Meditation benefits

Benefits of Daily Meditation: Turning Back the Hands of Time

Have you ever daydreamed of turning back the clock to a more youthful, more energetic, more carefree time in life? Or perhaps having at your disposal a magical cosmic “Undo” button that could erase certain effects that have accumulated over the course of time—from stress, abuse, and destructive habits that have left you with less than perfect health or a waning enthusiasm for life.

I experienced the need for a second chance at a clean slate earlier in life than most. I was just out of law school and not even 25 when I received a diagnosis of cancer. That cancer was just the last in a whole host of serious problems I’d had. Those of you who are familiar with my story know that I had a horrendous childhood filled with sexual and emotional abuse. I’m certain I had post-traumatic stress disorder by the time I was four. By my teenage years, I was a complete wreck. At that point, I began doing everything possible to numb my feelings and run from them—I smoked, drank, took drugs, and acted out all over town. I was anxious. I was depressed. When my cancer announcement came, it was really time for a change. By then, I needed some truly powerful help to undo all that I had been through so that I could continue to live.

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Amazingly, I found it—the way to turn back time and release the many effects of all of the stress that my mind and body had endured. That way was meditation. A daily practice of 20 minutes, twice a day, gave me much more clarity to address my disease and ultimately helped me to heal my cancer, release my addictions, end my destructive streak, and get on my true life path. I can honestly say that meditation is the best thing I have ever done for myself.

I am not alone in this discovery. Science and religion alike have studied and documented the vast numbers of benefits of meditation, revealing that meditation has a positive effect on people suffering from or at risk for many physical and mental health conditions, including high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, congestive heart failure, stroke, diabetes, menopause, ADHD, memory loss, anxiety, obesity, and much more. It was even found to be twice as effective in helping people to quit smoking than the other popular remedies. Given that smoking is the number one cause of preventive death in the U.S., this is no small benefit! The studies also show advantages in other areas of our lives, such as making us more effective on the job and in school. Later this week, I talk about these studies and more in this free webinar.

So what is meditation and how does it create so much good for our bodies and minds?

meditation buddha

A big part of meditation’s success on improving conditions like those listed above is its powerful ability to reduce and release stress, as stress is often a precursor to so many of our physical and emotional problems. But the manner in which it does this happens at a lot deeper level than many people might think. Meditation works at the level of our consciousness.

There are four states of consciousness: waking, sleeping, dreaming, and meditating. So, meditation is actually a different state of consciousness from our waking life. It is a far more expanded state. Many people think that the purpose of meditation is to tune out, to get away from it all. While that’s partially true, the real purpose of meditation is actually to tune in—to take the journey into expanded consciousness that meditation provides.

Meditation expands our consciousness by helping us to get into the space, the gap, between our thoughts and taps into the incredible energy that exists there. So you have a thought, and then another thought, but between the two, there’s a little space. According to the ancients, this space between the thoughts is the portal to the infinite intelligence of the universe, our Source. Some people call this energy “Spirit”; some call it “God”; some call it the “Universal Energy Field” or the “Unified Field.”

Once you get into that gap, you’ll find that, through this all-pervasive web of energy, everyone and everything is connected to everything else. You also discover that this universal field of energy is unlimited; it’s pure potential, and anything can be accomplished when you’re connected to it.

When we connect to the Unified Field through meditation, our bodies and psyches are cleared, leaving us refreshed, restored, and balanced. Just 20 minutes of meditation offers as much rest as 1-2 hours of sleep! The effect is truly a turning back of the clock, where we look and feel healthier and younger.

We can experience other profound changes by tapping into the Unified Field through meditation. To heal ourselves and fix our lives, we need information. We need to root out the true cause of what is ailing us, and find the most expeditious and effective route to a cure. I certainly learned this with my experience of cancer. When you tap into the Unified Field, you are accessing life’s great encyclopedia—where every fact of the universe, past, present and future, exists and is accessible.  You are also connecting to your own highest wisdom., and the insights that come from meditation help us to heal every area of our lives.

In this way, meditation paves the way for emotional healing. On an energetic level, it helps to remove any blockages that come from holding on to anger and resentment. Meditation thereby ushers in what is perhaps the most crucial part of the healing process, forgiveness. It opens us up to our connection to other people, and to All That Is. In this way, meditation also paves the way for global peace and well-being.

That brings me to the most important reason I can think of to meditate. Even after all of the benefits I’ve touched upon here—the better health, becoming wiser, doing better at school or work, experiencing forgiveness, and having less anxiety, more creativity, greater joy, looking and feeling younger—I still haven’t told you the real purpose of meditation.

The most important outcome of your meditating every day is that by expanding your awareness, by bringing yourself into balance and experiencing greater peace, by raising your consciousness—you are actually assisting every other person and creature on the planet to do the same. Remember, we’re all connected by one vast field of energy. The ripple of energy you send out into the world is a reflection of your inner state of being. Your ripple touches and affects others. If you’re uplifted, you uplift them too. If we’re all in a higher state, we just might feel more inclined to help one another and come up with some harmonious and creative solutions to our global problems. What a different world that would be!

I can’t recommend enough that you learn to meditate—for your own well-being, for those you love, and for making a positive difference on the planet and fulfilling your life’s potential.

If you’d like to know more about meditation, register for this free event:

Clear Energetic Chaos and Create a Better Base for a Meditative Practice.

This event is perfect for beginners looking to establish a proper base for their practice. But is also great for the advanced, experienced meditator that wants to revitalize their current practice.

Click here to register >>

 

Highly successful people meditate

Best-Kept Secret of Highly-Successful People

“There is a rhythm to the universe. When we are able to get quiet, we experience how we are a part of that rhythm.” ~Deborah King

Nothing could be less “quiet” than a championship basketball game—the shrill noise, the pounding action, the pressure to win! It is the definition of energetic chaos.

Yet superstar player LeBron James sits silently on the sidelines with his eyes closed. What’s going on?

James is just one of a host of athletes, musicians, actors, business tycoons, and leaders in every field who turn to the power of quiet to survive and excel in all their endeavors.  These people at the top of their game have discovered a secret that helps them navigate the treacherous high-stakes world of stardom.

They’ve learned to activate the quiet realm within—they meditate.

From Oprah to Jennifer Aniston to Arianna Huffington, the list of celebrities who cite meditation as one of their secret superpowers is growing faster than a summer sunflower. 

People who are seeking to perform at their highest potential, and to keep loving the journey, look for best practices. In meditation, they find a technique for calming the mind, reducing stress and anxiety, gathering energy to overcome fatigue, and balancing mind, body, and spirit. 

While meditation is not a religion or a philosophy, it paves the way to inner peace and pays respect to the ultimate source of all human accomplishment.

Forward-looking companies that value human potential are bringing meditation into the workplace. Fortune 500 companies such as Google offer meditation and mindfulness classes for employees.

Who knows how many future superstars are waiting to discover their path and make their contribution. Meditation offers a self-development opportunity like no other. It’s a tried and true way of slowing down and developing awareness and self-knowledge. By training your attention inward, you can connect to that perfect rhythm of the universe whose power we all share.

