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So what on Earth is Universalism? Well, it’s actually a Church, and a philosophy. It’s an idea that helps you to let go of all the dogma that normally surrounds religion and ‘church’. I first heard the term many years ago through the work of Edgar Cayce. While he was a strong Christian in his waking life, in his trance state he would use the term ‘Universalist’ to describe a more holistic approach to spiritual understanding. On looking into a little further, I found out that there is a Universalist Church in America, which has now joined forces with the Unitarian Church. Wikipedia describes it thus: “Unitarian Universalists assert no creed, but instead are unified by their shared search for spiritual growth.  So that’s the Church, but it’s the idea that I’m more interested in. The concept that there is one underlying truth that is generally colored by the history and culture it finds itself expressed through. And too often, (unfortunately) this truth is influenced by the desire for power that many still hold. So it is not the teachings themselves that cause war, but the people who like to wield them like a weapon, and an excuse for separation., and thereby, power. If we look further though, we can see a growing interest in Ancient Egyptian philosophy, Hermeticism, the works of the great Alchemists, the re-emergence of the Polymath (such as Robert Grant), and a renewed interest in Sacred Geometry. We also have Quantum Physics supporting metaphysical principals, the Law of One, manifesting, deeper mind practices (meditation, self hypnosis, regression techniques) and much much more! However, rather than competing, these ideas, philosophies and teachings all inform and expand on the other. More importantly, they empower the person who reads them, and endeavours to not only understand them, but to practice them. Who, through having a curious and respectful mindset, can accept and respect all that is on offer, while taking in that which resonates and assists with their own personal and spiritual growth. Personally, I have a pretty strong feeling that we are drawn to particular teachings because we have been exposed to them before. Perhaps we were around at the same time that the teachers first appeared, or perhaps we were involved in working with these ideas in some way in a past experience. So for me, I think the way to cut through all that is on offer (cause it can get confusing right?) is to use the heart as a litmus test. If it lights you up on the inside and does not offend your values and ideals in any way – then keep listening. Is it the path, the destination, or both? ‘the ‘path’ has been become the new ‘must have’, rather than the knowledge…’ I also believe that at the back of all this we need to be working on our own strong connection to source consciousness. It is so important that we have our personal experience to filter it all through, our own reliable pathway to intuition and our higher self, our soul self. This is what is exciting about all of the new pathways being offered to us, they all encourage and teach us to go within. If there is anything about this that I find challenging though, it is that the ‘path’ has been become the new ‘must have’, rather than the knowledge, or the teaching that awaits us in the practice. To be fair, I have my own path that I am now teaching –  a path that was first dropped into my mind in a moment of reflection (downloaded?), and then honed through my studies and personal experiences. I have the belief that it will be of value to some, however I am very mindful not to call it a panacea, or pathway to Heaven on Earth – in that it will deliver untold riches and the perfect life. Just because I want it to be so. I was very clearly advised away from this in a dream I had a few years ago where I was told by the Master Soul, ‘no selling spirituality like snake oil off the back of a truck’.  It’s something I now put a lot of thought into though… how do I help without sounding like a ‘snake-oil’ salesman? For you, for me, for all of us, personal experience is KEY. And when asked which is the best meditation to practice, Cayce replied ‘the one your going to practice’. Look for the point of resonance – if the idea is dropping in on fertile soil, you will feel it in your heart. Reading, regressions and dreams For me, I’m definitely drawn to the mysteries, however, most of my deep understandings have come from my own experiences, and teachings delivered in dreams, meditations, contemplations and reveries. Add to that, I have also been ‘awakened’ to the knowledge within via a number of very powerful past-life regressions. There is a lot written about regression work these days, however the most powerful aspect of the experience was when I was taken through the dying experience. The usefulness of this is now debated, however the alteration in consciousness that I felt in going from a ‘recalled life’ to a soul mind perspective was life changing, and it continues to be influence how I think and act today. So while there are many different influences that come can come together when we are on ‘a path’ of awakening, or re-awakening, the most potent information comes from the higher self. You know all this already I guess what I’m saying here, is that so much knowledge already exists within us, waiting to be re-awakened, and we are drawn to one practice or another depending on our previous exposure to these teachings. They are all the same at heart though, and have been a part of the human journey since we first walked the Earth. Once, we also required the use of mind altering plants to show us that there were...

