INSECURITY: How you Learned It & and How to Overcome It
INSECURITY: How you Learned It & and How to Overcome It
Divine Utterance
How nature reveals the hand of our creator
Breathe in. Breathe out. What do you hear?
You hear the sound of your breath.
What does your breath sound like? Breath sounds like breath.
I was thinking about how “breath sounds like breath” as I was walking along the beach, listening to the waves crash on the sand. They have a push and pull. A roar and a groan. Like your breath. In a way, it is your breath. The oceans produce some 50 to 80% of the oxygen in the air – allowing you to breathe. It’s amazing. The oceans are the lungs of your world. You breathe in what they breathe out.
Breathe in. Breathe out. Breath itself is an act of transference. Oxygen is brought into your blood and carbon dioxide is returned to nature. The oxygen in your blood is used to break apart chemical bonds in your cells, providing you with energy. It’s the fuel that powers you. And the waste, carbon dioxide, you transfer to all of the plant matter around the world that use carbon dioxide as their fuel. Transference.
This transference is fascinating. Because while your inhale and exhale breaths are opposites, they facilitate the inhale and exhale of others. You are taking reciprocal breaths with nature. In short, your breath out and the ocean’s breath out cancel each other. There is no opposite. There is just breath.
Breath sounds like breath. Breath is breath. It just is.
Sanskrit, the oldest language in the world, spoken some 5,000 years before Christ, gives us the yogic mantra, Soham, which literally translates as “I am [s]he” or “I am that.” In the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad there is a verse that describes how, at the beginning of the universe, the Self became aware of itself as “I” (slightly modified):
In the beginning this universe was the Self alone…
[S]he, the Self, reflected and saw nothing but the Self. [S]he first said,
“I am.” Therefore, [s]he came to be known by the name aham.
The name aham indicates that God experiences itself subjectively as “I.”
In the Old Testament, when Moses meets the burning bush in the wilderness some 3,000 years before Christ, he asks, “Who are you?”
The response is “I am that I am.” Not “I am God” or “I am the creator.” Just “I am that I am.”
Jesus said some 2,000 years ago, “Before Abraham was, I am.” (John 8:58)
Why would the “I am” define itself this way?
The sound of your breath is the same concept. Call it God, call it the creator, call it the universe’s divine force, whatever it is, it is so all-encompassing that it cannot define itself except by itself.
We call this tautology. Defining something by itself. I am that I am. Breath is breath.
Breath is breath. Why do I keep bringing this up? It’s because we can see the shadows of the divine tautological creation all through nature. In the ocean. In your breath.
The ancient Sanskrit word for God – Soham – describes God in two syllables that mean “I am.”
Two syllables. Two beats. In-out. In-out.
Like your breath. Like your heartbeat. Like the ebb and flow of the ocean’s waves. The name of the creation is reflected all throughout nature in these push-pull moments of transference and creation.
I thought about this as I finished my walk along the beach, as I listened to the roar of the ocean reflect back the divine utterance. I thought about how each heartbeat and each breath we breathe are unconscious prayers, connecting us to the source of eternal creation.
Isn’t it magnificent? The sound of our breath is the same sound of our ancient, divine verb “to be.” And that ancient divinity reveals itself as “I am that I am.”
What this means is that the act of being yourself is divine. Existence is all-encompassing. This is why we see the word Soham reflected back through all of our existence. Our breath and our heartbeat reflect back “I” and “am,” which means “existence.” It means “to be.” And our heartbeats and our breath are the key fires of our existence. Each breath sings “I am. I exist.”
I am that I am. Your existence is boundless. Any attempt to define “I am” for yourself, with anything other than “I am,” will be confusing.
Don’t let yourself be defined in confusing terms. Don’t allow yourself to be boxed in by any definition that removes a single element of your boundless self. Instead, listen to your breath.
Each breath you take, repeat the ancient phrase, Soham, “I am that I am.” You are what you are. Embrace your limitlessness. Embrace your divinity. God is within you.
A Yantra in the Snow
It was a cold, bitter day, many years ago, that I found myself walking through New York City during a snowfall. For those of you who haven’t seen New York in a snowfall, it’s beautiful for about ten minutes. Then it melts into a mudslide. Suddenly, there’s brown and black mud-snow everywhere. Cars whoosh it up onto the sidewalks. Slurries pool at crosswalks, threatening to engulf any pair of shoes (and half of your pants) as you foolishly plunge in.
I didn’t know this. But I quickly learned when a pair of my jeans went from indigo to khaki thanks to a speeding cab. And I was not happy. My energy field, in retrospect, became muddied, as I repressed these feelings of irritation. As I walked through the streets of New York, I found myself becoming more frustrated. Colder, wetter, dirtier. Not a hot chocolate or caroler in sight.
Fran Lebowitz on her new Netflix special said, “it would only take one subway ride to turn the Dalai Lama into a raving lunatic.” Friends, I’m not proud to say it only took a few blocks walking to make me feel the same.
That is, until I happened upon Lincoln Center. I was walking up Broadway, battling the muck, when I looked to my left and saw a scene practically out of a snow globe. A perfectly framed plaza, covered in sugary snow, flanked by the ballet on one side, Juilliard on the other. Holding the whole scene together: The Metropolitan Opera, gleaming with its modernist arches and welcoming glass.
I didn’t know where I was. I looked to my right, and all I saw was a streaming line of cabs, brown snow, and palpable anxiety. To my left: a pristine palace. I meandered on over, kicking my way through the snow, across the plaza and into a grove of trees, bereft of leaves. I looked down: where my feet had not yet stepped, the snow lay as pure as pristine powder. I looked behind: where my feet once were, the snow had been compressed. Compressed, but still pure and white.
I don’t know what energy came over me, but I put my foot out, and began moving it across the snow. Slowly. Slowly in deliberate lines, I found myself weaving a geometric picture underneath the trees. A picture of a few interlocking triangles, then a star.
The drawings didn’t stem from my conscious mind; rather, it was the pull of my unconscious that manifested onto the snow.
