of sunlight to a world in need of healing energy. The time is right for you to nurture your spiritual practice, to diminish your personal darkness and increase your light.

  • How will you move forward in the months ahead?
  • How will you contribute to your own healing and thereby help to heal the world?

Honor the solstice by spreading light to others who are in need.

4. Remember the natural world

What’s going on outside as winter begins?

Find time to observe the night sky and study the wonder of the stars in the cold, clear air. Look for bird and animal visitors to your yard and neighborhood. They may be looking for shelter and sustenance that you can help provide. Notice how the trees and plants adapt to a new season. Like them, you are connected to the cosmos.

Can you restore that feeling of connection by getting outside for a while each day?

5. Cultivate joy

From ancient times, the winter solstice has been a time of celebration. The dark that has been building will now retreat. Light begins its return with all the gifts that longer daytime brings—warmth, color, and the power to grow! The year-end gathering of friends and family, the food and drink, the music, and the traditions are all part of the seasonal longing to celebrate happiness and community. Taking good care of your spirit is part of the healing promise of a new season.

You can make your winter solstice a turning point and a time of renewal. Use these spiritual practices to shine your light of love and peace into the world!

Los Angeles Light Pollution

Light Pollution: What it Does to Your Body/Mind/Spirit and 5 Easy Ways to Reduce It

by AdvocacyEnvironmentalFeaturedHealth

In 1994, just before dawn, an earthquake hit LA and caused a city-wide power outage. Many residents who ran out of buildings for safety called 911 to report a mysterious cloud overhead in what was an otherwise clear night. That cloud turned out to be the Milky Way, our own galaxy, hidden for many years by the city’s lights.

We try to light up the night sky for a simple reason: we humans don’t see very well in the dark. But where a little light is a good thing, too much light, or the wrong kind, negatively impacts us, causing a host of undesirable effects, most notably, breast cancer.

The 24-hour cycle, or circadian clock, affects physiologic processes in all living things. These processes include brain wave patterns, hormone production, cell regulation, and other biological activities. Disruption of that rhythm results in ill health, unhappiness, and angst at the soul level.  

Melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone which is released in the dark and inhibited by light. While any light at night can interfere with its production, the short blue portion of the light spectrum suppresses melatonin the most.

Exposure to our artificially extended daytime in the modern world leads to sleep problems and sleep problems cause weight gain, stress, depression, diabetes, and cancer. The American Medical Association has recognized light at night as a carcinogen.

The excess light we create in our environment endangers all ecosystems by altering biochemical rhythms that normally ebb and flow with normal light patterns. Perhaps more importantly, we’re losing our connection to the night-time sky, a sky that our ancestors depended on for connection to the cosmos. We lose something essential, some part of ourselves, when we fail to connect to the dark sky and its planets and stars.

Though it’s not as dramatic as a chemical spill, light pollution now rates at the top of the list of chronic environmental issues. In 2016, reputable scientists reported that 99% of the United States and Europe experience light pollution. A third of the planet can no longer see the Milky Way and light pollution is increasing at the alarming rate of 2% per year.

Perhaps even more disturbing is the absence of awe when the night sky is no longer part of our lives. Philosophers have long written about the sacredness of the night sky and its impact on us; somehow a half-lit smoggy sky filled with light pollution just doesn’t take our soul to that place of wonder.

What can you do to preserve the night sky and your health and well-being? Here are 5 easy steps to take:

  1. Get new light bulbs. LEDs are great for saving energy (and money) but check to ensure that your bulbs are not using the blue-white spectrum. Find lower temp LEDs and compact fluorescents.
  2. Turn off blue light devices an hour before bedtime. That’s your TV, your iPad, your phone. If you use a reader, use an app that filters out the blue wavelength. That absence of blue light which normally would begin at sundown will allow melatonin to increase, which will lower your body temp, slow your metabolism, and increase leptin, the hormone that reduces appetite. (It was important for early humans that they didn’t get hungry in the middle of the night, because if you’re out foraging for food, you become food) Increased leptin levels play a role in avoiding cardiovascular disease, diabetes, depression, and cancer, especially breast cancer.
  3. Make sure your bedroom is completely dark. (Turn off the TV!)
  4. Turn off or shield outdoor lighting at your home.
  5. Talk to the governing agencies about light pollution in your area; be the one to spear-head a light ordinance or enforce the one already on the books.

Finally, if it’s been a long time since you’ve seen a truly dark night, make plans to go somewhere soon where you can. I spent the Thanksgiving holiday camped at Joshua Tree National Park and I can still feel the grandeur of that night sky. Try it for yourself, it will fill your soul.

Bikram #MeToo

Bikram: Me Too Yet Again

by CelebritiesFeaturedMovie ReviewsTrauma and ViolenceWomen

Media moguls, Hollywood stars, Olympic doctors, sports coaches, priests, politicians (left, right, and center), Buddhist teachers, Indian gurus and yogis, are all mighty trees felled by the hatchet of the #MeToo movement in recent times. Strongmen have all wielded their patriarchal power—what they considered their god-given rights—over the lives of women and children (and the earth). But thanks to the growing willingness of women to speak truth to power, a global conversation about sexual violence and gender balance has sprung to life and continues to expand.

