Water Ritual Meditation

Spiritual Baths to Remove Negativity and Cultivate Play

Water

Savior

Destroyer

Healing

Overtaking

Relaxing

Turbulent

There are about a million ways to explore water in spiritual and energetic contexts. Perhaps you, like I where Baptized in water to ‘cleanse, purify’, and to 'brith’ you into a faith or state of being.

Water and water’s use in spiritual practice extends far beyond the limiting culture of Christianity and can be a deep and profound portal for healing and relaxation.

Collectively we were each nourished, fostered, and birth in the waters of the womb. (oh, btw, have you watched Sacred Waters on Netflix- It’s a must see if you enjoy hearing about empowered female sexuality and the waters of pleasure).

It should be no surprise that consciousness and the soul have SO MANY water analogies- a post for another day and time.

There are the actions and energies associated with water

Flowing

Sustaining,

Quenching,

Moving,

Churning,

Deepening

Flooding

Raining

And let’s not neglect the energies cared by water’s adjectives

Deep

Mysterious

Watery

Blue

Warm

Cool

Wet

Moist

Saturated

There is SO SO SO much to water- so how does one work with water to take a cleansing, rejuvenating, or spiritual bath?

 Here are my favorite steps:

1. Do a bit of research, and trust that what you are feeling most attracted to doing is the process that will help you the most. For the record: ALMOST EVERY RELIGION and tradition has sacred rites involving water. Which ones are connected to your heritage or which do you feel called to honor (not appropriate)? Take time to give to those creators, wisdom keepers, and vendors your attention and support. In your journal you might choose to start your bath by writing about what water means to you, the intentions you bring for this bath, and what you ways you are seeking the flow of play or the removal of difficulty.

2. Begin running your water.

3. Pick a meditation to do or journal as your water fills about what your intentions for the bath are. My favorite prompts are: what messages does the running water have for me? What ways can I let go today?

4. Put on relaxing music or a mediation track of your choosing (need, help: I got you with this 15 minute meditation).

5. Add any of the following to the bath

   1. Epsom Salt- pour about 2-3 cups of epsom salt into a tub full of water that feels comfortable to you. Epsom relaxes sore muscles, draws out toxins, and helps to ground and clear the energetic body.

   2. Lavender- the ultimate relaxing herb- I like to boil mine from lavender plants and then add to the bath water once they’ve reached a comfortable temperature. Lavender essential oils are great too. Lavender helps the body and mind find calm and ease.

   3. Burdock root- this plant is seriously my go-to’s for healing, release of negativity, and skin soothing. You can forage burdock just about anywhere and use the roots to make a tea to add to the bath- or you can buy some pre-dried roots to make tea from. I highly recommend Mountain Rose Herbs for sourcing good Burdock. Boil a cup or two, add it to the bath and steep yourself in this nurturing plant.

   4. Crystals (to place alongside the tub)- Be careful not to add the crystals to the water because selenite and others easily disintegrate in water. Not only are they beautiful, but many can aid in helping to foster self love, ease, and detox- my favs are rose quartz and Fluorite.

6.  Get in the tub, take 5-6 deep breaths, and allow the water to pull any unwanted negativity or stress from your body and energy field.

7. If you found any processes in 1. incorporate and explore ❤️.

8. Once you feel clear, allow yourself to ask for help with your intentions, from adding play to your life, to removing negativity- and allow yourself to feel the support of the water.

9. Once you feel totally at ease you can linger here or go ahead and drain the water- setting the intention that the water, in entering it’s creative cycle with the universe- return energy, love, and play to you.

Personal Share: My experience with the ocean and it’s ability to clear things from my life and mind.

Perhaps it is the promise of unknowable depths, the analogies that can be made from life to death to inspiration, and so many more, or maybe its simply the way it sounds like my breath- Whatever the many reasons: the ocean is my reflecting pool.

Many topics have risen, fallen, crashed, and repeated as I’ve listened to the waves this past week.  I lost and gained so much in a single year. I’ve also listened to record number of oceans from the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and Carribean Sea.

In this year’s time I grieved Bessie (my beloved doggo), discovered the delight of my singing voice, endured hardships, created lasting improvements in my home, sustained, nourished and encouraged a community of swing dancers, created and displayed my art, taught others to make art, lead a group trip to India, dove further into the depths of myself- the parts that seem beneath the surface, and dug parts of my garden with my own hands.

I’m still learning every day to flow around and with change. It can be hard to release stuck and stubborn ideas and indoctrination. There are parts of society that are oppressive and threatening.  The ocean seems to help, moving away the sand beneath my feet and depositing fresh shells and seaweed around my ankles.

I see things new, returning, reminiscent, fresh and I allow myself to feel more of it. It seems intuitive, going with the flow, centering around what is important and allowing opportunities to rise and energize me. These reflections never lose their potency, I am forever in a different place when I arrive and when I leave. The persistence of the ocean- the difference in each wave, the smells of salt, sunscreen and pineapple. I am closer to myself.

Escaping the Isle of Circe

"[Circe] will not be able to charm you, for the virtue of the herb that I shall give you will prevent her spells from working."...As he spoke he pulled the herb out of the ground and showed me what it was like. The root was black, while the flower was as white as milk” Mercury to Odysseus in the Odessy. Online translation from Samuel Butler (1835-1902) (full text here)

Behold, Mullein. Native to Europe, Asain, Africa, and South American and introduced to North America along trade routes. Some scholars believe a variety of her was given to Odysseus by the God Mercury before he landed tired and desperate with his men onto the luxurious isle of goddess/witch Circe. The plant was to be used as a guiding light to wake Odysseus up from the hypnotic and comforting feasts and pleasures of Circe’s home where he and his men where lulled into complacency (and turned into animals) stalling their progress for over a year.

The Journey of Odysseus is a symbolic and meaning rich work of fiction that we can look at as a symbol for our own journey of consciousness.

What does the isle of Circe and Mullein tell us about consciousness?

• -That comfort can be numbing?

• -That transformations (good and bad) happen to us when we are distracted by the hypnotic, comforting, seductive routines, people, and experiences we encounter?

• -That staying too long in ease can halt progress?

“The Sorceress Circe,” oil painting by Dosso Dossi, c. 1530; in the Borghese Gallery, Rome

SCALA/Art Resource, New York

Maybe- but the lover of abundance, play, and ease in me knows better:

All beings deserve comfort and they do not inherently stall out progress- in fact, abundance is necessary- So what is this story really helping us to understand about the journey of awareness towards it's goals and intentions?

Let’s consider the concept of comfort for a moment.

Have you ever noticed that sometimes your ingrained programing and habits are of comfort to you? With both good and bad results?

Personal Example

A few years ago I quit my job as a full time professor and took a year off so I could separate myself from my comforting patterns of over-giving, striving to meet other’s expectations, validating myself based on my productivity, being in a position that gave me authority, making art work that was primarily about getting into shows or into collections, and excepting less than what was a livable income for work that was actually breaking my back. The ‘comfort’ trap of that job transformed me into a person with a broken body, little sense of self, and a drained wallet.

🖤🖤🖤The weird thing was, quitting didn’t lesson the impact of those comfort zone habits.🖤🖤🖤

I only knew how to be comfortable when I was stressed out.

Allowing myself to be JUST AS I WAS- without doing or producing anything was deeply strange and unnerving for me, a step into the unknown.

However, for the first three months of my year off I attempted create comfort and knowns by staying busy- because the spell of the familiar, the isle of Circe is hard to escape. Until one day, after getting deported from India (yep) and processing the grief that my plans to become a Yoga teacher were going to have to wait a full year- I finally woke up to my pattern and realized that I would have to ‘suffer’ through 3 months of unknown nothingness and that was the way out.

I sat on my porch for days, doing nothing and feeling lost. I journaled. I meditated. I cried. I finally addressed my uneasiness with stillness, with simply being. That’s when everything opened up for me, and my journey found a new pathway. My fire of awareness lit my way out of the comfort and into a new and more vivid future, with better patterns and comforts.

Disappointment was my saving Mullein torch.

Practice

Today- I’d like you to light a red, white, or blue candle, or Mullein torch if it’s handy.

Mullein torchers where used by romans and also were popular with miners in the middle ages because they create a clean, lasting flame (that smells sweet and lasts hours) to guide them in dark places. Odysseus escapes Circe by eating the Mullein and forcing her to transform his men back to their human forms. They leave the Isle and continue their odyssey. You can find more about the medicinal uses of Mullein here- it grows all over America and can be foraged and made into a torch of your own. (You can also source them on Etsy).