You’ve heard of the term mantra. Mantra refers to a word or sound that is repeated in meditation. What you may not have heard of is yantra. Yantra is a mystical diagram used as an aid in worship, ritual, or meditation. While the term comes from India, we certainly could use “yantra” to describe mystical symbols we create all the time. A drawing of the cross. The Star and Crescent. The Star of David. Magic Circles. When we focus our energy through these drawings, we augment our own energy as well, as tap into sacred energies beyond ourselves. The act of drawing and ruminating upon the drawing is ritual. It is meditation. Connection.
And that is what I was doing, moving my feet in the snow. I was drawing upon that clean, unvarnished energy to clear, charge, and balance my energy field that had been contaminated by my unprocessed emotions. I was channeling myself into this subconscious yantra: blessing myself, blessing the land, and giving thanks to this respite in the middle of Manhattan.
The snowfall quickened as I finished my design, and even the prettiness of Lincoln Center couldn’t thaw my frozen fingers, so I bid adieu to the plaza, and headed back uptown to my hotel.
As I walked away, with the snow quickening, I couldn’t help but wonder, “would anyone happen upon my drawing?” If they did, would they appreciate it? Would this design grant them the same serenity that it had granted me?
Or, perhaps, would it be best that it be covered with new snow and washed clean again? Would it be best that it be returned to a blank slate so that another weary traveler could marvel at the unexpected grace of an undisturbed block of New York in snowfall?
Give thanks for the unexpected. Embrace the energy of a gift freely given. Plant the seeds of another for a stranger.
Be the snowfall in a forest. Be radiant. Be peace.
Standing Still in the Solstice
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about standing still. About pausing, breathing.
We’re approaching the Winter Solstice, the time of year where the day is shortest in the Northern Hemisphere. At the arctic circle, it’s completely dark for 24 hours.
I know that many of us have felt that we’re facing our own, personal winter solstices. Our communities feel fractured. Uncertainty, loss, and grief are now part of the atmosphere.
We all want to know, “when will this darkness end?”
But the word solstice doesn’t refer to this darkness. It refers to something different.
Imagine, for a moment, an invisible line in the sky. Day or night. It bisects the sky into the North and South, just like the equator around our planet. We call this the celestial equator. Twice a year (at the equinoxes), our Sun crosses this equator. Right now, it is heading South. On the Solstice, the Sun reaches its southernmost point in our sky. It takes a pause.
It stands still.
That’s what the word “solstice” refers to. The Sun “standing still.”
With the Sun’s pause comes a host of other occurrences. The shortest day, the longest night. It’s easy to look at these extremes and feel a sense of foreboding – that somehow night has enveloped the day, and the Sun itself has become frozen. But this sense of foreboding ignores the beauty and hope that the Winter Solstice represents. And embracing this beauty might be the key to us breaking through our own Winter Solstices.
Like a wayward traveler who has voyaged to a distant land, the Sun finally stands still on December 21st. It pauses, holding its place in our sky, before finally returning North.
Think about it. The Winter Solstice is only the shortest day because the sun stands still and then returns North. It’s only the darkest day because the next day is slightly brighter. It’s only the lowest point because the light turns back.
The Winter Solstice is the Northern Hemisphere’s rock bottom. It’s the “darkest before the dawn moment.” And this “darkest before the dawn” can inform how we journey our own, Spiritual Solstices.
Our journeys this year have been unexpected and perilous. Oftentimes, it feels like we’re a passenger in our journeys, as opposed to a pilot. But we have a choice that we can make – an action that can give us insight, strength, and (hopefully) some community in these fragmented times.
We can pause.
On December 21st, I encourage all of us to pause – collectively, though separated. I want us all to feel the faint rays of the Sun and imbue ourselves with the energy of a star and a planet who have paused in extremity.
Absorb this energy. Coax out the intuition of this celestial stillness.
Let’s pause each of our journeys – for just that brief day – to take stock of how far we’ve gone, where we’ve come from, and where we wish to go. Let’s stand in our stillness, and look back at the joys we wish to recapture.
We can examine our choices, our habits, our relationships; and decide how we will carry forward.
The Winter Solstice is a blessed time! It’s a rare time for introspection, reflection, and change. This energy is mirrored in our cultural celebrations around winter. New Year’s Resolutions? What is that but a pause and a change of direction?
I know that the Winter Holidays can be a circus. We all work double-time to purchase that perfect Hannukah gift, make that perfect Christmas roast, and plan that perfect New Year’s celebration. It’s hard to pause when there’s so much to do!
But your spirit deserves a Solstice.
Embody that energy of the Winter Solstice in order to become an active participant in your own journey. It feels counter-intuitive, but by simply taking a day to be still, you will gain unprecedented agency and insight into your own voyage through life.
It’s always darkest before the dawn.
Deborah
A Powerful Practice for Self-Discovery: 3 Ways Meditation Helps You Connect to the Real You.
Has life in the Information Age ever made you feel out on a limb, disconnected, out of it? The great irony of modern life is that heaps of factual information can sometimes leave you feeling short of human information—understanding, insight, self-knowledge, and purpose. Beyond trying to remember your password or pin number, you struggle to make sense of your life. Traditional ways of connecting to our divine Source, the true treasure trove of information, have dwindled in our technologically-advanced and secularized world. More people are feeling unsettled and anxious, restless and discontented, forever searching for something that will make them feel happy and whole.
Our Source connection holds the key to the highest and best information needed for life. So what’s the best way to make sure that connection is strong and ever-ready? As a spiritual teacher and energy healer, the tool I’ve found to be absolutely the most important, effective, and long-lasting is meditation. Recognized for its power to relieve stress, meditation is the practice of focusing your attention to help you feel calm and give you clear awareness of your life. Meditation involves turning your attention inward and focusing your mind to a place where you are connecting to Source and to your universal self. Meditation is a tool with huge potential for personal development and growth and many successful and happy people swear by its benefits.
