Lesson #8: The Joy of Journaling

Last week we discussed the importance of looking within for guidance. If you haven't had much experience with this you might be wondering where to begin. While there are unlimited tools and practices for this, my personal favorite has always been journaling. I first learned the value of this when I was handed my first diary at age 9 or 10. After the first "Dear Diary,..." I was hooked!

Journaling is to some people what making art or music is to others. It is a way of expressing and sorting through feelings, thoughts and ideas. The page is a safe place for ranting and raving, feeling difficult emotions, and working through stuck energy. It is a place where the many voices of ego and spirit can be heard. A journal can be a good friend with whom one shares absolutely everything. In fact, a journal can represent our relationship with all aspects of self.

Journaling is not just writing. It is writing infused with the intention of knowing one's self and moving forward emotionally or spiritually. Journaling can help us know oursleves on every level accessible to humans, which serves our processes of spiritual awakening and ascension.

For many people the mere act of putting pen to paper can open channels and create miraculous connections, but this is not true for everyone. I've heard several people, including two published authors say that it is not helpful to them. If this is the case for you, don't force it. There are plenty of other ways to know yourself and open to divine guidance. But if it does work for you, journal often, because it can be an extraordinary tool.

If you're interested in learning more about journaling, and gaining a greater appreciation for the process, I highly recommend two books by Julia Cameron: The Artist's Way, and The Right to Write. Her love affair with writing is so passionate that it will ignite you. 

Lesson #7: The Importance of Looking Within

Sometimes we human are afraid to look inside ourselves for guidance, for fear that we won't like what we find. Many of us have been programmed to feel ashamed of ourselves, or to be fearful of our inner rage or other emotions. Some of us are afraid that we would find nothing but a worthless, stupid or mediocre person residing within. Maybe our religious upbring encouraged the idea that we are inherently flawed, guilty or "sinful."

Whatever the reason, many of us take great pains to avoid looking beneath the surface. The irony is that when we avoid facing ourselves we tend to behave unconsciously, from the default guidance of our lower selves. This makes us more likely to behave in a poor, foolish or wreckless manner.

We have several built-in mechanisms designed to alert us when we're off track in our lives. A few of the most common ones include: 

• Disturbing dreams or sleep issues
• Illnesses
• Injuries
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Rage
• Addictions, obssessions and compulsions
• Weight issues and eating disorders

These are all signs that we're not listening to our inner guidance, and the repression of Self has progressed to the next level. Don't feel alone. We've all been there (repeatedly!) and most of us still struggle with one (or more) long-standing issue that has it's roots in repression and avoidance.

The hidden blessing in the most painful life experiences is that they force us to wake up, sweetheart, and take inventory of of what we've been doing or what we've been avoiding. And it's never too late to turn within.

Even if you're on your deathbed you can experience healing by going inside and making friends with who you really are. Your Higher Self, your Angels, and God still love you no matter what you've done. Even if you've given up on yourself, they will never give up on you.

Lesson #6: Your Intuitive Channels

As human beings we possess physical senses which have their energetic counterparts. We see, hear, taste, smell, and "know," therefore we can and do receive intuitive information through these senses. Depending on what our natural strengths and interests are we can develop and learn to trust these channels of guidance.

Each of us has access to all forms of intuition, but we tend to be stronger in one or two areas. For instance, a photographer sees, a musician hears, a poet feels, and a scholor thinks or knows. However, the musician might also be a strong feeler, and the scholar might have a developed visual sense. Our four main intuitive channels are: clairvoyance, clairaudience, clairsentience, and claircognizance.

Clairvoyance is clear-seeing, and can involve having memorable and vivid dreams or visions. You may see auras, flashes of light, colors, geometric patterns, or disembodied beings, with your eyes open or closed. These images may call to mind something that you need to be aware of, or may provide useful information or direction.

Clairaudience  is clear-hearing, and this hearing can emerge as words, music, other sounds that seem to come from outside your head, or as gentle and loving messages inside your head. (These are not to be confused with the coarser voices of the ego, or the dillusional voices heard by the mentally ill).

Clairsentience is clear-feeling, and involves emotional or physical feelings. Clairsentient people tend to be emotionally sensitive and empathic, as well as particular with regard to environmental conditions, foods, fragrances, scratchy fabrics, tight clothing, other people's moods, etc. They can pick up on the vibe of a person, group or place, usually with great accuracy.

Claircognizance is clear-knowing, and is experienced through thoughts, ideas, revelations, or knowledge that seems to be downloaded into the mind. Sometimes this happens when asked a question that you didn't previously know the answer to, while writing, or upon awakening.

People who value intuition become more and more intuitive, and can be well versed in all the "clairs." They find that life is much easier and more fun when they follow their own guidance, and they tend to make good decisions. On the other hand, those who reject their hunches and gut feelings in favor of the egoic, rational mind often find themselves becoming more and more rigid and disconnected form their naturally instinctive nature. They miss cues and red flags from people and from their environment, and make many poor, if not disastrous, life choices.

This week focus on one of the above channels of guidance. Make the intention to allow information to come to you through this channel without judging it in any way. Simply notice what pops in and write down what you receive. I think you'll quickly find that the more you honor your inner guidance the stronger and more trustworthy it will become.

Lesson #5: Distinguishing Between Ego and Higher Self

Last week we began the series: Following Your Own Guidance. If you're not sure what that means, you're not alone. Most of us grew up with multiple inner voices---the introjected voices of our parents, siblings, friends, teachers, religious figures, and society at large; as well as our own various ego voices and Higher Self voices. Add to that the gentle whispers of our angels and other spirit helpers, and you have a potential mob scene inside your head. How are you to sort all this out?

