Healthy Cats

Raising an Energetically Healthy Pet

by Energy HealingFeaturedHeal Yourself—Heal the WorldPets

When you aim energy healing in the direction of your loving pets, much of that healing mojo will come right back to you. All you have to do is show a little love for an animal by merely petting it on the head and it will automatically produce a hormone in you that activates your nurturing abilities. And this is just the tip of the iceberg—innumerable studies are now being conducted on the powerful connection between owners and their pets.

You’d be amazed to learn at how much making a conscious effort to heal and connect with your pets will benefit you in return.

Healthy Pets
Healthy Cats
Healthy horses

An example of how helping a pet can heal you: Elizabeth and Miracle Millie

A student of mine (who I’ll call Elizabeth) recently shared a story with me that demonstrates how animals and people can have powerful healing impacts on each other, both physically and emotionally. A few years ago, Elizabeth’s’ world was turned upside down when she suddenly lost her job. In addition to the devastating blow to her confidence and self-esteem, Elizabeth immediately lost her health insurance and was unable to continue working with the therapist who had been treating her for the debilitating anxiety and depression she had struggled with since childhood.

It didn’t take Elizabeth long to retreat to the dark places of her mind: she was spending days in bed, ignoring texts from concerned friends, and phone calls from family asking her to come visit so she could rest and reset in a safe environment.

One week after Elizabeth’s life shattered, she was scrolling mindlessly through Facebook on her phone from bed. Suddenly, she stopped at a post from an animal rescue organization about a disabled dachshund in need of a foster home. The rescue called her “Miracle Millie” because they didn’t think she would survive the night; a staff member at Animal Care and Control had found Millie in a cardboard box outside of the employee entrance to the shelter. In addition to surviving the severe August heat, the on-duty vet recognized symptoms that pointed to poisoning. Upon further evaluating Millie, the doctor realized that she had “gone down” and likely had IVDD (a common—but devastating and lifelong—back disease in dachshunds). We’ll never know the exact events that took place to Millie arriving at Animal Care and Control, but most likely whoever had Millie before she arrived at the shelter didn’t want to deal with a dog that couldn’t use their back legs, so they poisoned her. When Millie didn’t die, they left her outside the shelter.

By the grace of higher powers, the dachshund rescue group that Elizabeth followed on Facebook pulled Millie from the shelter and got her into an animal hospital nearby. Over the course of weeks, Millie made an amazing recovery and—on that one day when Elizabeth was on Facebook—needed a foster home where she could gain back her strength, put on the weight she had lost, and begin to trust again.

Over the course of the next few weeks, Millie made an amazing recovery, and on the day she was scheduled to be released to a foster home, Elizabeth checked out the shelter’s Facebook page, and the rest is history. She took Millie and for a month, they kept each other company on the couch…each healing in their own way: Millie from her physical trauma (Elizabeth assisted her in eating, drinking, and physical therapy exercises designed to build up her back muscles again) and Elizabeth from her job loss that compounded her depression and anxiety (Millie sat there right next to Elizabeth while she responded to job post after job post, listened to recruiters wax and wane about their wonderful client…only to never be heard from again, and gave her the extra confidence she needed when a hiring manager wanted to talk on the phone).

The story of Elizabeth and Miracle Millie has a happy ending: Elizabeth landed a job that was a step up from her previous one and Millie now lives in the countryside with a newly retired couple who are avid sports fans (and spend a lot of time hanging out on the couch together). When you hear Elizabeth speak of Millie, she doesn’t consider it an act of charity or a “nice thing” that she did for an animal in need—rather, she speaks of how Millie saved her. Millie gave Elizabeth a reason to get out of bed each morning and helped her work through what could have been a much more difficult time.

Any pet lover will immediately understand the bond between Elizabeth and Millie. As someone who has worked with both people and pets, I can attest to the shared and exchanged energy between both parties. And as a pet owner, you want to keep that energy healthy, happy, and balanced all around—so you both are able to thrive and live your best lives.

how pets heal us
Millie's preferred activity: snoozin' next to Elizabeth on the couch.
pets and healing
Elizabeth helping Millie at a physical therapy session.

Ways to care for your pets that keep you both feeling good:

Feed your pets natural foods

Animals are as sensitive as humans to the unnatural additives, colorings, and preservatives that are used in many brands of commercial pet food. They may be allergic to some of these harmful chemicals, which could lead to behavior problems, excess weight gain, or dental issues. Holistic vets recommend natural diets, like raw foods, for cats and dogs.

Give your pets pure water

If your pets are not drinking enough pure water, it will affect both their health and their energy field. The smell or taste of tap water may not be appealing to them, so try filtered water or still (non-bubbly) mineral water. Beef broth or other meat broths, which you can cool down for them, are another way to get your pets to drink more.

Let the sun shine on your pets

Pets need sunshine for health as much as we do. They need to go outside for at least an hour a day to prevent depression, lethargy, and illness. Full-spectrum lighting has been used to prolong the lives of hamsters with heart disease. Keep both you and your pet healthy by going outdoors in the sunshine for a walk. If you have indoor pets, make sure they can access a place in the sun by a window.

Be a friend to your pets

Just like us, pets need companionship. Animals get lonely, so they love being around people and sometimes even other pets. I actually got a mini—a small horse—to keep my big horse, Influence, company when his pet goat passed on. Some pets, such as rabbits, gerbils, birds, fish, guinea pigs, and even rats, do best in same-sex pairs. Hamsters, on the other hand, are happiest by themselves in their own little world. Some pets, like llamas, will really become despondent if they don’t have the companionship of another llama; you’ll want to be informed about their needs before you choose an exotic pet.

Give your pet(s) space

All pets need lots of room to move around easily. We cannot imprison our pets in cages, pens, or runs that are too small. However, some dogs feel safest in a “den,” like a crate or kennel for sleeping. Listen to your animal’s needs and act accordingly.

energy healing for dogs

heal yourself heal the worldLearn more about energy healing for pets

Pets have always been an important part of my life and I have experienced their amazing healing capabilities firsthand. So, when I started working with Simon & Schuster on my latest book, Heal Yourself—Heal the World, I planned for an entire section of it to be dedicated to energy healing for pets.

As an energy healer (and animal lover), I’ve spent many years studying and practicing a variety of mindfulness methods and healing techniques specifically for animals. This helped me to be there when any of my own loving animal companions were in pain and in need of my healing hands. In Heal Yourself—Heal the World, I share these methods with you so you can be equipped for any animal that might live with you (or come through the doors of your new practice as an energy healer).

Buy Book on Amazon
energy healing for cats

You may also like:

Animal Communication Energy Healing

Our Enlightened Friends: How and Why Animals Communicate with Us

If you’re an animal lover like I am, you’ll have no problem embracing the notion that all animals – tame, domesticated, captive, and wild — think, react, and communicate among themselves and, more importantly, with us. Our experiences with them have confirmed this fact. And if you know that humans are essentially spiritual beings, as […]

Read more
Pets

Celebrating Pets! What we can learn from their intelligence, abilities, and healing powers.

Celebrating Pets! What we can learn from their intelligence, abilities, and healing powers.

Read more
Animal Farm

Real World Animal Farm (Pigs Still Get The Best Of It)

Real World Animal Farm (Pigs Still Get The Best Of It)

Read more
Astral Projection Destinations

Astral Projection Destinations for Healing

by Astral ProjectionFeatured

How is your spiritual home holding up?

One of my favorite passages from the New Testament is from Matthew 7:24-27 where Jesus gives His Sermon on the Mount. In this Bible parable, Jesus tells a story of two men: one who built his house on a rock and another who built his house on top of sand. When stormy weather arrived, the house built upon a rock was able to withstand the harsh winds and rain—and the first builder is called wise. However, the house built on the sand collapsed during the storm—and the second builder is called foolish.

astral projection quotesThe wise man built his house upon the rock.

—Matthew 7:24

The meaning of this Biblical parable is quite obvious: proper foundations are necessary.

Are you the wise man who stands upon a firm foundation? Or, do you sometimes feel like there’s sinking sand under your feet instead of granite? What’s holding you up, keeping you afloat, and is it propelling you toward the life of your dreams?

Just like there are tasks you must routinely do to maintain your literal house throughout the year—from replacing the batteries in your carbon monoxide detectors to performing a smudging ritual to cleanse the energy—spiritual home ownership also requires routine work. And while it may not always be glamorous (or even fun, for that matter), a regular evaluation of your spiritual house’s standing will pay off in dividends in the long-term.

Taking time to evaluate the underpinnings of your life to see whether all aspects are holding firm is the equivalent of cleaning the gutters of your spiritual home. One tool you can use to strengthen your spiritual foundation is astral projection (also called astral travel)…however, it does require knowledge and technique training to be done properly. If you’re a beginner and searching for how to do astral projection fast, I encourage you to pull into the slow lane and enroll in my Astral Wisdom course. In this online self-study course, I’ll teach you ways to safely and gently explore the astral realms so you can master the out-of-body experience (OBE) and design the life of your dreams through meaningful experiences and things you can do while astral projecting (such as visiting the astral projection destinations I discuss below).

If you are familiar with astral travel, keep reading to explore every aspect of your life to rejuvenate, heal, and elevate your body, mind, and Spirit.

