Living in Alignment

I went to a really cool lecture last night by Jan Janssen, a tutor with the Barbara Brennan School of Healing. The lecture was organised by the Healing Forum and it was supposed to be about chakra chords and ended up covering lots of non-chordy topics. One of my favorites was alignment and how you can practice it by surfing on public transport. Really! I write a lot about how important it is to be aligned with your higher purpose and with your higher self. Yesterday it was more about being energetically and physically aligned, and how that can help you be more in tune with life and with your intuition. 

The way Jan described it when you are aligned you're grounded to the earth, centered and connected to Spirit all in one go. Alignment and mindfulness combined lead to an increased state of awareness. =)

On a physical level alignment is also about standing or sitting up straight so that the energy flow through the chakras is clear. In some of my healing sessions I will see a beam of white line running down the client's core, from their crown all the way to the tip of their toes. We refer to this as the channel in my classes and when something is out of alignment it is visible in the channel. I'll often spot an imbalance because the channel looks muddy, it has a color, or the energy flow is slower and muddled in a specific section. If I'm doing a chair healing I'll ask the client to sit up straight and then I'll work on clearing it. This is probably why I'm also intuitively prompted to sit up straight when I'm meditating or giving psychic readings. The posture helps me take deeper breaths and it also makes me feel more alert, energised and connected! 

The lecture last night also got me thinking about how people can be grounded, centered and aligned without engaging with spiritual, energetic or psychic currents. There are lots of grounding hobbies out there and plenty of people enjoy them without being into meditation or energy work. The ones that come to mind are surfing, fishing, gardening, and rock climbing. I'm going to cover two of these here and I'd love to have your thoughts on the others!  

• Surfing:   So I grew up in California. The Pacific Ocean is so much fun to swim, surf and boogie board in.  The sand is really grounding and spending time in the ocean is amazing. It feels really calming and overwhelming at the same time and you have to develop this connection to the waves so that you can body surf,  boogie board, or swim in the water without being thrown around by the waves. Its a lot of fun and after an afternoon at the beach I would always feel very relaxed, invigorated and grounded. This was how I spent my weekends and summers growing up. Until today I never thought about the link to meditation, groundedness, etc. I don't surf but surfers tend to be very laid back, easy going and chatty in a down to earth and humble way. Friendly. I heart California! 

• Fishing: When I think fishing stillness comes to mind! Sitting quietly on a lake for a couple hours is not my idea of fun. I'd much rather run, walk, surf, ski or swim when I'm outdoors. If you think about it, fishing is a lot like meditating and lots of people enjoy it.  A person would have to be calm, grounded and patient to enjoy fishing. Or maybe fishing makes them feel calm, relaxed and disconnected from the stress of daily life. The most relaxing and healing part could even be the water under the boat. Spending time near a lake can also have a soothing effect on the emotional baggage carried around. 

The other cool topic covered last night was about the link between the personality, the soul, the spirit and the core. I think it would make a really good topic for a guest post or a Q&A! Stay tuned! We might have a guest appearance in the next few months.    ;-)

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Why is it so hard to quit smoking?

I asked this question on Facebook and got lots of great responses (read them here).  My initial thoughts on the topic are that we need to have a real reason to LIVE, be it someone or something that we want to stick around for. With good quality of life and lots of zest for living. I arrived at this conclusion because when a person smokes they extinguish the part of the body that regulates our life force. We can survive with out food, water, shelter for days but how long can you last without breathing? The smoke also clouds our ability to receive guidance and intuition from our angels. More to come on that later .... 

I've spent a couple minutes thinking about why people might find it hard to quit - beyond the nicotine addiction and the habit: 

• Taking deep breaths is good for the body, the brain and the spirit. Smokers generally take deep breaths when they are smoking and the body mistakes the benefits of air for a benefit of smoking. It makes them feel more alert, but so would a pure deep breath and a liter of water. I'm not a smoker but I experienced a similar sensation with fizzy drinks and coffee. A year ago I realised that I never drank water. If I was thirsty or bored I'd reach for a Diet Coke or an Iced Coffee. One day this occurred to me and I reached for a glass of water before having my morning coffee. WOW. I also noticed that when I felt like snacking it was usually moisture rich foods.  What I really needed was to drink water.  I think smokers crave a nicotine fix but their body also craves a nice dose of fresh air. 