Congressman Tim Ryan of Ohio discovered meditation while looking for a way to reduce stress. Finding meditation was life-changing for him, and he embarked on a campaign to bring the benefits of mindfulness to government and education. You may have seen a picture of him sitting on a yoga mat among meditating schoolchildren.

Scientific studies are revealing the power of meditation to improve memory and brain function, to aid concentration and focus, to boost creativity, to relieve pain and increase a sense of well-being.

Anyone can learn to meditate.

There are different meditation techniques; I recommend a mantra-based meditation that gives a head start in dealing with fast-paced mental activity. With a mantra, no need to banish thoughts; they just seem to float effortlessly by and out of sight.

Eastern religions, like Hinduism and Buddhism, have very strong connections to meditation because it is recognized as the best way to expand consciousness. However, you don’t need to be religious to use meditation techniques to empower yourself or to help you heal physically and emotionally. Thanks in part to celebrity role models, meditation has become mainstream, not limited to any religion, culture, location, or desired effect.

You may want to learn how to meditate in order to relax — but also to bring down your blood pressure, alleviate anxiety and stress, and enhance your immune functioning.

It’s not necessary to sit down to meditate with the goal of ultimate enlightenment. But if you are spiritually inclined, meditation will also open you up to a greater connection to Source, to clearer inner guidance, and a deep sense of peace. Along with developing a solid grounding in mindfulness, which is the ability to live in the here and now, with meditation you can learn to cultivate compassion — for yourself and others!

In meditation, you turn inward, not outside yourself. It is the clearest mirror for seeing yourself, and it provides the means for changing and healing anything that troubles you. A consistent practice of meditation can shift you away from blame and shame, and lead you in the direction of self-worth and self-development. It allows you to forgive yourself and others, and is a root practice for emotional healing.

The practice of inviting the quiet in meditation is not a turning away from life, but rather the highest form of engaging with it. You are clearing away distractions, learning to focus your energy, getting clearer on what you want from life, and creating a peaceful space that actually helps you be more efficient and effective.

Actor Hugh Jackman shared his thoughts with Oprah. “In meditation, I can let go of everything. I’m not Hugh Jackman. I’m not dad. I’m not a husband. I’m just dipping into that powerful source that creates everything. I take a little bath in it.”

Oprah herself is a poster child for the power to create an amazing life and realize your highest potential. Long an advocate of meditation, for herself and her employees, she cites the happiness and joy that meditation can provide. As she says, “Knowing for sure that even in the daily craziness that bombards us from every direction, there is — still — the constancy of stillness. Only from that space can you create your best work and your best life.”

Super achievers as different as singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, comedian Russell Brand, film director and writer David Lynch, and media giant Rupert Murdoch all share a common dedication to the quiet within—the power of meditation.

After 40 years of meditation practice, David Lynch describes the benefits like this: “The things in life that used to almost kill you, stress you, depress you, make you sad, make you afraid — they have less and less power. …You’re starting to glow with this from within.” Who wouldn’t love to join him in that quiet zone?

If you’re interested in tapping to this secret to a more fulfilling life, or are already meditating and want to revitalize your practice, join Deborah for this free event:

Clear Energetic Chaos and Create a Better Base for a Meditative Practice

 

2020-AutumnEquinoxBlogRerun-feat

How To Make The Most Of This Autumn Equinox

On overwhelm, with a few complications in your personal life, not to mention the impact of the nightly news? When life feels confusing, exhausting, even downright scary, you know you need to rebalance, that your wellbeing depends on it. Fortunately, a powerful occasion of celestial balance is coming your way; you will want to take advantage of it.

Tuesday morning, September 22, 2020 (9:31 a.m. EDT) the Autumn Equinox arrives, officially marking the beginning of fall in the Northern Hemisphere.

As a spiritual teacher, I’ve long been moved by this annual event, as it is a representation of the balance of the natural world and recognition of its link to the spiritual. Each year, between September 21st and 24th, the Sun crosses the celestial equator as it moves southward. It marks the end of summer, and the beginning of autumn.

In contrast, for the residents of the Southern Hemisphere, it is for them their Vernal Equinox, and time to celebrate the end of winter and the beginning of Spring.

You can view this as not only a celestial event, but a spiritual one, because it signals transitions, and for this reason it is observed and universally embraced worldwide. Whatever and however the event may be observed, this is inarguably nature’s way of defining the seasons and is our way of staying in harmony with them.

It is a time of balance, with, for the briefest of moments, night and day of precise equal length, before introducing the shorter and cooler days that lay ahead. It is fitting that astrologers mark the Sun entering Libra, showcasing it rising and setting in balance. Perhaps you can mark the event by receiving (or giving) a little energy healing to bring you back into your best balance. If that’s not available, think of your favorite acupuncturist, as that’s another way to get rebalanced. And then there’s your meditation practice – that too inspires your best balance.

The Autumn Equinox is properly blind to cultural differences, and is viewed differently, and celebrated in unique ways around the globe.

In Asia, the Equinox has a special place in Iran, but also at the Great Pyramid of Egypt, in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea and Japan.

It is said that in the Pacific, the mysterious giant statues on Easter Island are aligned to recognize the equinox.

Among countless examples in Europe is the celebration of a harvest festival in the UK, while the French called the Autumn Equinox “New Year’s Day” on their calendar.

In the Americas, it has been marked by a wealth of rituals observed by indigenous peoples since ancient times: in America at Cahokia, and throughout Mexico at the El Castillo pyramid at Chechen Itza and the Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacan, and the nine terraces of the Mayan underworld.

Nowhere, however, is its observance more profound and in many ways more dramatically fitting than in South America, at Machu Picchu in Peru. For those ancient peoples, the sky was their calendar. They built observatories, such as the Intihuatana high in the Andes, that provide an elevated and experiential viewing platform like no other on earth.

The observatory precisely indicates the four equinoxes and solstices, a timeless monument created to observe ancient rituals aligned to life’s highest and truest purpose. That site remains ever faithful to the principles along the path to spiritual enlightenment.

Most remarkable, however, is in its significance for us today: we are living in a time where too many have riveted their focus upon our differences, intent upon deepening what divides us, instead of bringing us together.

We know better, and we honor the truth of this annual Celestial event, that unites us worldwide. Bringing the people of the earth and different cultures together is no small and unimportant thing.

It is, miraculously, truly another cause for hope and celebration.

True Joy Happiness

The Secret of True Joy

The secret of true joy is that it’s not actually tethered to outside circumstances. It has little to do with what’s going on around you. In fact, true joy is a well that you can fill with your internal perspective, thoughts, and attitude, and you can draw from that well to fill you up, especially in times like these.

Recently a student who heard I was working on a presentation on happiness shared the following with me. It’s from a post that’s been circulating around the internet for awhile.

Meet Mrs. Jones, who models the well of joy:

This 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud lady, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o’clock, with her hair fashionably coiffed and makeup perfectly applied, even though she is legally blind, moved to a nursing home yesterday. Her husband of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary.