Manifesting happens 24/7 There is so much written today about Law of Attraction, or on how to ‘Manifest your dream life’ – that it makes my head spin. Many of these people are simply sales experts, however it IS possible to learn how to attract more positive influences and outcomes into your life. It takes time, and it takes a bit of effort… but most of all it takes a greater level of conscious awareness, in addition to, activities to ‘program’ your unconscious mind (meditations, affirmations, self-hypnosis etc.) The good news is, that as you tread the path of awakening – the very practices you learn will help you to let go of the ideas, habits, and emotions that not only don’t serve you in day to day life, but also serve to lower your mental, physical and spiritual ‘tone’ on a vibrational level. It’s important to understand this piece of the puzzle, so that when you work with attraction exercises, you don’t have be fearful of unconsciously (or consciously) thinking and behaving in a way that will cause you to lose the very thing you desire! There are many different thinking styles that can drum up the wrong chemistry, the wrong feelings, and the wrong energies, however one of the main ways that this can happen is through the day to day fear of being our authentic selves. Fear of being judged, fear of feeling like an impostor, or even… fear of success. We are, in the end, repetitious experts – so how do we take advantage of that?  So, I guess what I’m saying is that you need to let go of your fears and your anxieties BEFORE you start working with concepts around ‘Attraction’ and ‘Manifesting’. Or at the very least, be attuned to the narrative and catch hold of it while it’s an active force in your mind – when you can, and as often as you can. We are, in the end, repetitious experts – and we need to use that to our advantage. So, let’s start with the ‘fear of being judged’. Keeping it simple, ‘fear of judgment’, or of ‘being judged by others and found wanting’ is one of the key drivers of anxious living (and breathing). Often, this takes the form of a little voice in your head that convinces you that… ‘They won’t understand…’ ‘They don’t understand me, they see me as different’ ‘They’ll think I’m stupid if I say that’ ‘They don’t want to hear what I have to say…’ ‘I’m wasting their time’ etc. etc. etc. This results in an increase of cortisol and adrenaline. Your brain is interpreting (because of what you’re saying to yourself’) that there is something not quite right in your world, and that you need help to deal with it…. So off you go into Flight and Fight Mode! This is judgement of self, or Self Judgement. It can happen when we’re sitting on the lounge, in a meeting at work (or even in a coffee break), in a lecture room or classroom… Anywhere – Everywhere And it’s not only bloody uncomfortable, it creates all the wrong vibes! Remembering here, that law of attraction is always in play. Law of attraction is always in play. But I am being judged!  Yes indeedy, it actually happens… sometimes it’s not all in your head. Sometimes you really are being judged by others! Bullying, harassment, arrogant attitudes, and the spreading on non-truths… the proverbial Witch-Hunt or Village Stoning… sadly, still happens! 🙁 This yucky little voice inside, or the archaic practice of a Witch Hunt… where do they come from? And why you? Sometimes it’s not so easy to pin down, so here is another idea for you… Your anxiety may also be manifesting as a consequence of a previous life experience… there’s some Karma to be sorted out here. This is my experience, and I’m thankful to say that I’m not the only one talking about this! Now, if all of this isn’t difficult enough… The response is often just to complicate it further by judging right back!! So to recap – I/We/You judge others – judge ourselves, and judge those we believe are judging us! And it’s so prevalent in our society it is almost impossible to escape. It’s in the media, in social media, in our friend groups, in the study halls and in the workplace… yep… Anywhere and Everywhere! Awareness is the first step So, how do we manage anxious thoughts and feelings, and get a handle on this thing called ‘judgment’? There are many practices that can assist with this, however you can start by developing some awareness around your own language, and your own thoughts. To what extent do you engage in judgement of others, or just as important… in judgement of yourself? This is a good start. It’s a key practice to step aside and see ourselves go by. However I work holistically, so we also need to engage the deeper mind through meditations that draw out and enhance those more positive aspects of the self. A wonderful way to do this is through the practice of Loving Kindness Meditation. I love love love this meditation.  It’s centers our mind around – well – LOVE! However, it is also a creative practice in that it builds the emotion and vibration of love in the heart centre, and beyond. Working with ideas around Judgement/Non-judgment has the potential to make a huge difference to your life. I have to say that this would be one of the top 3 ideas or practices that helped me to simply ‘shrug’ off unhelpful Anxiety (*cause sometimes it is helpful)… like an outdated and over-worn smelly old coat! Till next time *It’s important to understand that anxiety can show up because we truly are in the wrong place, or with the wrong people. I’ll expand on this idea in a later blog, for now though – I recommend using your values as your guide. Want to kick...