• Clearing your head is a good way to bring in new ideas and inspiration. When people fall into the habit of going outside to smoke, as is often the case because of smoking bans, they are craving some quiet time alone and "fresh air" ... this helps them clear their muddled brow chakras and go back to their desks with a little relaxation. Taking a cigarette break is like meditating in that it lets you escape for a few minutes and focus your mind. This could just as easily be done without a cigarette though it might feel strange at first. Try taking a meditation break instead of a ciggy break and see how it feels!

• The sacral chakra is the one most often affected by addictions. It contains our desires, passions and our emotional link to the outside world as well. The heart is the seat of love, but the emotions are in the sacral chakra. Any addiction masks the feelings that we are not prepared to deal with. In healing sessions we are often taught to focus on the sacral chakra when the client has an addiction to recover from, no matter what it is. This can be cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, sex, shopping, etc. People with addictions need help managing their emotions in a constructive way, which in turn will prevent them from desensitising their experience of the emotional situations. The sacral sits just under the belly button. Below that we have the root chakra. These two chakras are linked to our  impulse control. A healthy chakra system can make it easier to resist (more will power!), problem is that addictions can weaken these chakras. Downward spiral here we come .... 

• Back to my original thought - just about everyone has someone or something to live for.  And they'd want to live long and live well. So how does this will to live link with the willpower to quit smoking? It is the moment when the = fear of missing out on a life experience is bigger than the fear of actually experiencing that very experience. Scary stuff. 

See here for a post on Addictions & the Sacral Chakra.  

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Falling into Place

Now that my healing school is over I am going back to my Angel Reading Classes in September. The past few months have been intense and turbulent with so much change, good change but still lots of change. The weekly angel classes really help me stay grounded and relaxed. The more I chill out the more enthusiastic I am about my plans. I've been reading up on my Mythic Tarot deck and that has actually helped put things in perspective. 

The descriptions are about psychology as much as anything and I see myself in a lot of the concepts they describe. The card that I am most drawn to is the Star, which is about hope in the face adversity. The other card I've pulled recently is the Nine of Swords, which is about worrying about things that aren't really going to happen. 

This weekend I'm going to take some time to relax with friends. I'm also going to start writing my book again. It took a lot of prodding to get me going but I've made the right move with my new adventure. There are moments of doubt. Would it have made more sense to wait a couple years? Who knows ... 

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Grounding 101 - by Justin Bonnet

It's my pleasure to introduce a guest post by Justin Bonnet from Healing for Grounding! Justin is a spiritual blogger and energy healer from the Barbara Brennan School of Healing.  He does great work with sensitive souls, helping them feel welcome on the earth and safe in their bodies. 

"A big thank you to Geena for giving me the space on her blog to let me write about what I love! :-)

This is a post about grounding- what it is, why it's important, and (briefly) how to do it.

First, a quick introduction. My name is Justin, and I write a blog called Healing for Grounding. I'm not naturally a very grounded person; learning to ground has been a life-long challenge for me. So I approach this topic with patience, empathy, humour, and lots of experience :-).

So. Grounding.

If you're interested in New Age spirituality, you've probably heard that it's important to be grounded. If you're a healer, you might use the 'GAPP' protocol (Ground, Attune, Protect, Permission). You probably have an idea of what grounding entails, but might not be entirely sure, because it isn't spoken of in depth very often.

The advice given about how to ground is usually quite simple: to do exercise (especially mindful ones, like tai chi or yoga), to spend time in nature, to eat root vegetables or chocolate, and to imagine roots growing out of your feet into the earth. Which is a great start.

I'd like to take you a little deeper into grounding, if I may..

