When the breath wanders...

Good health is key to happiness. If you’re not healthy, it’s a sure bet you’re not happy. Me, I actively seek out ways to improve my wellbeing. Yep, I’m proudly one of those people! I love nutritious food, I keep hydrated, I walk and stretch daily, and very importantly, I breathe well.

Back in March, I started Buteyko breathing techniques in order to manage a condition called Raynaud’s. I blogged about it here. What did I get out of it?

Let the beauty we love be what we do.

Let the beauty we love be what we do.

There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.

~ Rumi

How many times a day do you consider beauty? Do you appreciate beauty in the little things of life? Do you tell anyone that they are beautiful just because you are overflowing with love?

It’s easy to tell the people you love that they are beautiful. I promise you they appreciate it. But why not tell a complete stranger that they are beautiful because they make you smile?

Happiness is the purpose of life. When we are happy, we manifest other positive emotions and have the energy to create which is our purpose.

Let the beauty you love we what you do. Just be who you are and know that you are perfect as you are, right now, and you are beautiful without having to “do” anything, without having to “be” anyone.

You’re so beautiful because you are.

Let the world be your practice circle.

Last night I spoke with a friend about the habit some mediums have of taking their own sweet time to relate what they are receiving from Spirit. Such a medium will announce his link, but then take several seconds to absorb the information and try to understand what is meant.

There is a reason why developing mediums are asked to not pause, but to just keep talking, to not let there be any lags in the communication. 

A good medium will not attempt to understand what is being said, instead, her intent is to give Spirit a clear voice expressed in the emotions that are felt. 

The beauty of better breathing.

We know for better health, we should drink and eat in moderation. But, how many of us know that to breathe in moderation is also good advice?

As mediums, we are often told to relax by taking deep breaths. But what if deep breathing and exhaling too frequently, is actually the last thing you want to do in order to diminish stress?

How I breathed was not something I gave much thought to all my life until I was diagnosed with a circulation problem which my doctor told me had no cure (although severe cases respond to medication).

Considering that I prefer not to be medicated, I looked for other ways to curb my primary Raynaud’s disease. Raynaud’s, in my case, wasn’t anything life threatening, it just meant that my right index finger would go numb and turn white in cold weather or in contact with cold water.

How in heaven do we fit in? Divine Service reading and address.

During today's Divine Service on SNUi, I addressed the first and fourth Principles, the fatherhood of God and the continuous existence of the human soul from a non-dual worldview. 

You can listen to the reading and address on my Soundcloud account here. 

If you'd like to follow along with the reading, this is the poem by Emily Dickinson: 

Behind Me, dips Eternity.

Before Me, Immortality.

Myself, the Term between.

Death but the Drift of Eastern Gray,

Dissolving into Dawn away,

Before the West begin.

‘Tis Kingdom, afterward, they say,

In perfect, pauseless Monarchy,

Whose Prince is Son of None,

Himself, His Dateless Dynasty,

Himself, Himself diversify,

In duplicate Divine.

‘Tis Miracle before Me, then,

‘Tis Miracle behind, between,

A Crescent in the Sea,

With midnight to the North of Her,

And Midnight to the South of Her,

And Maelstrom, in the Sky.

5 tips for giving details.

Too often mediums gloss over important images received from a communicator. We mediums are not to understand the images we receive, but we should give our best shot at giving a detailed description of the images or objects in order for the recipient to understand them.

Last night in my drop-in practice circle, I asked the mediums to sense a communicator, go to their recipient, then closely examine up to three images received from Spirit. They were to spend a couple of minutes describing one item as thoroughly as possible.

It was the recipient’s job to answer not with “yes/no” replies. Instead, they were to actively listen, take notes, and give neutral replies such as, “Okay/I see/Alright/I hear you.” The link was to last about seven minutes.

Intentions, grounding, and shielding.

Today’s post is based on an email response I sent to a medium who asked about the use of prayers of intention, grounding, and shielding in mediumship:

Early on I was taught to set an intention and/or confer with my guides prior to a sitting, and I've done both over the years. I've found preparing with positive visualization (the way athletes do before a big event) helps to calm my nerves before a public demonstration. Hours before the event I would take my time walking myself through each step of preparing, linking, communicating, and having it all go smoothly and positively for each recipient.

In this way, I set the intention to have a successful session, and I’ll practice this immediately before working if it feels like the proper thing to do at the moment.

I also enjoy daily prayer as a form of positive visualization and expressing gratitude. The universe will respond to our intentions, perhaps not in the exact way we may want it to, though. On the relative level, all minds are entangled and our thoughts have power.