 

Five astral projection destinations for healing:

 

astral projection destinations for physical health, vitality, and weight lossPhysical health, vitality, and weight management

If you have struggled with your physical health, found your body’s vitality dwindling, or been unable to manage your weight despite a healthy diet and exercise regimen, you might discover that difficult emotions are the source of your struggle. These emotions can be the result of childhood trauma, divorce, illness, job loss, or the death of loved one (to name a few).

Repressed emotions can affect the body in various ways. When you don’t take the time to process your emotions (thinking it is easier to push them aside until they “go away”), you run the very real risk of doing damage to your physical body by disrupting and blocking the flow of energy to a particular area. Over time, these emotions that you thought “went away” take a toll on your physical health and can be a major source of struggle and barrier to living your happiest life.

To improve your physical health, vitality, and manage your weight, focus on an astral travel trip that encourages self-compassion and allows you to find the clarity needed to unblock your repressed emotions. Once you are able to let go of habits that comprise your highest state of well-being, you’ll learn to get in touch with (and process) difficult feelings and emotions more effectively and efficiently—so you can focus on your spiritual development at a higher level.

 

astral projection destinations for career, finances, and life workCareer and life work

While it’s normal to have a bad day (or week…or month, let’s be honest) at work, what’s not normal is to be perpetually troubled by questions around your career. If you are always trying to placate that nagging voice in the back of your mind with rational reasons for “sticking it out” in a career or job you find unfulfilling, I can guarantee you that it’s not going to go away no matter how hard you argue.

One of my students, who I’ll call “Katherine,” is a perfect example of someone in need of a career change: she was “living her dream” of being a businesswoman in New York City after four years of college and many more of “putting in her dues” and climbing the corporate ladder in the marketing and advertising industry. When I met Katherine, I instantly knew that she was deeply unsatisfied with her career, despite her insistence otherwise; she was overworked, had a manipulative boss that kept the promotion carrot always just out of her reach, and struggled when working with the agency’s clients who viewed marketing as a way to con customers into contracts for shady products and services.

Initially, I met with Katherine every Tuesday at 9:00 pm her time and, without fail, she was always still at the office. Reflecting back on those first two months, the irony around the New York City skyline that sparkled with life right outside her lower-Manhattan glass office was not lost of Katherine; the city never slept and neither did Katherine, who mistakenly equated success with a big job title and bonus. In addition to the toll this job was taking on her mentally, it was also wreaking havoc on her body: a cold that she couldn’t shake turned into a four-day hospitalization for pneumonia.

One day this past fall, I dialed into our video conference as usual but didn’t see the NYC skyline I had grown accustomed to behind Katherine. Instead, I saw an almost unrecognizable Katherine in a warm and cozy apartment, her two dogs snoozing on the couch behind her. Gone was the stress, the unrealistic expectations she had placed on herself, the expensive designer dresses, the hair and makeup—in front of me sat a calmer, more peaceful, and enlightened version of my student who smiled as she said to me, “I quit.”

Like so many other people, Katherine realized that choosing to leave a career isn’t a poor reflection of you by any means; it is a simply a reflection of a world and economy that are always shifting and changing. In fact, your ability to identify that you have evolved and are ready to move onto the next phase of your life work is a milestone that you should be proud of: it takes self-awareness, mindfulness, and strength to reach this often difficult decision. Know that you don’t have to struggle and suffer to discover your true purpose: you can use astral travel to reset and recharge the spiritual dimension of your working life.

 

astral projection destinations for relationships with family, friends, and loved onesRelationships with family, friends, and loved ones

Are you satisfied and uplifted by the all the relationships in your life? Do you know how to activate the incredible power of unconditional love—the source of true happiness?

The ability to love and forgive unconditionally, as well as surrender (the ability to “let go and let God”), are the hallmarks of a heart chakra that is perfectly balanced. If you want to learn more about your chakras and the role they play in your physical, mental, and spiritual health, check out my popular Chakra Wisdom course.

In addition to a healthy and balanced heart chakra, you can also use astral projection to jumpstart your level of compassion—both for yourself and others—that will lead you to unconditional love. Focus on opening your heart and feeling the power of the Divine coursing through your veins as you open your body, mind, and Soul up to receive new wisdom and knowledge.

During your astral journey, you’ll realize that the barriers you initially set up to protect are actually blocking you from achieving your hopes and dreams; to move forward and experience the love you long for, it’s time to face your fears and confront your doubts that are standing in your way.

 

astral projection destinations for sharing your healing gifts and abilitiesSharing your healing gifts and abilities

Every single one of us has unique gifts and abilities to share with the world. If you are ready to step up and help heal the world—but aren’t sure how to get started—try taking a step back and reflecting on your own journey up until this point.

The next time you sit down to journal, ask yourself these questions:

  • How well do you know yourself?
  • Do you understand what lies behind your fears and your dreams?
  • Why are you attracted to some aspects of reality and afraid of others?
  • Have you ever suspected that you have hidden abilities that you can’t quite access?

After you have reflected on these questions, you can use astral projection to unlock your powers and completely engage your body, mind, and Soul with the joy that comes from sharing your gifts with those searching. While opening yourself up can be scary at first, know that the world needs your uplifting contribution, given in your own way with the love that only you can provide.

 

astral projection destinations for supercharging your intuitionSupercharge your intuition

Would you like to learn to see beyond the limitations of space and time? Do you sometimes feel yourself on the verge of opening new avenues of perception and understanding but you are either afraid or unsure? Are you able to access your sixth chakra to help you transcend your personal identity and gain entry to the universal field of all information?

Learn to overcome fear and small-mindedness and to develop trust in your ability to move toward your highest self and build your connection to the Divine by using astral projection to supercharge your intuition. Discover the ways in which you can learn to allow Spirit to work through you and expand your perceptual abilities.

In your astral travel adventures, you are free to seek out any realms that your Soul longs to explore and learn from…so, the question becomes: where will you go first?

 

astral wisdom course

winter solstice traditions

Winter Solstice Traditions from Around the Globe

by Astrological EventsFeatured

The winter solstice has been celebrated for thousands of years by people from all over the globe. Every year in the Northern Hemisphere (on Dec. 21 or 22) and the Southern Hemisphere (on June 20 or 21), the sun appears to stand still at the Tropic of Capricorn, shinning directly overhead at 12 noon, before reversing its direction. At the winter solstice, the balance of dark and light tips, and the sun begins a return trip that promises such good things in the months ahead…new life, growth, warmer weather, and those beautiful spring flowers that push their way out of the soil like clockwork and bring a smile to your soul.

The days leading up to the winter solstice might be dark and cold, but this is actually nature’s way of helping us to come together as a community and focus on spiritual rebirth. It’s always easier to work with Mother Nature, so take advantage of these shorter days and dedicate time to feeding your spirit, nurturing your soul, and reflecting on your journey over the past year—you can then set your intentions for the year ahead and celebrate the return of the light.

People have been celebrating the winter solstice for thousands of years—and yet, while these winter solstice traditions and rituals are diverse and unique, each is centered around the universal theme around light and renewal. You may already have your own winter solstice rituals in place, so you can clear away past trauma, find strength in the present moment, and pave the way to the future of your dreams…but what if there’s a tradition from a far away ancient civilization or culture that can help you move to the next level in your spiritual journey? Keep reading for winter solstice traditions and rituals around the world and different ideas you can use to incorporate elements of the celebration into your own practice.

Winter solstice celebrations around the world

Winter solstice rituals from all over the world

The Labyrinth of Light in Vancouver, BC

Winter solstice labyrinth of light

Photo credit: Flickr

Every year, Vancouver residents and visitors join together to celebrate the winter solstice at the Labyrinth of Light, an evening of processions, music, and art performance. The event is organized by the Secret Lantern Society and attendees are invited to wander through intricate light mazes (created with 700+ beeswax candles!) for a meditative experience that fosters relaxation and encourages self-reflection.

The concept of a “labyrinth of light” has long been used in cultures around the world for meditation and prayer on the winter solstice. Vancouver’s interpretation, with its self-guided ceremony, helps attendees to release old attachments and envision new possibilities for the future while the darkest night of the year gives birth to a new season filled with hope and light.

Labyrinth of Light celebration idea:

Create your own maze of lights
If you’re not able to make an impromptu trip to Canada, you can still capture some of the magic that happens at the official Labyrinth of Light by creating your own “mini” version at home. On the night of the winter solstice (Dec. 21), setup rows of beeswax candles throughout your home or backyard; if you have young children, or are nervous about having so many candles burning simultaneously, pick up some flameless candles at your local craft store or Amazon.

Winter solstice celebrations around the world

Winter solstice at Stonehenge in England

winter solstice stonehenge

Stonehenge is synonymous with the summer and winter solstices because of the ancient structure’s precise alignment with the sun’s movement, as well as the fact that it is a bucket list item for so many.

Every year, thousands of revelers make the journey to this sacred place of worship to witness the mid-winter sun set perfectly between the two upright stones of the Great Trilithon at dusk. For those lucky enough to witness the magic of Stonehenge in-person during the winter solstice, there will be lots of activities going on around you: dancing, singing, Druic ceremonies, and Pagan celebrations, to name a few. The grounds open at first light the next morning (December 22) to allow thousands of druids, pagans, and other devotees to celebrate the sunrise in a spiritual, respectful manner (which does not involve activities like drinking alcohol, playing loud music, or using fireworks).