After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, she smiled sweetly when told her room was ready. As she maneuvered her walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of her tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on her window.

“I love it,” she stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.

“Mrs. Jones, you haven’t seen the room…. just wait.”

“That doesn’t have anything to do with it,” she replied. “Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn’t depend on how the furniture is arranged, it’s how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it. It’s a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open I’ll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I’ve stored away, just for this time in my life.”

She went on to explain, “Old age is like a bank account, you withdraw from what you’ve put in. So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories. Thank you for your part in filling my memory bank. I am still depositing.”

And with a smile, she said: “Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less, & enjoy every moment.”

Isn’t that beautiful?

I would add that when you find what you’re meant to be doing on this Earth, you’ll have no shortage of fulfillment, joy, peace, resiliency, love, and everything else your heart desires.

Remember that true happiness and abundance is what you feel in your soul, and what you create with your mind, your heart, and every molecule of your being.

If you want more happiness in your life, the answer is to identify your unique gifts (the things you’re good at that make you FEEL good), to stay connected to Source, and to focus on service. With this knowledge imprinted in your heart, there’s no limit to what the universe can provide for you and for all the things that matter.

If you’re attracted to this kind of insight, I hope you’ll join me right here for my talk this coming Sunday on How to Be Insanely Happy — and invite your family, friends, coworkers, and community to join you!

DK-2020ShiftMusicFestival-EventBanner

It’s Possible to Be Insanely Happy (Even When Everything Sucks)

Does this idea blow your mind — that you can be insanely happy even when everything sucks?

I know it sounds crazy, especially in 2020. Can you really be happy when we’re facing COVID, social and political turmoil, not to mention any personal issues with work, finances, relationships?

There was a long period in my life when I was anything but happy. I would never have believed in such a lunatic idea as actually being happy despite what I was living through. At the time, I had serious issues with alcohol, drugs, extreme sports, and a little thing called cervical cancer.

But there is a key to happiness that wise cultures have all shared — from ancient India and Greece to the Mayans to the Nootka nation and many more. My father is the one who not only told me about this key, he modeled it for me.

Next week, I’ll be presenting on this key, AND I’ll be sharing five steps to happiness — happiness even in times of intense turbulence.

Free Online Event!
The Shift Summit & Music Festival
An Epic 4-Day Gathering of Changemakers Lighting
the Way to a Better Future
September 18-21, 2020

I hope you’ll join me because throughout our lives in our modern culture, we’ve actually been living the very opposite of the key to happiness that I can’t wait to share with you. I believe the steps I’ll be laying out are absolutely essential to your forward progress in life. And they have ripple effects: everyone you come into contact with will feel the vibration you’ll be radiating.

Are you more than ready to uplift yourself and help bring happiness to others?
The whole summit I’m a part of is all about setting a course for a new world of happiness for every single one of us.

You can join me right here to experience my talk on How to Be Insanely Happy, and invite your family, friends, coworkers, and community to join you!

Self care

Your New Self-Care Ally: The Healing Power of Your House Plants

Now that many of us are looking at another season or two indoors…

We’re shifting our focus to our live/work/school/all-of-life space. If you’re like many of us, you’ve moved beyond fix-it projects from your wish list and are now engaged in radical “nesting.”
The newfound realizations of what we’re up against right now in the world, are also giving way to a need for radical self-care.

This means a new approach to your diet, sleep, meditation, and moving your body. Everything you do is part of a care plan that is intentional and designed to support you for the long haul. This is the new marathon.

And because of the pandemic, this also means your home is now a multi-use space — and it is as integral to your mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health as any other aspect in your routine.

Your greatest ally in supporting you in your space is your houseplant. It sounds too simple to be true; however, plants help you in more ways than you can imagine… of course if you are already a plant parent, you know this.

The practice of using plants for healing purposes is as old as medicine itself. Ancient cultures respected nature’s capability to improve health and mood, and did not hesitate to use herbal remedies to heal sicknesses from headaches to heartache. Despite modern culture losing that day-to-day connection to the outdoors, western medicine continues to rely on centuries-old knowledge of natural cures and the healing power of plants. In fact, many of the medications currently prescribed were originally made from plants. You might pop an aspirin from a jar, but early incarnations of the pain reliever made from willow bark were used in ancient Greek and Egyptian cultures, by Lewis and Clark during their famed expedition, and by thousands of people in between.

Though you likely get medicine in pill form, you are probably still utilizing plants to help heal your aches and pains, and that is only the tip of the aloe leaf, so to speak. There are many ways plants can support you in feeling and working better physically, emotionally, and spiritually. If you incorporate plant therapies into your arsenal of natural remedies, you can access Mother Earth’s amazing and nearly limitless medicine cabinet and all its healing magic.

The quickest and easiest way to accelerate any type of healing is to get a houseplant. Or better yet, several houseplants. Taking care of a living thing boosts our sense of self-worth and increases contentment, and as you watch your foliage grow and blossom—quite literally if you buy a flowering plant—you develop a deeper connection to nature which begins to heal your mind, body, and spirit almost instantly. As an added bonus, plants’ rich colors and textures will beautify any room, especially if potted in a pretty container.

Houseplants can have tremendous effects on your productivity, concentration, and mood, too. Not only does looking at something beautiful make you happier, studies have shown that people with houseplants feel more relaxed and have lower stress levels. Nature’s calming effect helps increase concentration, and workers in office spaces that contain plants and flowers demonstrate more focus and creativity, superior accuracy, and higher quality output, and so can you!

Plants also clean pollutants from the air, acting as natural, noise-free air filters, neutralize harmful EMFs, and generate oxygen in the process. Since our breath is so important to our quality of life—when we breathe better, we feel better—reducing the toxins in your home, and especially where you sleep, is vital to your health. A plant in your bedroom will enhance your slumber, especially if it is sweet-smelling lavender, a scent that aids relaxation and promotes deeper sleep. Peace lilies, ivy, and spider plants have all been shown to be especially effective in filtering the air, but really, any greenery will improve your space and your health.

Many healing properties in plants are easy to ingest in herbal teas. Maybe you already drink chamomile tea before bed as a relaxing nightcap, but this herbal remedy also aids digestion. Chamomile is an antimicrobial agent, too, meaning it can help eliminate bacteria and infections, and it eases inflammation and loosens tense muscles. Talk about a powerful plant! Ginseng can raise energy levels, naturally and without the side effects of caffeine, and ginkgo has been shown to improve circulation and brain function, and may even assist in maintaining optimal mental health as you age.

In my healing courses and workshops I often get asked for cures to the common cold. Echinacea is a great herb to take during cold and flu season because it’s an immune booster. It won’t cure your cold, but it will strengthen your body’s defenses so it can better fight off the illness. Taking elderberry syrup as a tonic can help shorten the length of your cold, as can fresh lemon and orange juice, all of which taste delicious. Try one of my favorite plant-based therapies for colds or sinus congestion caused by allergies: put three or four drops of eucalyptus oil in hot water and inhale until your nasal passages start to clear.

