Spiritual Discernment: What Does That Mean?

Leave a Comment Spiritual Julie Bawden-Davis

You may have heard the term discernment during your spiritual journey and have been told to use it. This refers to being able to discern if messages are coming from Spirit and who you believe you are hearing from.

For instance, you may think you’ve received a message from your grandmother in the Light. Discernment is the ability to ascertain if you did indeed receive a message from her, and then go a step beyond this and discern what it is she is trying to impart to you.

There is a lot that goes on when you hear and translate messages from the Light. That being said, spiritual discernment is a “big” task that takes some practice.

Those who work in the spiritual realm professionally such as psychics, mediums and healers, have generally honed their spiritual discernment skills. Honing your discernment skills is critical before you impart messages from “The Great Beyond,” “The Other Side,” “Beyond the Veil.” In some ways this is obvious, yet it isn’t always the easiest of tasks.

Even if you don’t work professionally, discernment is still a necessity. If you are getting a reading or being told a message from the Light via a friend, it is important you be able to discern if the message seems valid to you.

Generally, we know in our gut immediately if a message is valid. Of course, this takes trusting ourselves in this knowing. It also takes realizing that even though someone may be highly skilled in accessing information from The Light, if you feel otherwise, then the information they’ve imparted isn’t right for you.

One very important thing to keep in mind when it comes to discernment is this: Discernment is NOT deduction. Deduction refers to deducing based on facts and evidence and prior actions of yourself or others as to what is likely to be the case now.

Let me give you an example.

During my psychic, mediumship and healing certification training several years ago, I was practicing in a group setting. The group consisted of students accessing each other’s Spirit Animals. We took turns moving around the circle sharing with each person what we saw in terms of a Spirit Animal Guide.

There was a young woman who seemed very friendly. Everyone began accessing kittens and puppies for her. While she did have a puppy at one point and thought kittens were cute, much of what was shared was deduction, as none of this was resonating with her.

I, on the other hand, saw lizards surrounding the woman. So, when it was my turn, I said, “This is going to sound strange, but I see you surrounded by lizards.”

The woman gasped, and said, “I have been trying to find someone who could tell me what the lizards are all about! For the past several years, every time I walk outside, lizards surround me.”

While the woman certainly did find puppies and kittens cute, much of the messages that came forth regarding those Spirit Animals was deducing. Spiritual discernment came in for me when I saw lizards and rather than wavering and rethinking and wondering why she might be surrounded by them, I told her what I saw. It turned out to be a powerful reading for her that answered questions she’d had for several years.

Discernment is about gut instinct and listening to messages from Spirit—that first “hit” of a message. It is not something that comes from weighing various aspects or elements. There is no thinking involved. It is about trusting yourself to your very core and sharing what you have seen/heard/sensed/felt with those meant to hear the messages, including yourself.

Do You Fall into The Expectation Trap?

Leave a Comment Spiritual Julie Bawden-Davis

I’ve found that a common source of discontentment for people is living in expectation. It’s an easy trap to fall into.

Before we talk about what I mean by living in expectation, let’s take a look at the word expectation.

Expectation has the word expect as its base. And when you expect. What happens? Well, you could get what you expect, but you might not. In fact, we often don’t get what we expect. We may get more than we expect. Or we could get less than we expect. But the bottom line is that our expectations often don’t line up with our reality.

Is that a “good” or “bad” thing?

It’s truly neither. On the surface that is.

But underneath, something else brews when we have a lot of expectations. Especially “high” ones. And that is this.

We begin to live our life directed by our expectations. We take left or right turns, so to speak, based on expectations. We don’t do certain things because of expectations. And while we are avoiding doing certain things, we do more of other things, even if we don’t really want to do them. Because of expectations.

You will likely see that a lot of our disappointments in life and our irritation and depression and anger centers around our expectations. Expectations can ruin an otherwise pretty good day, week, month or even year.

Does that mean we should avoid expectations?

We could most certainly try. Of course, we won’t be able to do so completely, as we’re human. But if we try to change our expectations to anticipation, we may find that rather than being disappointed and irritated, we begin to find ourselves delighted and filled with a sense of wonder and excitement.

You may be thinking, but what is the difference between expectation and anticipation?

Though the difference may seem minor. It truly isn’t. When we expect something and it doesn’t appear, we are disappointed. But when we anticipate—that is a much broader, open-ended type of thinking.

Generally, with anticipation, we really have no idea what is coming up in our near or distant future. Like a baby set to spring from the womb, we have no idea what he or she will look or be like, but we anticipate with excited curiosity.