Firstly. What the hell is grounding?

In a sentence? It's the quality of your connection to the earth.

It's got a broader connotation: being present and embodied; being engaged with living life instead of living in fantasy; not too caught up in the mental. When muggles (non magickal folk) say that a person is grounded, that's usually what they mean, and it's also true in the New Age context we're talking about now.

If you're curious, you might wonder, "What is it that actually makes a person grounded? What gives a person their groundedness?". It's a good question, because once you know, you can work on your own grounding :-).

I've found there's a few things that contribute:

• A nice juicy, charged, open root chakra
• Good energetic+feeling contact with the lower half of your body
• A strong flow of energy into and out of your feet (but especially into them) from the earth
• Having your aura/energetic bodies firmly seated within your physical body (instead of hovering slightly above it, or displaced to the side)
• Feeling safe: both in the moment, and in the broader sense of your life, trusting that you are safe as a physical being
• Being deeply relaxed, your energetic pulsations slowed to match those of the earth (thus 'coupling' with the earth's energy field, charging you up with momma's love)
• A clear wish to engage life fully

It probably seems like a long list, but don't worry- they're mostly interrelated, and working on one automatically helps the others. For example, it's nearly impossible to heal the root chakra without also benefiting the legs and pelvis, and feet. If you're able to discharge or process some of your fear and anxiety, your energy field will automatically seat itself more deeply into your physical body. When that happens, you feel safer, and your intention to engage with life will improve as a result. A healing cycle begins.

Consciously engaging with your grounding can take you on a beautiful journey of self-healing :-).

The reason why we bother at all with grounding is because of what it means, what it gives us. Our grounding is literally our foundation (funny how language somtimes reflects spiritual truths!). From the energy healer's perspective, the root chakra is the foundational 'key stone' that sushumna (the principal energy channel, parallel to the spine) and the other chakras rest on. If the root is in a bad state, the other chakras will be impacted. The amount of energy in the root places a cap on the amount of energy in general, and in all the other chakras.

Working on the root is, in many cases, the easiest way of unlocking difficulties found elsewhere in one's life/body/aura.

It's really common to get caught up in the grounding techniques themselves, and miss the point of the actual grounding. For example, visualisations for grounding are really popular, but probably the hardest technique to get right. It takes a lot of training and practice to be able to visualise 'correctly', and it not be a mental thing. I hope that doesn't sound judgemental- the 'correct' way to visualise with energy, as I understand it, is to use intention to effect an energetic change or movement, and witness the change as it happens. Doing it 'incorrectly' means either making a thought form, or just creating more mental energy (which, as westerners, we're very good at). A thought form might sound like it would be helpful, but it isn't; grounding really needs to come from within.

When someone like Doreen Virtue or Sue Allen speak about visualisation, I think they forget (or never knew) what it's like to be a 'normal' person; they're so used to living half in the spirit world that they don't experience much of a split between their 'thoughts' and a spiritual reaction. When they imagine a ball of pink light, it's there. When a normal person imagines a ball of pink light, the aura around their head swells slightly with the mental energy, and their general aura tinges yellow (meaning thought). No ball of pink light appears.

Something similar happens with grounding. If you like using visualisation to grow your energetic roots into the earth, then I recommend going light on the visualising: use your intention, not your imagination. Really feel those roots growing. Make it a full bodied experience, not just an exercise in imagining. For example, rather than picturing tree roots, imagine what it would feel like if you were a tree, with feet as roots going down deep into the earth. 

Make it experiential, not conceptual. 

Here are some easy ways I recommend to help with grounding. It helps to mix it up, so you're not putting all your eggs in one basket. Remember, grounding (and being grounded or ungrounded) isn't a problem to be solved; it's a path of getting more in contact with your body, and with the earth. So, do what works for you :-). And persevere. It may take months of daily practice before you notice the difference, if you're as deeply ungrounded as I was!

• Physical exercises, such as those used in core-energetics and bio-energetics. Rotate your ankles, do squat thrusts (gently and mindfully!), roll your feet over a golf ball.