If you suffer from depression or anxiety, you might want to check out St. John’s Wort. It is a commonly used herbal alternative to prescription antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs. Many people have found it quite effective in lifting their mood naturally. Of course, as a spiritual teacher and energy healer, I also highly recommend meditation and journaling to deal with feelings of sadness or fear. Daily meditation brings calm and peace to the mind and body, reduces stress, and helps you access Source, and journaling allows your truth to flow freely onto the page, getting it out of your body and mind, and releasing any pent-up negative energy in your personal energy field.

Plants do so much more than I can cover here, but the most overlooked healing plants are those you eat! Don’t forget that what you consume contributes to your well-being. Be sure to eat lots of dark leafy greens and a variety of fruits and veggies to keep your body in good shape so you can heal yourself from the inside out.

Whether you get a decorative houseplant or start drinking herbal tea, once you experience the potent healing energy of plants, you’ll be rummaging through Mother Nature’s medicine cabinet for your next cure.

Spiritual Initiation

Discover & Embody Your Advanced Gifts (Initiation Part 2)

Spiritual Initiation

This is not well-known in our culture, but these amazing capabilities you have — your advanced gifts — are part of being human. They’re actually built into your cellular memory and our collective unconscious.

You probably already use some of these gifts with or without realizing it…

You intuit who’s calling before you look at the Caller ID.

You sense that your child is in trouble before the school calls you.

Maybe you refrain from renting or buying a particular house or taking a particular job because you just know it feels wrong.

Perhaps you have an innate gift of clairvoyance and being able to see on other planes. You might have the gift of telepathy or the ability to astral travel or speak with animals. Maybe you’re meant to speak, teach, or heal at a high level.

Your gifts can be many, and that’s one of the promises of working with energy — you have the power to open yourself up and allow all your gifts to flourish.

It’s natural to work first with the gifts you already sense you have, as they’ll be your strongest abilities, but as you’ll discover in the video, you have others waiting in the wings.

Together, let’s connect you with a gift that wants to reveal itself to you… this gift that’s going to come with a feeling of expansion that fills you with wonder and purpose. Let’s immerse you in it like a soft, enveloping cloud, and let it fully take up residence in your life — so you can use it to uplift yourself, others, and our ailing world.

And as you develop your gifts, you’ll be part of the spiritual revolution that’s helping to raise the consciousness of this planet.

If you’re fascinated to tap into the limitless power of your soul, check out my Master-in-Training year-long program >>>

You know you have gifts, you know you can help, but where do you start?

In Part 1 of this series, I went into depth about the transformative power of initiation, a beautiful process that allows you to expand your consciousness and step fully into your unique purpose and gifts. I also led you through a powerful practice to explore the first seven levels of initiation.

In Part 2 today, I’m going to tell you about beginning your personal initiatory process, and I’ll lead you through a guided meditation to discover and embody your advanced gifts:

7 ways to get grounded indoors

Can’t Go Outside? 7 Ways to Get Grounded Indoors

Have you noticed that being outside lifts your spirits?

Take a deep breath and picture yourself in your favorite landscape. Imagine the warm sun on your skin, the twittering of birds in the trees, the smell of pine, flowers, or maybe the ocean in the air…are you smiling? Do you feel more relaxed?

The great outdoors is called that for a reason: spending time under the sky rather than a ceiling just makes you feel good. Mother Nature is full of healing power, and connecting to that earth energy can have incredible benefits for your mind, body, and soul.

But what if you can’t get outside?

Right now, as we are in the midst of a pandemic that has many frightened to go outside (and others legally prevented from doing so), how can you get the same benefits, the same feeling of peace and wellbeing, without leaving your house?

What is Grounding?

Your ancestors had no trouble connecting with Mother Nature, and getting grounded. They were outside every day, all day, rain or shine. You are lucky to have a roof over your head but the downside is a loss of that daily interaction with the earth, and a corresponding lack of grounding.

Grounding is the practice of energetically connecting to Earth. This releases negative energy from your field into the ground, and draws positive energy from Mother Nature into your field and chakras, which replenishes and recharges your whole being.

Feeling a Little Fuzzy?

Your first chakra, also known as your root or base chakra, is the foundation for the energy flow in your body. This chakra keeps you firmly in your body and grounded, and if it needs cleansing or charging, you may feel a little “spacey” or somewhat out of your body. Additional symptoms of a dysfunctional first chakra can include: lightheadedness or a “floaty” feeling, forgetfulness, clumsiness, a feeling of being lost or actually getting lost, having trouble staying focused or present, fatigue, and a general dazed sensation. With an imbalanced first chakra, your other chakras are likely to be affected and become dysfunctional as well.

Indoor Grounding 101

The best ways to strengthen your bond to Earth is to spend time outside—walking barefoot on sand or grass, swimming in the ocean or a lake, taking moon baths, and hugging trees. But as the weather shifts from the heat of summer to the crispness of fall and then the deep chill of winter, you are less likely to be spending time barefoot or sleeveless outside your heated indoor space.

So how can you stay grounded?

1. Sit in sunlight

If you’re lucky enough to live in a home that gets plenty of sunlight, take advantage of that!

Not only does the sun provide natural vitamin D, which boosts your immune system, it also charges and replenishes your energy field. Sunlight is like natural rays of energy healing from the heavens, so soak it up as much as possible.

Like a cat curling up for a nap in the window, have a seat in a patch of sunlight coming through a window and let it radiate into your skin, into your chakras and energy field. Twenty minutes in the early morning or late afternoon would be perfect!

2. Keep a stone handy

Stones are direct conduits to earth energy. They are literally earth, so they can help ground you just by touching them. Kyanite, hematite, and garnet are good choices for grounding crystals, but any piece of rock will do.

Be sure to bless it for the purpose of keeping you centered and connected to Mother Nature, and then keep it in your pocket for quick access anytime you start to feel disassociated from the earth or your body.

 3. Exercise

Getting out of your head and being present in your body is an important part of grounding. Physical activity can help to shift your energy from your thoughts to your body as you focus your attention on your body and the world around you.

Yoga, pilates or martial arts can be particularly effective because they center your mind, body, and spirit simultaneously.

4. Eat

Like exercise, mindfully eating brings your attention to your body. Gaining sustenance from the earth also helps to connect you to it—to remind you of that fundamental truth of energy medicine: you are connected to everything.

Try to eat as many fresh cooked vegetables as you can, and especially root vegetables which grow under the soil and carry strong earth energy.

 5. Take a salt bath

Salts have natural healing capabilities, as does water, so when you combine them in a warm tub, you take cleansing to a spiritual level. This helps to heal and cleanse your body, mind, and soul, including stripping unwanted negative energy you may have stuck to you from someone else.

Salt baths simulate swimming in the ocean, which is one of the best ways to ground yourself.

6. Visualize

There is an easy visualizations you can do from home that will help to connect you to the earth. Picture yourself as a tree, with roots growing from your feet. Feel your roots sinking into the soil, extracting nourishment and energy that you can bring into your body making you healthier. Imagine your roots sinking deeper and deeper, giving you a stronger foundation, a sense of calm, and a greater bond with nature.