  Know Thyself It is so important to understand how the mind and the body play together in states such as Anxiety. And to ‘Know Thyself’ is the first step to taking your power back, because let’s face it – we are often left feeling powerless in the face of this really powerful chemical cascade. And it is a cascade, which occurs with every single thought we have – all being released into your body. Every single thought. Anxiety happens in the mind, but it is experienced in the body… As you think, so you are. So this post goes to understanding the process of anxiety in your body. Why is this important? Because knowledge is power, and empowering. There is nothing worse than feeling out of control – and that is exactly how you feel when ‘anxiety’ kicks in! By the time it’s in your body though, it’s a helluva lot harder to do anything about it! 🙁 That’s why it’s important to learn about the process of Anxiety, so that the work can happen in those ‘inbetweensy’ times – as that, my friends, is where the difference is made! This part of therapy is normally referred to as ‘psychoeducation’ – and it’s where I always begin. Here’s why: 1) Understanding takes away the fear and helps prevent one of the biggest traps of Anxiety – getting anxious about feeling anxious! That just confuses the whole thing even more… 2) You can see how different practices and processes (often called interventions) fit in. It all just makes a bit more sense, and helps you have the ‘conviction of your courage’, as well as the courage of your conviction to dump anxiety. Well, to dump the unnecessary and unhelpful anxiety, because sometimes it shows up for good reason! So let’s dig a little deeper 🙂 Sun and Moon At the most basic level what we’re talking about is the ‘fight, flight and fear response’, or sympathetic arousal. There are lots of people talking about this now (Joe Dispenza is a good one) – so its an easy one to get more information on. What we have here though is not a textbook, it’s a blog post, so here it is as I tell it in counselling… The fight and flight response takes place in the Autonomic Nervous System. The Autonomic Nervous System has two aspects to it, like most things in our experience they can be seen as opposing forces that need to be held in balance – Yin Yang kind of stuff The two parts are known as the Sympathetic (S) and the Parasympathetic (PS) Nervous System One gets you up and going (S), the other (PS) calms you down. When I was nursing many moons ago the PS system was simply referred to as the ‘resting and digesting’ system. And that’s exactly what it does – helps you relax so that so that you can eat and sleep, rather than stress and pace when the whole thing is out of balance! I like to refer to these two arms of the Autonomic system as Sun (S) and Moon (PS); so when you are in a state of Anxiousness – or sympathetic arousal – it’s like your out in the sun for too long – you start to feel a bit burnt out. How does this happen? As stated earlier, it is mostly triggered by thinking – which is impacted by emotions and memories – however it can also be as simple as ‘you’re mind telling you crap’. Just because you think something, doesn’t mean it’s true. This is why we need to challenge our thoughts from time to time. So, when we have a ‘negative’ thought (judgemental, catastrophising, self critical etc etc),  it gives our brain the idea that there’s something not quite right in our world, and we need help to deal with it. This happens next… It responds by pumping out adrenaline and cortisol to help us deal with a perceived threat – but we could be just sitting on the lounge thinking about stepping out the front door! When this happens on a daily basis, it builds up in the system and we get to a point where we just tip over into ‘flight and fight’ mode, really really easily. And what does this system do? Prepares us to fight or to flee, so that’s what we feel like doing! A part of our brain yells – ‘there’s trouble afoot! quick – get ready to run!’ Sound familiar? We get agitated or aggressive, or alternatively, avoid… run away, and hide. Sometimes behind closed doors, sometimes behind the couch, sometimes in the bedroom, sometimes under the bed! With a bottle of Whiskey… cause that might help (not). And while this might sound silly – I’ve been in that exact space 🙁 Shifting Energies Understanding this process better also helps us to understand that some practices will encourage the sun to set (just have a rest buddy), while others are all about bringing up the moon! For eg: Cognitive therapy changes your self-talk and therefore the chemistry you release, effectively bringing down the sun (sympathetic arousal); breathe work (oh so powerful) will help to raise up the moon. When you get a handle on the physiology behind this, you start to find your own ways to break into it and make a difference. This ‘difference’ can be felt as a shift in perspective, a shift in how your body feels, or even a shift in your energy body… Yep, our thoughts have a huge impact on our vibrations! So, start to ‘know thyself’ better 🙂 While this is a very basic introduction to what can seem a complicated process – you don’t need to understand it for the changes to happen! Be compassionate, rather than self critical, and for now, simply breathe with intention 😉 And feel free to ask some questions! Finally, it’s important to understand that while ‘awareness’ is important – it’s not the...