Stonehenge-inspired winter solstice celebration idea:

Say a little prayer (for you and for the Earth)
The weather outside might be frightful, but that doesn’t mean that there’s nothing going on below. Think about your own life and what might be lying dormant at the moment, and then envision what may bloom a few months from now.

A Prayer to You and the Earth at Yule
Cold and dark, this time of year,
the earth lies dormant, awaiting the return
of the sun, and with it, life.
Far beneath the frozen surface,
a heartbeat waits,
until the moment is right,
to spring.

Winter solstice celebrations around the world

The Dōngzhì Festival in China

winter solstice dongzhi festival

The Chinese winter solstice Dōngzhì festival is a major winter solstice and holiday in East Asian culture, dating back thousands of years to the Han Dynasty (206 BC–220 AD). Dōngzhì festival revelers celebrate the time when winter’s darkness begins to give way to light by gathering together with family for celebratory meals and trips to temples to honor ancestors.

The concept of balance is integral to East Asian philosophy of Yin (positive) and Yang (negative) and its influence can been seen in the Dōngzhì festival: at the Winter Solstice, Yin is at its peak and will gradually disappear, while Yang will become stronger from that day forward.

Dōngzhì festival celebration idea:

Cook: family meals are central to Chinese winter solstice celebrations, so cook up (or order from a specialty store) a hearty, nourishing meal to share with family and loved ones. Traditional foods served during the Dōngzhì festival include tang yuan (glutinous rice dumplings) and lamb dumplings.

Winter solstice celebrations around the world

Yalda Night in Iran

Yalda winter solstice festival

Yalda, or Šab-e Yaldā, is an Iranian festival held on the “longest and darkest night of the year” – the winter solstice. Yalda means “birth,” and Yalda Night is viewed as the birthday of the sun god Mithra and the victory of light over dark.

During this ancient festival, which originated prior to the advent of Islam and at a time when the majority of Persians were followers of Zoroastrianism, people were advised to stay awake most of the night and gather in the safety of groups, while sharing the last remaining fruits of summer. The same Yalda winter solstice customs are carried today, with families gathering together, eating, drinking and reading poetry (Hafez) throughout the evening to pass the darkest night of the year with laughter and joy. Iranians believe that those who begin winter by eating summer fruits (especially pomegranate and watermelon as the red in these two fruits symbolizes the crimson hues of dawn and the glow of life) will not fall ill during the cold season.

Yalda is also celebrated in parts of Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan.

Yalda Night celebration idea:

Read: Hafez was a 14th-century poet in Iran whose mystical love poems express the ecstasy of divine inspiration. Join people in Iran as they open the Divan of Hafez to a random page and read the poem on it, which is believed to be an indication of things that will happen in the future. If you can’t locate a copy of the Divan of Hafez in time for Yalda, don’t stress! In addition to the Kindle edition on Amazon, both Google and Apple have apps available in their stores.

Winter solstice celebrations around the world

Inti Raymi in Peru

winter solstice southern hemisphere

Peru, located in the Southern Hemisphere, celebrates the winter solstice on June 24. Inti Raymi (Quechua for “sun festival”), which takes place on the solstice, is dedicated to honoring the Incan sun god, Inti.

Prior to the Spanish conquest and colonization—which had a devastating impact on the Indigenous Peoples of South America—the Incas would fast for the three days leading up to the winter solstice. Before dawn on the fourth day, they would travel to a ceremonial plaza in Cusco and wait to see the sun rise on the horizon. When the sun appeared, the Incas would crouch down before it, offering up golden cups of chicha (a sacred beer made from fermented corn) and hundreds of animals (mostly llamas)  in sacrifice.

When preparing for the ceremony, the Incas would use a mirror to focus the sun’s rays and ignite a flame that would be kindled into a fire. Sadly, after Spain conquered the Incan civilization, Inti Raymi was banned. However, modern society has revived the ancient festival (sans the live animal sacrifices) and the yearly re-enactments bring thousands of people from all over the world to Cusco, the ancient Incan capital.

Inti Raymi winter solstice celebration idea:

Dance!
Traditional Incan music and dance are a big component of the Inti Raymi celebration, so why not watch the YouTube video below and try the moves out yourself?

Winter solstice celebrations around the world

Toji in Japan

Winter solstice japan

In Japan, the winter solstice is less a festival than a traditional practice centered around starting the new year with health and good luck.

During this sacred time of year, farmers welcome the return of the sun’s nourishing light after a long, dark winter. To encourage the sun’s return, people create massive bonfires that burn on Mount Fuji every December. In addition to ensuring the earth gets off to a healthy start, Japanese winter solstice participants also focus on healing their own bodies by taking warm baths scneted with yuzu, a citrus fruit that is believed to ward off colds and facilitate strong health. If you are lucky enough to be in Japan during Toji and you happen to stop by a public bath or hot spring, you’ll notice that yuzu has been thrown into the water; most-likely, you’ll also be served kabocha squash during a winter solstice meal in Japan, as it is thought to bring luck.

Toji winter solstice celebration idea:

Relax in a nice hot bath
After all the praying, reading, cooking, and dancing you’ve been doing in celebration of the winter solstice, perhaps it’s time to wind-down and help your body relax. The Japanese use yuzu in their baths during the winter solstice, but you can use whatever essential oil you find relaxes you (lavender is always a good choice when you want to rest). As you let your muscles relax in the warm bath, focus on letting go of anything negative that you’ve been carrying around all year…and when you’re ready to rejoin the world, pull up the bath plug and watch as all that heavy energy whisks away down the drain.

Winter solstice celebrations around the world

Additional materials for the winter solstice

Winter solstice journal questions

  • 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?
  • How will you move forward in the months ahead?

More blog articles

The Frequency Shift: Why More Starseeds Are Awakening Right Now

The Frequency Shift: Why More Starseeds Are Awakening Right Now

Something is happening. You can feel it. The world doesn’t quite vibrate the same way it did before. It’s subtle yet undeniable—like a radio station just slightly out of tune, sending whispers through the static. For those who have always felt different, for those who have sensed they are not from here, the shift is […]

Read more
From the Stars to Your Cells: How Energy Healing Bridges the Cosmic & the Physical

From the Stars to Your Cells: How Energy Healing Bridges the Cosmic & the Physical

For those who feel the call of the cosmos, the notion of being a Starseed is more than just a passing curiosity. It’s an inner knowing. A recognition that your soul may have origins beyond Earth… and that your mission here is far bigger than what the modern world would have you believe. But knowing […]

Read more
Starseeds, the Snow Moon, and the Call of the Cosmos: A Celestial Invitation

Starseeds, the Snow Moon, and the Call of the Cosmos: A Celestial Invitation

Somewhere beyond the glow of city lights, the sky is speaking. Ancient civilizations knew how to listen. They charted the heavens, marked the movements of planets, and synchronized their lives with the rhythms of the stars. But in today’s world – drowned in artificial noise and fluorescent distractions – few still hear the whispers of […]

Read more
Adventures in Astral Travel

Adventures in Astral Travel

by Astral ProjectionFeaturedUncategorized

What is the furthest out destination you can imagine for a travel adventure?

  • Seeing the Stone Heads on Easter Island?
  • Climbing to the top of Mt. Everest?
  • Winning the lottery and buying a ticket on a SpaceX shuttle to outer space?

Now, what if I told you that you would be able to do all of that—and more!—without ever leaving your bedroom. It’s 100% within your reach when you travel via astral projection.

Astral travel

Astral travel is an out-of-body experience (OBE) that can take you to the places you want to go, regardless of where and when these places exist.

Not only can you go to different places around the globe (a very affordable way to satisfy your wanderlust) to see sacred sites, experience the energy of natural vortexes, or simply see your neighborhood from another perspective, but astral projection can be used to travel to different levels of the astral plane. You can meet up with your spiritual guides for instruction or guidance, connect with loved ones who have passed away, and even visit your beloved pet who crossed the rainbow bridge.

astral projection safety
Just like you wouldn't get on a bike without wearing a helmet, there are safety measures you need to take when preparing to astral project.

Astral projection and safety

A lot of people have safety concerns and fears around astral travel, as they should; just like learning to ride a bike or drive a car, astral projection is an activity that requires knowledge and training to do safely.

Most-likely, you’ve spent the majority of your time here on Earth experiencing the world from inside your body. While you might not realize it, every time you go out into the world and engage with surrounding people and energy, you are learning how to discern safety from danger. For example, a child might not know that touching boiling water can burn them…until they test the waters (pun intended) for themselves. However, after they have that experience with hot water, the child has learned that they need to be careful around this particular dangerous object. The same theory holds true when we interact with more complex energies, such as living creatures and human beings, giving you have a lifetime of knowledge to reference in order to safely navigate your in-body experiences.

Unless you are a well-seasoned astral traveler, you won’t have direct experiences to learn from regarding ways to stay safe when projecting. While learning from experience is one way to acquire knowledge, the other is learning facts directly from astral projection experts. For example, there are demon-like entities with evil intent, aliens with a nasty agenda, and others that want to do harm to either your physical or astral body during an out-of-body experience. You’ll need to learn how to protect yourself before going out of your body; if you start your journey from a space of love and high spiritual energy—and if you can keep your fear in check—you will be safer from encounters with the dark side.