7. Take a healing course

Healing courses are always a good way to get grounded: being in the presence of others and working on grounding exercise help you be in your body and connect to the earth.

We will hopefully come out of this soon (and hopefully stronger than ever before). But in the meantime, look at this is a great opportunity to learn a skill that will ensure you are grounded, happy, and healthy year-round, no matter where you are.

August Full Moon

Will You Take Advantage of the August Portal to the Astral Plane?

Here you are at the peak of summer and likely staying close to home. No large family reunions or adventures in far-away places, but lots of “staycations.” Chaos may be swirling around in the outer world with pandemics and politics and protests, but there’s nothing blocking the energies that come from the higher astral realms . . . and you can access those energies throughout the night sky of August.

The August Full Moon

Monday, August 3rd, is the Aquarian full moon. As you may recall, the moon doesn’t have its own light; it reflects the light of the sun. When those two heavenly bodies are directly opposite each other, the whole surface of the moon is totally illuminated by the sun. The full moon’s energy lasts for around three days both before and after the official “full moon” moment.

For many centuries, humankind has lived by the lunar cycles (just ask any woman), knowing there is a synergy between the great cosmos above and our lives here on earth. Since the waxing moon gathers the light of the sun for the two weeks following the new moon and is completely filled with light during the full moon, you too can fill with light at this time and use it as your springboard to the higher realms.

Your intuitive pull to the light peaks when the moon is full; your mind opens, you can find it easier to adapt to the conditions you find yourself in at the moment, and you can find new opportunities for spiritual awakening.

Sit outside at night to absorb the beauty and the light of the August full moon. Even sleep outside if that’s possible where you live. Native Americans have called this “the Moon When All Things Ripen,” referring not only to your baseball-sized zucchinis, but also to the ripening of your inner strength and your ability to tap into astral wisdom. Think about using your time under the full moon to connect with the Ascended Masters of the higher realms, your spiritual guides, your angels. Open yourself to receive their gifts and blessings and feel how your Higher Self is ripening into fullness.

The Perseids Meteor Showers

Another spectacular display in the August night sky is the Perseids meteor shower, which will peak on the warm summer nights of August 11, 12, and 13, but know that the shower began its annual appearance in mid-August and will last for 10 days or so after the peak. Every year around this time our planet crosses the orbit of the Comet Swift-Tuttle; it’s the debris from this comet that becomes the “shooting stars” of the meteor shower. Much more poetically, the ancient Greeks said the Perseids shower began with the visit of Perseus’ father Zeus to his mortal mother Danae in a shower of gold.

But consider that it is meteoric “debris” that gives stargazers such a spectacular display. Comets are composed of ice, dust, and gasses. You can think of them as representing your frozen emotions and anything you have ignored or suppressed, the “dust” of your fears. To the ancient wisdom keepers, seeing a comet spoke of great change to come. So a meteor shower, which comes from the breakup of the comet, represents great beauty arising from the ashes, like a lotus emerging from the mud.

Connecting to the energy of the Perseids meteor shower is a way to experience the sparkling bursts of moments of awakening. Think of all the spiritual insights and astral wisdom you can gain by breaking up that which may be frozen inside you, by burning up the dust of your difficult thoughts and emotions in a shower of gold.

In the Northern Hemisphere, you can start seeing the Perseids at mid-to-late evening, with the “radiant point” coming around midnight, sparkling the sky as these meteors are only 60 miles or so above the surface of the Earth as they burn up. Give yourself at least an hour to observe the dark open sky as it may take 20 minutes for your eyes to adapt to the darkness. The meteors come in bursts and fly in all different directions across the sky.

As you enjoy the exquisite night sky dancing above you, reflect on how you will use this burst of cosmic energy. How will you tap into your potential within? What ways will you be inspired to use your creative energy as you release your fears? What astral wisdom will light up within you?

Catch a falling star and let it carry you far beyond your earth-bound self as you go through the portal of the August night sky into the highest realms of beauty, truth, love, and compassion.

Cosmic events like these enhance energy that you can tap into and use in your life. But Astral Realms are always available for wisdom, guidance, and healing. You just need to know how to get to those realms.

Right now, you can learn those life-changing skills during the launch of our innovative Astral Wisdom course. Learn more by clicking here.

2020-HowDreamsMakeYouSmarterBlog

How Dreams Make You Smarter

Are you fascinated by dreams? Your dreams offer you a powerful portal to your subconscious thoughts and feelings — and a vast reservoir of wisdom to guide you through every aspect of your life.

In the following guest post written by Nancy Neff, LifeForce Energy Healing® Master-Grad Student Teacher, you’ll see how deciphering her dreams opened Nancy to higher wisdom and a whole new guidance system. I hope Nancy’s story inspires you to delve deep into your dreamtime too — for healing, knowledge from the multidimensional universe, and an ever-expanding experience of life.

Growing up fiercely logical and analytical, I didn’t want to have anything to do with feelings.

I distanced myself from the other girls, who I saw as frivolous. I obtained degrees in math and computer science, then tried hard to keep my focus on my corporate job, which felt more and more restrictive over time.

When the dreams started coming in my mid-forties, some were alarming, and I didn’t know what to do with them. What did it mean when I dreamed that my mother was a Nazi, terrorizing everyone… yet I went to help her when she stopped breathing and fell over? What did it mean when I dreamed that the irresponsible but harmless guy I was dating was avoiding the police?

This was new territory for me, which nothing in my math or science classes had prepared me for.

Setting off on a dream-exploring adventure

Since there was no Google yet, I started reading about dreams, then found a teacher and group to work with. I was used to being at the top of every class I joined, but I felt totally out of my league surrounded by artists and other creative folks who were very comfortable with their intuition. All I knew was how to figure things out, and that part of my brain was no use in this setting. I still remember the panic I felt when my dream teacher asked us to draw something from a recent dream; I was sure I would get the wrong answer.

As the right-brained intuitive side of me developed more, I began to feel more at home there. I made connections that were not based on the logical left-brain world of words and facts and data.

While I was working to improve my eyesight, a dream of broken plastic contact lenses led me to transition from contacts to eyeglasses. When a friend asked why I made this change, I answered that I just knew it was right. I was surprised to hear my own words. I was starting to trust my intuition.

Tapping into the unified field

When I joined an energy medicine class with Deborah King, it really gave me the opportunity to bulk up my intuition muscles. She taught me to meditate, which does wonders for calming my lifelong anxiety. It also feels like it opens the channel wider to greater wisdom, from what Deborah calls the Unified Field of All Information. I started reaching a point where I “just know” what’s good for me and what’s not.

Meditation benefits the corpus callosum — the part of the brain that joins the right and left hemispheres — physically connecting your intuition with your logic and analysis. For me, dreams do this too, as long as I don’t dismiss them as “just dreams.”

Dream journaling

I let the dream images come to me, then write the dream in my journal, which engages my left brain. I pay close attention to any right-brain feelings about the dream. Then I brainstorm about any associations with those images or feelings. Working with dreams is a whole-brain exercise!