The latest of these grimy exposures can be found in the Netflix documentary, Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator, which documents the allegations of sexual misconduct against Bikram Choudhry, the founder of Bikram yoga. In the “paternalistic” yoga culture, it is presumed that the teacher knows what is best for his students, who simply follow whatever the teacher says, even if it means ignoring their own intuition that something isn’t right. Other influential yoga teachers, like Patthabi Jois, Manouso Manos, and John Friend, have all been accused of some form of sexual assault, from inappropriate sexual touching of students’ bodies during class, all the way up to, as in the instant story, rape.

It’s everywhere in the “spiritual world”

These yoga teachers join a long list of “spiritual” teachers who have abused their power and authority, who think that the rules don’t apply to them. 

Amrit Desai, the founder of the Kripalu Centre, had to resign over sexual allegations as the spiritual director of his own ashram. The charismatic leader Osho (Bhagwan Shree Ragneesh) was known as the “sex guru.” Accusations of sex with devotees have cropped up relentlessly over the years about Swami Muktananda, Swami Satchidananda, Swami Rama, Swami Kriyananda, and Sai Baba, not to mention Buddhist lamas and teachers like Sogyal Rinpoche and Lama Norlha. Even more disturbing are rumors swirling about both living and deceased teachers at what was formerly the leading publishing company in the US of all things spiritual. 

Yes, the list of those in my field who well deserve to be in the #MeToo spotlight is long and disappointing. How can so many supposedly “enlightened” spiritual teachers sexually abuse their followers? More importantly for us, however, is how we delude ourselves about abuse when it’s right square in front of us, in our families, in our office, in church, or even happening to us.

Women, still, are relentlessly trained by the culture to allow men the upper hand. “Obey” may have been taken out of modern marriage vows, but it’s still implicitly there. The voice of authority is most often male, and women, if they have any sense, do not routinely confront men head-on.

Perhaps you are new to the spiritual scene, and your expectation is that everyone is pure, holy, a worthy vessel of Spirit—especially your teacher. He oozes charm, claims a special connection to the divine, and inspires devotion. You can just feel the power radiating from him. He is in command, and you listen to what is said, especially to you personally. And if he touches you in a way that makes you uncomfortable, or invites you to maximize your spiritual potential and receive “secret teachings” by sharing his bed, in your zeal to be a good student, to advance, and yes, because it makes you feel special, you capitulate.

So back to Bikram: in terms of the basic facts, Choudhury’s story is all too familiar. He is largely responsible for yoga becoming commonplace in the United States, as he franchised his Los Angeles studio into a global network. At the height of his influence in the last 20 years, he was the darling of talk shows and media in general. His movement was called “McYoga,” as he made a fortune franchising his method.

As he rose to prominence, Bikram franchises became very desirable; Choudhury would hold massive nine-week training seminars around the world. According to litigation on file, he used these seminars as his way of finding, grooming, and forcing himself upon women whom he then raped.

Hopefully, the film will force Jackie Lacey, LA District Attorney, to stand up for women and bring Choudhury to justice, as well as encourage each one of us to confront truth in our own lives where ever we find it.

Leonid Meteor shower

Leonid Meteor Shower: Catch a Falling Star

by Astrological EventsFeatured

“Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket
Never let it fade away…”

This week the Leonid Meteor shower is due to hit Earth on its yearly path, when the orbit of the Earth crosses the trail of space debris left by the Comet Tempel-Tuttle each November. Pieces of the comet, usually no bigger than a grain of sand or a pea, fall toward the surface of our planet and burn up as they enter the Earth’s atmosphere, giving us a fantastic light show in the night sky. These burning balls of light are called meteors (or “falling stars”); when a larger one survives its atmospheric entry and crash lands on the Earth’s surface, it is called a meteorite.

This year the peak meteor shower will be from midnight to dawn next Monday, November 18th. If you’re lucky enough to live in a place, like I do, in Ojai, where the night sky is dark enough to see the stars, you will likely be able to catch the heavenly appearance. 

If you trace the meteors of the Leonid shower backward, they would seem to radiate from the constellation of Leo the Lion, from the star Algieba in the area of the lion’s mane. This is called the radiant point, the area in the sky that seems to be the starting point for these particular meteors. In other words, these little specks of a comet that flash so enticingly across the sky come to us as extraterrestrial greetings, or as the ancients saw them, as gifts from heaven—lights in the sky that bring awareness of something beyond our daily existence. 

These sparkling lights in the dark night sky are a reminder that “cosmic” consciousness is a living frequency—the original “star dust” of life. When you see the dazzling display of meteors, or when a meteorite lands on earth, you are in the presence of the far-flung inhabitants of the galaxy. Mystics have always used the term “light” to represent consciousness, so it’s as if the meteor shower brings cosmic consciousness raining down on Earth. You are impacted by the vastness of space, which can seed a new awareness in your heart—an awareness that we are connected to a much larger unfolding drama than just what is happening here. 