If you are interested in learning more about staying safe while you open a doorway to a different dimension, enroll in my Astral Wisdom course today. I’ll teach you a variety of advanced techniques that you can use to astral project, the many purposes of astral projection, and how to protect yourself and stay safe as you travel to the astral realms.

Astral projection and time travel

Another question that regularly comes up when discussing astral projection has to do with time travel. Astral projection allows you to move through time, for example seeing yourself in past lives or visiting scenes from history, but you are only there as an observer; you can’t change something that happened in the past.

So, you can’t go back and kill Hitler before the Holocaust or thwart the birth of the uncle who molested you in this life. But by observing, you may learn some vital information that will help you be at peace with certain aspects of yourself or with your history in this life.

Astral planes and physical planes

You also can’t affect things on the physical plane while you are astral—no knocking over a glass of water or moving a penny up the wall to let someone know you are there. Patrick Swayze managed it in the movie Ghost, but it would require a lot of practice and intention (although it was great in the movie). You can, however, float through walls or fly, which is much harder when you’re in your physical body.

Some of the things you can do while in the astral state are: help lost souls find their way to the light; visit with angels and other high-energy beings; have encounters with deceased relatives; go back in time; visit other planets and fantastic astral realms; fly around Earth and sightsee; and just have a great time.

Finding your astral travel guide

But before you get your ticket to ride, you should know who your guides are, know how to keep yourself in a high vibratory state to minimize fear or negativity and remember to ask your guides and angels to protect you. Your spiritual guides are always happy to help. If you feel like they never respond to you, you’re probably not hearing them or receiving the signs and synchronicities that signal the intuitive insights and flashes they are sending you. They will always try to help you down the right path, the one that is best for you.

The best way to guarantee that your experiences in the astral planes are positive is by building a solid meditation and prayer practice, which will ground you in love, compassion, and the higher qualities of spiritual life.

You already astral travel—every night when you drift off to sleep and fall into a dream—so in many ways you already know how to do it. But learning to astral project deliberately—to leave your physical body consciously and intend to travel to certain destinations—requires finding the technique that works best for you and then practicing until perfect.

If you’re wondering if you are ready to travel to the astral realms, head over to my Facebook Page and take my Astral Projection quiz.

It’s quick (and fun!) and will provide you with a good baseline on which to start building your astral travel knowledge.

Am I ready to astral project
Truth-Roy-Moore

The Truth About Truth

by FeaturedForgivenessHuffington PostTrauma and ViolenceTruth HealsWomen

Roy Moore and the Weaponization of the Lie

Roy Moore got me thinking about this, but that was only the beginning, not the end. Truth, or what each of us as individuals believes the truth to be, goes beyond politics, religion, pretty much everything.

Independent of your point of view or agenda, truth today is under assault. The impact is seen in the heated, passionate and all too often irrational debate on sexual harassment, health care, tax reform, North Korea, and Roy Moore.

Today, such monumentally important topics are all bound by an association that is at once awkward and uncomfortable. It summons conversation few are willing or prepared to have because the topic is Truth in the largest context of all: Does it matter anymore?

You may remember what George Costanza told Jerry Seinfeld back in the day:

Remember, Jerry. It’s not a lie if you believe it.

Who could have imagined the King of Angst would be so incredibly prescient?

Only now, the Truth hurts but this time not in a playful, comedic way. It’s personal.

Alternative truth, like alternative facts, undermines our confidence in our ideas, our values, our leaders, our institutions, our future, even in ourselves.
If truth can become a malleable discretionary possession, where does that leave us?

Last week on TV I watched as an older female voter in Alabama was asked if given Judge Roy Moore’s burgeoning stable of accusers, she could still support him.
She answered, Yes, emphatically, and the reporter pressed on, asking the question that had to be asked. Was it because she didn’t believe the accusers, or did what they say just not matter?

The woman didn’t hesitate. She didn’t believe them. She believed it was all made-up, a passel of lies. Whether she wore blinders or rose-colored glasses, you’ve seen this before. What’s different today is how the context and pervasive nature continues to evolve.

Bigger, bolder and scarier because it’s so commonplace. The new reality is Fake News from Fake Media delivering Fake Truth.

A big chunk of the public seems more than okay with this, while the rest of us don’t know what to do about it. Truth is no longer known and defined but highjacked and become the stuff of political alchemy.

Truth twisted, subverted and leveraged, as needed, and on-demand.

How did it come to this?

It’s in our very nature but that fact should alarm more than comfort.

Children, when caught by their parents, instinctively know their best defense is Deny, Deny, Deny. This recalls the Sales Rule of 3’s; that timeless axiom that vendors of every product or service know as a path to a successful sale.

  1. Tell ‘em.
  2. Tell ‘em, again.
  3. Tell ‘em what you told ‘em one more time.

Such repetition is also frighteningly effective with a darker purpose.

It’s simply this:

  • Say something three times and many people will believe it’s true.
  • Say it ten times and many of them will think it’s their own idea.

Bringing us back to the Honorable Roy Moore. This troubled and disgraced judge, assailed by teenage accusers, notorious for spewing ideas that scared people on both sides of the aisle, who had to be watched at high school football games because he hung around young cheerleaders, knows just how to handle it. He denies, denies, denies.

Roy says he didn’t do it, he denies everything. Alabama voters soon will decide if they believe him and give him a pass, or looking beyond politics, hold him morally accountable.

The new normal can’t be that something is true because the speaker believes it to be true, or thinks it ought ¬to be. That’s not good enough. That sells everyone short.

Because truth is what simply is. When truth is under siege, the lynchpins of society become precariously unmoored. Red or blue, young or old, rich or poor, black or white, immigrants or Mayflower descendants, there are pronounced consequences for all of us when the truth is abused and misused.

My first book, Truth Heals, (no irony there) addressed sexual harassment; I’ve long advocated zero-tolerance for it. Yet, I also believe in the power of forgiveness and second chances, but with a caveat: forgiveness that is earned by taking ownership for behavior, learning from past mistakes, and accepting the empirical truth about truth.

That truth does matter.

Because truth must matter.

For all us, from individuals and private citizens to public servants and world leaders.

One standard for all because the truth is the truth and a lie should not be weaponized.

Obliterating the truth can’t be allowed to excuse a serial child molester like Roy Moore. A man with a history of perverse behavior so widely known that as an Alabama District Attorney he was banned from the mall.

By any measure, that takes some doing.

Truth should be revered, respected and protected at all costs.

Because in the end, the truth is all we have.

photo-1502777448210-2a71991d2093

Shrugging at Addiction

by Energy HealingFeaturedHealth

Do you have a friend or relative who is struggling with addiction to opioids? Would you even know if they were in the grips of addiction, or are they too embarrassed to admit it?

The opioid crisis has reached epidemic proportion in the good old U.S.A. People are in pain—whether that pain is physical, like post-surgery, or emotional, like the hopelessness and despair that has encompassed whole towns and rural areas in our country. And when you go to the doctor, looking for help with your pain, you are handed a prescription—a legal pathway that can lead straight to addiction. Eventually you are desperate to get more of these miracle pills that take away your pain for the moment, even if they cause more pain in the long run. Or you simply turn to heroin—easy to get, hard to let go of.

It’s a terrible thing to experience, whether in yourself or in a loved one. And “just say no” has been proven, over and over again, not to work, despite the current president saying about drugs, “it’s really, really easy not to take them.”

It’s not easy, but there are ways that will help. Ready my blog in Psychology Today at https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/mining-the-headlines/201711/shrugging-addiction and add your comments on my Facebook page; let’s help become the change we all want to see!

 

 

ayurveda insomnia

Insomnia No More

by Energy HealingEnergy MedicineFeatured

Sleep. You’re always getting too little of it. Or even if you’re getting enough, chances are, it’s not the right quality. Or if it’s the right quality, it’s the wrong type. There are even different types of insomnia.1 With all these different variables, does anyone have the solution to perfect sleep? At first glance, it would appear the answer is “no.” The CDC reports that 1/3 of American adults don’t get enough sleep and even when we go on vacation, 63% of us still struggle with sleep.2 3

Arianna Huffington recently wrote a book about sleep where she explores how sleep can impact multiple areas of your life: physical, mental, psychological, professional, social, and even sexual. Arianna was inspired to write The Sleep Revolution after she collapsed from sleep deprivation, exhaustion, and burnout in 2007 due to a high-stress lifestyle; her fall was so hard, that she broke her cheekbone.

Most people (luckily) won’t suffer from a catastrophic breakdown like Arianna; rather, they’ll find they fall into bad sleep habits, such as “catching up” on sleep during the weekend after getting too few zzz’s during the work week. Or, they may struggle to get their bodies and minds back on a good sleep schedule when we “fall back” or “spring forward” for Daylight Savings. Regardless of the cause, addressing sleep issues will help you live a more balanced and healthier life. Moreover, if you are currently on a healing journey, restorative sleep is a crucial component to your long-term success.

In American culture, we look for a quick fix for anything that ails us – including sleep. As of 2014, there were over nine million Americans using prescription meds to get a good night’s rest. While this is certainly concerning, the alarming statistic is around emergency-room visits related to those prescriptions: in a four-year period, there were twice as many people hospitalized because they had “overmedicated.” This study, conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Services Administration, did not even address the fact that sleeping pills, like Ambien, are dangerously addictive; they also interfere with your meditation and daytime clarity as well.4

So, what can you do get a better night’s rest? Take a page out of your energy healing handbook.