A mindful exercise to let go of Judgement and help you live a non-anxious life! Who has anxiety? Just about everyone it seems these days. Is it just jumping on the band wagon or is something else going on? As an anxiety sufferer (and yes, I am going to use that term)  and a Psychologist – I’ve wanted to dig deep in a whole lot of different ways to truly understand what is going on, and where my anxiety was coming from, so that I could get my hands on it and make a difference, and hopefully make a difference with others. Make a difference, a positive difference –  to me, to my life, and to the lives of others. What I’ve learnt is that it is the more sensitive souls amongst us that are predisposed to anxiety. I definitely came in with mine, and perhaps it is a vulnerability in the nervous system that I have inherited genetically, but then, did I choose that? Is there something more here to understand? If you are a sensitive, empathic or creative person then read on… If we look at the whole person (rather than the holes within a person!), you can see that it is often their sensitive nature that predisposes them to states of anxiety. Which often comes down to a fear of judgement. Judgement of self – Fear of judgement of self by others – and YES – sometimes we can also get a little judgey, even if it’s only toward those we think are judging us! 🙂 Complicated much? So today I’m going to share a little practice that I developed a number of years ago, that can really help us to open up and become more accepting – of ourselves as well as others. And the motivation for this? To develop our spiritual nature and grow in life and soul. In this way you can start to see your anxiety as a gift – it’s definitely how I’ve come to see it, as it forces you to do the work to grow. Otherwise life is just too damn uncomfortable, and we never really get to achieve all that our souls want is to. So here we go… BIRDY BIRDY First a little context. While studying herbal medicine a number of years ago, I was fortunate enough to live on a beautiful rural property… one that even had its own waterfall! It was pure Bliss 🙂 And every morning I would walk to the waterfall to sit on a rock perched high up top, and meditate. One spring morning, I can remember being particularly enchanted by all the gorgeous blossoming flowers, as well as all the insects, birds, and fruit trees. I was relishing in their colour, their form, and their beauty… and then a thought struck me! Why do we love love love the diversity of nature, and appreciate all that it offers us, and then turn around and expect everyone out there to be just like us, or there’s something wrong with them!??? Always forming little groups… you know, ‘birds of a feather flock together’… and really… it is great to hang out with like minded souls, as long as we are able to leave ‘judgement’ at the door when it comes to others. Otherwise, look around, it just becomes another excuse to manifest an ‘us’ and ‘them’ mindset. A separation mindset. And that just won’t do at all. It’s evolutionary probably, I get it – but as noted before, anxiety is often experienced by sensitive, creative souls… empaths if you will, and this is higher order stuff! Spiritual stuff. It’s almost as if we’re stuck in the middle of our evolutionary urges designed to keep us safe, and our evolving spiritual awareness and competence. And this us against them mentality is not always helped by media or social media. This gathering and ‘herding’ the masses in one direction or another is old magic. Scarily though, it seems to be becoming more prevalent… One way that you can disengage from this, is to consciously choose not to buy into ‘judgment of others’. Learn to let that go and be more free and easy with others – and you will – over time – become more free and easy with yourself, and by that I mean, less judgmental. Trust me on this! MINDFUL WALKING So here’s the fun bit… I want you to try a kind of creative mindfulness exercise, one that is directed by an open heart and an open mind (that part is very important!) Lets go… Mindful Walk The best way to walk is mindfully, otherwise you risk taking all of your ‘stressie thinking’ with you, arriving home just as tired and just as disgruntled as when you left, and having missed all the good stuff on the way! Ok, so this is easy when you don’t have any worries catching you up, so I am speaking to those times when you’re head is a mess. So shake it off, take a few breaths before you leave, and then step outside the door with a smile on your face… or on your liver if you like! (little eat, pray, love reference there ) And while your walking I want you to remember how much you love the differences in color, in size, in form, in smell and sound… within the natural world Flowers, trees, insects and birds… could you imagine the world if they all looked the same?? BORING! Keep this in mind as you come upon different people, see if you can open your heart and your mind, and view them with the exact same appreciation. In whatever way they choose to express themselves in that moment, celebrate it… smile and give thanks – for they are indeed an expression of the creative forces – just like you! Big hair, no hair; tattoos or no tattoos; orange, blue, black, brown, white, red, yellow skin; short skirts, long pants; ear-rings & piercings or...