Since meteors are seen as coming from other worlds, throughout history meteor showers have been deemed sacred and are said to hold supernatural powers. The Orionid meteor shower, composed of debris from Halley’s Comet and originating from the constellation of Orion, is believed by Australian aboriginals to form a mystical canoe that carries the spirits of the dead and sends a message to their loved ones back on earth that they have arrived safely in the land of spirit. The Chumash, the local tribe of my Ojai area, call meteors Alakiwohoch, meaning “shooting star,” which they believed was a person’s soul on its way to the afterlife, while the Wintu of northern California thought of meteors as the spirits of shamans on their way to the afterlife.

Shooting stars have been a symbol of reaching your destiny, but they also have been seen as bad omens. In Christian and Jewish traditions, falling stars are fallen angels and demons. In parts of Asia, a falling star may predict war or death. Usually, however, it’s a good omen; when you see a falling star and “put it in your pocket,” your wish will be granted, since the gods are clearly looking down and can hear your wish.

Shooting stars certainly bring an influx of energy that can be accessed for healing purposes. As can meteorites, when the falling star actually lands on earth. A meteorite can actualize your purpose here, a trusting energy that opens lines of communication and provides the strength to endure on your spiritual quest. Small pieces of meteorites can be used to strengthen the blood and tissues, and to help you merge with spirit while in the physical body. 

It is said that the rare nickel-iron meteorites (less than 1% of all meteorites) in particular help you develop the patience you need while walking the spiritual path, and stimulate the third eye and crown chakras in preparation for spiritual awakening and inner vision. These meteorites were used in ancient times to make weapons that were powered by star energy. They also stabilize “walk-ins” and give them the ability to navigate unfamiliar environments.

Stony meteorites (which make up the great majority of meteorites that have made it to Earth), have been dated to be over 4.6 billion years old, and vibrate at a frequency that is attuned to interdimensional communication with extraterrestrials. They can be programmed to store information and may contain the history of other entities in the solar system. Other types of meteorites (called Pallasites) open your heart chakra so you don’t fear expanding your consciousness beyond your body and can resonate with the universe, while helping those who are empaths to stay grounded.

So if you’re able to be out under the dark sky in the pre-dawn hours next Monday, November 18th, see if you can catch the falling stars and reap the spiritual other-worldly energies that can connect you with your higher self. You can also connect with the love from the stars and the celestial beings who can expand your consciousness and bring you into harmony with the cosmic One. And if you want to converse with ET, here is your opening!

Personal Health Tracking

Stay on Track: A Personal Healing Action Plan

by Energy HealingFeaturedHeal Yourself—Heal the WorldHealth
Personal Health Tracking

Healing is a marathon, not a sprint. Whether you are five minutes or five years into your healing journey, it’s easy to get distracted and wander off the path – especially when the world around you is in chaos.

In my book Heal Yourself—Heal the World, I dedicate an entire chapter to teaching you the basics of a Personal Healing Plan. Students often get bogged down with complex concepts, like chakras and mind/body types, and forget that simple lifestyle changes can make a big difference in their personal energy field.

Living a healthy and balanced life is one of the best things you can do to protect and heal yourself. Doing things like getting enough rest and dedicating time to process emotions, eating clean food that nourishes your body, and spending time with people who lift you up (rather than depress you and bring you down), are all things you can do give yourself a leg up on the healing ladder.

All of the practices I write about below will nourish your body, mind, and spirit…if you make them a habit in your self-care routine. Over the years, the number one thing that the majority of my students struggle with is dedicating time for their self-care; this is not surprising considering there are so many things competing for their time and attention. To keep your healing goals front and center (and to see your progress over time), think about adding a monthly activity tracker page to your journal. You can create your own (there is no shortage of fun designs and ideas on Pinterest) or download a copy of my Personal Healing Plan Tracker.

The activities that you include in your Personal Healing Plan Tracker will be unique to you, however, there are some universal basic practices that you should use as guidelines. Think about the practices below and think about how you can incorporate them into your self-care routine and Personal Healing Plan Tracker.

Personal Healing Plan Habit Tracker

Download your free Personal Healing Habit Tracker today

Basic practices for personal healing

Good food

A new day, a new diet (or so it seems). As a general rule, diets are created by companies that want to sell you a product, be it supplements or shakes. The truth of the matter is that the foods that work best for you are completely dependent on your unique makeup.

We are all different, but there are a few basic rules to follow that will point you in a healthier direction:

  • Choose real food that is not processed whenever possible. Stick to the perimeter of the grocery store: fruits, vegetables, eggs, fish, poultry, dairy, and whole grain bread.

 

  • Drink plenty of pure water. You need about a quart a day just to replace the water that your body loses by breathing!