Reflection and Candle Practice

Light your candle, maybe even sit at your altar if you have one, or any space that is sacred to you.

🕯Is there something you feel stuck in?

🕯Is there a pattern like mine that you are ready to let go of?

🕯Are there things that are normal for you or your society that are actually harmful when they become patterns or habits?

🕯Are there things you want to do that feel big, scarry, or unfamiliar to you?

Imagine bringing the light of the candle or your Mullein torch into the darkness of your subconscious.

Sit for a few minutes breathing energy to this flame.

Allowing the light to illuminate parts of you that are comforting patterns. Become aware.

❤️What would steeping into something new and unknown allow for you?❤️

Open your eyes- staying in this energy pick up your pen for a reflection.

Journal

🕰What patterns are keeping me in my own Isle of Circe?

🕰How will my making a step into the unknown benefit me and others?

🕰What can I start doing now to let this go?

🕰What feels like a PLEASUREABLE not PUNISHING way to let this go?

🕰What is a way I could affirm my dignity, worth, and being during this process?

Closing

When you are done, thank the light from your candle or Mullein then snuff or blow it out.

Yours in lighting a path through the labyrinth.

Surprises and Challenges from the Universe

Does anyone else feel like the universe is just fucking with them sometimes?

I recently did an abstract art reading where Italy sort of formed itself into the paint. It’s melted wax intuitively applied and fused with the survace- Usually these messages are about the energies the group I read for will be in each month and how to support and celebrate those experiences. (the group btw, is my Patreon group- which you can check out and get art readings from here if that sounds nourishing to you) at https://www.patreon.com/GettinIntuit

When I picked up the paper all I saw was Italy- It’s that bit in red- and I was like, “wtf does Italy have to do with this reading and why is it showing up here?” So I honored it by recording: “This month’s energy somehow involves Italy and I don’t know why”: and then I proceeded to channel what I considered to be the ‘real’ reading. Turns out that part was also super accurate for me too- but more on that in a bit.

I then dated the reading done in June for Sept (I do them 4 months in advance) and then uploaded it so it would be emailed to me and the group the first week of each month.

And then I forgot about the reading until, at the end of the month I was called to go on a family emergency trip to collect my aunt from Italy.  Turns out, the trip effected everyone in the group because I had to withdraw focus and support from what I was doing professionally- and the rest of the reading kicked into resonance as well.

I normally would have been terrified to travel during covid- I’m not a hypocondriack, but let’s just say I don’t really leave the house much. It felt comforting to feel like traveling was going to be ok because of the message. 

I think this is the beautiful thing about intuitive work- We will often get clues for the experiences we need to have, and the things we need to heal- It’s our job to honor them and take action on them despite not being specific (or being oddly specific when we can’t be sure it’s going to occur’)-

I think people have the impression that only “clear, specific, verifiable” messages are “valid” and this isn’t true. If it’s a premonition it might sound impossible because it hasn’t happened yet. Imagine if we thought all intuitive workers must have specific information to be ‘real’: like if every mystic, spiritualist, or intuitive out there was only good based on how ‘exact’ their readings wouldn’t all of them need to be rich AF for us to trust them- because they could just channel where to make investments- but very rarely is some guide or deity or energy, or whatever it is you think you are working with going to be like “take out a pen, I’m about to give you lottery numbers.”  (made a super hilarious video about this on insta)

Where I stayed in Lucca, Italy

It takes a lot of bravery to speak something weird or specific or that you initially doubt out into the world - Either to speak it to yourself or to share it, like I did in a professional capacity - but let me tell you- when it’s coming through, and it’s real- there isn’t a more comforting feeling of purpose. 

*So get out there and speak your weirdness into the world.*

Since the reading was so specific- I kept going. I ended up in Italy and I ended up healing with and working with a lot of the energy that was part of the rest of the September reading. If you are interested, similar energetic work is continuing into October so I’ll share it with you here:

Each of us now is being asked to see what we consume and to look at the ways that our consumption spreads us thin this month. - 

Are we healing or hurting?

Are we being asked to do more?

Is there a way we can SPEAK OUT about what is happening, not just within us but also in the world around us.

There is pressure rising this month for more than lip service- for real action- but for a beginning that starts with talking- a beginning that starts with hearing- a beginning that may even feel painful.

And we move through it, because we are healing.

Take September to be extra mindful of the power of your hungers, your consumption, your words, and the impacts that they have.

Take September to be extra mindful of outside hungers, are you being consumed, what is the impact of other’s words on your interior.

Align yourself with actions, though they may open wounds- that ultimately will create a healing effect in areas long yearning for healing.

The message was intense for me, because I’ve been working on healing my feeling of ‘outsider’-ness around the strange and ‘intuitive’ experiences I have. I’ve also been balancing how I wanted to share those things with others in a professional as well as personal capacity. Essentially I’ve been working on helping myself feel a sense of community and belonging while learning to accept that I can be WEIRD and accepted.

This process started happening along with the Mercury retrograde- and I thought I was doing pretty good working with my inner child on acceptance, attention, and celebration in a professional as well as personal capacity- but boy did traveling bring up themes of familial and social belonging and still unresolved hungers for things like affirmation and acceptance.

Some of the way my attention is pulled is through intuitive ‘pings’. If you are also an intuitive you know what it’s like to receive intuitive downloads or messages that you know are going to be upsetting. I’m a big fan of intuitive development because it allows us sensitive critters (and btw intuition is something we all have access to) to better discern what is coming in from anxiety, our own personal experience, spiritual sources, what energies might be around us, and what is ethical to share or not share.

I am also neurodivergent- (diagnosed as an adult, which also included learning all the ways the symptoms manifested in my childhood and wow 😮). As such I have become fairly accustom to my behaviors and communication style being something, well, unusual to others. Recognizing this, and starting to have support to deliver on my unique needs has been a big part of my healing process. I couldn’t do that if I was always only looking at how successful I was/am, and not what that has cost me to do or the ways both healthy and unhealthy that I've learned to deal with dopamine regulation issues.

Self love almost always starts in a relentless honesty and awareness of what is happening both within and around oneself.

When I got home from the traveling I was challenged to express my own discomfort with a situation I did not consent to and that was arguably an unnecessary potential covid exposure to a large group. When I did express my unease and ask for safety measures I was told that I wasn’t allowed to be uncomfortable because I had been willing to risk traveling abroad- and that the situation was going to happen if I wanted it or not, in the way that others though was ok without acknowledgment that safer options where available or that it was affecting my emotional state.

And literally every fiber of my being was screaming both in discomfort, fear, and abandonment, not to mention being told to fuck off when what I needed was safety, information, and greater consideration of the situation.

I initially did what I have learned is the only thing I can do- I retreated and started self care triage. I got to mourn and release how this was a repeat experience for much of my childhood, and a big reason why CONSENT, honestly, and self care are so important to me today. They are my hungers, my focus, my passions and my priorities- and the pursuit of them has shaped much of my life and continue to be strong values for me.

Take September to be extra mindful of the power of your hungers, your consumption, your words, and the impacts that they have.

Take September to be extra mindful of outside hungers, are you being consumed, what is the impact of other’s words on your interior.

Perhaps you also grew up in a house hold where words where chosen for you- or where you felt like you needed to perform to others expectations of you in order to feel loved, validated, accepted and safe. Maybe violations of your needs where well meaning but hurtful because they were based on values you did not share for me, something like “To be a good person you have to go to church” was valued over the needs of the child who was literally hiding to keep from having to that abusive, scary, judgmental and uncomfortable place. Any attempts to point out when a situation was unhealthy, uncomfortable, or impossible for me where interpreted as “rebellion” or “disobedience” or “familial betrayal” and where shamed. Outside words could masquerade as helpful “you are smart” easily becomes “why didn’t you score better on this test”. Perhaps for you outside words sounded something like this “Why can’t you just pay attention?.” Maybe it was character assassination when you tried to express needs that no one wanted to hear or no one had the emotional maturity to know how to deal with “you are so needy”, “you talk to much” or one of my favorites “you are such an ungrateful brat”. The last one was hurled at me whenever I protested going to church-

I take it as a sign of my healing that I was able to feel good about staying in a convent (yep) and going to daily mass while I was in Italy- without the need to point out to everyone the church’s hypocrisy without feeling like the 8pm curfew (most restaurants open for dinner at 7:30pm) was limiting. The difference for me now is choice and peace. I am at peace with all religions and spiritual practices being flawed because it is through our imperfections that we come to greater truths. There is freedom in having the choice, now, to participate how, where, and when I feel called. I can find ways to make an 8pm curfew and still have a 5 course meal (for lunch). I can tolerate other’s differing believes because I understand the concept of truth is not mutually exclusive and contradiction can exist and is healthy. I am able to love and accept with more of my heart.