In order to follow your divine guidance you must learn to distinguish between these many voices. This doesn't mean that you need to identify all of them, although sometimes that can be helpful. More important is that you learn to distinguish between those who are pointing you to your highest good, and those who are keeping you distracted with ego-based opinions, worries, judgments, compulsions, etc.

The general rule of thumb is that you can differentiate between higher and lower voices by the way they make you feel. The guidance of spirit is loving, supportive, usually gentle, nonjudgmental, and positive, even when warning you of danger. Spirit-based messages are consistent and repetitive, and encourage forgiveness, gratitude, win-win situations, being present in the moment, and fulfilling your life purpose. The voices of spirit make you feel confident and secure.

On the other hand, the voices of the ego (which are sometimes influenced by darker energies from outside of you), can have an immature tone and be quite critical, competitive and selfish. This guidance can feel cold , and is full of rationalizations. the voices of ego encourage worry and blame, and are fraught with complaints and impulsiveness. Ego voices can be demanding and abusive, and can encourage you to behave rashly before you've had a chance to consider options or weigh consequences. They tend to focus on the past and the future.

This week please spend some time noticing the way you feel. If you're feeling great then you know Higher Self is in charge and all is well. If you feel aggravated, depressed, etc, it means ego is pulling you down. When this happens do something healthy to break the cycle. Take a few deep breaths, go for a walk, call someone who loves you, or just say no to the ego.

When my ego is trying to justify ill feelings toward someone, I like to respond with,"That may be true, but I forgive him anyway," or, "I may have behaved badly, but I love myself anyway." Try this and see what happens. And have a peaceful week.

Post #4: Following Your Own Guidance

In our culture, as well as many others, people are taught to look to the outside for guidance. There are "experts" for every subject: relationships, parenting, finances, education, health, fitness, etc. But these experts and well-meaning friends and family members do not have access to your divine life plan. Most of them have no way of understanding what lessons you contracted for, or from what paths you may benefit. For example, a parent might "protect" a child from the very rejection the child came into this life to work through.

Another person's guidance is usually based on his own unique frame of reference, and may serve only to confuse or mislead you, especially if you solicit multiple opinions that conflict with each other. Any information or advice you receive should be weighed against your own intuition. If it resonates or feels right, then you know you can trust it. If it doesn't ring true for you, or feels wrong, then you'd do better to disregard it.

This kind of discernment applies to everything in life, from the praise or criticism you receive, to the information you read, to the insights of your guru. Choose to take what feels true for you and let the rest go, preferably without judgment. If something doesn't speak to you, it just means that it was written or said for someone else.

As human beings we are pre-wired for connecting with our own, foolproof guidance systems, but our egos and other life experiences/choices may have masked or blocked these intuitive abilities.The good news is that it's not too late to regain this connection, and with a little education and practice you can do just that.

Please join me over the next few weeks as we explore ways you can tune into (and learn to trust) your most valuable navigating system: your own, internal guidance.

Post #3: Being in Resonance

When a singer or musical instrument reaches a state of resonance, the sound produced becomes richer, fuller, and more powerful than before. It can reach inside us and move us because of the precision with which it is "hitting the mark."

The same concept applies to us when we are enjoying a moment of full presence in the here and now, or experiencing resonance with our true nature. You may be able to recall several times when you felt completely in alignment with life, your Higher Self, and the universe. Maybe you were dancing, sailing a boat, meditating, or enjoying a truly happy moment with family or friends. Looking back, you know that you were tapping into the joy of being, which is your birthright, your natural spiritual state.

Sadly, some people live in such a continous state of low-grade fear and diminished expectations that these fleeting moments of true alignment only make them nervous. They are generally afraid to get their hopes up. When any form of fear enters the picture we can be knocked off balance, but through simple observation we can learn to identify where we've gone wrong, and quickly get ourselves back on track.

Beverly, a spiritual teacher in Mt. Shasta, California, teaches the following. She says you know you're out of resonance when:

1.  You are living in the past, or living in the future

2.  You are too grounded, or not grounded enough (overly rooted in your body, or spacing out)

3.  You are playing too big, or playing too small (ego is in charge, and it's either inflated or deflated)

4.  You are moving too slowly, or moving too fast (bored and inactive, or busy and overextended)

When you find yourself unhappy or out of sorts, try checking the above list. Chances are you will find yourself in one or more categories, but by applying a little focused intention to the problem area you may find that you are able to come back into resonance surprisingly quickly.

Post #2: Your Evolution

Human evolution, even with its apparent ups and downs, rises and falls, has been a constant driver throughout history. Each generation serves as a foundation or building block for the next, and each evolutionary failure becomes the impetus for future success. Our children come in knowing things that we couldn't have known at their age, being ways that we couldn't have been at their age.

This is also true globally. The many crises we have been experiencing as a planet---the economic, environmental and social breakdowns we are witnessing---serve as evolutionary drivers pushing us toward an improved existence. When we see something we don't like, our minds (often automatically) create an improved scenario which begins a concrete manifestation process.

While natural evolution has been ongoing throughout history, it is believed by many that a huge evolutionary leap is occurring on this planet right now. People are waking up en masse, and many children are now born in an already-evolved state. The kind of spiritual advancement that once required years of meditation, religious devotion, and/or psychotherapy, is now much more accessible. Our sincere intentions and a willingness to embrace the present moment can now move us forward very quickly.

This is a time of endings and new beginnings, and many theorists and spiritual teachers believe that a new golden age is afoot, or at least new possibilities and potentials for our planet. Many spiritual seekers are feeling the pull to heal their own issues and help other people, as well as the Earth herself, do the same.

Regardless of what happens or doesn't happen in the next few years (2012 and beyond), now is a great time to do your homework, unload your mental and emotional baggage, tune into your higher purpose, and become the person you came here to be. You can do this!