Your connection to Source, achieved through meditation, gives you exactly what you need—information about you! To release any inner darkness and bring in more light, you need information about your true self. How hard do you work at really getting to know yourself? Meditation can help you discover the deep cause of what’s off, whether it’s long-buried negative feelings, unexpressed grief or anger, and then find the most effective path for releasing it. The wisdom and insights that come from meditation can assist in healing every area of your life.
Here are 3 ways making meditation a regular part of your spiritual life can help you grow and improve your capacity for health, happiness, and healing:
- Meditation keeps you grounded. The state of being grounded comes naturally from connecting to Source energy. When grounded you are fully present and completely focused. Like a sturdy platform on which to stand, this state of groundedness gives you strength, confidence, and stability. You are connected and present and ready to give your best to any endeavor.
- Meditation helps you make better decisions. The self-awareness and mindfulness you gain from meditation gives you insight into who you really are and where you want to go. You are able to make healthy, productive, and loving choices. The present awareness you experience clears away fear and worry, past and future concerns. Decisions made with a grounded, focused awareness will help heal you in body, mind, and spirit.
- Meditation gives you more confidence in your natural abilities. As you plug in to the light and love that is your divine origin, what is bound to happen? You will experience the knowledge of who you are and where you came from. Connecting to higher-vibration energy is your birthright. It’s always present for you, accessible and waiting. It rejoices in your connection to it and passes on its blissful feeling to you the moment that bond is formed. Feeling your connection to Source through meditation can restore your sense of purpose and give you confidence in all that you are capable of accomplishing with the power of unconditional love.
Meditation is the perfect antidote for Information Age anxiety—if you are suffering from too much information that really isn’t helping you live, love, and prosper. How much better would it be to learn to connect with the divine intelligence that created the universe and everything in it? Meditation can help you tune in to your waking life in a way you never thought you could experience. It paves the way for emotional healing, boosts self-knowledge and is also an excellent method to balance your chakras.
[su_note note_color=”#FFF8b7″]If you’d like to improve your life by making meditation a daily practice, make sure to enroll and go through Learn to Meditate course now.Starting Monday, October 19th, we will be going through a live 10-day challenge open to anyone who has ever taken this course and received their mantra from Deborah. If you are new to meditation, the challenge will help you build a meditation habit; if you are a current meditator, it will revitalize your practice.
Click here if you don’t yet have a mantra and want to Learn to Meditate.
Benefits of Daily Meditation: Turning Back the Hands of Time
Have you ever daydreamed of turning back the clock to a more youthful, more energetic, more carefree time in life? Or perhaps having at your disposal a magical cosmic “Undo” button that could erase certain effects that have accumulated over the course of time—from stress, abuse, and destructive habits that have left you with less than perfect health or a waning enthusiasm for life.
I experienced the need for a second chance at a clean slate earlier in life than most. I was just out of law school and not even 25 when I received a diagnosis of cancer. That cancer was just the last in a whole host of serious problems I’d had. Those of you who are familiar with my story know that I had a horrendous childhood filled with sexual and emotional abuse. I’m certain I had post-traumatic stress disorder by the time I was four. By my teenage years, I was a complete wreck. At that point, I began doing everything possible to numb my feelings and run from them—I smoked, drank, took drugs, and acted out all over town. I was anxious. I was depressed. When my cancer announcement came, it was really time for a change. By then, I needed some truly powerful help to undo all that I had been through so that I could continue to live.
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Amazingly, I found it—the way to turn back time and release the many effects of all of the stress that my mind and body had endured. That way was meditation. A daily practice of 20 minutes, twice a day, gave me much more clarity to address my disease and ultimately helped me to heal my cancer, release my addictions, end my destructive streak, and get on my true life path. I can honestly say that meditation is the best thing I have ever done for myself.
I am not alone in this discovery. Science and religion alike have studied and documented the vast numbers of benefits of meditation, revealing that meditation has a positive effect on people suffering from or at risk for many physical and mental health conditions, including high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, congestive heart failure, stroke, diabetes, menopause, ADHD, memory loss, anxiety, obesity, and much more. It was even found to be twice as effective in helping people to quit smoking than the other popular remedies. Given that smoking is the number one cause of preventive death in the U.S., this is no small benefit! The studies also show advantages in other areas of our lives, such as making us more effective on the job and in school. Later this week, I talk about these studies and more in this free webinar.
So what is meditation and how does it create so much good for our bodies and minds?
A big part of meditation’s success on improving conditions like those listed above is its powerful ability to reduce and release stress, as stress is often a precursor to so many of our physical and emotional problems. But the manner in which it does this happens at a lot deeper level than many people might think. Meditation works at the level of our consciousness.
There are four states of consciousness: waking, sleeping, dreaming, and meditating. So, meditation is actually a different state of consciousness from our waking life. It is a far more expanded state. Many people think that the purpose of meditation is to tune out, to get away from it all. While that’s partially true, the real purpose of meditation is actually to tune in—to take the journey into expanded consciousness that meditation provides.
Meditation expands our consciousness by helping us to get into the space, the gap, between our thoughts and taps into the incredible energy that exists there. So you have a thought, and then another thought, but between the two, there’s a little space. According to the ancients, this space between the thoughts is the portal to the infinite intelligence of the universe, our Source. Some people call this energy “Spirit”; some call it “God”; some call it the “Universal Energy Field” or the “Unified Field.”
Once you get into that gap, you’ll find that, through this all-pervasive web of energy, everyone and everything is connected to everything else. You also discover that this universal field of energy is unlimited; it’s pure potential, and anything can be accomplished when you’re connected to it.
When we connect to the Unified Field through meditation, our bodies and psyches are cleared, leaving us refreshed, restored, and balanced. Just 20 minutes of meditation offers as much rest as 1-2 hours of sleep! The effect is truly a turning back of the clock, where we look and feel healthier and younger.
We can experience other profound changes by tapping into the Unified Field through meditation. To heal ourselves and fix our lives, we need information. We need to root out the true cause of what is ailing us, and find the most expeditious and effective route to a cure. I certainly learned this with my experience of cancer. When you tap into the Unified Field, you are accessing life’s great encyclopedia—where every fact of the universe, past, present and future, exists and is accessible. You are also connecting to your own highest wisdom., and the insights that come from meditation help us to heal every area of our lives.