 

  • “Nonfoods” should be avoided at all costs. Think: processed foods in boxes or bags that have preservatives; canned items, especially tomatoes, that do not specifically say BPA is not used in the lining of the can; genetically modified and foods that are microwaved – your body doesn’t recognize these “nonfood” items and doesn’t know what to do with them.

 

  • Chemicals and pesticides are a problem. Whenever possible, opt for organic. (Note: you should also be mindful about the personal care products you put on your body. In the United States, lotions, fragrances, deodorants/antiperspirants, makeup, and hair styling products do not go through any regulatory approval process. Your body absorbs 60% of everything you put on it and I doubt you’d be okay with absorbing 60% of the lead in your signature red lipstick – no brands will be mentioned, but a quick Google search will reveal a Mother Jones investigation.)

 

  • Use of nicotine, alcohol, recreational and prescription drugs increase the body’s toxic load.

 

  • Opt for small frequent meals that contain protein if you are over 30 years old and/or are stressed; every two hours is ideal.

 

Exercise

Your body’s health is dependent on moving it. And you don’t need to start training for a marathon to get enough exercise: studies have shown that walking briskly every day can reduce a woman’s chance of getting diabetes breast cancer, and heart disease.

Here are some tips for exercising to support your body:

  • Exercise that requires focused and conscious movement (Quigong, T’ai chi, Pilates, yoga) give your muscles and brain a workout.

 

  • Go outdoors for part of your exercise. If you’re a gym or class fan, that’s fine but changing it up every once in a while (go to an outdoor yoga class or walk in the park instead of on the treadmill) will help you connect to nature.

 

  • Aim for a minimum of 20 minutes of exercise every day. Build it into your Personal Healing Plan Tracker and do your best to check off those boxes. Even a quick walk during your lunch break, taking the stairs, or parking further away from the building count.

 

Meditation

There are so many benefits to meditation that I’m always surprised that not everyone does it. It puts you in the present moment, relaxes your body and mind, washes away your stress, bolsters your intuitive abilities, and even makes you look and feel younger (take that expensive wrinkle creams!). Twenty minutes morning and evening are ideal.

Sleep

Sleep is one of those things that everyone struggles with at some point in their lives, be it getting too much or too little.
How much sleep do you need? Just like your diet, this also depends on your individual makeup. If you wake to an alarm clock, try going to bed ten minutes earlier each night until you wake up before the alarm rings.

You should also be conscious about using light-emitting devices before bed (sorry, turning on the dimming feature on your iPhone doesn’t make it an exception). Electronic devices have a higher concentration of blue light vs. natural light – and this impacts the levels of melatonin that your body produces. In short, you’re playing Russian roulette with your body’s natural circadian rhythm clock – and this can have devastating health effects beyond just not being able to fall asleep.

Connect with other people and creaturesContemporary Western culture – especially American culture – is extremely isolating. In contrast to American culture where children are expected to move out at 18 (and if they don’t, are considered unsuccessful), in many other parts of the world, such as Southeast Asia and Russia, it’s normal for entire families to live together, even when children are grown.

And while technology has allowed us to connect with family and friends that live far away, when you are out with family and friends put the phone down! How many times have you watched two people sit at dinner completely absorbed in their phone? It’s no surprise that we feel disconnected, alone, lonely, and isolated; we are social creatures and have an innate desire to be part of a community.

If you live alone (as many people do these days), consider adding a pet to your life. We need physical contact as well as social, and I’ve never met a dog that didn’t jump at the chance to sit on their owner’s lap.

Laugh

The world we live in is extremely chaotic, which results in instability and stress on society. Don’t ignore atrocities, but don’t be consumed by them either. For example, watch Seinfeld or The Big Bang Theory instead of the six o’clock news when you come home from a long day. Laughter is good for the body and the soul; it relieves stress and boosts immune functioning.
As much as possible, go to bed happy.

Challenge yourself

We all have bucket lists – and if you don’t, whip out that journal of yours and get planning! Keep in mind that your bucket list doesn’t have to be exotic and crazy, like skydiving or hiking Machu Picchu. Some of my students have confided that their number one bucket list item was to overcome an eating disorder or free themselves from a particular medication.

Essentially a bucket list is a set of goals you would like to achieve in your lifetime. By identifying long-term goals, you can begin identifying obstacles that sit in the middle of your path (either right now or in the future). A bucket list that you plan and work toward will challenge you and magnify your own personal healing power many times over.

For a complete guide to building out your Personal Healing Action Plan, check out Chapter 15 of my new book Heal Yourself—Heal the World. If you haven’t ordered your copy yet, you can pick a copy up at your favorite bookseller (or Amazon). The book also contains detailed guidelines and ideas about journaling, an activity that is crucial to healing. And you don’t have to put pen to paper to benefit from journaling — there are many other options available too.

You can set up a blog on your computer or tablet that can be purely for you, or if you are brave about sharing your journey, make it available for others to read. Another powerful way to record your thoughts and feelings is by vlogging: making a video of yourself speaking. Many people are more comfortable talking than writing. You can set up your smartphone or computer to video yourself speaking.