If I look back at old dream journals, I can spot repeated themes about a long-standing challenge or about some familiar role I play — the athlete, the teacher or student, the friend, the lover. I also often have a precognitive glimpse of something in a dream that appears in my waking world days or weeks later. Often I’ve forgotten the dream by then, so I go back to my journal to review it and make notes.

Ignoring my dreams seems as self-limiting as ignoring the input from one of my senses, like walking around with my eyes or ears covered. I thought I was smart years ago when I was using only my analytical brain. By learning to use my intuition, I now have the chance to develop true wisdom.

Nancy Neff was the highly anxious over-achieving daughter of the high school principal. She worked as a computer nerd for many years. Trying to decipher her vivid dreams, she was forced to get out of her head and recognize the fundamental role of her emotions. She now honors her feelings, using their wisdom for guidance, and has become a compassionate coach and energy teacher, with a knowledge of many healing tools.

Nancy trained as an Abundance Coach and as a LifeForce Energy Healer® and coach; she is currently teaching in Deborah King’s LifeForce Energy Healing Master-Grad Program. Nancy helps people improve their eyesight naturally, better understand themselves and others, and remove obstacles to having an abundant and joyous life.

Lucid Dreaming Astral Travel

Tap Into the Wisdom of a Teacher From Beyond This Realm (Lucid Dreaming Part 2)

Lucid Dreaming Astral Travel

Do you tune in to your spirit guides every day, to ask what insight and information they have for you?

In Part 1 of this series, I led you through a powerful practice to prepare you to lucid dream to change your waking life. There I called on all the beautiful beings who are available to give you answers and keep you safe anytime.

In Part 2 today, we’ll build off the foundation we created together, as I take you through a quick meditation to connect with your main guide.

Take a few moments and relax as I orient you to your primary guide who can provide you with valuable insights into your health, relationships, emotions, career, purpose — anything you need guidance with. Join me and I’ll connect the guidance you receive to the activity of lucid dreaming:

Who is your main guide from beyond this realm?

Your main guide might be an ancestor from way back in your lineage, or maybe from just one generation back. It could even be someone who’s not part of your direct family line, but who you feel is part of your family. Maybe you have a specific angel you like to work with — you could call in that angelic guidance.

Whoever your main guide is for you, they’re very available to you personally. Whether you’re aware of it or not, they’re always at your side waiting to offer support and guidance whenever you ask for their assistance.

They can help you reach higher levels of initiation, assist you in discovering your real truth and self-awareness… their aid is deep, vast, endless, and always focused on your highest good.

What’s the best way to connect with your main guide?

The key to identifying and connecting with this guide is to ask. Guides won’t reach out to help unless you request their help. They don’t volunteer or “butt in” because they will not interfere with your free will.

So you’ll want to actively, consciously ASK every morning and every night — it only takes a moment. Be patient as you practice connecting with your guide, and I guarantee that soon you’ll sense that teacher at your side.

Once you connect with your main guide and get a sense of them, ask what messages they have for you. Their messages may come in words, their messages might appear in pictures… they could come to you just as a knowing. It all depends on how YOU tend to receive channels of communication.

Your guide and lucid dreaming

After the meditation I guide you through in the video above, you might have a lucid dream tonight in which your main guide appears to you.

Remember that when you…

  1. Set the intention now to lucid dream tonight (that is, when you set the intention to be aware when you’re dreaming and to intentionally shape what happens in the dream), AND
  2. When you set the intention again just before you go to sleep tonight
    … you can meet your main guide — your teacher from another realm — again, and get even more guidance and connection.

And I want you to know… now that you know how to do this, you can access this kind of guidance whenever you need it.

To discover more about connecting with higher realms for guidance and healing, sign up for my free event on the power of Lucid Dreaming.

Lucid Dreaming Astral Travel

Discover How to Lucid Dream to Change Your Waking Life

Lucid Dreaming Astral Travel

Do you ever feel like your life is happening TO you?

What if you could shape your life so it works WITH you, and FOR you?

Lucid dreaming is a powerful tool for influencing not only what happens in your dreams, but also what happens in your waking life.

What exactly is lucid dreaming?

Lucid dreaming is clear dreaming — it’s the act of being consciously aware when you’re dreaming. It’s when you’re asleep, and yet you know that you’re dreaming — and you control what happens in the dream with awareness and intentionality.

Cultures all over the world throughout history have worked with lucid dreaming. The oldest reference is from around 800 BCE, in the Hindu Upanishads. Eighth-century Tibetan Buddhists also described lucid dream practices in the Tibetan Book of the Dead. And Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle all explored the nature of reality during their nightly journeys. The term itself was coined in the 1900s by a Dutch psychiatrist named Frederik van Eeden.

How to lucid dream

In this 12-minute video, I will lead you through a powerful practice to prepare you to lucid dream TONIGHT.

I share details about lucid dreaming, with a focus on technique and practice — to give you tools so you can easily work with the unlimited field of possibility that is your dreams.

Benefits of lucid dreaming

When you’re aware that you’re dreaming, you can consciously:

  • Change jobs
  • Find a partner
  • Communicate with loved ones — alive or passed on
  • Resolve conflict with someone you’re having trouble with
  • Learn what’s hidden in your subconscious mind
  • Fly, shape shift, or HEAL!
  • Meet your goals (don’t miss the video’s 5-minute mark, where I describe how I used lucid dreaming to influence my ski-racing results)
  • Or just have fun and explore new possibilities

Want to soar through the air, speak another language, swim in a coral reef, or try out some other new skill or adventure tonight?

How to set your intention

In the video I walk you through a calming meditation to set your intention for lucid dreaming this evening. Once you’ve had this intention-setting experience, you’ll know how to do it on your own, anytime.

Here are a few prompts to jot down so you can set your intention any night:

  1. Sit or lie down comfortably and take a deep breath. Send that breath down your legs, releasing any tension in your body through the soles of your feet. Send your next breath down your arms, releasing any pain through your fingertips. Breathe into your heart, releasing any fears or negative emotions as you exhale. Breathe into the top of your head, releasing any discomfort or unwanted thoughts with your exhale.
  2. Imagine a white or golden light above you. It’s brilliant, warm, and soothing. Let it completely surround you. Extend this light throughout the room you’re in, feeling enveloped in comfort and safety.
  3. Call in the presence of the Higher Beings to guide you. Your Higher Self, your Spiritual Guides, or an angel such as Archangel Michael — all the beautiful beings who are available to keep you safe anytime. You just need to call them and they’ll come.
  4. Now, set the intention that you will lucid dream tonight. Say aloud or simply think, “Tonight, I will know when I’m dreaming.” Later on, before you fall asleep, repeat again: “I intend that I will know when I’m dreaming.” It’s that easy.
  5. Set an intention for what you’re going to dream about. This can be whatever you want, whether you want to solve a problem, meet a goal, do something fun like take a trip somewhere…

Another key to lucid dreaming that I encourage for you is keeping a dream journal.

Sweet dreams! May you have fun working with the deep reservoir of possibility that resides in your soul tonight.