In this way, meditation paves the way for emotional healing. On an energetic level, it helps to remove any blockages that come from holding on to anger and resentment. Meditation thereby ushers in what is perhaps the most crucial part of the healing process, forgiveness. It opens us up to our connection to other people, and to All That Is. In this way, meditation also paves the way for global peace and well-being.
That brings me to the most important reason I can think of to meditate. Even after all of the benefits I’ve touched upon here—the better health, becoming wiser, doing better at school or work, experiencing forgiveness, and having less anxiety, more creativity, greater joy, looking and feeling younger—I still haven’t told you the real purpose of meditation.
The most important outcome of your meditating every day is that by expanding your awareness, by bringing yourself into balance and experiencing greater peace, by raising your consciousness—you are actually assisting every other person and creature on the planet to do the same. Remember, we’re all connected by one vast field of energy. The ripple of energy you send out into the world is a reflection of your inner state of being. Your ripple touches and affects others. If you’re uplifted, you uplift them too. If we’re all in a higher state, we just might feel more inclined to help one another and come up with some harmonious and creative solutions to our global problems. What a different world that would be!
I can’t recommend enough that you learn to meditate—for your own well-being, for those you love, and for making a positive difference on the planet and fulfilling your life’s potential.
If you’d like to know more about meditation, register for this free event:
Clear Energetic Chaos and Create a Better Base for a Meditative Practice.
This event is perfect for beginners looking to establish a proper base for their practice. But is also great for the advanced, experienced meditator that wants to revitalize their current practice.
Access the Healing Power of the 5th Dimension
Have you ever found yourself suddenly “traveling” to another realm?
Maybe in meditation, right before sleep, or in a dream… or perhaps as the result of a near-death experience…
In this “other world,” you may have felt the absence of fear, a presence of unconditional love, or a peaceful, spacious sense of calm.
There are many dimensions of consciousness that can evoke these healing vibrations…
In fact, science now tells us that there are as many as 11 dimensions beyond 3-D reality, and what we can see, hear, touch, and smell. (I’ve experienced many beyond those 11, but that’s a story for another day) The universe is actually a multiverse!
And, in many spiritual traditions, it’s believed that each cosmic dimension vibrates at a higher frequency than the dimension below it — offering limitless possibilities for spiritual expansion.
The fifth dimension is the level of consciousness in which you are living totally from the heart.
Here, you are aware of your True Self, the core of your authentic being. There is no fear, no judgment, no polarity — and no sense of separation or limitation.
Sounds pretty amazing…
Additionally, there’s also healing wisdom for you in this dimension of consciousness, as well as the guidance of your “Core Star” to help you manifest your higher calling here on Earth.
You can actually experience aspects of the 5th dimension in nature. Walking barefoot in the grass, lying on a sunlit beach, or listening to beautiful music.
In this revelatory, 9-minute video, Deborah King shares about different dimensions of consciousness — plus a powerful activation practice to take you much deeper into 5th dimension-consciousness — to your Core Star.
Watch as Deborah guides you to your Core Star, located in the center of your body about an inch or inch and a half above your navel.
During this activation, you may be able to see the brilliance of your core star, but if not, you’ll know when you are there — when you are in a state of calm and relaxation, yet filled with power and light.
As Deborah shares, in the 5th dimension, your core strength is magnified, and you experience inner harmony as you inquire how to best fulfill the karmic tasks — as well as the contracts your soul incarnated to complete.
You can access healing in the 5th dimension of consciousness anytime, with the Core Star 5-minute practice in the video.
Sending out light energy from your Core Star helps bring your dreams to fruition.
Clearing Mental Chaos: Energy Medicine For Upended Times
Are you finding your inner chaos is mirroring the chaos swirling around you?
Racing or obsessive thoughts, a feeling of “leaving your body,” overwhelming emotions…
Where can you turn for a sense of inner peace and calm?
Fortunately, your own, subtle energy body holds the key that can set your mind, free…
In fact, you can clear any mental chaos you may be experiencing, right now, by turning your attention (and intention) to your first chakra, at the base of your spine.
In the brief video below, Deborah shares a simple Energy Medicine teaching and practice, to help you experience calm instead of mental chaos — now, and in the days, weeks, and months to come.
Watch as Deborah guides you to rediscover your foundation, by pulling Earth’s energy up through your root chakra, allowing this healing vibration to fill your entire body…
Your ability to feel safe and supported resides in your first chakra, which receives healing, life-force energy from the Earth. Simply focusing on the vibrant, red, spinning vortex of energy in your root chakra grounds you and helps quell any mental chaos.
You can see mental and earth energies as polarities — your accelerated mind in relationship to your grounded, centered, root.
As you listen to this short video, feel your body relax and your mind clear… notice your attention in the present moment… and a greater sense of what is yours to do, right now.
Perhaps there is nothing to do? Just be present and lean into trusting that Spirit is guiding you.
You can return to this Energy Medicine practice throughout your day (anywhere, any time) to calm your mind, ground, and reconnect with the healing energy of Mother Earth… and affirm your deep anchor into the Earth’s generative and resilient core.
To support you in grounding and staying centered during these times, Deborah hosts a regular Facebook Live.
Journey to Your Inner Witness: Holding Your Center in the Face of a Storm
The ancient rishis, the seers and sages of India, taught that the “Inner Witness” is the key to holding your center in the face of a storm…
The Inner Witness approaches each situation with curiosity and observation. As if watching a movie, the Inner Witness engages in nonattachment — allowing thoughts, feelings, and worries to pass through.
This does not mean we don’t take situations seriously, we do. Especially right now.
During this unprecedented time, and all the ways COVID-19 is impacting our daily lives, our communities, and our global family, is a signal that we are being called to a deep level of grounding, self-healing, and self-care at this time.
The path forward is to find your center in the face of the storm…
So, the question you might be asking yourself is, “Just how do I do that?”
When the impulse is to “do something,” to take action, to move forward, to “think” of answers… the solution may actually seem counterintuitive.