This is what spiritual practice and self care give us.

In recognizing what is coming up for us, and allowing the energy of the emotion to arise we begin to heal. After years of feeling like I could use logic to contain or regulate my emotions I am finally learning to let them out all the way. I literally locked myself in a room and spent an entire day of my trip crying, feeling sorry for the child who always felt ignored, wrong, and too much, and validating that was a completely reasonable pattern to develop given the circumstances and my neurodiversity. Weather or not emotional abandonment and judgement where intended they were the effect I learned- it was the emotional reality I lived much of my life in. (Another time we’ll have to talk about how the brain is expert at taking our emotional reality and ‘seeing it’ or ‘validating it’ in the world around us and how to step out of that).

And now, as an adult I get to be aware of that. I get to hold myself now when I cry. I get to be the wise adult who understands and hears the big emotions. I am the healed person who knows the steps to peace. I get to hear myself. I get to discover what would actually help me. And I get to express myself. This is my “beginning that starts with talking- a beginning that starts with hearing- a beginning that may even feel painful.”

And because I told you earlier in this article that I’ve been working on healing my sense of community and acceptance- during my trip, in September, and now continuing into October I am sharing out loud more about my reality and experiences. I am speaking so much compassion into myself and my life.

Doing so has had surprising healing results, and I’ve seen growth from people who I didn’t expect growth from, and that too, has affirmed one of the healing mantra’s I’ve been working: “I live in an abundant and supportive world where change is possible”. I continue to trust others with my emotions by sharing them and I am finally receiving proof that the affirmations I use are true.

Align yourself with actions, though they may open wounds- that ultimately will create a healing effect in areas long yearning for healing.

With that I’d love to share with you a few more of the affirmations I use- I encourage you to repeat them to yourself when you feel the opposite.

“I am heard”

“I am loved”

“I belong”

“I have everything I need”

“I am healing, healed, a healer”

“It is safe to me to share, and when I do, I allow myself to feel connected and heard, even if that is not the way others treat me”

“I seek to discover what my values are, and I celebrate the way they manifest in my actions and speech”.

Sending you so much love and awareness on your healing journey.

What You Can Ask For When You are Wanting “Support”.

Almost everyone can tell you what pisses them off, hurts their feelings or makes them upset- 

We can all go on an hour monologue on the things we’d change about our lives, jobs, or relationships but when asked what we need to resolve it most people will say something like ‘I know I need something to change, but I don’t know what to ask for’. 

 (not into reading? watch (or listen) to a discussion on this topic on Instagram)

Fewer people can answer specifically the question  “What do I actually need AND what do I truly want that doesn’t depend on someone else to provide it”.  Not in the exploitative ‘doesn’t depend on someone else to provide’ way of saying “since you mentioned that you are experiencing systematic injustice- you are now responsible for fixing the whole system”- (which btw is what we do culturally to whistle blowers and BIPOC constantly and we need to at a minimum become aware of that). I mean the question more in the way of “what can I do now to assess and deliver on my own needs so I can show up and choose a path of acceptance, resistance, or revolution that is in alignment with me, my values, and how I contribute to society.

So if you are looking for ‘things to ask for’ to help you start stepping down a more empowered path when you are re-parenting, chatting with a friend, or hosting a healing circle. 

Here is a very short and incomplete list of things I find helpful to ask for when I’m in need. This list in meant to help you expand awareness of what you might desire- you may want a mix of any of these. If you are doing this for someone in your life or your group asking them what they are looking for, needing, or wanting is 100% required before trying any of the questions or phrases.

1.     Validation. When you want your emotional response to be heard or honored: “Its understandable that you are feeling that way.” “That’s a totally understandable response to that situation.” 

2.     Resonance. Hearing that other people have been through this too and you are not alone. “I have been in a similar situation to that” or “I have experienced that too” “I feel (or have felt) something like what you are describing.”

3.     Witnessing: Asking that your story be received without judgement or response. “I hear you.” “You are heard” “Thanks for sharing” (pro tip- don’t tell someone their story was ‘brave’ that is a positive judgment - yes, praise is also a judgement)

4.     Connection/Touch: Physical connection (proximity, leaning on, sitting back to back, holding hands, hugging, spooning etc *must be consensual* Touchless connection: Looking into each other’s eyes or directly at the camera in zoom, sharing food or singing 

5.     Options or Solutions: When someone is looking for ‘fixes’, ‘recommendations’, or ‘advice’ (giving advice can create unnecessary hierarchies if the giver of the advice needs to have their advice followed or ‘valued by action’ or when the situation calls for advice from a QUALIFIED PROFESSIONAL and the giver is not one).  When specific this can be helpful to folks and great in groups because of the variety of experience levels and exposures to topics.  ‘In the past this worked for me’ or ‘I know a great resource on this topic’  ‘Here is where to find more information’

6.     Perspective expansion: “Have you ever considered…” “What if….” “From my perspective I notice” 

7.     Mirroring: Repeating or summarizing so the person can hear what they said from the outside “I heard you say you were upset.” “You explained a difficult situation and what you are planning to do about it.” Etc

8. Added by Dawn Michelle (a good friend) Brainstorming: where you can ask yourself what needs to flow out and document it or when you can poll a group or friend on their initial brainstorm reactions to get examples of how you might feel when there’s too much in your head and you just need to pull it out and see the connections or get responses.

I know these aren’t the only options out there- but they are a few and they are ones that I have found the most useful and healing in 1:1 coaching and in groups.

Hardly ever do people needing support actually want advice or resources. More often, when we are truly helping someone discover their truth and know themselves, their values, and their boundaries we are asking leading questions and being present for whatever comes forward. 

So, next time you are feeling something big, you can ask what do I need to feel supported and to be present for myself today? Visit the list, see what you can give yourself and see if there is someone you could ask or hire to help you. 

potential and values

Does unrealized potential overwhelm or inspire you?

Years ago, when I was getting some bad news, I sat with my mentor, psychologist, and now friend identifying what my top values and priorities where. 

❤️Values keep up us steady when the world is reeling around us.

❤️Values direct us when we are looking for what the future holds.

❤️Values give us a reason - our why and purpose. 

At the time I was being passed over for a promotion (thank Goddess I was) because being the head of department would have filled my wallet but bankrupted me from time I would have invested in my art, in healing my body, and in developing spiritually. My desire for this position it let me know my values:

❤️I love teaching. It’s incredible to see what happens when unrealized potential meets skill development and opportunity (hello to how I structure my courses ). There is nothing like encouraging others and being part of their growth and eventual success. I love being challenged and inspired by the potential in each person I meet and serve. I love teaching. 

What ways do you continue to circle certain opportunities and in what ways do those show you something you love?

I still remember my advisors smile when we were discussing my love for teaching: “So,” she said “altruistic joy is your greatest value”. As most things go when you are working with Dr. Rebecca Martin - when I looked at my life - altruistic joy has and continues to be one of the single biggest motivators for me. I seek and receive it in so many parts of my life. 

❤️The second primal value for me, simply put is self-exploration.  I am driven by the continual uncovering, knowing, and expressing of the self. From its movements in dance, to its spiritual depths, to its artistic expressions - I love everything self-expression, self-development, self-discovery and I love hearing other’s express themselves too. There is so much variety and depth in who we are. 

Do you know your motivating forces? Those are two of mine- self-discovery and altruism. Maybe yours are service or wisdom or organization or leadership or healing?

And as I sat with Dr. Martin that day, I began recognizing the voices that call from within: I began understanding and questioning how to realize these potentials, purposes, and motivations in my life. I also felt the call and pressure of unrealized potential arising.  What to do with all these new ideas flowing to me? How to bring things into reality? How to take guided risks? How to be brave enough to pursue my true desires? It was still 5 years before I felt safe to leave academia and to start asking how I could teach, encourage, and explore on my own terms and in way that serves others.

If you are reading this, or if you are on my mailing list you’ve been witnessing a very large part of my journey into the unrealized potentiality. You are witnessing my values becoming and transforming into experiences: podcast episodes, emails, healing practices, meditations, blog posts, coaching, group courses, artwork, dancing, videos, and the occasional remodel projects. Thank you for being here!

Recently I’ve been feeling like things are coming together and I’ve also been feeling called to share more, to share altruistic joy, and to help others craft better learning environments. 