Dream journaling

Dream Journaling: Tap Into Your Inner Wisdom for Guidance & Healing

Dream journaling

Your dreams are filled with wisdom to guide you through every aspect of your life.

They give you access to knowledge beyond your ordinary, everyday awareness. They can show you the future, preparing you for challenges and opportunities. They can speak to your past, providing you with clues for healing old wounds. And they can guide you in the present, offering you wisdom for making the best decisions and honoring your soul’s desires.

A powerful way to start tapping into the wisdom of your dreams is to keep a dream journal.

Why you should keep a dream journal

The benefits of dream journaling are as vast as the realms your dreams take you to. Here are just a few of my favorite reasons to keep a dream journal.

Healing, transformation, and growth:
When you look back on your dream journals, you hold up a magic mirror that can reveal patterns in long-standing challenges. Your dream journal can even serve you as a data log that gives you insight into themes regarding your attitudes, beliefs, experiences, and actions.

You can also get precognitive glimpses of things that appear in your waking world later on. Dream journaling helps you develop a sixth sense, opening you to correct a course you’re on, restore your inner compass, expand your consciousness, or develop telepathic or clairsentient skills.

Brain balance:
Dream journaling can benefit your corpus callosum — the part of the brain that joins the right and left hemispheres, physically connecting your intuitive abilities with your analytic abilities.

In “Dreams Make Me Smarter,” one of our students wrote: “I let the dream images come to me, then write the dream in my journal, which engages my left brain. I pay close attention to any right-brain feelings about the dream. Then I brainstorm about any associations with those images or feelings. Working with dreams is a whole-brain exercise!”

Creativity:
Dreams offer you a treasury of images and symbols that can light your creative fire if you’re an artist. And even if you’re not, recording your dreams can inspire you to tap into the creativity inside you that yearns to be expressed.

Sketch that mountain or underwater temple when you wake up, then turn it into a deeply expressive painting or sculpture! Write down a dream-encounter as a short story, or see how it’s a clue into how to finish a scene you’ve been working on for your novel. Record that guitar line that came to you in your dreams. Whatever ways you express yourself — or would like to express yourself — journal your dreams to ignite your imagination.

How to keep a dream journal

Choose a notebook or a specially-crafted dream journal with thick, high-quality paper that you can joyfully write and sketch in.

Keep your journal near your bed and write your dreams in it as soon as you wake up. If you find that your bedside notes are barely legible, try transcribing them into a Google Doc later in the day.

While I suggest charging your phone away from your bedroom at night (so you can get a nightly retreat from constant digital clutter and melatonin-disturbing blue light), another option is to record a voice note as soon as you wake up. Then use a voice-to-text program to transcribe your dreams.

Ready to start recording the wisdom of your dreams?

Here are 5 journaling prompts to get you started:

  1. When was the dream? Note the date (including the year) so you can look back on the entry in the context of what was going on in your life and the world at the time.
  2. What happened in the dream? The key is to record your dream in as much detail as you can. Where were you? What was it like? What were the events? What did you do? Was anyone else there? What did they do or say? When did the dream take place? What did the events remind you of? If a detail seems too trivial or obvious to note, write it down anyway. When you look back on your dream entries, you’ll find that what might have seemed like useless details are highly significant in retrospect.
  3. What did you think or feel during the dream? Your internal experience is one of the most (if not THE most) telling aspects of your dreams. Did you feel elated, joyful, rejected, connected, relieved, anxious, relaxed, fascinated, blessed? Did you think “This reminds me of the time I…” Or maybe you thought “This is a place I’d love to….” Whatever your interior response was, make a note of it.
  4. How does the dream connect to your highest desires? This year, Spirit is really calling us to focus on what we want to create in our lives on this beautiful planet. We all long for something. Look back on the things you’ve desired in your past that you’ve manifested. That’s evidence that goals come to fruition, that “dreams come true”! So think about what you want at this point in your life. A new house? Healing from an illness? A fulfilling relationship? A rewarding career that suits your soul? Clean waterways? The end of injustice? Jot down anything about your dream that seems connected to your longing.
  5. What do you think the dream means? Don’t worry right away about dream interpretations like “owls represent wisdom” — you can look those up later if you’d like. For now, focus on writing down what significance the feelings, events, people, and images of the dream have for you. Because it’s your dream, you have the most insight into what it’s telling you.

 

Tap into the creative, healing wisdom of your dreams now!

If you want to start journaling right now, write down your response to one of these prompts:

  • Last night I dreamed…
  • When I was a child, I dreamed…
  • The best dream I ever had was…
  • A recurring dream I’ve had is…
  • The other day I had the strangest dream…

Start writing now or when you wake up tomorrow, and watch the wisdom flow from your soul, through your pen, and into your life.

Dream on!

To learn more about tapping into the power of your dreams, you can checkout my course on Astral Wisdom here.

astral wisdom course
2020-5HealingRituals&PracticestoHonortheSummerSolsticeBlog

5 Healing Rituals & Practices to Honor the Summer Solstice

Summer Solstice is coming up fast, and now is the time to decide how you want to celebrate…

On June 20, we honor this major celestial event in the Northern Hemisphere — a magical time when you can connect with the sun’s vital power and usher in spiritual initiation and CHANGE.

What exactly IS the Summer Solstice?

The word “solstice” comes from the Latin words for “sun” and “standing still.” On the 20th, the sun will reach its highest position as seen from the northern half of the Earth, and it will appear to stand still as it marks the height of long days and the abundant aliveness of Nature. Summer Solstice also marks the longest day and the shortest night of the year. And of course for folks in the southern part of the planet, the reverse is true: Winter Solstice comes at this time, bringing the regenerative darkness that nurtures the rebirth of life. (We are thinking of all of our students and friends Down Under)

In ancient cultures around the world, Summer Solstice was considered the turning point of the year. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna describes the solstice as the way out of the physical world and into the spiritual realms. It’s a time (as is the Winter Solstice) when the veil that separates you from nonphysical reality is so thin that it can be easily pierced. Especially if you’re highly attuned to the cycles of the Earth, you might be able to feel this shifting of energy. It offers a powerful opportunity for renewal that stays open for several days before and after the actual occasion.

Summer Solstice rituals & ceremonies

Just as the ancients held special ceremonies on the solstice, you too can connect to the sun’s heightened energy at this time, and take advantage of its radiance to shine light on whatever you want to transform in your life or the world. Plus, if you’re starting to shift out of shelter-in-place, this is an optimal time to explore more deeply what you’re thinking of stepping into.

So let’s take a look at some simple things you can do to celebrate your connection to the sun, and take stock of where you are and what you want to accomplish.