The invitation right now is for BEING not DOING.
Your Inner Witness is here to guide you. It’s part of your energy body and it vibrates with the higher frequencies of your being.
From your center, you can also bear witness to all the positive shifts that are unfolding in lockstep with the spread of the virus. Humankindness at its finest. Strangers helping strangers, communities coming together, and growing solidarity replacing growing division.
I had an opportunity to be interviewed by Lisa Bonnice at the Shift Network and shared a special teaching and guided practice on just this — how to connect with your Inner Witness and how critical it is for us to do at this time.
When you watch the video, you’ll also receive a short journeying practice, which will connect you with your Inner Witness. Watch here:
I invite you to stop everything you’re doing and to just listen in as we do this practice, together. At the end of the guided journey, we also opened up for some of your most pressing questions.
Topics like:
How can this help me right now? Especially with everything happening in the world?
How can I show up for others, and not contribute to the fear? And also not take on their energy or panic?
How can this help address what we’re dealing with now in a global pandemic?
I also discuss the important link between the vedas and the chakras, and why integrating science and ancient wisdom is so important for us right now too.
I hope you’ll take a few minutes and enjoy this guided meditation. And, if you would like to join me to discover deep journeying practices for healing and transformation, I invite you to check out my upcoming course at The Shift Network (which you’ll hear about in the video too). You can get all the details here.
5 Easy Steps to Get a Better Night’s Sleep
This is the third blog in a row I’m focusing on sleep because we simply aren’t getting enough of it!
If you missed the first 2 blogs, you can read them here:
The Best Sleep Ever: Why You Need It and How to Get It
8 Natural Herbal Remedies for a Better Night’s Sleep
This week, let’s talk about 5 more easy, actionable steps you can take to improve your quality of sleep.
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Limit your exposure to EMFs.
We are all very sensitive to electromagnetic radiation, and there’s little data out there on what it’s doing to us. How to counteract all that WIFI that’s coursing through your bodymind? Try grounding every day: in warm weather, walk barefoot. In cold, go outside and stand near a tree, even hugging it when the mood strikes you. Keep your phone a foot away from you, or, radical thought, put it on airplane. Turn off your WIFI in your home or apartment at night. Keep sections of raw silk where you work and where you sleep; silk absorbs EMFs.
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Exercise before noon, not after.
The idea is to keep your core temperature lower as evening approaches, allowing you to sleep more easily because your body is cool. (more on that in my first sleep blog) Exercise will not only raise your body temperature but also release cortisol and adrenaline. Cortisol is a daytime hormone, that is the opposite of melatonin. When cortisol is high, melatonin is low. To get good quality sleep, cortisol needs to be low, so exercise early in the day. Plus, when you exercise in the morning, it produces feel-good brain chemistry that make you feel happy all day. Sleep naked, it will keep you cool and your partner will love it. Oddly enough if you keep your socks on, that will help lower your body’s temp, and you will fall asleep faster.
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Make sure the air in your bedroom is fresh.
Even 100 years ago, we spent most of our day outdoors; now, we spend over 90% of our time indoors. Indoor air can be very polluted and dead, not carrying enough oxygen to oxygenate your cells. What to do? Open your bedroom windows during the day, if it’s too cold at night. Or install an air ionizer or a HEPA filter if your outdoor air is bad and opening windows isn’t an option. Bring in plants, they will purify your air for you. Sleep outside in the summer, like I do, and not only get great air, but exposure to the moon and stars, which balances the lunar, feminine energies in your body, relaxing you, and promoting good sleep.
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Take magnesium at night.
Magnesium is necessary for good sleep; take it with a dash of calcium. Alternatively, eat a few bites of a banana (just a couple of bites, since they are very sweet), which will help you develop melatonin.
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Meditate for just 10 minutes, no more.
That little bit of meditation will take off the edge and allow you to drop off to sleep easily. More would wake you up, so just 10 minutes.
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Sweet dreams!
Stop Harboring Resentments – Free Yourself Right Now
Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned. – Buddha
Do you have a friend who’s been divorced for many years yet still refers to the ex in the most disparaging terms? Or is there someone you know who keeps telling the same old stories about their terrible parents/ siblings/ bosses/ neighbors? What if the angry person described here is you? You may think you have good reason to continue being angry and resentful over past wrongs. It really hurt. But do you know how much it keeps harming you in body, mind, and spirit to stay in the world of “they done me wrong?”
Holding on to resentments and anger can ruin your quality of life. The only person who suffers from your failure to forgive is you. The other guy may have long forgotten—if they were even aware of the wrong or acknowledged it as something they were responsible for. When you have suffered a wrong, or even a perceived wrong, the resulting hurt and anger you feel can burrow deep into your heart and energy field and cause great harm. And the longer you hang on to resentment and bitterness instead of forgiving the wrong, the greater the chances that those negative feelings will cause discord in your system, creating blocks in your chakras and eventually even physical symptoms and illness.
From energy medicine, you know that holding on to negative emotions, burying them deep in your subconscious and deep inside your body, can cause things to go wrong in your life. Relationships falter and fail, money issues pile up, your health can take a nosedive. It really matters that you face the anger and resentment, and the pain, and take steps to erase the negative tape loops in your head. When you acknowledge your feelings, you can begin to forgive and to release the positive, free-flowing energy needed for healing.
Here are 5 tips for setting yourself free:
1. Forgive yourself first.
You may be feeling guilty for your pain, wondering if you might have caused all the grief yourself. Self-forgiveness is more important than forgiving others. If you are constantly beating yourself up over past mistakes, that blame and anger can cause blockages in your personal energy field. There is nothing to be gained from wishing you could change the past. As a spiritual teacher and energy healer, I encourage students to learn from the past, forgive themselves, and let it go.
2. You aren’t condoning.
Forgiveness is not excusing what someone did to you. There are likely very real betrayals and traumas in your life that are not excusable, and you shouldn’t feel the need to minimize what happened. Forgiving is you letting go of the residual emotions like resentment, anger, hurt, and bitterness. You stop feeling hostile and release any need or desire for revenge. This is not weakness, but great strength. It takes a lot of courage to forgive and working toward it will aid your spiritual growth.