Ayurveda for sleep

Ayurveda is the world’s oldest healing system and literally means “the science of life.” Originating in India, Ayurveda considers sleep one of the three essential parts of good health (the other two are proper diet and balanced sexuality). In fact, sleep is so central to optimal health in Ayurveda that the word for “natural sleep” is Bhutadhatri – a combination of the Sanskrit word Bhuta (your physical body) and Dhatri (mother). Bhutadhatri nourishes one’s body like a mother nurtures her child.

Below are three Ayurvedic sleep remedies to help you achieve health physiologically, psychologically, and neurologically:

1. Indulge in a cup of warm spiced milk

Turns out, the old wives’ tale of drinking warm milk to fall asleep has merit. Take that warm milk one step further by adding a spice like cardamom, cinnamon, or nutmeg, and you will have a good night’s sleep in a warm mug.

This Ayurvedic sleep remedy is based around the mother-nurturing concept: milk is the first thing that we consume after birth, and drinking warm spiced milk as a part of your bedtime routine will have a nurturing effect on our body and mind. Science has also shown that there are components in milk that support the quieting of the nervous system, which in turn promotes restful sleep.5

2. Just breathe

Before you head to bed, practicing your breathing exercise can have a powerful effect on your energy – and your ability to fall or stay asleep.

Pranayama is the control and extension of the breath that activates your Prana (your life force energy). To begin your Pranayama breathing exercise, start by focusing on and connecting to your heart. Once you have made a connection, inhale deeply and chant “om” on your exhale. The “o” sound should be three times as long as the “m” sound. Repeat until you feel nourished and ready to fall asleep.

3. Go to bed no later than 9 or 10 PM (and wake between 4 and 6 AM)

Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise. Who knew Ben Franklin was a follower of Ayurveda?

When you sleep from 9 or 10 PM to 4 to 6 AM, you are giving yourself a natural boost of sattva to start your day (sattva is Sanskrit for optimism/clarity). An important part of Ayurveda psychology, sattva is best described as the amazing happiness you feel just from being alive, which children so easily embody.

And be sure that one of the first things you do in the morning is step outside for a moment and take in the early morning light. Daylight sets you up to be more awake during the day. (Note: if you live in the north where daylight hours are limited in the winter months, invest in a quality light box that you use upon waking to simulate daylight.)

As a part of your early to rise routine, get your physical exercise in before noon. It’s better to wake up early enough to go to the gym before work rather than going in the evening if you are over the age of 25.

Drinking warm spiced milk and practicing Pranayama is often the easy part of a natural sleep remedy. It’s the going to sleep at 9 or 10 PM (and waking at 4 to 6AM) that most people struggle with…after all, life today, with all of it’s online distractions, has no such schedule.

So, what else can you do to get a good night’s rest?

Work with nature, not against it

While we are all special flowers in our own right, nature is rather impersonal and plays by the physical laws of the universe (and not your night owl tendencies). Your body is part of nature and there’s no sense in fighting against your innate programming (spoiler alert: you’re not going to win this round).

You are programmed to go to bed when it gets dark and wake when it’s light. Your biological rhythms – controlled by your internal body clock – affects everything from body temperature and appetite to hormones and sleep timing. These biological rhythms tie back into the three pillars of Ayurvedic health: sleep, proper diet, and balanced sexuality; if one area of your health is off, the others will suffer as well.

So, the secret to getting your zzz’s isn’t a magic pill or potion; once again, ancient energy healing wisdom, combined with being in touch with your body and Mother Nature, and getting to bed at a decent hour, delivers a sleep solution that will put you on the path to living your best life.

So, here’s to restful sleep!

American Indian beliefs earth

We Are the Land

by ChakrasEnvironmentalFeatured

One of the concepts central to Native American beliefs is the principle that “we are the land.” Woven tightly into many aspects of Native American life and spirituality, this fundamental idea goes beyond being close to nature or seeing the world through an environmental lens. The American Indian dogma of “we are the land” centers around the belief that the Earth is the mind of the people and the people are the mind of the earth. It is impossible to separate the two and our destiny can’t be isolated because the Earth is a part of our being and a reflection of ourselves.

“We are the land” is not a romantic analogy meant to convey that one is a “nature lover” or “close to nature;” rather, it means that we are literally the same being, composed of the same connections and consciousness that ties the roots of the Earth to the roots of human bodies and minds. Just like the base chakra, if these roots are not grounded, it is impossible to create connections with the world around you. Because we are one and the same, everything is sacred and must be honored, loved, and respected. From mountains and oceans to honeybees and flowers, all living things are made up of the same five elements: earth, water, fire, air, and space.

Wakan Tanka

Native American Indians see nothing standing between them and Wakan Tanka, which can be loosely translated as the “Big Holy.” Wakan Tanka is not a god of punishment, but the ruling power of Good.

At the time of creation, the Creator to the Native People gave these sacred instructions:

  • Do nothing to pollute our Mother, rise up with wisdom to defend her.
  • Show deep respect for the mineral world, the plant world, and the animal world.
  • Treat the earth and all of her aspects as your mother.
  • Take full responsibility for your actions.
  • Be truthful and honest at all times.
  • Dedicate a share of your efforts to the greater good.
  • Look after the well being of mind and body.
  • Do what you know to be right.
  • Give assistance and kindness wherever needed.
  • Work together for the benefit of all Mankind.
  • Show great respect for your fellow beings.
  • Remain close to the Great Spirit.
  • Treat the Earth and all that dwell thereon with respect.

 

Everything is a part of us, and we are a part of everything – complete unity. Indigenous oral traditions passed down through generations preach the need to be humble in the face of Mother Nature, a wise mindset indeed. In fact, it would do “modern” society good to take a page out of the “we are the land” guidebook; by completely ignoring its directives, we continue to treat the Earth as an owned asset in a capitalist race to the bank. So far, we have polluted the air with harmful industrial emissions, poisoned the land with pesticides, and contaminated the water with chemicals. We have unleashed the destructive power of uranium by mining it and making bombs that are capable of complete annihilation.

By living close to the land, the First People understood the natural laws that govern the elements and knew it was wrong to dig up powerful substances buried deep within the Earth. Today, we live in a state of constant disconnect – from the Earth, our bodies, the beating heart of the All – and are finally being forced to face the consequences of years of disrespect to the laws of nature: massive superstorms and extreme climate changes unleash wind, fire, and flooding on an unprecedented scale.

Possibly the most important lesson we can learn from Native elders is the idea of harmony, that is, living in relation to the earth, the sky, the animals, the spirits. When you are dedicated to maintaining harmony – both within yourself and in your outside world – you are walking on what the Native traditions call the “path of beauty.”

To walk the Earth in harmony, in balance both within yourself and externally in the environment, requires purification to correct any discordance or “dis-ease.” You need to heal wherever you have not followed the natural order of life on Earth.

The Navajo “blessingway” teachings lay out this natural order in the four cardinal directions:

  1. East is the sunrise, the season of spring and new growth, when a child learns spiritual and moral standards.
  2. South is noon, the season of summer, when a youth receives an education and starts to work.
  3. West is sunset, the season of autumn and harvest, when the parent maintains the family and home, and becomes the storyteller and conducts ceremonies.
  4. North is midnight, the season of winter and endings, when the grandparent reflects on the Self, and teaches reverence for the natural order and how to restore resources and maintain the right relationship to the elements.

In the Center of the natural order is the hearth, informing all the directions through the central position of spirit and love.

Our modern tradition is radically different, comprised of competition, plunder, and despair. When you walk in harmony with all of the creation, you feel your connection to everything and everyone around you. You don’t plunder the resources of Earth or rape her for your own pleasure. You don’t strive to be or have more than anyone else. You live in the love of harmony and community, not the despair of failure, separation, isolation.

Walking in Beauty is the closing prayer from the Navajo Blessingway Ceremony, the main healing ceremony that is designed to bring forth positive blessings and prevent bad things from happening.

Walking in Beauty

With beauty before me I walk
With beauty behind me I walk
With beauty above me I walk
With beauty around me I walk
It has become beauty again
Today I will walk out, today everything negative will leave me
I will be as I was before, I will have a cool breeze over my body.
I will have a light body, I will be happy forever, nothing will hinder me.
I walk with beauty before me. I walk with beauty behind me.
I walk with beauty below me. I walk with beauty above me.
I walk with beauty around me. My words will be beautiful.
In beauty all day long may I walk.
Through the returning seasons, may I walk.
On the trail marked with pollen may I walk.
With dew about my feet, may I walk.
With beauty before me may I walk.
With beauty behind me may I walk.
With beauty below me may I walk.
With beauty above me may I walk.
With beauty all around me may I walk.
In old age wandering on a trail of beauty, lively, may I walk.
In old age wandering on a trail of beauty, living again, may I walk.
My words will be beautiful…

Heal and Live in Harmony

Today we fail to invoke the sacred. We seem to be counting on technology to fix the problems we have created: a machine to collect all of the plastic littering our oceans; better detection systems to warn when hurricanes, fires, tornadoes, and tsunamis are approaching; slightly less harmful pesticides and herbicides; a way to inject the CO2 we have emitted into the atmosphere back into the ground. Compare these short-term solutions to what the elders are trying to teach us: new scientific discoveries will not necessarily be the change that leads to the betterment of all living beings.

