First of all…Are we ever really alone? Our guides are with us most of the time, or at least when we need them. I’m sure energetically we are alone sometimes. I would hate to think mine are with me all the time – there are times when they would be very bored! How many times have you thought, ‘I don’t have time’, It would take too long’, ‘maybe tomorrow’. It’s time for everyone to start holding space and finding time. How often do you think you pick up the phone to scroll through Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter? The social media traps that are slowly stealing our ‘me time’ …the endless scrolling, not really looking, reading ,absorbing the content of each post … just skimming the image, reading the first few lines and moving on. There is a place on your phone, that tells you how much time you have spent on social media – this was news to me…I’m not that tech savvy. Its astonishing how much time we spend. The average person spends 2-3 hours apparently! Wasted moments that could used satisfying our need for self reflection.. pertaining to our actual lives, our desires.. not necessarily everyone else’s. If we commit to 15 minutes every day for ourselves, our confidence, our connection to ourselves, emotional stability and that feeling of gratitude for what we have increases. The stress and anxiety falls away and a solid and stable mind takes over our thoughts. It realigns and connects to the frequency of stillness and bonds us to the greater picture in life. But how do you begin to be ok, being alone in your own thoughts? That place of silence, that was once perhaps, staring into a fire, after a long day of work. Reading a book all evening in silence or looking out of the window daydreaming, has disappeared into the past. We have that constant desire to be connected to or part of something bigger .. that outside world that promises something more than what we are experiencing in our own lives. When really, all along, we have everything we need right in front of us. Form a habit that allows you to heal, regroup and anchor yourself in the moment. Check in with yourself. Could you challenge yourself to a daydream for 15 minutes? No expectations, no analysing or worrying about what you may think about. Just let your mind drift. Trust me, you are half- way there on social media, its just that you are starting with a fresh slate, no leads, suggestions or triggers. You never know your guides might just be able to get a word in and lead you down a path you haven’t thought of !

How does crystal healing work and what is crystal healing? Just like a magnet, crystals attract and repel. The main function of crystal healing is that crystals carry certain energies that can positively impact our own. When you place a certain stone on, or, over your body it interacts with your individual energy field, also known as your chakras. Your energy vibrates, pulses, transforms, moves and shifts in accordance with the properties and energetic signature of the crystal. Crystals bring everything from peace and happiness to stress relief and comfort. They have also been known to relieve nausea and headaches and help with sleep. Use crystals as a tool to help you pause, tune in and realize you are connected to the earth and something much bigger than yourself. So, how do you start? Well, the first thing you do is choose a stone to work with. Choose your stone based on your desire Think about what kind of energy you would like to receive and why? Sometimes sitting with that question for a while will give you insight into, not only what’s going on with your everyday life but also how you are dealing with it. A lot of my clients look up the ‘correct’ crystal that aligns with their desire but there’s also something to be said for recognizing which crystals you naturally gravitate toward and that can shift and change based on what you are trying to work through in your life. Pay attention to the colour of the stone—colour is a powerful healing tool in its own right, it holds important clues about the stone’s energetic vibration. If you don’t like Red for example, it will have less of an effect on you just because your energy will shift in response. You can find a similar crystal in a more appealing shade that works with your energy field. Love your crystals! If you have an opportunity to be around an array of different stones and crystals, close your eyes and feel them, touch them, and tune into their vibration. It may surprise you which one you resonate with. I keep a crystal book handy and find it fascinating to look up the properties of the stone I’m attracted to. It tells me what I need to work on. Sometimes it’s something I’m only peripherally aware of. Setting your intention Setting an intention is a great way to bond with your crystal. Once you have identified a particular problem or challenge your currently facing, it’s time to get to work. Think about, what aspect of your life you want guidance with? Do you want to open your heart? Or are you trying to set boundaries and repel negative energy that is either around you or you are facing in your day to day life.? Feel into what seems out of balance and trust your intuition to come up with what is most needed for you at this time. Once you have established your intent, and have a stone, it’s time to programme it for your greater good. Programming your Crystal Programming is a masterful form of ritual. You can program your crystal to assist with specific tasks and projects. I have a big Citrine in my office for example, that sits on the left corner of my desk, the colour gives me a sense of light and easiness and its programmed to attract abundance and success at work. It holds that frequency for me and really helps me to concentrate on the task at hand, instead of my usual getting distracted and wondering off to do something else. Another amazing crystal is a crystal quartz. It helps me with remembering dreams or establishing a deeper transition into meditation. (Put the programmed crystal quartz under your pillow at night and hold it in the morning to help you remember dreams!) Cleansing your crystals The purpose of cleansing is to bring the crystal to a clear and pure state. I always Reiki my Stones and Crystals when they come into my house and then again when I’m mailing them out from my shop. This just gives a loving energy for you to work with. As you are working with purification, being of a clear mind and intention is necessary. There are other ways to clear a crystal. All depending on the season. Here are some options to think about: Water Water is a master energy and can be used in any form of ritual. Hold the crystal underwater (pure spring or a river/ocean is most ideal) but as we often aren’t fortunate enough to be around natural springs enough, water from the tap with a little sea salt works a treat! 