3. Focus on the positive.
In forgiveness, remember that your goal is to release the negative emotions of anger and resentment. You can use your ability to focus on the positive, the light, the love, and the beauty in your life to let positive energy grow within you as the negative is released. Bring yourself into contact with the good and loving things you enjoy. Take a walk in nature, meet with friends, play with your pets, and speak in positive ways that reflect your hopes and dreams. Although forgiveness can be very difficult, it may be the most important thing you have ever done for yourself.
4. Remember to reach out.
As you seek to forgive, you have infinite resources to help and uplift you. You can go deep in meditation and ask your spiritual guides and angels for help. You can ask for help from counselors, therapists, or study energy healing so you can start to get your energy flowing in a positive direction.
5. Journal about your feelings.
Journaling sets your negative feelings free from your body and energy field, and allows for fresh universal energy to fill that space.
Let go of old resentments and you’ll be astonished at how much lighter and freer you’ll feel!
Learn more about getting in touch with your innermost feelings with a mantra-based meditation practice. Meditation is the key to self-discovery and healing those wounded parts of you that keep you stuck.
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This positive energy force is increased exponentially when the event happens in a location known for its powerful spiritual vortex! And the Deborah King Center is holding a public retreat October 31st – November 3rd in Ojai, California (known for its powerful spiritual vortex).
Join us to connect with seekers of truth and light, get inspired, be uplifted, and let your light shine. Click here to learn more and to get your early-bird ticket.[/su_note]
Your Aura: What the Human Energy Field Can Reveal About You
Look in the mirror and what do you see? Does your reflection end with the tidy package inside your skin, dressed for work or a walk or a trip to the store? Is that all there is? Or do you see that bright and beautiful being of light that is really you shining through? The truth is that there is a glowing field of energy that surrounds you, emanates from you, serves and protects you as you walk through this world—your aura!
The human energy field, the aura, is a manifestation of the universal energy field that is the cornerstone of all life. Thousands of years before the birth of Christ, it was called prana by East Indians and chi by the Chinese. The mystics of all cultures talk about the human energy field in some way. Your aura consists of electromagnetic energies of varying densities that permeate through and radiate from the physical body. These particles of energy are suspended around the healthy human body in an oval shaped field, extending out from the body approximately 2-5 feet on all sides.
You can think of your aura as a living template for the body. Your body ultimately mirrors whatever is happening in the energy field. Any distortion or imbalance in your field will sooner or later negatively impact you physically. If you make a correction in the field, a corresponding change will manifest in the body. The energy levels of your field are not only as real as your physical self, but they are also, in some ways, even more important. That’s why energy healing—directed at restructuring, rebalancing, and recharging the energy field—can have so much positive impact.
Seven layers or bodies make up the human energy field. Unlike the layers of an onion, each one interpenetrates the next and then extends out beyond the skin. Each level up the “scale” is a higher vibration and extends out further than the one below it. Each one has its own unique frequency. They are interrelated, and reflect your feelings, emotions, thinking, and behavior. Together, the levels hold our physical form, provide life energy, and make communication possible between all the various parts.
The levels of the human energy field and what each one can tell you about your health and well-being:
Level 1: The Etheric Body
This closest level to your body, a few inches out from your skin, is the seat of pleasure and pain. The more you take care of your body, the stronger and brighter blue these lines will be.
Level 2: The Emotional Body
This cloudlike level reflects your feelings and emotions about yourself. Bright colors indicate positive feelings; dark colors are negative. If you let your feelings flow, the colors keep changing; if you stop the flow, this level looks really dirty and stagnant, creates blocks and impacts your health.
Level 3: The Mental Body
Strong and charged lines here indicate an active, clear mind; weak and undercharged, you won’t be very interested in learning and won’t have much clarity. If your 3rd level is strong but the first 2 are weak, you live mostly in your mind.
Level 4: The Astral Level
Seat of your relationship with the universe and everything in it. If this level is strong and healthy, you’ll have great relationships; if it’s weak, you may avoid intimacy.
Level 5: The Etheric Template
This level of divine will looks just like a blueprint of the 1st level—the form for your body. A level of precise order and symbols, not feelings. If you’re in accord with divine will, you’ll feel a sense of connectedness with the world around you; if you’re weak here, you won’t be comfortable with your place, your job, or your station in life.
Level 6: The Celestial Body
Filled with beautiful streamers of rainbow-colored light radiating out about 2 to 3 feet from the body. When healthy, the colors are bright with straight beams of light. This is the level of divine love. Here we feel the joy and bliss we reach through meditation, prayer, and chanting. A weak 6th means you won’t have much in the way of spiritual experiences. If it’s too strong in relation to the others, you may be avoiding having a physical life. The 6th level can be charged every day by even just 15-20 minutes of meditation.
Level 7: The Ketheric Template or Causal Body
Gold lines that vibrate at a very high frequency and form a golden egg around the body to protect it. This level of divine mind holds the whole field together and is where we learn to communicate telepathically and have knowings that flood our consciousness. A big 7th level indicates a big thinker in direct connection with divine thought. An unhealthy 7th level person will hate their own imperfections and have trouble bringing their creative ideas to fruition.
As you become acquainted with the levels of the human energy field, it’s better to start by feeling your way around rather than by seeing the levels clairvoyantly. I rely on my feelings and knowings; clairvoyant information is just icing on the cake. In my work as a spiritual teacher and energy healer, I have observed that it is not as important to “see” the energy levels as it is to sense or feel them. You can learn to do this using the sensory power of your whole body.
If you’re interested in learning more about auras and how to sense them, as well as discovering a host of energy healing techniques to heal, thrive and grow, check out my online certification course today.
Your energy matters
Have you ever noticed the power of your smile? How different does it feel when you walk onto a crowded elevator with a smile instead of a look of irritation? Your smile is evidence of positive energy shining forth—sending waves of peace, tolerance, hope, and comfort into the world. Does it really matter whether you cultivate positive energy and project it forth? Nothing could be more important. Our world’s wellness depends on the kind of energy you contribute.