What is needed is a change in attitude – a change in awareness.

It is only when we understand and live the true meaning of unity that we will bring our inner lives into harmony and heal our “dis-ease.” When we learn humility and stop treating our Mother Earth like a personal treasure chest to fund our every whim and desire, will we recognize a change in attitude. Coming into balance with all living beings and respecting their right to be here as much as our own will reflect a change in awareness. When we stop thinking we are safe and secure from the consequences of our own actions, then, and only then, will we be getting down to the root cause rather than simply treating the symptoms. Then, and only then, will we too walk in beauty.

hollywood sexual assault scandal

Me Too

by FeaturedHuffington PostWomen

Harvey Weinstein, the Hollywood movie mogul and star-maker, has been accused of sexual intimidation and abuse by over 40 women, including big names like Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, Mira Sorvino, and Ashley Judd. His behavior was a well-known secret in Tinseltown, but his easy ride is over. And it’s because of the power of women to speak up, to speak out and tell their truth.

Powerful, seemingly untouchable, and arrogant men are getting a huge wake-up call these days. The “code of silence” is in a death spiral. Men like Bill Cosby, Roger Ailes, Bill O’Reilly, other offenders, and now Weinstein, have discovered that their wealth, fame, and industry clout are no longer enough to protect them from the consequences of their rampant mistreatment of women.

But getting rid of one offender or another isn’t going to change the general cultural acceptance of patriarchy and entitlement. Nina Jacobson, the female producer of the “Hunger Games,” said “We want to get to a place where the cost of silence is greater than the cost of speaking out. We want to shift the shame to the bully and away from the victims.”

Read entire article on HuffPo
Worldwide Healing Day

Worldwide Healing Day

by Energy HealingEventsFeaturedHeal Yourself—Heal the World

Mother Earth is ill, and she is approaching a breaking point. She has been extremely kind, nurturing, and merciful to her inhabitants: she has given us nutrition through her fertile grounds, quenched our thirst with cool water from her rivers and springs, and provided shelter in her forests and caves. Somewhere along the way, we lost the vision of her benevolence and began to treat her as our prey rather than as our respected and honored parent.

First came the dig economy: the reckless extraction of resources from the earth, which enabled a small number of countries, corporations, and c-suite executives to amass great wealth while leaving the majority of earth’s inhabitants in poverty and causing permanent damage to the environment.1 After years of abuse, Mother Earth is simply doing what she must to survive, which is to remove our ever-expanding population from the equation.

Just as we greedily take raw materials from the earth without considering the impact on future generations, we also apply the same philosophy to the gig economy: paying workers as little as possible with little or no benefits, and when the inevitable happens, cutting them loose and moving on to the next warm body. Is it really any surprise that violence, hate, and fear permeate every aspect of our society? And fear begets terrorism—from the mass shootings in the United States to the brutal killings by ISIS in Syria and Iraq.

For too long we have been treating the earth and all living beings as resources that can be thrown away once their purpose is served. Right now, we have the opportunity to join together and make a vital decision about our collective future: change our greed-based ways or be changed by the consequences: floods, caused by rising sea levels and extreme weather, sweep away entire cities; storms of epic size and strength decimate entire regions; uncontrollable fires leave behind ashes and death; and droughts make water, the basis of life, hard to come by.

Religions around the world have shown how integral water is to us: Native American oral traditions reference a flood that cleansed the Earth and re-purified it, just like the account of Noah and the Ark in the Christian Bible. Ritual washing for purification is used in all three Abrahamic religions, as well as in the dharmic traditions of the East and in the Pagan and Earth religions.

When I began to think about Worldwide Healing Day, over three years ago, the world was on a very different trajectory. Yes, we were leaning towards the edge, but we still had hope: major emission offenders were beginning to be held accountable; science provided facts about climate change that were not ignored or disbelieved; immigrants worked openly and embraced the American Dream; when catastrophe struck, communities banded together and governments provided aid. Fast forward three years and we are living in frightening times; it has become impossible to detangle one crisis from the next. Climate and cultural crises have overwhelmed our empathic ability to give and receive compassion and love.

There is a silver lining—a once-in-a-lifetime chance to build anew a society based on caring for the health and well-being of the planet and one another. When we integrate our knowledge of what must be done with what we are experiencing in these ongoing natural disasters, wisdom emerges. When you share your wisdom in conversation with others, it acts as a catalyst for them to go out into the world and become part of the solution.

Mother Teresa once said, “If you want to change the world, go home and love your family.” So many movements have been built around the concept that global change must start locally, with each one of us. If you are feeling lost and alone, Worldwide Healing Day will help you resolve your personal turmoil and find your way again. If you’re already involved in the process of healing and have started to absorb the spiritual teaching of “heal yourself/heal the world,” join us for Worldwide Healing Day. Connect your bright light to that of others to create a superstorm of healing and love.

Sign up for Worldwide Healing Day >>

About Worldwide Healing Day

Worldwide Healing Day is an annual event led by NY Times best-seller and Spiritual Teacher Deborah King. Every year on October 21st, people from around the globe will unite as one to collectively focus their intentions and create a unified field of healing energy. Each individual healing thought is magnified by the thousands of other simultaneous intentions, creating a vortex of love and compassion that helps us heal ourselves and the world.

Heal Yourself – Heal the World

Deborah conceptualized Worldwide Healing Day while writing her fourth book, Heal Yourself—Heal the World and she dedicates an entire chapter to this special day. Go on an energy journey of a lifetime withHeal Yourself—Heal the World and embracing your inner healing powers. Deborah explains how your energy shifts and expresses itself through your chakras and shows you that you really do have the power to heal. Filled with meditations and profound techniques, it’s a do-it-yourself guide to healing yourself and to sharing your newfound skills with others, including your pets. Along the way, you’ll meet your spiritual guides, learn about meditation and mind/body types (a handy tool indeed), and understand how to stay healthy and in love with your life. Get your copy >>

Citations:

  1. The concept of “Gig and Dig Economies” is from a speech by Naomi Klein, a Canadian author, social activist, and filmmaker. Her 2014 book, This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate, was a NY Times best-seller.
California fires

Up in Smoke

by EnvironmentalFeaturedHuffington Post

Three hundred square miles of California is burning. I’ve lived here my whole life and I’ve never seen a fire like this one, with over 3,500 homes destroyed and dozens of lives lost. I know what it feels like to have to evacuate, to get away from the smoke that fills your lungs and chokes you, to wonder if you will have a home to return to. Imagine losing everything—every “thing” you possess: your clothes, your photos, your electronics, your furniture, everything from your toothbrush to your car gone up in smoke. It can happen not only from fire gone wild, but also from water and wind, as in Puerto Rico, or Texas, or Florida. And you don’t need much of an imagination to understand that these superstorms are no longer rarities, but are what we can expect to happen with more frequency and ferocity.

Mother Earth is not happy with what we have done to her and isn’t going to take it lightly any longer. We have heated the planet, changed the ecology, poisoned her component elements of sea and sky and land, destroyed her biodiversity, and set ourselves on a catastrophic course of destruction. What can you do about it?

Passing through an area in northern California, on one side of the road I saw the smoldering remains of a forest fire; on the other side I could smell the smoke from another fire, mostly homes, that was still not contained. Californians know all about the autumnal “fire season.” But these aren’t the usual wildfires, so common at this time of year. My home state is in flames, with over 21 fires burning and the wind coming up again today. The fear is that these fires will merge into major infernos that cannot be contained.

The Atlas Fire is still scorching Napa Valley’s cherished wine country, and the huge Tubbs Fire has taken out whole neighborhoods in Santa Rosa. Entire towns are potentially in the path of walls of fire and are being evacuated. Tens of thousands of people have had to flee the flames that are hungrily gobbling up thousands of homes and businesses, forests, and the lives of at least 23 people (with numbers sure to rise). GoFundMe appeals are already online to help families who have lost literally everything. The Diablo winds (known as the Santa Ana winds in southern California) are fiercer than ever, hampering efforts of thousands of weary firefighters as the winds blow fiery embers flying over a mile. These hot dry winds, which pick up at night, can reach almost hurricane-type strength; Sonoma County recorded winds at 79 m.p.h.

We are seeing this new breed of unnatural “natural” disaster everywhere. Floods in Texas. Hurricanes in Florida and the Caribbean islands. Fires in the West of the US. No matter how many “deniers” there are out there, scientists agree: climate change is a major factor. We were warned that climate change would produce superstorms, and here they are. The pictures of California after the fires look like the ones from Puerto Rico – total devastation. And who knows what kind of mayhem the next winter will bring?

California has some of the most potentially dangerous severe fire weather in the U.S. Wildfires are fed by dry air, high winds, and low humidity. This past summer broke the records for heat. More exceptional heatwaves and more severe droughts set the stage for more intense fires. Even those heavy summer rains couldn’t alleviate the effects of five years of drought and provided lots of new growth for kindling. In Texas, Florida, and the Caribbean, hotter gulf and ocean waters made for bigger and more severe hurricanes.