✨I believe that teaching and taking courses, affirms our faith in a better future and starts to create a better, wiser world. 

✨I believe that teaching creates opportunities and stimulates the growth we crave. 

✨I believe that putting together courses and sharing what each of us has learned is a radical, beautiful, and generous act that takes us even deeper into who we are as individuals and who we can be collectively.

In other words, I believe in sharing authentically and in doing good in the world. 

Maybe you believe something like this too? Maybe your a course developer and would like some help or healing with the teaching element of it? (click here to read more)

I’d love to hear about your journey and values unfolding. Sending you so much love, joy, and play on your sacred adventure. 

planning with Tarot

One of my favorite ways to create my monthly, daily, and weekly schedules and tasks is tarot- ⁠

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Sometimes reading cards is the creative push I need⁠ or a catalyst to remind to include rest as well as work in my schedule.

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Occasionally I’ll draw a big energy card or a couple of big cards (like the tower or death or 10 of swords or something primal like the moon). When I draw ‘big cards’- even ‘big optimistic’ cards- (like the 4 of wands or the 10 of pentacles) I plan to give myself extra time off that day. ⁠

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What the card would suggest as the ‘future’ doesn’t it always happen...for example the tower, death or 10 of swords doesn’t always mean that something will come up that is difficult, depressing, or needing transformation on those days. Sometimes it does, but not always- The cards call me to consider that my REST might be the transformation being called for, the inward turning, the primal force and the catalyst for letting go of, say, to do lists: and in that way- and many other ways, I delight in using Tarot to guide my scheduling and planning. ⁠

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What are you working on today? How are you planning? How do you use your Tarot or Oracle cards?⁠

Becoming Psychic

Who do you think you are?

Who are you?

 Who are you inquiries about the nature of your being-

 Who do you think you are suggests that there is a gap between who you Think you are and who you are Being. There can also be gaps between who you are being and who others think you are allowed to be. 

There is so much in this dynamic. 

 And how much does/has this impression become internal for (me)us?

What we are thought of by society shapes how others treat us. 

It can shape how we treat ourselves. 

The way we think, the way we love, the choices we make. 

When we become aware of all the thoughts between us and our being. Both externally and internally we start stepping into our freedom- we can begin consciously choosing both.

Who are you?

Who do you think you are?

For a long time I have avoided talking about some of the things I would categorize as ‘extra’ about me. I have limited my being.

These have included simple things like”

• “Knowing” just what someone needs to hear and ‘accidentally’ arriving there at just the right moment to give voice what needed to be heard-

• helping a student shift to a healthier life path and out of struggle

• knowing when to call a suffering friend

• connecting dancers to each other and the music without self-doubt

• creating art that drives questions and provides visual pleasure

It would be easy to call any of these skills common place, and for a long time I just assumed I was empathetic and could help transformation happen so profoundly because I too knew the state they were in. But then there is and was always more and it can be hard to talk about that ‘extra’ because of the ‘who do you think you are’ element.  

I wrote a lot post earlier this year, unpacking all the ways I have owned or disavowed my intuitive faculties, what some might call abilities- because of the assumptions, doubt, and stigma so much associated with intuition. 

Chicanery

Showmanship

Cheating

Liaring

Predatory behavior

God & Power used to manipulate

I don’t want to be mistrusted. I definitely don’t need to call on the supernal to defend my thoughts or actions or to take power from another. I do not want to be seen as fake, a liar, one who would preys on the weak-and I don’t fancy guilt by association.  

Yesterday I had a god awful headache. My head swelled with noise. Actually, it felt like I was vibrating- I almost couldn’t focus my eyes. Everything was extra. It was too much. I got almost nothing done. I’m starting to recognize a specific pattern to my migraines- They occur on days when I have been doubting or ignoring or judging or putting into a box something that is more than typical reality: Some that craves feeling and doing and cannot be tamed by knowing and defining. 

In this cacophony a voice arrived in my head, saying his name was Paul and that he was there to support one of my clients who was getting another type of service from me. And I immediately did not want to tell this client about Paul.

And here is where my migraines start. I do not want to be wrong. I do not want to share for fear of not being right, being a fake medium.  I feel like that’s what it seems like when you tell folks you are psychic or a medium or intuitive. You are lying or you are crazy- Horton Hears a Who comes awfully close to how I feel like this information is received by the world. I openly wept the first time I saw that movie. And Paul’s voice seemed fleeting to me, hard to hold on to and he went away the moment I started engaging my resistant dialog- not me, someone else can do this for you- any one but me.

(cue Alanis Morissete’s Isn’t It Ironic-because hahahah I’m an intuitive practitioner)

That ship has sailed. 

I am coming to realize that intuition, though navigable, is an awful lot like a ship on the ocean- you know where you are going, you can know the bit of sea you are privy too but there is so much both below and beyond that is simply not accessible in it’s entirety to the singular human awareness and a singular time and space. I can’t imagine the headache my body would conjure when reconciling that one. 😘

Before Covid when I was still getting my sea legs I felt like I was being guided to paint in the park. I had other things that needed to be done that day but I felt like I needed to leave what I was doing and paint in the park- I had a growing headache so why not fill my eyes with color and my body with fresh air and sunshine?! The urge to paint in the park was odd to me- who did I think I was to paint there. I went to the park anyways and started painting a row of trees. After some time a man sat down at my picnic table and weep while telling me that his wife had just died and she was a painter and it made him feel comforted to see me painting at the table she used to sit at. 

 That was an extra experience.

It’s too much to call co-incidence and yet what do you do with this?

How do you explain it’s authenticity? When do you stop resisting? 

Who do you think you are?

Who are you?

I’m still not sure how to declare to the world what I do. I’m also clearly still learning how not to resist messages, because migraines aren’t exactly walks in the park and Tylenol isn’t effective when the issue isn’t biology. I’m still learning to soften around trusting my messages and knowing that sharing is the main way to do that. 

My sister asked me recently what I do. I told her I connect people with their spirituality so they can heal and understand themselves and believe that their lives have purpose. I am still formulating clearer and clearer words for this- a main reason why you’ll continue seeing my growth through this website and it’s offerings. For now, I like to say that I am living with my ears and my eyes open and a heart full of healing. I am living knowing the vast spectrum of spirit, of god, of the moment of love and divinity in each of us. I am holding a torch for others to light theirs from, in the hopes that there will be a world where we live and feel by truths un-shadowed by social doubt, with out the gap between who we are and who we think we are.

It’s not all migranes either. 

When Patrick (my hubs) and I were caught in the maelstrom of moving I woke up feeling sad and lost about leaving the thriving plants in our yard. My mother had given me peonies what were given to her by my grandmother. I’ll have to post sometime about gardening and heritage but for now: I had also planted lilacs- which I adore the smell of and which my mother picked for her wedding bouquet from my grandmother’s yard. I think sometimes about how lucky she was they were in bloom for just that specific day- nature is so abundantly supportive.

I was feeling sorry for myself and feeling a migraine coming on. So I sat down on in the August heat picked up my typewriter and typed the following letter. It seemed hilariously grandiose to me at the time and parts made no sense but the tap’tap’tap’ding’ of the act seemed to soothe my head. 

“When I brought you forth into the world my dear I had forged you, warm, living from earth and sky- with wells of water sustaining. 

You were like a book, already written with pages not yet read. A wonderous mass of experience waiting to happen with all that is and lost set forth both emerging and completed. 

You are on a page so dear now. A new chapter. A new beginning yet you already know what is in store. You have been reading ahead. Yet it is for you to do so. To more forward confident that you have everything you need to know to feel secure and you have all the tools you need to deal with those things that will arise before you and move you to growth. 

For you are my most beloved. She who I seek and is sought. You are grace my child and it radiates before you like blankets of yellow flowers in the Kentucky spring. 

Do you know, I send those beauties before you even now. That you may remember and know what you are loved. And though you must wait for their arrival. They will strike you as wonderous love. As the way life flows around you. For we are the generous now.”

I looked at the letter written in the steamy summer and thought it was odd. I folded it up and tucked it somewhere and I forgot about it. We moved to a house with a seemly barren yard- coated in ice.

As spring came, I remembered the words as the yellow flowers bloomed on the train track near my house. I felt thankful. In my yard the bleeding hearts rose, peonies, lilly of the valley, forsythia, clematis, and knockout roses joined them. Everything was waiting for me, already here except the lilacs, which are apparently popular in Massachusetts. Lilacs taunted me in all my neighbors’ yards. I stepped off the sidewalk and buried my head in lilacs remembering smells from home- but still feeling like I lost a connection with my history. 