Energy Matters
In an energy-driven universe, we are givers and receivers. We are conduits of energy and we can decide what kind of energy we take in and give out. The news tells us the world is hurting. Too much hatred, anger, fear, greed, mistrust, incivility, rudeness, and selfishness have been going unchecked. And the greatest of these is fear—fear of not being enough, not having enough, fear that there isn’t enough.The good news is that individually and together we can use our positive energy to counter this absence of love.
I think of Rumi’s call to action: “Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder.” Ask yourself what energy you are you sending forth into the world. Do you bring light? Do you focus on love and unity? How do you present yourself to the world—your face, your body language, your words? What are your rules of engagement—-kindness, courtesy, laughter, openness, curiosity, respect, love?
You have the power to heal the world with your energy. You can change your energy, grow it, cleanse it, clear it! Here are five essential healing energies you can work with:
Compassionate Energy
The power to love and care for one another may seem to come naturally, but actually it is a learned behavior that is modeled for us. We love because we are loved and we know how love feels. Each day you can model compassion by consciously sending loving energy to the people you meet.
Creative Energy
Did you know you are a creative genius? The power to dream, imagine, invent, and build is part of who you are. With our creative gifts, we humans can envision a hopeful, sustainable future and travel there together. You bring joy to the world each day that you work, play, dance, sing, play music, write, paint, design, have fun, or teach someone else to do the same.
Courageous Energy
Every day that you spend living in faith rather than wringing your hands in fear is a great day for the world. Believing in a benevolent universe and a positive future takes courage. Being a role model for faith in the ever-present goodness can help heal the world. Be one of those who appreciates the good, who smells the rose, pets the dog, and shares a laugh at every opportunity.
Cooperative Energy
Can you imagine a world where cooperation—not competition—is the rule of the day? There is too much emphasis on who wins and who loses. Cooperation allows everyone to bring their gifts to the table. We can begin by choosing cooperation over competition at every opportunity.
Connective Energy
Quantum physics has confirmed what traditional wisdom has always told us. We are one unified energy field. When a tree falls in the forest, not only is there a sound but the air quality on the other side of the globe is diminished. We are connected and what affects one, affects us all. Unity is our foundation. Whatever you can do to strengthen your connection—to Source, to the natural world, to your fellow humans—do it today. Smiling at those people in the elevator blesses us all!
Checking In with Your Energy
Every year when vacation season arrives, you can’t miss the “Summer Reading” ideas that pop up in newspapers and magazines, bookstores and libraries. Figuring that you are going to have lots of time on your hands as you bask on the beach, makers of summer reading lists offer great new books you will definitely want to check out. As much as I love a good book, I’d like to suggest another kind of “summer reading” this year. Why not use some of that sweet breathing space to take a personal energy reading? If your summer respite is meant to give you new zest for life, it really helps to check in and see what your all-important energy is up to. Is it purring or sputtering? Is the rhythm right? How is your energy shaping your life right now?
Energy Is Life
Everything is energy—both the Universe that surrounds you and the inner energy system that is your life force. The state of your personal energy field is reflected in how you feel, how smooth-flowing or difficult your life feels. Does your energy feel light and bright? Or heavy, dark, and stuck? What is the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning? Do you experience worry, dread, anxiety, even fear? Or do you wake up with joy, excitement, gratitude, anticipation? As my friend Louise Hay loved to say, it’s the difference between “Good morning, God!” and “Good God, morning!”
How connected are you to the harmonious energy of your Source? Are you drawing the power you need to thrive? If you feel uneasy in any area of your life—relationships, health, career, finances, self-esteem, faith—a summer energy reading will help you reset and make a fresh start. You can clear, cleanse, and recharge your energy. You can cultivate the positive, healing energy you want and achieve greater levels of peace, wellness, love, and joy.
Five Steps to Your Energy Reset
Try these proven ways to plug in and power up your energy this summer:
Step into nature for instant empowerment.
Just think how good it feels to walk barefoot in the grass, look up at the blue sky, and take a deep breath of fresh, fragrant air. Summer is a perfect time to get out and enjoy the natural world with all of your senses. If your energy feels stale and cramped, there is nothing like sunlight (or moonlight), flowing water, the wind in the trees, and direct contact with Mother Earth to give you a new perspective. Borrow energy from nature!
Keep a journal for the truth about you.
Not sure how you feel or what you think? No one knows more about your inner life than you. It’s just that occasions to reflect on your thoughts and feelings are too rare, unless you make it a priority. Take some summertime quiet to look within. Keeping a journal and taking the time to reflect and record helps you discover insights into your life. If you need to make changes, your feelings and thoughts help you see what is really important, what is really affecting you—not the opinions of others but your own deep truth.
Serve others for connectedness and unity.
Summer brings a gift of longer days and milder weather. Look for some new ways to give and serve that will help you jumpstart your energy. Do what you love and the energy will follow. Help an elderly neighbor with yard work or home maintenance. Start a community garden. Volunteer at the library for summer programs for kids. Love pets? Volunteer at the animal shelter. Finding a cause that speaks to your heart gives you a feeling of fellowship and hopefulness. Energy grows with connection to others.
Learn to meditate for clarity.
When you meditate, you plug in to the greatest power source of all, an energy much greater than your own. Learn to meditate from an experienced teacher who has felt the power of meditation in a deeply personal way. I consider meditation the cornerstone of my spiritual teaching and energy healing work. To connect with the ultimate Source of understanding and clarity, meditate daily. You will be keeping the door open to your greatest spiritual growth and happiness. Healthy energy is joyful!
Say “Please” and “Thank You!” Pray and Affirm!
What do you want? What are you grateful for? Where should you direct your energy for your greatest good? When you pray, you acknowledge the goodness in your life and ask for the direction you need to reach the things you desire. When you address the Source of All Being, you open a channel of communication that empowers you. Pray for a peaceful mind free of worry, fear, regret, and guilt. Give thanks for loving protection and guidance. Affirm “I have a peaceful, loving heart.” Feel your energy soar!