5 healing rituals & practices to honor the Summer Solstice

  1. Call in your highest intentions for your life or the world. As we birth a new consciousness across the Earth, harness the energy of this day to help usher in change for the better. Light your favorite yellow or orange candle. Call in your angels and guides. Journal about or pray for what you’d like to see come to fruition. Summer is the time of flowering, so let the warmth of the sun help you grow the seeds of your intentions into an abundance of health, happiness, wisdom, peace, and justice.
  2. Take a gratitude sun bath. Try watching the sunrise on solstice, or do Sun Salutations, and give our life-giver your gratitude for gracing the Earth, for bringing warmth and helping seeds grow. And while it can be hard to keep in mind that good things are happening on Earth, acknowledge a change that’s come that you’re happy about. For example, this week we saw a historic national ruling in the US that protects LGBTQ workers. Another example is that more and more companies are honoring Juneteenth as a paid holiday. While we’re bombarded by bad news left and right, it’s crucial to honor everything you view as positive. That’s one of the keys to uplifting consciousness — and higher consciousness uplifts our physical reality.
  3. Meditate on this: What role will you play in evolving your community and our global family? This is the time to ask yourself: “What can I do now to welcome the change I want?” This year more than ever, people have felt like everything is out of our control, but the truth is that you always have the power to start working with the universe toward meeting a goal. What steps — even if they seem small — can you take now to uplift your workplace, to change a law in your community, to ensure justice, to shift a broken system, to help someone who’s struggling
  4. Visualize yourself crossing a threshold. See the place you’re crossing from as what you’re ready to leave behind. See the place you’re approaching as what you’ve been longing for. With the sun shining brightly ahead of you, will you enjoy more nurturing relationships? Make a job change? Be more creative? Use this time when the sky is at its brightest to welcome more nurturance into your life!
  5. Recharge your life-force energy in nature. As a spiritual teacher and energy healer, I make sure my ties to the sun, the Earth, the sky, the wind, the stars, the plants, and our fellow animals are always intact. I have my favorite places in nature that support my spirit and strengthen my knowledge of the unconditional love and universal connection we all share. Are you making good use of the power of nature to soothe and guide you? Choose a favorite tree to hug. Lie on your back under the sun with your palms up in a receiving position and watch the sky. Marvel at the absolute majesty.

Most of all, enjoy this magical time of year! The more open you are to new energy, the more you’ll increase its presence within you. Remember that like the sun, you can shine brightly, and you have the power to help bring forth the great new growth that’s so needed on this beautiful planet.

To learn more about tapping into powerful life-force energy, check out my master-in-training certification course here.

Work one-on-one with Deborah
2020 June Eclipse

3 Practices to Embrace Hidden Aspects Through June’s Full moon + Lunar Eclipse

This month’s full moon is INTENSE — but there’s hope…

Are you feeling it? Tensions are mounting, personally and collectively — and here in the US we’re seeing this energy play out with strong reactions to deep-seated issues with racial injustice and police brutality, to name just a few of the conflicts that have been erupting.

Full moons in and of themselves are all about illumination — both literally as the moon brightens the night sky — and figuratively as it lights up different aspects of our personal and collective lives…

And this month on June 5 or 6 (depending on where you live), our full moon is also a lunar eclipse. I’ll tell you about the significance of the lunar eclipse shortly, but first I’ll tell you that this week’s full moon is also in a T-square with Mars and Neptune.

In a nutshell, the T in T-square stands for Tension. Some of the manifestations of Mars include energy, action, and drive — and the tenser manifestations include violence and upheaval. Some of the manifestations of Neptune include oneness and deep sensitivity — and the tenser manifestations include deception and emotional turbulence.

In Vedic astrology, eclipses herald change. Combine that with Mars’s energy for making something happen, and Neptune’s energy for oneness, and we have a recipe for people gathering to create necessary change that’s long overdue.

This applies especially in America right now, but you’ll likely be able to see it wherever you live on one scale or another — perhaps with families and educators coming together to change the way we teach our children, or maybe in your personal life with a job or a relationship.

After all, we know that tension and conflict drive action, right?

As I shared in a post about transforming your perspective during the pandemic, there are different levels of perception — and with the God brain, we can see this as the potential to make the necessary changes that need to happen for us to grow, to change, to step ­up in consciousness, and to progress to higher levels of being.

Which is something we ALL need, right? You’re very likely seeking to step up personally, and I bet your intention — like mine — is to help humanity rise up from its current state.

As individuals, and society as a whole, if we make racial bias a moral issue, then no one will want to embrace their bias, because most people don’t want to be a “racist.” However, the truth is, we all exist in a society with inherent bias built into the system, therefore, we all carry bias — consciously or unconsciously.

The path forward is in embracing our bias… which means digging into our inner work and exploring our shadow aspects.

Fortunately, there’s tremendous opportunity for positivity that we can reap from this moon, which has the potential for great transformation — a potential driven by tension and drive, determination, and resolve.

Harnessing the Power of the Strawberry Full Moon Lunar Eclipse for Healing and Transformation — and Embracing Your Shadow

The strawberry full moon lunar eclipse? You read that mouthful right — the June full moon is traditionally called the strawberry moon or the rose moon — because strawberries are abundant and roses bloom in June. (There’s a little opportunity for some vibe-lifting, chakra-clearing gratitude!)

Because emotions are heightened during a full moon, it’s a perfect opportunity to acknowledge and release them.

Try these full moon cleansing strategies to access the full spectrum of healing energy from this cycle’s moon.

Journal to release racial bias and inherited imprints & beliefs
Want to see big benefits during the full moon? Journal to express your inner feelings and observations, write out your intentions for change, make decisions about what to do next, and channel tension into positive action.

Try these journal prompts to help you get started:

  • What does Black Lives Matter mean to me?
  • Do I hold any pain my ancestors experienced through racism? Do I hold any responsibility? (If you feel you do, call on your guides and the Violet Flame to help you release old wounds.)
  • What did I learn about race from my mom, dad, or family in general?
  • What is hidden or eclipsed in me? Are there experiences or beliefs I can release?
  • What are my deepest desires when it comes to racism and humanity?
  • What actionable steps can I take to help heal racism?

Meditate, meditate, meditate
In Vedic astrology, eclipses are caused when the North and South Nodes of the moon, Rahu and Ketu, swallow the sun and the moon. The moon at these times is not actually auspicious to watch with the naked eye, but going inward and meditating is extra beneficial.

I recommend meditating for 20 minutes twice a day with a mantra I give you. If I haven’t taught you yet, here’s a link to learn. Use this contemplative time to receive messages from your inner guidance, spend extra time grounding and connecting to the creative and generative power of the Earth, and open to the wisdom being revealed to you.

Your meditation and prayer time is also vital to helping every other sentient being on the planet. Dedicate your practice time to amplify vibrations of higher consciousness raising the unified field around all of us. Our world needs healing more than ever right now, and by consciously sending healing intentions into the universal field, you’ll help create the healing our planet needs so desperately.

Protest peacefully
If there are protests taking place in your community and you feel called to join, do so, guided by your heart. If you’d prefer to stay at home and drop in to the reflective time that lunar eclipses call for, watch this TedTalk with Damon Davis. Courage is contagious, he says, which could not be more true.

In everything you do this week and always, know that you can navigate turbulence with grace, and your thoughts, prayers, and intentions will help make this a turning point for upleveling consciousness — yours and the people in your life and the planet’s. You are never alone; call upon Spirit and your guides to help you harness this moon’s power for personal and collective upliftment.