And then, like a miracle- three of the bushes in my yard which had initially appeared to be burning bushes erupted with lilac blooms a full month after the neighbor’s lilacs had lost their last. I am still processing the way I feel about this. Patrick almost chopped them down to get more light on the new raised beds! 😳

When I was carrying stacks of boxes around the house the same week the letter dropped out and I read it again understanding what wonderous love meant. 

This is the way we are intended to live our lives ya’ll. In full knowledge that we are cared for with miracles and signs and connection blooming around us.  We are and can be more connected than we may ever know and each of us has a profound way to be of service.

What speaks to you?

What calls you?

Are you willing to listen?

What do you give your voice to?

How will you serve?

If you made it all the way to the end of these thoughts. I hope my story invites you to soften around who you are and who you think you are so you can claim all that is meant for you. For you too are desired, beloved, that which seeks and that which is sought. 

Vision and Awareness

How many of us really get the chance to look within, to see 👀 those structures that support or thwart?

This is an X Ray of my lower back during my 'injury'

Before meditation

Before self awareness

Before spiritual development

Before I understood, loved, and accepted the fullness of who I was(am) there was achievement: awards, jobs, wins but also injury.

I was overworked, unsupported and I was striving to succeed so that I could be seen and *maybe* 😳 one day appreciated, supported and compensated, even while my body was protesting with messages of pain 😰. I didn't know I could stop, that healing was on the other side of a break- beyond the paused needed to see within.

This early X Ray- though fascinating in it's spectral beauty and revealing- like all things outside myself- was not sufficient to uncover or reveal the extent of the fracture which took 4 years, 6 MD's, a high resolution MRI, 4 PT's, and a meditation teacher to find and begin healing.

Sometimes when we look within what we really need to see isn't with our eyes- it's what we need to feel, what we need to accept about ourselves, and often what we most reject.

I was telling myself that overworking and striving were the only path to get what I felt I needed. Like many who have grown up in the US I equated work with security, success with affirmation and I saw acceptability as a trade for supressing those bits of myself I felt or learned were wrong, strange, or unacceptable.

I couldn't have been further from the truths which I was about to discover during the search to heal the 'break' still not visible in this photo...🪔That in a post capitalist society there are plenty who consume without concern or return of what it was costs another to give (the adjunct professor life but hello anti-maskers, climate deniers, far right coup members etc). 💰That producing to please this system will likely (at least for me) result in more emptiness and even more reasons to strive, fail, and ignore what needs to be seen.👀

It is in accepting and cultivating within what I truly desire: love, acceptance, security, belonging- that I finally am (was) able to feel them- and heal.

What horizons are you seeing through and beyond?

Have you ever noticed how brining your attention to something immediately changes it?⁠

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This is an 'opened specimen' from a series of enamel on copper pieces I made (waaaaay back in the sculpture days). ⁠

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I've always find it fascinating how looking into something feels vulnerable but also beautiful. ⁠

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I love how using our eyes to 'look' helps us 'seek' and 'see'- but have you also notice how it alters or changes that which it studies. ⁠

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Like when you dissect something you are immediately further from the truth and life of the being because you've changed it from it's natural state. ⁠

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This can be applied to our benefit when we look into things we want to change or shift- like say- our pain or fears- or even positive things, like our goals. ⁠

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When I'm stuck in an unhelpful thought pattern- like doubting myself, my work, or my relationships (hello anxiety), it can be off putting to be told that the way through might lie in going INTO the emotion or thought- in being present with it- in opening it up- ⁠

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And in doing so, rather than being forever lost or sunken in the feeling- I often find the feeling shifts- it changes- without my having to actively change it. ⁠

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I remain in awe of how immense the power of our awareness and sight are- and how interesting and exciting I find it to explore these concepts through art- which aids in the envisioning and call to deeper contemplation process. ⁠

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What ways do you turn inward? What elements do you find helpful in 'seeing' yourself. In what ways do you find yourself changed or able to shift when you bring your attention or awareness to what you are doing?⁠

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If art speaks to you too, I'd love to hang out during the free art workshop this week. Sign up here.

Art is an incredible way to pause and to contemplate how mysterious and interconnected we are:⁠

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body, mind and spirit⁠

self and world⁠

earth and sun⁠

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It's something that being in injury, working as an artist, and now being in the healing arts has given me- but it's also something that has been showing up in my art for a long time.⁠

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This is a drawing and paper cut mounted on red paper from a triptych called "Systems, Knots, and Ligatures"⁠

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What do you see here? What wisdom does image hold for you? What connection points do you find interesting in your life?

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I’d love to guide and encourage you in making a bit of playful, no experience needed, epically inquisitive Cosmic Art.

The instructions and event links start this week. Replays are available via email. Show up to your degree of comfort. Check it out here.

Magic won’t save you

Magic isn’t going to save you. 

Look, I know you’ve been praying, lighting candles, casting spells, making offerings at the new and full moon, reading your tarot every day and you have received so much Reiki that you’re pretty sure you have become a portal for the divine itself but that shit you’ve been asking for still hasn’t shown up. 

Hard truth- it might be you.

Magic isn’t real if you don’t believe in yourself and the possibility of you achieving your goals enough to take action on those ‘super’ natural things in your life. Any goal is ‘super’ natural really- because if it was completely natural, you’d already have it- it would be a natural result of your natural being. 

Maybe it’s an intuition that you should start a business

Maybe it’s a feeling that you’ll meet your soul mate soon

Maybe it’s simply the hope that you’ll get to see friends and family again

Magic is real it’s a powerful guiding light and a process that must be LIVED. Magic is the moment when you get into the vibration of what you want and actually FEEL and BE your desire. Magic is when you surrender, when you pray- when you thank (god/universe/spirit) for it’s help and support. Magic is when you understand how your past brought you to this point and then when you TAKE ALIGNED ACTION.  Suddenly you see results- as if by magic.

Magic is the collaboration between the spiritual and physical- it’s the transformation, sometimes miraculous, of something (like effort + desire) with circumstance + opportunity into something else (results)! But what most people don’t talk about is this: you can’t magic your way into something in the material world without also taking action in the material world- even if the action is counter intuitive (for example meditating or visualizing versus spending endless hours in gargantuan effort). 

For example eating bonbons in bed while doing a weight loss spell isn’t going to result in weight loss alone.. but allowing those delicious bonbons to support you in feeling satisfied and pampered, releasing your need to numb with food and healing your relationships with it, and allowing yourself to step out of bed consciously living the vibration of being healthier 100% is going to get you results- #bringMeTheMagicBonBons.

In other words:  your power can’t get lost. Ever. It can’t go to the ‘wrong person’ or ‘not work’ it IS working already, when you are brave enough embody it. 

It and YOU are LIMITLESS. 

You are ABLE

You are Powerful

You are Magic. 

If all are your efforts are resulting in something you don’t want or nothing at all, perhaps it’s time to look a bit deeper into what you believe is possible and how you take aligned action.  

photo by Lauren Alexandra Photography

When what I was praying for wasn’t showing up:

I have, as you have read in other communications- been processing through my relationship to the unknown- to Magic- essentially. You could also say to spirit, god, the universe, my own creative abilities, and my own ‘energetic’ or spiritual gifts. 

It’s been an epic sort of adventure and I’ve realized in starting a business and setting some goals- most of which sound like this “the right people who need what I am offering find me” that there is more to my action that just me (that my goals require support) and that my actions matter when combined with attitude & release. To the degree that I am supported by the universe and have amazing relationships, friends, and clients the above statement has been true. 

But if I’m being honest, I wanted more. 

In fact, in the beginning, I couldn’t even GIVE my coaching and services away. At one point- I posted call after call of ‘free readings’ in exchange for a review- for what is now my most popular offering- and got CRICKETS. 

And then I remembered the important part of creating something, the transformation, the magic and alchemy- the part where I needed to BE someone with gifts, someone with clients, someone whose work has value, worth, and efficacy. And I had to examine ways that I was hiding- because I grew up thinking that psychics and spiritual workers where fakes or crazy, because I cared more about people thinking I was sane or rational that I did about the messages and services that wanted to come into the world through me, because I was afraid of what failing would mean about me. 

And so I failed. And then I changed and I succeeded. 

I got real with myself. Addressed my fears and took actions LIKE someone who is in demand, successful, and effective would take. Which meant- setting a monetary value for my work- only giving away what feels good to me and not punishing myself with loads of BUSY WORK- talking about my gifts, and giving myself and my work the respect it deserves. It also ment hiring HELP and taking courses on how to sell. Sure, all the answers are, were and continue to be inside of me but WOW does the re-covery/discovery/uncovering process go faster when you let someone help you figure shit out. 