A 2012 study1 published in the journal of the Ecological Society of America, found that climate change will produce “as much as a fourfold increase” in wildfires as the Northern Hemisphere warms, with fire even reaching the Arctic, which will grow more plants capable of burning as the frozen northlands thaw. And the Gulf jet stream, also affected by climate change, isn’t delivering enough moist air and rain from the Gulf of Mexico north into the U.S. mainland. Forests absorb some of the carbon dioxide that comes from burning fossil fuels, which then leads to more warming and therefore more wildfires. More intense winds from storms (witness this year’s hurricanes) knock down “slash fuel,” the fallen branches that provide kindling to forest fires; chaparral scrublands contribute to deadly crown fires.

And the size, severity, and frequency of these fires are increasing over the years. The “wildland-urban interface” (WUI), as the U.S. Forest Service calls the places where homes have been built in what used to be wilderness, directly impacts wildfires and requires more resources to fight them. As of a 2010 study 2, almost 44 million houses were in the WUI, especially in California, Texas, and Florida. Houses are encroaching on once pristine natural landscapes, and lives are in danger. The fires that are still raging can shift direction at any time, giving people barely moments to escape the onslaught and the sheer terror of being burned alive.

What does the future hold? When will the consequences of ignoring climate change be acknowledged and acted upon?

As a spiritual teacher, I have to speak out. The time has come when we all have to take action. Especially since we are in the grips of a government intent on destroying what small efforts we have made toward protecting our environment.

Are you passionate about saving the environment—the air, water, soil, plants, animals, and people that make up life on earth? What can you do? You can offset your carbon footprint. You can power your home with green energy. You can support any of the more than 170 organizations in USCAN, the U.S. Climate Network. You can drive an electric or hybrid car. You can eat less meat (which uses the most resources to produce). You can light your house with LED light bulbs that use 80% less energy. You can follow the U.N. guidelines for climate action. Most of all, you can speak up. Learn the facts about climate change and share them on social media. Call your elected local, state, and federal representatives to get them moving in the direction of tackling this huge problem before it’s too late.

This article was originally published on the Huffington Post.

TV Violence Huffington Post

TV Violence: Enough is Enough

by FeaturedHuffington PostSocial ActivismTrauma and Violence

This article originally appeared on The Huffington Post. You can read the entire article here.

When you wake up to the news that 59 people have been murdered and over 527 more injured in Las Vegas, many of them in critical condition, and realize that one man—one!—did this to 600 people in 9 minutes, you have to wonder: why do we live in such a violent country? In the U.S., more than 30,000 Americans are killed each year with guns.1

So what did the killer do as a child? My bet is he was affected by violent shows, just like the recent Washington high school shooter, Caleb Sharpe, who was enamored of TV shows like “Breaking Bad” and “Game of Thrones,” and movies like “American Psycho.” 2

Read Entire Article
earth root chakra

Take a Knee Together for Mother Earth

by ChakrasEnergy HealingFeatured

Okay, I admit I’m not a fan of football but I tip my metaphorical hat to the NFL players and team owners who are kneeling, locking arms, or not going out on the field during the National Anthem, the traditional start of the game. There’s a political protest behind that decision, but that’s not what I’m interested in at the moment. It’s the fact that the players are not allowing themselves to be divided—by race, by fear of consequences, by anything. They are firmly stating: we are a team, we support each other, we are united in our actions. It’s a powerful message for us all, without regard to political stance.

You can feel the solidarity, the sheer strength in forming a unit. Books standing shoulder to shoulder on a bookcase shelf have an intrinsic stability, rather than having the same books scattered chaotically over the floor. When you feel like you are stable and supported, the energy center at the base of your spine—known as the root chakra—is open and your energy flows easily throughout your body. The root chakra is the energetic foundation of your life. When it is in balance, you feel grounded, safe, secure. Your basic needs are being met. You are comfortable in your body. You will survive and flourish. It’s like a tree, which stands tall because its root system deep in the earth supports and balances its height that towers above.

When your root chakra is not in balance, you’re just trying to survive. You’re not grounded—physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually. You may be tripping over things, wondering how you’ll pay the rent, or stuck in an eating disorder or on anxiety meds or sleeping pills. Your feet, knees, or legs may hurt and you can’t seem to get rid of that ever-present cold. It’s no fun.

All living things have chakras, places where the energy coalesces in certain basic ways and forms vortices of energy. Just like the energy in you travels up the spine from the base chakra to the seventh chakra at the top of the head (and into higher dimensions), so too does the earth rotate energy throughout the planet. When the earth’s root chakra is out of alignment, like it is at the present time, Mother Nature herself gets unhinged. Major hurricanes destroy whole islands; earthquakes topple buildings; fires roar through forests and threaten homes while the smoke infiltrates the lungs of all in its path; volcanoes erupt, floods sweep away houses, cars, and people. The earth protests our indignities against it with an explosive ring of fire. We are currently witnessing the earth coming unhinged at its base chakra, apparently readying to throw itself (and us) into space.

For you to balance your own root chakra, you can get more grounded by shutting off your phone and computer and going outside. You can sit under a tree, like the Buddha did while getting enlightened, or do a physical practice like Pilates, yoga, or tai chi to connect to your body. You can do a meditation practice to keep yourself stress-free and in balance. Most importantly, you can change your response to change.

What do I mean by that? Well, think of what happens when you’re faced with a major change in your life—the breakdown of your family, the loss of a loved one, the end of a job, loss of faith in a functional government, or a stable and sustainable earth? You get scared, and fear, more than anything else, is what throws your base chakra out of balance. You have to decide to stop seeing change as an enemy to be feared or somehow controlled. Fear is the most destabilizing force there is. Internal fear turns into fear of the “other”—those from different cultures, different religions, different skin tones. You know, those immigrants, those white supremacists, those bleeding heart liberals, those terrorists.

So what can restore balance to our beautiful blue planet, where millions of people live in fear and that fear has infiltrated the earth itself? When whole populations are terrified of losing everything they hold dear—whether through fierce storms, unhinged shooters, or political upheaval—the fear is palpable. That’s when we need every single one of us to connect with a strong and stable base chakra and spread a ripple of calm energy out to help heal our surroundings—hearts open, emanating love to Earth and her inhabitants. Kneeling for peace, in peace, is surely a win for all.

So you can be part of the solution, rather than adding to the fear in the world, you need to stabilize your root chakra. To find out what shape your own base chakra is in, take my free chakra quiz on Facebook.

animal energy healing courses

Communicate with Your Pets through Energy Healing

by Energy HealingFeaturedHeal Yourself—Heal the World

animal energy healing coursesI love animals with all my heart, and I know many of you share this same deep passion.

At any given time, I have had a menagerie of pets at home in all sizes and shapes.

When my husband, Eric and I lived near Lake Tahoe, we eventually found our way to a great piece of ranch property in the mountains that was perfect for raising animals. The place was like Noah’s Ark, complete with llamas, a playful pig, Mr. Goat (who traipsed along freely when my beloved horse, Influence, and I went riding up the steep mountain trails), peacocks, Bessie the cow, plenty of chickens pecking their way around the barn, and even a pond of fish. These animals were some of my finest teachers; they taught me so much about how to listen to what they had to say below the level of human speech, how to lovingly treat those we live with, and how to heal with touch, and later, with intentionality.

There are no shortage of health benefits that come with pet parenthood. From elevated serotonin and dopamine levels to lower blood pressure, the medical community agrees: your pet is always actively healing you. In fact, animal therapy has become so popular that it is now regularly used in hospitals, children’s recovery centers, and long-term care facilities for the elderly.

When you open your home to an animal, be it a teacup poodle or a tortoise, you realize how receptive they are to energy. Although invisible to the naked eye, your energy field blends with the energy field of others, including that of your pet.

People that struggle with depression, anxiety, and other mental health diseases understand the role that a pet can play in alleviating disabling symptoms so that healing at a deeper level can take place. Conversely, when you heal your own energy system, you are also caring for the energy field of your furbaby. In fact, clearing and balancing your own energy system positively impacts your pets. Your pet is always actively healing you. Especially your cat!  You can do the same thing for them!

As an energy healer, I spent many years studying and practicing a variety of methods and techniques specifically for animals. This helped me to be there when any of my own loving animal companions were in pain and in need of my healing hands. Below, I’d like to share a few of these methods so you can be equipped for any animal that might live with you or come through your doors as a practitioner. By the way, many of these methods can cross over into the human realm as well.

You may not be able to chat out loud with your animals, like in animated movies, but don’t underestimate an animal’s keen ability to communicate. Animals respond and connect with you in many ways, such as through body language, tone, speech, and appearance. When you listen to your pets, especially in a quiet state, you may receive subtle thoughts, feelings, or images from them. By having a positive, open, and honest state of awareness, and by noting their body language and their expressive faces, it is possible to communicate with them. After all, that’s how animals communicate with each other in nature, by sensing intuitively what is happening in their environment and with other beings. You can trust that they will be honest with you.

There are four ways you can activate your intuitive power to communicate with your pets:

1. Sending and receiving feelings (clairsentience)

One of the easiest senses to develop when communicating with an animal (or person) is called “clairsentience” (clear sensing); it is a great way of “feeling into” another living being.

To use this communication method, you will tap into the energy centers of your second, third, and fourth chakras. Next, tune into your pet and simply receive the information you need about him. As with everything related to energy, it might take a bit of practice. However, the payoff will be well worth the effort: you will be able to sense what your pet is feeling.