• Massage, especially of the feet and legs, using calming and grounding oils (but probably not at the same time, that might not smell good!), to loosen the grounding blocks. Massage of the whole body, to release stress and fear.

• Spending time in nature, real quality time, where you connect with the world around you, and feel your body in relation to nature. This is super important.

• Having cranial work (cranial osteopathy, cranio-sacro therapy) to release old traumas from the body."

2021 Update from Regina: Justin contributed an essay on grounding and the root chakra to my book titled Chakra Healing & Magick. It looks at fears that keep us from grounding. 

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Manifesting with "Our Father"

The past few months I've been asking for help with manifestation. I have a vision of what I want my life to look like but the question is how do I get there? I am also aware of blocks that need to go and I'd been asking for help with releasing those. 

A few examples:  

• Self-doubt.  Can I really do this? 
• Fears about cash flow now that I'm starting my business. 
• I'm holding a grudge that I need to let go of. 

Today I was walking home from work and The Lords Prayer popped into my mind. I was surprised because I haven't been a practicing Catholic for 10 years! Still I decided to go with it, after all, Jesus was a healer and a miracle worker. I sometimes ask for help in my healings and I'm drawn to building that connection again. Haven't felt it since I was seven.

The prayer ran through my mind a couple times before I started paying attention. And then it just clicked. The combination of phrases is perfectly designed to set our intent, release blocks and draw on manifesting currents in the universe. 

Salutation:  Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. 

This phrase takes our Intent to the highest source of Energy, which is necessary if we want to heal or transform a part of our life. It is also useful if you want to call on Divine Intervention.  Literally. 

Manifestation Part 1:   Thy Kingdom Come

I learned the Our Father in Spanish and English and this particular phrase works much better for me in Spanish. The literal translation is "Your Kingdom Comes to Us" which I understand as God's Kingdom is moved from Heaven to Earth so that we can experience it down here. I am 100% conscious of the fact that Jesus preached the opposite, but I do think this is really interesting if we link it back to the manifesting current that we learned about at the School of Intuition & Healing. The theory is that we each have two energetic currents connecting us to heaven and earth. 

Visualize two beams of light running through your body, one goes from the earth upwards, the other goes from heaven downwards. 

• Manifesting Current:  This one runs down from the Heavens through your body and into the ground. If you have a strong manifesting current it means you will be able to use what we traditionally call magic and create real life situation with your will power and intent. That energetic current is out there but its up to us to harness it. 

• Spiritual Current:  This current pulls us upwards, connecting us with the spiritual world. I would imagine most mystics, spiritual junkies and psychics have strong spiritual currents. It is really easy for us to connect to those other dimensions. The challenge for Spiritually oriented people is grounding themselves and living in the now. I have a strong Spiritual Current, but my Manifesting Current could be a lot stronger. 

When I hear the words "Your Kingdom Come" the image that pops into my mind is this manifesting current bringing all of that miracle potential down to earth so that we can transform things. Think of the possibilities! This is where real magic happens. 

Manifesting 2:  Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven

In energy healing we have this concept of Highest Good which means that there is a plan for each of us. The plan includes ups and down, success, failure, health, illness. One of my Facebook likers said something brilliant today about our "challenges" being our growth opportunities in this life. The way we react to our life lessons is part of our spiritual growth. When we accept the fact that there is a divine plan things start to fall into place. And we can see things for what they are - stepping stones. 

This line is about living in alignment with our highest good and trusting. It is tough to manifest without trusting the process. Being in resistance keeps good things from coming our way. It also keeps us from learning our lessons and moving on. 

Abundance:    Give us this day our daily bread

This is about being taken care of from a survival point of view. Cash flow issues, be gone! There is also the question of spiritual nourishment in that bread. 