1. Visualize the water washing over the crystal taking away any old residue and bringing it back to its natural state 2. Use sea salt and lightly brush it over the stone using the water to cleanse the salt away *Note not all crystals can withstand water. Some, like Selenite, will dissolve. Please do your homework before immersing underwater. Moon The energies of the moon are most purifying and can be used to clear and programme any crystal. Place directly under the moonlight and charge it under the full and new moon to get the most vibrant frequencies. The moon is perfect with its beautiful feminine energy. It can easily assist with spiritual and emotional healing. Sun It would be irresponsible to honour the moon and not recognize the power of the sun too. Charging your crystals in the sunlight (direct light is better than windows) will super-charge your crystal and give it an extra dose of drive and focus. The solar energy is a super charged masculine energy and is ideal for programming. Allow the sun to recharge and invigorate the stone or crystal. Snow Not everyone lives in a country that gives us a beautiful soft blanket of snow every year, but placing your cherished crystals in the snow is a quick and powerful way to clear and programme your crystals to hold long-lasting intent. Earth Burying your stones will clear any and all lingering energies from your crystal. Going back to earth is a powerful, effective means of clearing! While you may follow your intuition on how long to leave the crystal in the earth, it’s advisable that you take three, seven, or eleven days to give your stone a total reset. Smoke As you may already use smudging to clear your home, you can also use smoke to clear crystals. This is especially helpful for jewelry that is holding a stone, that would corrode underwater. Light the sage, say a mantra or prayer as you pass the smoke over and around the stone, allowing the vibration to realign into its natural state. Sound Long trusted by the ancients, drums, bells, crystal singing bowls and my absolute favourite, a shaman rattle are great sound techniques to use to clear the energy. I have a shaman rattle that I love to use. The sound transforms me into another world. Crystals There are some crystals that don’t need clearing and are fantastic at clearing other stones. Selenite, Quartz, Amethyst, Carnelian, Kyanite are among these rare treasures. A Selenite slab under your crystals acts as a perfect technique for clearing and charging your crystals and an Amethyst cluster can happily hold and bless other smaller stones. Getting into routine with your crystals and making sure that they are charged and vibrate at the level to heal is so very important to your journey. I not only carry crystals, I wear them every day and have a quartz under my pillow at night. This keeps me happy, balanced and ready for what ever life throws at me! *There are many books out there that help identify various stones and crystals, however I would recommend, The Magic of Crystals & Gems by Cerridwen Greenleaf and The Complete Crystal Handbook by Cassandra Eason. These two books are my 'go to' and they are never to far from me!

Do you ever listen to how you talk to yourself? Strange question … lol … But … really…do you? That inner dialog. Constantly reminding you that, ‘it’s not going well’.’ You are not enough’. ‘Things are so much better for other people’. If your inner dialog is usually leaning more toward the negative, you are harming your self-esteem, you are halting your productivity and your whole outlook in life is affected, all because you told yourself so. It’s not an easy thing to fix but it is possible with persistence. Change how you talk to yourself and you will become your greatest motivator. You will become your own best friend! We repeat messages that play over and over in our minds. Often these messages and thoughts are deep and ingrained from childhood. If a child has been taught to expect conflict, and grew up from one crisis to the next, their inner dialog will continually forewarn of this happening in the present situation, even if it’s not going to. You will spend most of your time looking for problems instead of seeing potential for success. Depression can set in, and your whole living situation becomes effected. So, this internal dialogue, frames our reactions to life and its circumstances. One of the ways to recognize, and sustain optimism, hope, and joy is to intentionally fill our thoughts with positive self-talk. But how do you override the negative thoughts? One of the ways to override these negative thoughts is to identify the ‘fact’ from’ fiction’. If you were told as a child that you were worthless, its important to take note of all the positive things about yourself and recognize where that message originated from. Often, the wonderful things that others see about you just need to be pointed out. Once you are aware of some of these things you can ‘overwrite’ the internal dialog and correct your thoughts when that negative chatter emerges. Here are a few things that you can do to overwrite your inner dialog and become your own best friend. Write down the negative messages that you repeat that undermine your ability for a joyful life. Be clear and specific and include anyone who may have contributed to the messages. Perhaps your parent, family member when you were young. Know that they may have the same negative messages running through their own head and that their circumstances may have altered their perception of life. This is not about blame, it’s about seeing where it started. Then, once you have tracked the starting point, you can work on becoming your own best friend. Next, make a ‘reality list’ Take a moment to intentionally counteract those negative thoughts with positive truths in your life. Take your time and don’t give up. Don’t forget you have worked of this negative self- talk for most of your life. It will take more than a few minutes to overwrite it all. For every negative message there is a positive truth that will override the weight of despair. These truths always exist; keep looking until you find them. What if You have a negative message that keeps replaying in your head every time you make a mistake? As a child you were told, “You can’t do anything right” or “You will never amount to anything in life.” When you make a mistake—and you will because, we all do—you can choose to overwrite that message with a positive one, such as “that was a mistake,… it happens, …..I’ll learn from that” During this exercise, mistakes become opportunities to replace negative views of who you are with positive options for love and encouragement. To expect nothing to go wrong, and mistakes never made is unreasonable, but how it is handled and perceived is something only you can control. Most of life is a learning curve. We all need encouragement from time to time, some kindness and understanding so why not start with yourself?