Global Warming

Our Collective Future is in Our Collective Hands (What Part Will You Play?)

by AdvocacyEnvironmentalFeatured

Here’s a scary thought: what if reincarnation is real and in your next life you will be living on a planet that’s been decimated by global warming? If you don’t believe in reincarnation, just think about what it’s going to be like for your kids/your siblings’ kids/your friends’ kids.

Cities you once knew and loved under water. No snow in Alaska. Even the mighty dollar couldn’t save Wall Street as lower Manhattan sank beneath the waves. Whole swaths of what was once farmland are gone, burned to a crisp by the unrelenting sun or swallowed up by rivers permanently overflowing their banks. Florida is a thing of the past. Category 6 hurricanes have leveled all the Caribbean islands, making them uninhabitable. Wildfires have destroyed the last remnants of California and the Rockies. Whole species have vanished. Drinkable water is scarce.

It’s an apocalyptic horror movie. And we see the early warning signs everywhere we look.

Scientists all say that the Earth’s climate is warming up. Glaciers are melting, causing oceans to rise. Your local climate might be getting colder winters with bigger snowstorms, while other places get torrential rains, or more powerful hurricanes, or unbearable heat.

The Earth’s climate is always going through changes over long periods of time. Some of those changes are natural. A volcano erupts and darkened skies cause cooling. But we humans are also changing the climate, and on a much vaster scale, with our cars and trucks, with our heating and cooling systems, airplanes, cooking, all through the use of fossil fuels: coal, oil and gas. And let’s not forget methane from cattle, another giant problem that comes from our outrageous demands for beef. The greenhouse gases that enter the atmosphere cause the air to heat up, and change the climate; we call it “global warming,” both locally and around the planet. Carbon monoxide, the main heat-trapping gas, stays in our atmosphere for centuries.

We still may be able to limit the worst effects of climate change, but only if we can reduce the amount of greenhouse gases going into the atmosphere, and by learning to adapt to the changes that are already in motion. And because it is an exceedingly complex global problem, we all have to agree to cooperate with each other. And to forego the pre-eminence of the profit motive over the welfare of humanity as a whole.

So what can you do? Each one of us needs to take a step a month. I just got solar. Maybe you can go for an electric car or plant a tree. Trees have an almost magical ability to pull carbon dioxide out of the air and capture it, and, in exchange, to release oxygen into the atmosphere. They clean up our mess and provide pure breathable nourishment. It’s the reason everyone was so horrified at the massive burn in the Amazon rainforest, which has been likened to the lungs of planet Earth, providing carbon offset and a source of clean air.

But did you know about The Great Green Wall of Africa? This initiative, along 6,000 miles at the edge of the Sahara desert, will eventually be the largest living structure around the world. The local population was facing the impact of climate change with long-lasting droughts, not enough food, and there was fighting over the remaining natural resources, so they decided to plant trees—a lot of trees. A decade after it was started, those trees are growing fertile land, providing food security for millions of people, refilling wells for improved water security, empowering women with new work opportunities, giving families green jobs with real incomes. Here, where temperatures are soaring upward faster than anywhere else on the planet, the Great Green Wall is a symbol of what can be done to support the Global Sustainable Development Goals.

Earlier this year, a million Indians planted 220 million trees in one day. A few years earlier, 50 million saplings were planted in a single day. Last year, China assigned 60,000 soldiers to plant trees in the province that circles Beijing, an area the size of Ireland, in hope of combatting some of the smog that frequently blankets the city. In the U.S., organizations like The Nature Conservancy are tackling climate change through natural solutions—growing trees, protecting grasslands, restoring wetlands, and improving agricultural practices and soil health.

There are so many ways to be part of the solution. Join me on Thursday, 10.24.19 at 2:00pm on Facebook Live to learn of other ways you can have a positive influence on the future of our planet, she’s all we have!

LifeForce Energy Healing Explained

The Powerful LifeForce Energy Healing® Technique Explained

by Energy HealingEnergy MedicineFeatured

One day many years ago, when I was a young student teacher in an energy healing school in the United States, I was called up by the head teacher to take over a session he was doing on a client at the front of the room. As I replaced him at the head of the table, I sensed the presence of Jesus, the Master Healer, standing behind me. I was used to connecting with Him, having done so all my life, but never to the level I experienced at that moment; His presence was surreal.

The Master Healer gently changed my position, moving my arms from the sides of the client’s head, where I was clearing, charging and balancing her sixth and seventh chakras, and had me bend my arms at the elbow, with, with my hands, at the height of my shoulders, palms facing out. As I held my arms this way, I felt an enormous wave of energy emanating from my chest, the location of the heart chakra. I desperately tried to stay grounded as I was filled with energy from above, from somewhere above the twenty-fourth level of the universal energy field. The Master let me know that all I had to do going forward to effect healing on every level, from the physical to the emotional to the spiritual, was to intend it in my heart and allow that energy wave to pass from me to the intended recipient. I was overcome with emotion as I sensed an immediate positive change in the client on the table, a woman who was dealing with advanced cancer. Later, I realized that the arm position He had given me was the same position that the Catholic priest as well as religious leaders in other traditions adopt during their rituals.