It’s a continual journey. One I expect to allow joyfully to unfold. But as the year is coming to a close and I find myself wondering- did I do it? Did magic happen this year? – with March being when I finally set up GettinIntuit I want to share a few things with you that I think evidence the joy of what can happen when you step up and into to what you want.  

 This year I supported over 200 people in life transitions, in discovering themselves, in hearing their messages, in stepping out of anxiety, in dreaming and being MORE than they ever thought possible. 

 I moved across the country, re-set up my studio and home, bought and sold houses, cars, and technology, and started to make new friends…

I helped people see that you can be both RATIONAL and Spiritual. 

I stood for ethics in the spiritual community and facilitated conversations in online platforms and communities that needed to occur for the health of the community. 

I also made more art this year than any year of my life, including when I was in Graduate School for ART! And it flowed easily, joyfully and was inspired. None of it was made to please a critic, to be subject to grueling gallery standards, or to go unseen or unrecognized because for the first time in my life I put it out there myself- instead of waiting for the gallery to approach me, or the show deadline to motivate me. I made because I felt called to make and created my own audience for it. 

Lastly, and most profoundly- I started Mystical Spiritual Magical- to give seekers, thinkers, dreamers and stressed out folx a chance to see themselves and their lives through multiple spiritual lenses and to get real about how they are showing up for themselves and the world. To do, in essence the magic of the above. It’s a mix of theory, academics, and practices and I am learning SO MUCH from the crew of 10 of us currently collaborating and supporting each other through this epic thing called awareness and LIFE. I plan on re-opening the program in January as I integrate and improve the content and practices.  

I couldn’t be more thankful for all the collaborators and listeners of the Sacred Adventure Begin podcast as well. In March I was begging people to listen and subscribe and now have an audience of over 4,000?!! 

I’ll resist the urge to list everything we have collectively survived and changed this year as well. 2020 has brought me some of my most intense transformations- it’s also been one of great Magic, potential, and up leveling.

Again. I cannot say enough how much I adore and appreciate you- and how thankful I am that you are 1. On the mailing list, reading the blog and generally 2. In my life. 

See you on the mat, in the meditation room, and living your most epic life. 

PPS. I’m going to try (which means I’ll probably do it, but expect the unexpected) to do a few Yoga Practices to de-stress us all from the Holidays over on Insta if you are interested. Tea and Talk Tuesdays continue on Insta as well and I look forward to sharing with you plans for how you can get support and wisdom in the $5-50 range for those of you who want a bit of support but aren’t ready to invest in deeper work. As an aside- don’t forget that there are scholarships and pay what you can services available for those on the mailing list- simply let me know you are interested in working with me and I’ll send you a form to fill in.

Ethics and Skepticism

Am I ready for this?

Maybe not but here we go.

I have been hesitant to fully share about my energetic, spiritual, and what some might call psychic/mediumistic gifts for a long, long time because I thought it would make me look, well, less credible.

I’m comfortable outwardly validating my credibility. I can show you my diplomas, trainings, my number of years of experience, my happy clients. But talking about this element of my work has been HARD because I’m skeptical and discerning. I can’t just ‘take your word for it’ I need to feel it, to believe it, to try it and to feel it- it needs to be personal for me. For a number of reason which I am going to seek to address over the course of the next few weeks with you here so that whoever is reading might have a new perspective or a bit of encouragement in stepping into all that they are- including the untamable mysterious, and well, powerful.

Turns out that those gifts have, though seeming ineffable, been showing up in a big way to prove even to skeptical me that this shit is real.

From reading cards for a client and a completely unrelated meaning spouts out of my mouth. I say “I can’t help but feel like this is a new life, like an embryo that you are not telling anyone about”. I hear a pause then “yeah- part of why I’m not sure about the future is I don’t know how to tell my boss that I’m pregnant and no longer want to come in person during COVID”. Wow did that reading go on to deliver ways to safely communicate needs and how to open honest dialog with the boss so a favorable outcome could occur.

Or how about these INTENSE dreams of late?! You too? I tuned in before dreaming a few nights ago and invited loved ones to come talk to me- a gift I had even when I was a kid- and wouldn’t you know?: a fully formed person down to the way her hair was fried from red dyes came forward with with names and a relevant message showed up and even told me which of my clients she has been trying to reach?! You should have seen my face when I told my client about it and found out that she was real and that the message was needed for resolution to occur!!!

Mystery beacons: Say it. Say you have a gift- and then Doubt speaks back- no, I’m average. No, people will think I’m crazy. No, this isn’t provable.

I have been opening to the possibility that some of great mysteries don’t need intellectual proof because their truth can be felt! Every SINGLE reading I’ve been doing lately has been screaming back- BABE, how did you know that if it isn’t real?  I am humbled by the mini-miracles I help co-create, by the faith I cultivate. I can’t help but think that this is why people stay in toxic religions- because some part of them deeply feels into what truths it’s teachers and texts provide- and they also recognize that most sources have flaws and limitations and choose to stay for what they feel is real and to not internalize the rest- which is fine if you can stay in a relationship where the leaders create abuse or uphold unhealthy social power structures- I can’t but you might and I support you getting what you need where you need it.

And I’d now like to say to you. I am not special. We all have gifts. I AM special, because I’m tuned into HOW my messages come to me, what my relationship to divinity is- I am acting on what I believe, practicing it, embodying what I feel to be true, and holding myself to a high ethical standard.  As I affirm for myself and for those I work with that they are INDEED spiritual beings capable of finding their full potential, of having love and purpose in their lives, and of opening up to the miraculous. I become what I’ve always been: a skeptic learning faith!

and yet…

I am so freaking tired of the constant discrediting of a very important part of the human experience: SPIRITUALITY.

I want to stand up for all seekers and practitioners everywhere and say that everyone I know: from priests to witches: all strive to be of service, to creating healing and greater connection and love in the world. Yet the stigma of abuse haunts so MANY. And honestly it’s MERITED by real people who have done damage to others. I like to think my skepticism keeps me honest about what I am doing and constantly asking the deeper questions- even if until this point it as kept me more silent than what servers me and others.

I was extremely reluctant to step fully into the awesome sauce that is my practice and coaching because I was worried about people seeing me as ‘un-credible’ and because I carry with me such a HIGH RESPECT for learning and empowerment- INDEED I AM an academic. That is my background.  Learning about the cultures, history, theology, and psychology/biology that affect and influence what I deliver for myself and clients remains important to me, say nothing of the additional certifications and trainings I’ve undertaken to guarantee my own credibility and efficacy.

And then it dawned on me: I don’t need to strive to be different from the abusers in my field because by merit of my ethical beliefs I already am different. And so I’m going to say this clearly:

I ABHOR when people use spiritual messages to keep people trapped and dependent on them or their services. 

 Ethics courses and considerations need to be part of every coaches or spiritual practitioner’s training.

Because we are helping people connect to something bigger, and sublime, outside of themselves it’s important that we empower them in the process. That they know they get to choose, that many people can help them and that they have the ability to find the people that resonate with them at different times in their lives. The best example I can give is this- I am a large, self assured woman who loves to nurture through education and empowerment- guess what types of guides and beings reach out to me with messages? Ones on a similar vibration or those seeking to balance with that element. If you want to talk to Elvis or Aliens I’m not your person. Me not being that doesn’t make that wrong, me telling you from my position of connection and leadership that others who channel Aliens are wrong IS wrong- see where I”m going with this?! I don’t get ethically to claim ULTIMATE authority over a field which, by definition is Mystery is Being is All Potentiality is Permeating is Accepting of All. I do get to call you unethical AF if you are using the perceived authority of the Devine to manipulate others or take their power.

If you are mad that I just called out your behavior- is it because you’ve been doing something that you know is predatory? That’s a Rhetorical Question BTW.

I ABHOR when people say that they got a message from sprit telling them that you need THEIR healing and you need to prove your value as a human or commitment to your spirituality because ‘if you really believed in spirit or your self or you want miracles than you’ll buy this from me.’ (barf, like those are the only ways to do that?!) In a recent group I witnessed a ‘channel’ who has been non-stop ‘channeling’ messages from ‘the akashic records’ that perfectly align with what she is selling and that say for everyone to join her payed course- a tactic forbidden in the group rules without mention that the owner could do it. I have no problem selling. I have a major issue with her claiming spiritual power and authority that the sell needs to happen for others to heal! (and before you ask, why I am in this group, consider that I attempted to politely reflect this to her). In my personal experience as a channel, rarely do meaningful messages come through from spirit that are intended to manipulate behavior. Rather most of what I channel and encourage are messages that inspire LIBERATION, self awareness, and greater deeper questions!