A Pendulum is a weighted object attached to a cord. Its designed to move freely back and forth and side to side with any small shift in energy. The first thing you do is pick the pendulum that resonates with you the most and over time this pendulum will become attached to you. To get yourself in the perfect vibration to ask and receive, you need to get yourself in a neutral place. Sit comfortably and take a deep cleansing breath and exhale all the excess energy out from your day. Concentrating on your breath for a few minutes allows your body to relax and still your mind. When you are ready, take the pendulum and hold it between your thumb and forefinger in your dominant hand, allowing the weighted end to swing freely. Your non-dominant hand should be relaxed, facing up under the weighted part. To programme your pendulum, you need to ask it a series of questions…show me, 'yes'…show me ,'no'…show me, 'I don’t know'. Generally I find a swing from front to back means YES, a swing from side to side means NO and an ant-clockwise swing in a circle means a NON ANSWER or ( I can’t tell you at this time) Now you are ready to ask questions. Be careful how you phrase them. There is no point in asking things like, What is the name of …….? Who is…..? Is she have a boy or girl? All these require ‘word answers” …You have to stick with YES/NO Phrasing questions: Is it in my best interest to……….? Is ………. a healthy choice for me? Will I enjoy……..? Will…….….change my life path? Am I on track? Can I trust……? Can I rely on…..? Pendulums are amazing! I LOVE mine!

What exactly is your subconscious mind? You actually have two minds. The first is where your ego lives. The conscious mind sits here. Its that voice in your head, where all the thinking goes on. Its also where all our preconceived ideas are, what you were taught to believe about yourself, and where you program your subconscious mind to expect or think a certain way. If you constantly tell yourself you are going to fail or you are not good enough, then that becomes your instant reality. Your subconscious mind is often unexplored and under- utilized, but is the base of how we process our experiences. What we believe, and tell ourselves, works its way into our subconscious mind, and it then becomes our reality. Your subconscious mind is your direct connection to your higher self. Your conscious mind decides what you want to experience and once that thought turns into a belief, it is then ingrained into the subconscious mind. Your subconscious mind can figure out any issue if you take the time to listen. Your inner guide (subconscious) can attract, heal, and change experiences for the better. How belief works with your subconscious mind. Your subconscious mind holds your beliefs. Whatever you believe, you can manifest. Lets face it.....Its tricky, because when you don't believe something (like you will be successful), you won't see anything in your day to day life to support otherwise, but when you do believe something you will suddenly find it everywhere. You can choose to create positive thinking that will alter the events in your life significantly. If you have a belief that isn't serving you, you can change it. If your belief has held you back in life, there are various option to realign your thought system. Every time you have a negative thought, correct it to a positive thought. If something hasn't worked out, it could be for the better. Its not always because you were not good enough, or don't deserve it. Sometimes its because something better and more suited to your journey is coming. The more you flood yourself with positive thoughts, the more possitivity becomes your reality. Once you have thought a thought over and over, it is then ingrained in your subconscious mind and becomes reality and you will start to witness proof in your day to day experience. Your energy will change, you will attract positive people, situations and experience a positive environment. Your mind expects more, sees more and you start to tap into your intuitive mind. How to set new beliefs Think about something that you would like to change in your life right now. It could be a relationship, a health issue or a financial situation. Sit with a piece of paper in a quiet spot and write down all the negative aspects of the situation, until you have exhausted every thought on the subject. Your 'inner critic' will show you thoughts you are not fully aware of, if you give yourself plenty of time. If its a health issue, for example, you could be telling yourself, 'I wont recover from this', or 'I've never really been healthy, I'm always sick', 'this time its chronic or fatal', keep writing until you have exhausted all your negative thoughts on this subject. Then write on a separate sheet of paper the exact opposite of what you just wrote. 'I can recover from anything', ' My body intuitively knows how to be healthy', 'my immune system is strengthened by my beliefs' Read back the positive page two to three times a day until you begin to believe it. This may seem a silly at first but you are programming your brain to accept this as your new reality. Each night, when you are about to fall asleep, imagine your new reality. Visualize the healthy you. Tell your body it's vibrant, you are happy, you are well. Practice positive thought, surround yourself with positive influence. Stay away from toxic situations, people and create your reality in your mind first. See what happens.