I spent years refining what I learned that day and I call this technique LifeForce Energy Healing®. I have used it with thousands of people I have worked with over the years. It allows you to establish, in a split second, a connection between Source/God, your energy field, and the field of the person you are assisting; it is extraordinarily fast and powerful.

I have successfully taught students to replicate this technique. Once you’ve learned it, you can, in less than a minute, attract divine energy, conduct it through your own energy field, and transmit it to the intended recipient. As this divine energy goes through you, the feeling of unconditional love is indescribable. Whatever was meant to happen to your client has now happened (in this instance, “client” is shorthand for the person you are healing). It isn’t necessary for the client to desire the intended result, as the client’s Higher Self knows what is best. For a brief moment, your energy field has merged with the Divine and with the energy field of your client; for a brief moment, you are in communion with All that Is. You are left with an overwhelming feeling of gratitude and a burning desire to use the technique again!

LifeForce Energy Healing® is different from pranic healing, telepathic healing, and radiatory healing, all of which I teach in the lower levels of my LifeForce Energy Healing® programs. In pranic healing, you direct your prana, your own personal energy, directly toward your client so your vitality reinforces his. In telepathic healing, you transmit positive concepts and ideas to the other person’s subconscious mind to stimulate healing or change the mental attitudes that are blocking him. With radiatory healing, you develop a sympathetic resonance between your personal energy field and that of the person you are working on.

Contrast those techniques with LifeForce Energy Healing® , where you align yourself with the Christ light. This isn’t a religious concept. The Christ is the most recent human being who fully mastered opening his chakras and his energy field and merging it with Source. When you merge with that Christ light, you are able to replicate His technique. All you need to do is open your heart chakra 360 degrees (that’s the tricky part, for sure!), and merge with Him and then with the client. Every fiber of your being is intending, with unbending intent, to merge with this divine light. (Note: You are not intending a certain result for the client, as that would be coming from your personality, which is of a lower value than your client’s Higher Self, who knows what’s best.)

You may have heard the phrase, “Where attention goes, energy flows.” It’s true: energy follows thought, so your strong and positive-focused intention is what powers up this healing technique. The link between you and the Christ light and the person you are healing is inevitable because you are joining your mind and spirit with the force of unconditional love.

It is the energy of Source, coupled with earth energy, coming through you that effects change in your client’s energy field and body. The client will experience a healing on some level, whether that’s psychological, spiritual, emotional, or physical. The exact nature of the healing is up to him and his Higher Self.

(Excerpt from Heal Yourself Heal the World, pp. 199-200.)

If you are curious to learn this technique, I teach it to Masters-in-Training in the advanced LifeForce Energy Healing® Level IV program. Go to: www.deborahking.com/masters for more information.

Beyond the 5 Senses

Go Beyond the Five Senses and Learn to Utilize Your Paranormal Gifts

by Energy HealingFeaturedGifts

Have you ever had a “gut feeling” that something wasn’t right and, sure enough, it wasn’t? Have you ever known who was calling when the phone rang, without checking Caller ID? Have you ever run into someone you hadn’t seen in a long time, and you were just thinking about that person? You might call all these experiences coincidence, but in actuality, they are examples of you tuning in to your intuitive abilities.

Don’t get scared. You won’t wind up wearing a turban and staring into a crystal ball just because you knew Aunt Sally was on the phone. Intuitive ability simply refers to a natural faculty we all possess that has long been denied or denigrated because it appears to be “supernatural” or “paranormal”—something that is outside the realm of the usual five senses: sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste.

It is easy to see how the five basic senses work according to natural laws; they can be poked and prodded by machines, tested in labs, scored, rated, and all the other scientific verifications that let us know they truly exist. But when it comes to the senses that are beyond the norm, science throws up its hands and says they can’t be proven, so obviously they don’t exist. Well, they do.

There are the “clairs”—clairvoyance, the ability to see with the “inner eye”; clairsentience, that feeling in the gut that “knows”; and clairaudience, like hearing your name called when there’s no one around. Throughout the ages and in every different culture, there have always been those who could access their expanded senses.