To learn more about your energy and the power of energy healing, join Deborah’s LifeForce Energy Healing® school. Start at the level where you’re comfortable.
Create a Sacred Space for Meditation and Healing
One of the most important parts of meditation is having a space that is sacred. A spiritual sanctuary where you can leave it all behind – email, cell phones, and other outside distractions – is crucial when you are meditating and working to strengthen your connection with the Divine.
Everyone’s sacred spaces are unique and you may find that your preferences change over time. Many of my students enjoy meditating outdoors, retreating to a particularly green area on grassy knoll in the park or a deserted spot at the beach when the sun is shining; others prefer to be indoors, perhaps surrounded by others, and some find tranquility in complete solitude, basking in the silence and security that only one’s true home can provide.
Whether indoors or outdoors, you will find your healing journey is much more meaningful if you have a sacred spot where you can connect with the Divine. Using your sacred space for meditation and yoga, and find the clarity and tranquility you need for your path forward. In my 30+ years of practicing and teaching, I’ve learned that creating a sacred space for meditation doesn’t involve a lot of time or money; in fact, usually the opposite is true: sacred spaces that have minimal distractions will allow you to refocus and realign your energies so that a deeper level of healing can begin.
Designate space for practice
When you are searching for a sacred space for meditation and healing, you should explore a few different places before settling on one. Many of my students find that spare rooms or a nook of a bedroom can easily be transformed into the perfect meditation area with minimal efforts.
Keep in mind that the place you initially choose might change – and that’s okay! As you learn more about what your practice needs (and doesn’t need), you may outgrow your first sacred space. Alternatively, you may discover that your new-found space isn’t giving you the serenity you thought it would.
For example, your daughter is now grown and doesn’t use her childhood room in your house anymore. Since this is the only room in your house that isn’t used regularly, you decide to try it out for your sacred meditation space, despite the fact that it still has many of her childhood toys on the shelves and teenage-angst music posters plastered on the wall. However, even after removing the posters and relocating the My Little Pony collection to the closet, you still find you are unable to focus on your meditation practice: every time you try to connect with Spirit, you are interrupted by a memory that happened in the room.
Your sacred space sets the tone for your entire meditation practice and should encourage you to be fully present in the moment, breathing deeply, loving yourself, and leaning into your faith. If the space you choose doesn’t support you in the ways you need, it’s okay to let it fall away and look for a different area.
Once find a space and designate it as your sacred place, avoid bringing outside distractions near it and you’ll find that your relationship with this wonderful area blossoms and grows.
Make the space yours
When adding features to your sacred space, focus on practicality and comfort. You want to give yourself enough comfort so that you are able mentally to focus on your practice, transcending your physical being. Items such as a yoga mat, meditation cushion, or a blanket are all things you should keep nearby so you don’t have to interrupt or pause your practice to find them. A small clock can also be useful, so you don’t have to get up and check how much time you have left.
While it is important to provide yourself with practical basics needed for comfort, you should be mindful not to go overboard with physical items that may “bring you happiness.” This happiness is earthly and short-term; your meditation practice should be focused on elevating your Spirit in the long-term. Let me explain what I mean.
When pricy yoga pants came into the yoga scene many years ago, many lifelong yogis recoiled at the fact that their practice was being used sell $100 status-symbol pants. Practicing yoga is something that is open to anyone: children to elderly, have to have-nots, physically fit to disabled, and everyone in between. To have a meaningful practice, all you need is your body – you don’t even need shoes (and certainly not status-symbol pants). My point is this: to have a sacred space where you are able to retreat and meditate, you don’t need many physical items around you. After all, they won’t be useful to you in the spiritual realms.
Your sacred space should be minimalist. However, using tools that help you tune into your body via your five senses will help you refine your meditation techniques.
1. Sound
There was a reason you couldn’t focus in your daughter’s room: those Led Zeppelin posters from her high school years still conjure up memories Robert Plant’s voice belting down your hallway when she was supposed to be doing geometry homework. Nobody will deny Plant can sing, but the sounds his music evokes in you are likely very different from that of your daughter (she said it was “peaceful” and “helped her concentrate on studying”).
Save your music for when you are not meditating, as even the most relaxing music, even a wind chime, can inadvertently pull you from the depths of your meditation. Instead, luxuriate in the silence. If there are voices nearby that could interfere, simply turn on the white noise on your phone when you put it on “airplane.”
2. Smell
Aromatherapy and essential oils have many different types of healing properties, both from a physical and spiritual perspective. For example, lavender usually has a calming effect, while lemon energizes.
If you don’t have an oil diffuser, don’t run out and buy one. To get the same effect, simply boil a cup of water and place a few drops of essential oil inside. Bring it with you into your sacred space and you’ll immediately notice the effect it has on your practice.
3. Taste
Your sense of taste is one of your most powerful senses. Moreover, food and drink – the methods by which we stimulate the sense – is closely synced up with our state of mind.
A warm cup of tea will help clear your mind and put you at peace as you begin your practice, while a cool cup of water recharges and resets as you conclude your meditation.
4. Sight
Stones and raw crystals are one way to bring the beauty of the earth into your sacred meditation space. Choose a healing crystal that resonates with you and your intention for your practice. For example, pink tourmaline will bring joy, positivity, and love to your healing ritual. In contrast, black tourmaline will clear your mind of clutter and negativity.
5. Touch
When you are contemplating and setting your intention for your practice, hold the raw crystals or stones you have chosen in the palm of your hand. Observe the texture, weight, size, as you decide the goals you would like to achieve in this session. Then place the stone several feet away from you so that its energy field doesn’t interfere with the expansion of yours.
If you don’t use crystals, you can stimulate your sense of touch in many other ways. Try writing down your intentions for your session on a piece of paper and placing it in front of you. The act of writing down your intention will support you as you move into the meditative quiet.
Creating a sacred space for meditation and healing will keep you centered and on-track to achieve your own goals. Healing is not an easy or quick process, but if you look forward to reconnecting with your Spirit in your sacred space, you are that much closer to moving forward and discovering your true destiny.