I’m tired or LEADERS or people in the community who can’t admit that other’s can be right too. News Flash- since spirit is ineffable why do you think you are the only person whose words can represent a ‘truth’ which by it’s nature cannot be truly spoken or known? No one single persons owns truth- we are all responsible for seeing how we get in the way of it and also how we contribute to a collective experience of it in equal measure.

That type of behavior is NO DIFFERENT than the catholic church of the middle ages selling ‘indulgences’ for your sins so your soul will not suffer in hell for eternity.  Buy it now, get it results….? Think of all the bloodshed that could have been prevented if the church had listened to Luther’s request for a conversation about ethics in a space where ethics were taught and discussed. Again, exchanges for guidance and wisdom are good and natural but you can’t sell forgiveness in the next world- no one can MAKE God or anyone else forgive you- including yourself.

Let’s not even go into how ‘guru’s or ‘experts’ or those in spiritual power take advantage of people’s desire to be taught, to find meaning, and use it to abuse them financially, physically, or emotionally…..

This all to say, in unpacking all the wrongs I see- I am finding more and more the confidence to show you who I am. You can’t know how I am not what I fear or judge or seek to heal in the world if I’m too afraid to show you what the good version of all this looks like. It may still feel dangerous for me to talk about my experiences, especially those I prize, hold dearly, and have been the most transformative to me-those that at times fall into the realm of miraculous or supernatural.

I hope you know how much love, beauty, and awareness surrounds you always. I bless you that you may always have the discernment you need to grow, and the openness for even hard growth to be fun. I hope you always know how powerful you are and that you find the courage to look within and ACT as well as stand for GOOD in your world.

Thank you Lauren J. Alexandria for the amazing photos. You help me see myself in all the contrary, powerful, wild energy I am.

Injury and ReCovery

I spent a year UNABLE while recovering from back surgery. I was unable to dress myself, unable bend fully over to tie my own shoes, unable to lift anything heavier than 2 lbs…There was never a guarantee that recovery would occur, some days were worse not better but everyday was a new chance to try something different. I am even more mobile and pain free now than before my injury.

I could have felt trapped, in bed with that sweet dog you see in the bed-selfie I sent the hubs. But being on the ‘no activity for a year’ path was nothing compared to the constant threat of searing pain.

My back injury appeared and disappeared mysteriously for years. Disrupting my life, recovering, re-emerging, repeating. During this over 5 year period of my life I was what society would consider ‘well’ but was completely unable to hear my body- living a short distance from it, seeing it as a way to achieve. I only did healing and strengthening work when injury was arising and just so I could more quickly get back in the game. And achieve I did.

In injury I ignored my body in favor of what I THOUGHT I should be doing.

During the 5 year period in active injury I

Ran my 2nd marathon

Won multiple swing dance competitions

Got and left 2 full time jobs

Made and sold metal sculpture in shows Nationally and Internationally

Taught an ‘over time’ course load for 3 different universities

Planned and Committed Matrimony (to an amazing man!)

Ran a Swing Dance Classes and a Burlesque Troupe

Meanwhile my body was screaming at me to slow down. To create rest. To be, to allow. To celebrate, to breathe, to enjoy, to unwind, to stretch. I just didn’t know how to listen and I was busy carving out a life that proved I was valuable, capable, and talented.

I spent years in pain not knowing how to help myself and reliant on a community of DRs and Holistic Practitioners who were only treating symptoms and guessing at the root cause: 2 bulging disks and 1 completely fractured disk leaking synovial fluid into my body with bits of disk attached to my sciatic nerve creating the most unbearable inescapable pain I’ve ever felt.  

‘Mysterious’, they said about my injury

‘Hard to Diagnose’,

‘This type of injury isn’t possible without a Car Accident or Trauma’

‘You are still Functioning so it Can’t Be Serious’

I still have to take deep breaths when I think about the level of pain that injury caused me and how I was encouraged to push through the pain by a society that needed me to show up. Entrapped by cultures that valued the quality of my expression- be it the level of dance, art, or teaching in order for me to be seen, heard, or to have a seat at the proverbial table- where information and awareness are kept behind access doors by those who control either your monetary value or how much influence, power, or awareness you’ll have (And yes, my dancer friends, this happens in Swing Dancing too- think of how many people equate being at all the events as being ‘interested, committed and involved’ and reward dancers belonging to certain economic groups that allows them to gain skill and therefore access and influence in the community. It’s not different in Art, Academia, or Yoga)

Finding a way through my pain also created my way back to myself- to greater awareness, to learning and healing, to integrating my passions and interests and most importantly to feeling on a soul level valued and aware. Being UNABLE on a bed for 2 weeks and completely ‘still’ for almost a year gave me the greatest wellness, ability and freedom I have ever known. I finally had time to show up to meditation and breath work nights every day after work and either other weekend for retreats (because you know I was going to apply all that motivation and achievement to my healing efforts- lol).

Because I wasn’t motivated to listen earlier, to engage sooner with my own needs- to prioritize my awareness and spiritual growth it took an injury to wake me up.

I don’t believe this type of suffering is necessary for awakening but I’m thankful for the ReCovery of my soul, my heath and my life. And most importantly the vision to see and UnCover my life’s purpose and path. I’m dedicating my life and time now to allowing the motivation for becoming more aware, to stepping more into one’s personal power to be JOY. I’m sharing my skills talents and passions to help other people down this path. Joy can be your guide as much as pain can. The choice is up to you. Imagine growing because it allows you more JOY and EASE: the joy of creating, the joy of making, the joy of knowing, the balance of relaxing with doing. Sending you so many hugs in whatever pain spectrum you are on in your life and the knowledge that more is possible for you.

If you are interested in learning to work more with your body please join me for my free week long experience in using meditation creatively to hear your body’s messages and to get in touch with your higher self. The Page is still under constuction but you can get invitations to the event by joining the email list (see below) or join and get a free meditation here.

Shadow Work

“Shadow Work is Evil and Dangerous”

This is one of the most insidious misconceptions "Spiritual Teachings", a number of 'New Age Practices', most Christian religions contain. (Also I hate when people refuse to talk about things that are wrong because "only love and light")⁠ ⁠

Darkness and Shadow work ARE healing AF- let’s start with a definition. Shadow work *as I practice and guide others through it* is about uncovering trauma and things we hate or reject about ourselves or elements of our life/society that are big, threatening, and scary. We look at how we hurt and others hurt.⁠ ⁠

When we do this work it is hard, if not impossible for others to control us. ⁠ ⁠

When I love myself I don’t need to sacrifice my own comfort so others can be comfortable around me. I do need a diet to get affirmations.⁠ ⁠

When I love and accept even the ‘bad’ parts of myself it’s easy to grow and be moral. I can say I’m sorry, I was wrong and still be a good person. Like when I realized my feminism wasn’t as inclusive as it could be and I started examining my own privilege and racism and finding ways to say and do better. ⁠ ⁠ Shadow work means I can be wrong and not need to be angry or defensive- When I love and accept myself I can take action to change because my morals say ‘I want to live in a world where all beings are free and equal and I want to be part of that via my actions & beliefs.” ⁠

⁠ When I love and accept even the ‘bad’ parts of myself it is also easy to identify when I am not in the wrong- I’m sorry my independence and body seem threatening to you, but I’m not going to hide my cleavage so you can ‘focus’. In this situation you are the one lacking focus and you need to learn to take responsibility for your mind and your eyes. My body deserves to exit in this space without your judgement controlling it.’ ⁠ ⁠

Simply put, allowing that big fear inducing shadow to ⁠ LIVE in You ⁠ DANCE in You ⁠ and BE LOVED in You- ⁠ ⁠ gives you FREEDOM, LIGHT, and the ability to live your most emboldened, loving, spiritual, moral life. A life of service to "Universe" and "God". #spiritualsass #shadowwork #darkness #evilisignorance #spiritualbypassing #ownyourshit #belove #selflove⁠

Decolonize Your Spirituality

I'm outing myself as a recovering Catholic today. Don't get me wrong, I still love Jesus- and believe in God. 👼🏼I support you in whatever spiritual beliefs you cultivate. Mine also include 🪔kitchin'witchin, 🪔Buddist meditation, and 🪔goddess yoga. I have an altar to honor and talk to my ancestors. I say the rosary and use mala beads to chant "RAM".⁠⠀📿