Here are 5 ways you can expand your horizons and learn to utilize the paranormal gifts:

5 Ways to Go Beyond the Five Senses

  1. Trust your intuition. You’re already receiving more information than you’re aware of.  When you meet someone who feels “off” to you in some way, don’t start dating that person. When you look at your child at breakfast and you get a really bad feeling in your gut about the school bus, drive your kid to school that day. Maybe nothing will go wrong, but then again, maybe that guy will turn out to be physically abusive, maybe the school bully will punch out the kid sitting where your child usually sits on the bus.
  2. Let your awareness expand in nature. Find a place outside where you feel safe and allow your awareness to widen as you gaze at the sky or mountains or body of water or the green of trees and fields. Sink into a “reverie,” letting your thoughts float away like leaves in a stream. Realize how far beyond the confines of your body your consciousness can travel.
  3. When you first come into someone’s presence, ask yourself what information you are receiving from that person. Do they feel happy or sad? Relaxed or stressed? Healthy or not? When you start bringing more awareness to that person’s energy field, you might start picking up events that happened to him or her, such as a quick flash of a recent divorce, or the way he or she felt when a parent died, or even a past life.
  4. Don’t automatically discount the information you receive in these extra-ordinary ways. Instead of reacting with “That’s impossible . . .,” try for “hmm, I wonder if what I feel is true?” Allow for the expansion of your senses without putting up roadblocks.
  5. Practice with animals. The easiest sense to develop is that of “feeling”—the “gut sense” you’ve so often ignored in the past. When you’re sitting quietly with your pet, with no TV or computer on, simply intend to open to whatever your pet wants to tell you. Touch your pet gently, and you may “hear” or “know” what your dog or cat has to say. Since we usually love our pets, you may experience the communication in your heart.

When you develop your intuitive gifts and open more fully to the information you’re receiving, your life will work better. You’ll “know” how to get healthier, which friends are really friends and which ones you should probably drop, what your child needs if that guy or job or house is right for you. No crystal ball necessary.

How To Ascend

How To Ascend To Higher Realms

by AngelsAstral ProjectionEnergy HealingFeatured

When your soul decided to incarnate into a physical body, you agreed to the limitations of the physical realm. But what about all the beings who are not limited by a physical form? Where do spirit guides and angels live? Higher beings like these reside in the higher realms, where the universe can be seen for its true boundlessness, and the love of the Divine flows like a river. It may sound like an unattainable dream, but higher planes of existence are accessible to you—if you know how to ascend.

 

What Is Ascension?

There are many different ways to explain what ascension means. Its dictionary definition is to rise up or go to a higher level. Of course, the greatest ascension was Jesus’ rise to heaven after his resurrection. For humans, ascension is a realignment with the Divine, a reconnection to the realms of the soul. But since you may not yet be physically moving up through the air, ascension can also be referred to as raising your vibration, expanding your awareness, and communing with the angels. All three of these spiritual expansions are forms of ascension, and with a little practice and focused intent, you can strengthen your ability to expand your consciousness and visit the higher realms.

 

Why Visit the Higher Realms?

The higher realms are like the best paradise you can imagine. At the highest level you have Source, which is the source of love, of universal energy, and of life itself. Divine love washes over everything in these highest realms, and to experience divine love is to experience the purest, most heart-chakra-opening love in the universe. In these higher planes angels are also present, which is how they can bring divine love down to Earth and to you—they live in it. A little lower in the non-physical realms is the plane where other spirit guides reside—your ancestors who have passed on but have become spiritual touchstones, your animal guides, or any other spirits that offer support and advice when you call.

When you ascend to any of the higher realms, you will start to expand your consciousness and connect with Source. You will become one with your higher self and gain valuable insight about your soul’s true purpose. With all these spiritual teachers, guides, and carriers of divine light in these realms, you come away from the experience of ascension with a greater perspective on the universe and your place within it, a patience and compassion for others, a knowledge that your true self is perfect and worth embracing, and a deep understanding that you are loved beyond anything you can experience here on Earth.

Continuing to develop your spiritual foundation is the best thing you can do to increase your progress toward ascension. Here are a few ways you can shore up your foundation, help raise your personal vibration, and increase your chances of ascending to the higher realms with more frequency and accuracy.

1. Energy Healing

Past traumas and unprocessed emotions are two major roadblocks to raising your consciousness.  Emotional baggage gets stuck in your body and in your energy field and weighs down your soul. Imagine trying to fly into the heavens with a huge boulder on your back! You have to drop the weight and clear your chakras in order to ascend. Attending healing courses and energy medicine workshops are great ways to heal past wounds, clear and charge your chakras, and raise your vibration. Building a strong spiritual foundation is what energy healing does, and the stronger your spiritual foundation, the easier it is to rise into the celestial planes.

2. Meditation

Meditation raises your awareness and can even connect you to Source. A daily practice of meditation also contributes to a strong spiritual foundation and helps you process your emotions to keep your energy field and chakras clear and functioning optimally. Generally, ascension takes lots of personal energy work, but a skilled energy healer or spiritual teacher can lead you in guided meditations, like the ones I do in my online Angels of Energy Healing Ascension Course, which can be a fast-track to ascension. A guided meditation is a great start to ascension since it will allow you to experience the higher realms. Trust me, even a temporary visit with the angels in the heavens will be an experience you’ll never forget!

3. Ask Your Angels

Angels are not limited by physical bodies since they are made of divine love, which means that even when they are here on Earth helping, guiding, and protecting you, they are still always linked to the higher realms. You can ask your angels for help with ascending to their planes. Just reach out to your angels with your specific request to join them in the higher realms, and then be aware for the next few days. Your angels may take you to the higher realms in a dream. They may visit you while you meditate and raise your vibration enough to get a glimpse of the expanded universe. They may even gather your spirit up in their wings and fly you to heavens themselves, wrapped in their protective bubble of light.