Health: Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us

I'm not sure why I've called this one health. Maybe its because holding grudges throws the body out of balance. One of the things I've started to notice in my healing sessions is how people hold the energy of anger, resentment and betrayal in their organs. I have felt this in the veins, the heart, the pancreas, the stomach, the intestines and the liver. A man came into the healing clinic with high blood pressure and I could feel his blood boiling with pent up anger. He was on medication for blood pressure and we referred him to a nearby medical clinic. Some people need to learn to relax and let things slide like water off a duck's back. Seriously. 

Forgiving releases that toxic energy from our body. You do yourself a favour when you forgive yourself and others. The hard part is actually forgiving them and I like the fact that its included. 

Maintain Your Vibration:  Lead us not into temptation

Again I prefer the Spanish version which reads free us from temptation. Freedom is something we can all relate to and in this case it means freedom from the pull of the ego, whatever form it takes. 

I am going to us an example with no religious connotation: drinking water instead of drinking soft drinks keeps my energy clear. My intuition and my ability to channel healing energy is stronger. I love chocolate and coffee and I used to crave soft drinks. Now I feel sick when I see a bottle of the brown stuff. Freedom!

The ego is a about a lot more than cola or food choices. It includes things like procrastination, self-doubt, self-defeating tendencies and patterns. Every single time you wimp out of facing a fear, that is the voice of the ego telling you to run. Temptation is about taking the easy way out and ending up in the wrong place. Or going overboard with something that wouldn't be harmful in moderation.  

Protection:  Deliver us from evil

I prefer the Spanish version which says free us from all things bad. The word evil is a cliché. It has been overused; I think its more important to ground yourself in love and focus on feeling protected. To me this line is about feeling safe, protected and impervious to things like jealousy, spite, ill will, and any spiritual or energetic baddies. 

Sign Off:  Amen!

This phrase translates to So Be It. Funny enough most of the spells I've seen end with the phrase So Mote It Be which is very similar! My theory is that the ending seals the Intent. 

I would love to hear your thoughts! This one took me by surprise. 

Love & Light, 

Regina

***

Regina Chouza is an Energy Healer, Angel Medium and author of A Personal Guide to Self-Healing, Cancer & Love and Chakra Healing & Magick. She studied angels, tarot and astrology at The College of Psychic Studies in London, and qualified as a Healer at the School of Intuition & Healing. Blogging since 2010, Regina's passion is bringing the qualities of love, joy and empowerment to healing pursuits. 

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What do I believe in? Good Question!

Yesterday someone asked me if I believed in Christ. Hmmm, what a loaded question! I do believe in Jesus. I've even asked for help in my healings, usually if there was an actual physical symptom or disease that I wanted to disapparate. It worked. It might be too much to bring him into every healing. It depends on what the client needs in the healing and what they are ready for. 

Most of my clients so far have had Angels and Spirit Guides drop in during the healing sessions. The visitor will add to the healing energy and make it more powerful. So far I've only had Ascended Masters with one client, and it was because they were in the process of raising their vibration rapidly. Not because they were sick .... 

So what is the difference between them, you might ask? 

• Ascended Masters + Deities are Old Souls who have reached the end of their spiritual evolution, we tend to identify them by their most transcendental incarnation. You will have heard of many of these, and in some cultures they are regarded as Gods, goddesses or teachers. To name a few we have Buddha, the Virgin Mary, Quan Yin. A lot of people would put deity's like Lord Ganesh here, as well as pagan Goddesses like Isis. This classification can be controversial. Some people would put Jesus in this group. Christians  wouldn't, I imagine. The concept of Ascension is present in Catholicism through Mother Mary. 

• Saints are spiritual people who have been deemed saints by the Catholic Church. In some cases they were also martyrs. To qualify they need to have lived an exemplary life and then they have to perform miracles "from the grave" that can be proven by the Catholic Church. In many Catholic countries people will ask Saints for favours and miracles. In Mexico you'll see statues of Saints with ribbons for every favour they've granted, usually of a miraculous kind.  My experience of Saints is defined by my up-bringing in Roman Catholic Mexico. 