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These aren't mutually exclusive. They are things I've developed after years of study that allow me to feel, see, and experience divine love & awareness in my life.⁠⠀

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It took me YEARS to not feel angry when someone brought up God or Jesus in conversation because I've seen BOTH USED to⁠⠀

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🗜Gaslight and control "The church didn't take your money and cover up sex scandals, You must not be a good catholic if you don't still give to the church and support priests" ⁠💸

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🎚Deny the processing emotional experiences "You shouldn't be asking why God allows bad things to happen to good people, instead you should stop being sad or angry because God has a plan for you (which you have to wait and see-and that should be enough to address your question and emotions) Oh, and don't seek psychological help because Jesus is all you need."⁠⠀👩‍⚕️

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🩲Make certain bodies or identities unsafe "Mestruation is dirty & private and Women need to be controlled by a man 💍and can't make safe choices about their reproductive system-Gays are going to hell so are Lutherans, any one who doesn't believe JUST in Jesus is also going to hell"⁠⠀🙉

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🎚Make Spiritual Practice synonymous with memorization and complicit unquestioning obedience. "You're going to hell if: 🔱you don't come every Sunday and tithe, use tarot cards, study Hinduism, do yoga..." ⁠⠀🧘‍♀️

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🌬Let me be the person (hopefully not first) to say that its possible to forgive unhealthy religious dogma, to unpack the programming and ⭐️create a beautiful, loving connection to Jesus, God, Buddah, Allah, Yemaya, (your fav) that doesn't need to make 'others' wrong. Please know also that there are other curious people in the world who are happy to share and create community with you around practicing, loving, and enjoying YOUR PERSONAL SPIRITUAL CONNECTION. ⭐️

How an Intuitive Coach can Help you Decide…..

Just a few ways healers, coaches and intuitive practitioners can help you with a choice:⁠ ⁠

1. Help you to hear your own wisdom ⁠ ⁠

2. Ask questions to help you gain clarity⁠ ⁠

3. Bring through messages from your higher-self⁠ ⁠

4. Guide you to connect to your own intuition⁠ ⁠

5. Provide images and techniques to help you see the situation from new angles⁠ ⁠

6. Help you to relax⁠ ⁠

7. Clear energetic blockages keeping you from sensing your path forward.⁠ ⁠

8. Read tarot, i-ching, wisdom cards, runes, tea leaves or divination method of choice ⁠

9. Offer you spiritual wisdom⁠ ⁠

10. Help you accept and see how loved and perfect you are so that making a choice is easy!⁠ ⁠

Want help making a choice? I"m offering 60% off sessions until the end of July! Use code JuneJuly60 when you are booking in appointy!

Honoring the Divine Mother: Creative-Receptive-Female

Mothering, Creating, Guiding, Nuturing, Loving, and Effort-ing an idea (or even another soul!) into being is a primal process. I am not a biological mother. I do not plan on being mother to anything except my fur babies, chosen family and my art & teaching offerings. You would be surprised how many people bristle at this.

Regardless of what society might put on women - from our worth being somehow connected to our thankless servitude to our families and communities- or how our bodies compliance to social standards somehow indicates our moral or monetary worth- not to mention the thousands of other many other conflicting message ideals which can never truly achieve-hello vigin-mother?!- I remain in awe of the power of mothering, of birthing, of the potential for creation and it’s incubation that we hold, intrinsically within as women.

In being WOMAN we stand in connection to the self, to our spirituality, and to other women both living and ancestral through our nature and through the portal between worlds that is the Yoni, the womb. (Yes, self identifying women are INCLUDED in this statement- as well as those who opt not to ‘use’ their wombs or have released the physical organ for medical reasons)- this energy, this creative space exists in anyone who wishes to tap into it even in men who wish to honor, embody, or exalt the feminine, the receptive, the creative flow.

Today I honor my mother who shared with me her heart, her body with me for over 9 months in the early 80’s. The closest and most dependent many of us are ever capable of being in this life. I honor the effort-ing, the sacrifice, the loving guidance she continues to give- for me and my siblings- the life she has given us through her love her time and her commitment to us. Nothing, not even gratitude seems enough of a thank you for this gift.

I honor too those of you who have felt a break down in the creation-nurturing process. For whom feeling loved and safe is not possible with your biological mothers. This primal wound calls many to do such deep forgiveness and self acceptance and healing. May we all learn to connect to the divine mother and her healing within each of us this mother’s day.

I also honor today those mothers who have lost children, those who wish to nurture but cannot, those who have not yet learned to bless and love their female bodies, those now just beginning to see themselves as woman, and those who struggle through the complexities that come with our social, biological, and emotional needs that we seek to understand through the concept of “Mother”.

Special thanks to Autumn Rose Luciano for the collage of my fur baby Bessie who is with us in spirit.

3Free Group Coaching Sessions

📣What the Heck is an Intuitive Coach?🔮⁠ ⁠

Let me show you!

Starting Next Thursday I’m offering ⁠ ⁠

✍🏻3 Free Group Coaching Sessions in Zoom✍🏻⁠ ⁠

Sessions last 30 minutes- hour and include an intro, guided meditation or writing prompt and (non-mandatory but highly encouraged sharing).⁠ ⁠ This month’s Mini Sessions are about the following:⁠

Discover your Purpose by Accepting Your Desires & Dreams (May 14th 8pm-9pm EST Boston time)https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9038118656

Identifying and Clearing out Limiting Beliefs (May 21st 8pm-9pm EST Boston time) https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86240925946

Learning to Hear & Trust Your Inner Divine Guidance (May 28th 8pm-9pm Boston time) https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85373659370

Each topic is self-contained (so you don’t have to show up for all of them but it’s great if you do)⁠. Join us for the joy of self discovery!

#gettinintuit #photobyLaurenWessel #intuitivedoesntmeanhippie #stepintoyourpower #freecoaching #intuitivecoach #intuitivepractice #meditationpower #meditationisfun #learningtobemyself #learntobeyourself⁠ @laurenalexandra.photography @ourboreal @emilyschuhmann @playinpracticeyogawemily

Tarot Offerings Opening

I love Tarot and Wisdom cards. Somehow the stories and images they reference have a powerful way of turning the eye of awareness inward to discover new things about the self as well as the life we live outwardly.  They act as answers as well as questions, ends and invitations.

And before you ask- no- the cards do not summon evil forces- as you can tell from my previous posts, only Benny GoodDog is able to do that. (see previous full moon video).  

Tarot can act like a mirror if we let it- since it is our wisdom, experience, and interpretation that we bring to it- 

Readings can be awesome too, as seasoned readers have their own relationships with the cards and the stories they tell. 

Because I love tarot, and because I want to read for someone other than myself right now. I've announcing a few offerings here:

1. 3 FREE hour readings (first come, first serve-one per person) Use Code FREETAROT and sign up with Appointy https://booking.appointy.com/GettinIntuit.

2. $10 just for fun email readings-  email emilyatgettinintuit@gmail.com with your choice of

a. five card situation with past-present-future,

b. five card relationship reading,

c. six card work life/emotional life reading.

You'll receive images of the cards and a customized interpretation via email.

3. I'm also offering mini live zoom Tarot readings for $20. Book on Appointy (select 30 minute session) and enter code READFORFUN. https://booking.appointy.com/GettinIntuit

Creative Channel

Below is the Guided Meditation and Instructions for using Images & Collage to help you access your inner wisdom! (Note that this is for personal entertainment use only).

If you have booked an interpretation session with me, don’t forget to send your finished image to emilyatgettinintuit@gmail.com. and then book a time to process with me by clicking here.

Photo by Lauren J Wessel

Recording a Meditation

So today I’ve spent the better part of my morning recording an adaptation I made for Sam Levine’s Healing with the Ocean of Compassion meditation from his book “Guided Meditations, Explorations, and Healings.” This book has been a huge help in my own practice and I often wished that I had recordings of it so that I could close my eyes and have a fuller experience.

In my own practice with the ocean of compassion I have received so much healing and heart wisdom from ‘floating’ myself and others (eventually even those people who have caused me harm). In the ocean of compassion so I changed some of the meditation to include imagining oneself in an ocean within the heart.

There is so much out there written about the benefits and concepts behind the ocean of compassion (google it if you are interested). Otherwise, here’s the recording. I”m not perfect with counting or editing software yet but I hope to be pretty good with more practice so I’ll be putting out more of these. Please feel free to link and share. It’s 13 minutes and fully downloadable. Oxoxoxo.

Click here then click down load. You can also listen in the link below.

Photo By Lauren J. Wessel.