If an animal is in pain, you may even be able to tell where that pain is and what’s causing it. But remember, this is intuition, not an expert medical diagnosis. Always bring your pet to the vet to verify what’s going on and to be advised if medical treatment is recommended.

2. Sending and receiving through the auditory channel (clairaudience)

In the same manner that you use clairsentience, you can also send thoughts mentally to your pet – and receive them back. We call this method “clairaudience” (clear hearing) because you can hear words and phrases from your pet in your mind.

By listening and being in-tune with the vibrations of your pet, you’ll be able to hear them loud and clear.

Recently, a student of mine (Ellen) was telling me about a health scare her beloved standard poodle went through. One day, Ellen noticed that Joujou (French for “toy” and “play”…because that’s all he ever wanted to do) was a little off; he was still energetic, but she felt that Joujou was telling her something wasn’t right – because she kept hearing the words “stomach”– and she immediately took him to the vet. It’s very good she listened because Joujou had a twisted stomach (a breed-specific problem that can strike dogs with big narrow chests, like standard poodles and German shepherds) and had to have emergency surgery.

While Ellen was using clairaudience, she did not understand what drove her to act that day. She was worried her reaction was simply a freak accident…what if something like this happened again and she did not recognize it?

To demonstrate the power of clairaudience, I told her about how I would always hear my horse, Influence, tell me when he needed to stop and take a break from the hot weather on rides through the desert. Your pet is always speaking – be sure to listen!

3. Sending and receiving visual images (clairvoyance)

When you can send and receive mental pictures and images between you and your pet, this type of communication is called “clairvoyance” (clear sight). This type of communication is extremely helpful when you are physically separated from your pet and searching for them. Tune in deep within your energy field and you’ll be able to “see” the approximate area to which your pet has wandered.

Clairvoyance is also helpful if you adopted your pet and want to discover what happened to them in the past. All you have to do is establish a connection and ask this pet to show you images of previous experiences. When using clairvoyance, remember to go beyond the scope of logic as you process the information. Also, keep in mind that sometimes the images you receive are symbolic.

It’s important to remember, especially when a pet had a different owner prior to you, that the things you see may be upsetting. Sadly, just as people abuse other people, they also abuse animals. If you do discover your pet has past trauma, it is 100% within your power to help them heal. I dedicate an entire chapter to healing your pets in my book Heal Yourself – Heal the World.

4. Knowings

As your eighth and higher chakras open, you may find that you begin to receive information that is commonly referred to as “knowings.” With this ability, you can immediately receive the information you need to help your pet. However, for now, assume that this isn’t the channel you are working on, as it’s more likely that you are receiving information from a pet or a person in one of the three ways described above.

If you think you’re receiving knowings, be suspicious that the information is instead coming from your personality; if it is, that information is not coming from a place of trustworthiness and should be questioned. I often find that newer practitioners incorrectly believe they are receiving knowings, when it’s actually their personality doing the speaking.

But for future reference, when you have been initiated to above the third initiatory level (which is pretty high), you may well begin to receive knowings. This is the method that I use the most in obtaining information. In this case, the information simply flows into your mind without you even asking for it, and you are given all the information you need to help that pet or person.

Which method you start using with your pets depends on your individual intuitive power. If you’re one of the 40 percent who are kinesthetic learners and do best when you’re “hands on” and can feel or sense information, then you’ll use clairsentience. If you are one of the 20 percent who prefer processing information by hearing it, clairaudience will be the way to go. If you are one of the approximately 40 percent who learn best by seeing, you will most likely lean toward clairvoyance in your communication with your pet. Finally, if you’re in that 1 percent group of people who have knowings, you’ll get the information that way. As you work with your pets and other animals, always remember that each of these beautiful creatures wants to be understood in the same way as humans.

What better reason to develop these intuitive healing skills than to help a pet?

With all that our pets do to keep us happy and healthy, it’s important that we do the same for them whenever we can.

If you’re interested in taking a deeper dive into energy healing for your pet, be sure to join me in my course Energy Healing for Pets and Animals.

Autumn equinox

Stay Healthy During the Autumn Equinox

by Astrological EventsEnergy HealingFeatured

Early September is a time of deep transition. For those of us who love the sun and enjoy the feeling of its warm light on our bodies, September is our last call; it is the time of year where we find that if we have lingered outdoors for too long in the evening, we are met with a chilly darkness that ushers us indoors faster than anticipated. Others look to ground down, embracing new beginnings and looking forward to mugs of cinnamon spice tea enjoyed with loved ones in warmly lit living rooms.

As with any type of significant change, September is a time where we are at our most fragile and susceptible to both physical and mental ailments. As we move toward the Autumn Equinox, the days become shorter and nights longer. As much as some of us want to hold on to every last bit of summer, now is the time to focus on releasing the past and clearing out negative energies and lingering emotions so you can start new.

Keep reading for different things you can do to prepare yourself for the shifting temperatures and seasonal changes that will keep your entire being healthy — all while still enjoying those last vibrations of summer. ?

Ways to stay healthy during the Autumn Equinox

Equinoxes occur two times a year in the Spring and Fall and is the moment in which the plane of the Earth’s equator passes through the center of the Sun’s disk. The result? On an equinox, the day and night are of approximately equal duration all over the planet.

We are approaching the Autumn Equinox this week: September 22, 2017.

As with any major astronomical event, you — and your environment — will experience changes and shifts in energy. It’s important that both before, during, and after, the Autumn Equinox, you focus on achieving balance.

Journaling: Fertilize your mind

We live in a world where we’re constantly on the go, and it can be difficult to find the time you need to sit down and work through a painful experience. However, dedicating time to healing yourself should always be a priority, especially during a time of year when there are so many energy changes happening all around you. It’s not surprising that people struggle with fatigue, mental fogginess, a lack of time, and achiness before and after the Autumn Equinox (if not year-round) when they don’t dedicate time to healing themselves.

When you are writing, it is easy to simply document what you see in the world (which is often disorder and chaos). Try to go a step deeper and understand how the events unfolding in the world around you are impacting your psyche when journaling. Once you understand how you are being affected, you can then work on finding a solution! Remember, it’s important to give yourself time to reflect on the changes that you want to make. Focus specifically on what you will be releasing and what will take its place, as well as how these new energies will help you at this stage in your journey.

Think about your mind as a garden (and no, your garden doesn’t have to be a perfectly manicured one…it can be a vast mountainside or even a tiny windowsill terrarium). Whatever type of garden you are growing in your mind, there is one constant: if you don’t regularly attend to it, you will quickly be overgrown with weeds, which make it difficult for flowers to grow. With a regular journal practice, you are clearing out the thoughts and emotions in your mind that stifle your creativity and happiness.

Meditation: Find balance

In addition to journaling, regular meditation is crucial to the overall healing process and it will help you find balance during this chaotic time of year.

During the Autumn Equinox, your meditation practice should focus on finding balance and letting go of negative energies from the past that you may still be holding onto. When you don’t reconcile conflicting issues, chaos and sickness will move in and take over: which is why so many people find themselves getting sick during this time of year. The Autumn Equinox will only magnify your unresolved conflicts by adding its own intense energies into the mix.

During your meditation practices, try to release any energy that you have that is no longer serving you, so you can regain harmony within yourself and move toward completion. If you feel that there is something that remains unfinished, but you can’t put your finger on it, have patience and trust that it will unfold for you in divine timing.

While it is important to listen to your inner guide for reassurance, know that anything you are removing will be replaced with something better — even if it feels chaotic at the moment. It can certainly be difficult at times, but don’t allow yourself to be pulled back down with old emotions of fear and despair; Spirit has given you all the tools you need to make it through these uncertain times and find your balance once again. You are a lightworker, and there are hundreds of others working on the other side of the veil, to help you ground and release.

If you feel that there is something that remains unfinished, but you can’t put your finger on it, have patience and trust that it will unfold for you in divine timing.

Stay grounded — go outside!

If you have been tuning into my weekly Heal Thrive Grow shows, you know that I’ve spoken recently about the urgent need for us to protect our Mother Earth. Ignoring the fact that it is our only home and we are doing irreparable damage that needs to stop, the Earth (figuratively and literally) grounds us.

With the Autumn Equinox comes very powerful energies, and many of them will stir up feelings and emotions that aren’t all flowers and sunshine: we may feel confused, like we’re in the middle of a circus act with uncontrolled chaos swirling all around us; a feeling of unfinished affairs resulting from leftover energy; or even confusion and a fear that you’ll be dropped into an unpredictable situation with no way to escape.

One of the best ways to find your footing during the Autumn Equinox is simply to go outside and spend some time with Mother Nature. If you are lucky enough to live by the ocean, a lake, or a river, take a walk along its edge and when you find a peaceful spot, take a moment and appreciate the absolutely stunning surroundings that have been gifted to you in this very moment. If you live near a more suburban area, find a nearby park or hiking trail and spend some time there one day. And even city dwellers can take a walk up onto a patio, up to a rooftop, or simply open a window and feel the breeze blow outside.

Connecting with nature, no matter where you are in the world, will help you find stability and give you that reminder that we all need from time to time, that you are part of something bigger. As unpleasant as emotional instability, exhaustion, fogginess, and anxiety can be, nature will ground you and help you let go of what no longer serves you, allowing you watch as the wind carries it beyond the horizon.