• Spirit Guides are between lives and they usually take a break of a hundred years or so to guide the rest of us through the process. They will open doors for you and throw signs at you so that when you suddenly feel inspired to go to med school, its because they have been throwing medical things in your direction. They will usually have lots of experience in a skill or profession that we need to develop in this life. We can have many Guides in the course of our life. New ones come along when we are ready for new lessons. I have three guides now, one for magical things including healing and one for business. 

• Angels are beings that were never human. They are real, we have guardian angels charged to look after humans, cities, countries, the planet, etc. There are also Archangels who are strangely enough very grounding and action oriented. A little bit scary the 1st time you meet them. I really like working with Archangel Michael and Raphael in my healings. I tend to see them as fractured light and colour and they are massive. Archangel Readings are pretty awesome and they tend to be no-nonsense with the advice they give. Loving but firm. 

I think my Catholic background made it that much easier for me to buy into the idea of Spirit Guides and Ascended Masters. If you ask me I would guess that on the spiritual ladder, Spirit Guides may or may not be trumped by Saints, and both of them are trumped by Ascended Masters. I'm not sure where I would place the angels, they feel like they are on a higher vibrational level altogether. I like Archangels for healings. In meditations I'd rather talk to my Guardian Angels though the Archangels are good for direction with big life changes. Uriel started popping up three weeks ago and now I've turned my life upside down! 

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My Thrilling New Adventure

I have done something very risky this week -  I quit my job to become a healer! 

The past few months I've been stressing about whether or not I wanted to follow through with it. Actually, it was never a question of wanting to be a healer. The sticking point was risk that comes with leaving a steady job for a career as an energy healer. My friends, my angels, and my intuition have all been pushing me towards self-employment but I wasn't sure how to go about it. Then one of my tutors suggested that my love of writing and my blog could evolve into a reliable source of income. The thought surprised me but since then I've mapped it all out and I'm ready to go.  

My business plan consists of the following:

• I have set up a company that will focus on spirituality and healing. My 1st project will introduce people to energy healing and offer simple meditations and self-healing techniques. It will cover the role of a healer. My vision is to drive awareness of energy healing with mainstream audiences, emphasising it's role as a complementary therapy. I'm still validating the pricing model but ideally I'd offer the teaching books at 2-3 pounds and make them accessible a wide audience. The first in the series will be unveiled this October. 

• When I pass my accreditation panel this fall I will start my healing practice with live and distant sessions. Healing gives me a something to write about.  It also gives me a chance to do what I love and help people. A win-win situation! Hurrah! 

Quitting your day job to start a business can be quite daunting. I'm really lucky though because my employers are incredibly supportive of my plans. They proposed I work through my notice period part-time to give me a financial buffer. I'll be working 3 days a week for the next 6 months! This should give me a chance to get myself up and running. I'm convinced this is the right move for me and I'm really keen on doing something that benefits society. The next few months I'll be focused on publishing my self-healing books and setting up my healing practice. 

If you'd like to support my cause please try one of the following: 

• Share my Facebook Updates and Blog Posts with your family and friends! If you see a particular article that you really like click the Share button on the top right hand side of this blog. Otherwise feel free to share the links to my Interactive Color Readings and the Group Tarot Readings. 

• Book a  Psychic Reading! In a few weeks I'll start offering bite-sized Angel Readings for 5 pounds and longer readings for 10. The messages will be similar to what you've seen on Facebook and I'll use a combination of tarot and clairvoyance. For more info on my approach have a look at my Psychic Readings tab. More details to come in the next few weeks.  

• Book a healing! Needless to say I am a healer as well as a psychic. When I pass my Accreditation in a few months I will also be introducing contact and distant healings. I've been spending lots of time thinking about creative new healing techniques so stay tuned for more information! 

This is as much as I can share at the moment but please stay tuned to find out more. I've already approached a few of you for feedback on guided meditations that will be part of my series of books and online ressources. I really appreciate your support and feedback and look forward to sharing more details in the near future. The decision to quit was a tough one but now that my nerves have settled I am really excited about this opportunity. Love and Light!

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