Ascension, like any spiritual practice, is not a competition. Your soul has its own timetable for progress, so trust that your higher self and your angels are guiding you well, and that when you’re ready to ascend, the heavens will be waiting. To learn more about ascending to higher planes, and how to strengthen your connection to your angels, check out my three-part live online healing and ascension course, Angels of Energy Healing, where you will learn how to access the healing energy of angels, ascend to higher realms, and experience the life-changing power of divine love. Come join me today!

R Kelly

Hiding in Plain Sight

by CelebritiesEnergy HealingFeaturedMovie ReviewsTrauma and Violence

It used to be that sexual predators had it fairly easy. The culture of “boys will be boys,” the seeming harmlessness of a little pussy grabbing here and there, and the mindset of “she was asking for it” made it so men—especially big powerful men—could satisfy their lust for power. Typically, they enlisted their friends and associates to help procure their victims and then paid off anyone who squawked. All it took was a good lawyer to evade criminal charges and avoid any unpleasant consequences, while trampling over the rights of the women (and children), destroying their credibility, and their lives.

Then came the #MeToo movement. And it began to dawn on everyone that maybe the women who squawked weren’t just after money; that they were telling a sordid tale that needed to be heard, that needed to be believed. That there needed to be real life consequences for those who indulged in this disgusting behavior. And the media began to realize that there was a story here.

The women who came forth and told their stories of sexual assault are finally unmasking the normalcy surrounding abuse. This shows the deep flaws in our society that allow for the devastating trauma of this behavior and the attitudes that help it to flourish.

In just this past year, two documentaries have come out that dive head first into the complex realm of sexual assault and pedophilia. Surviving R. Kelly, Netflix’s six-part series on the R&B singer’s history of grooming and filming young girls for his sexual pleasure, has just recently exploded with its opening on Netflix. And Leaving Neverland, an HBO documentary in two parts, took us through the lives of two of the young boys who were involved with Michael Jackson. It just won a Primetime Emmy for Best Documentary.

In six hours, Surviving R. Kelly takes us through interviews with people who were there since the early 1970s, from the incest of his own childhood, to being nicknamed the “Pied Piper of R&B,” through the infamous sex tape scandal, the child pornography, the accusations, the survivors, the court cases, and lets us know that black girls do indeed matter. And it takes on all those who enabled this behavior. Kelly’s record label didn’t flinch when a videotape emerged and was widely circulated on the internet with their multimillion-dollar talent having sex with and urinating in the mouth of an underage girl. His entourage was complicit. Who was going to make a fuss about black children? As the Hollywood Reporter darkly quipped: “After all, it takes a village to raze a child.”

Women have been trying to come forth with their truth about Kelly for decades, and hard as it is to hear, you see in the documentary how all their accusations of predatory behavior and pedophilia and child pornography managed to slide off his back. Kelly not only got away with ongoing sexual assault, but also managed to have it all ignored by the mainstream media. But now people are listening to the testimonies, feeling the fury and pain, the guilt and self-blame, the regret, and the dogged determination to heal of the survivors. When the jury acquitted him at his first trial (one white male juror commenting that “who could believe [black] girls who dress like that,”) and his behavior got even more outrageous, the public started protesting at his concerts. It is a long overdue effort to validate what his victims have experienced, to let their stories be heard, to be treated with respect and the gravity the situation warrants.

And who now will have sympathy for Kelly? He, like all sexual predators, was once himself traumatized by childhood sexual assault. Just like Michael Jackson was undoubtedly sexually traumatized in his childhood. In all likelihood, so was Bill Cosby. So was I and thousands of innocent survivors that have asked me for help over the years. But we don’t repeat what was done to us, we’ve sought help and worked our way through the memories of those horrific experiences. Note that the men spoken of here are/were major celebrities. And celebrity has its own “get out of jail free” card. These are major talents, and there will always be those who believe the person is as lily white as his gifts. Don’t kid yourself. Talent is never an excuse for hideous behavior; it doesn’t counteract the monster inside, hell bent on devouring its prey.

Kelly is currently in custody, in Chicago, facing multiple state and federal charges of various sexual assault crimes. It’s about time.

Predatory behavior is around, be on guard for it. Parents tell their children to beware of strangers, but how about Uncle Joe, or, for God’s sake, your priest or therapist, or the doctor or coach for your child’s sports team (watch At the Heart of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal, another documentary that premiered on HBO this year). They are hiding in plain sight. And the more that stories come out, and are believed, and are acted upon with real-life consequences, the harder it will be for them to hide.

Join me Thursday, September 26, at 1:00pm PDT on Facebook Live for a panel discussion of this timely topic. Let your voice be heard in protest of this kind of brazen behavior. Let’s all stand up, be heard, and be part of the change!