The same goes for getting a present. Unless you were consulted about what you wanted, you have no idea what lies under the wrapping paper, do you? And that gives you a giddy, excited sense of wanting to see what treasure lies beneath.

Going a step further with the present analogy, think of those times when you did ask for something specific but didn’t get it. You were probably miffed because you didn’t get what you asked for and may have discounted what you did get because of your irritation. This is yet another example of how expectation can ruin an otherwise good experience.

My advice? Try as much as possible to stay in a state of anticipation. Because when you do, you begin wondering what fun things lie ahead. By being in such a state of awe and wonder, you elevate your vibration and attract towards you delightful and surprising events, circumstances, and even people.

It is by anticipating that we invite magic and amazement into our lives. And the more you anticipate, the more magical, delightful occurrences come to you. They can’t help but make their way to you, because by anticipating, you have become a magnet.

When you anticipate, you allow. And when you allow, your life becomes much richer, more fun and much more interesting than when you were wallowing in expectations.

Are You in Communication with Your Inner Adolescent?

Leave a Comment Spiritual Julie Bawden-Davis

We often hear about our inner child. In fact, much is done to access our inner child and to love him or her. While I think tending to your inner child allows you to heal on a deep level, if you are working to manifest the life of your dreams, your inner adolescent is equally, if not more, important.

Who is your inner adolescent, and how is he or she different from your inner child?

Your inner adolescent represents a very different time of life than childhood. You are technically in adolescence from ages 10-19. That is a stage when you explore the wonders of life and are excited about the experiences to come. It’s that time in life when you can’t wait to grow up so your life can “begin.”

Your inner adolescent is ready to explore—in fact eager to do so. She has inspired idea after inspired idea, and the energy to explore those ideas and even carry them out.

Think back to when you were 10-19. What excited you back then? What made you want to explore your world? What did you look forward to doing when you “grew up?”

You may recall wanting to do things that were exciting, creative, daring, even. True, the pursuits you considered back then may not have been realistic. (We can’t all be astronauts, for instance.) But thinking about what you found exciting back then made you feel like flying, didn’t it?

It could be what you dreamed about back then isn’t unrealistic now. Perhaps you thought about creating music or art or traveling to distant locales. Maybe you wanted to have your own cooking show or to write a book. And then you went on to do something else in life to pay the bills.

But when you think about your old hopes and dreams, they spark something inside of you, don’t they? It might even cause you to think about finally writing that book or taking that Italian class and traveling to Europe.

The point is to look back and see what made your inner adolescent happy and excited. Just by accessing those memories, you call forth your inner adolescent. And when you do, you reignite dreams that may have been dormant for some time.

Even if you no longer want to do what you thought would be awesome at 13, you bring forth those feelings of joyous exploration and anticipation from that time. And do you know what happens when you access those feel-good feelings? You manifest more quickly and easily into your life what you want right now.

You see, when it comes to creating your dream life, your inner adolescent holds the keys. He knows what inspires and uplifts you and makes you feel gleeful and ready to take a leap of faith.

Your inner adolescent isn’t bogged down by the “have-tos” and “shoulds and “harsh realities” of life. She operates from a carefree and excited place that says, Why not? What if? How about if I try? Who’s going to stop me?

So, go ahead and call forth your inner adolescent. Let her run free and see where he takes you. Grab your inner adolescent’s hand and hop, skip, jump and run into your inspired life.

I dare you.

Have You Fallen into The Conditional Living Trap?

Leave a Comment Spiritual Julie Bawden-Davis

Have You Fallen into The Conditional Living Trap?

If you answered yes to the above question, congratulations, you’re human. And you’re living a human existence. In fact, this is a very common predicament and lesson for all of us.

What do I mean when I say conditional living? Let me define for you. Conditional living refers to living with conditions always playing in the background, or even the foreground for you. By that I mean that you are happy, content, satisfied, unworried, feeling fine, as long as certain conditions in your life are a “reality.”

So, what sort of conditions? Here are a few:

You are happy in all of your relationships and things are smooth sailing.
You are in a harmonious, romantic relationship that makes your heart sing.
Your career is going really well and you feel inspired and excited about it.
You live in a home you love and feel safe and secure and happy to be there.
Your children are all behaving well and making you proud.
Those close to you are doing what you’d like them to do.
You have a great group of friends, and you all get along really well.

I think you’re seeing a pattern here, yes?

Certainly, there is nothing wrong with wanting certain conditions in your life to be ideal for you. But here is the thing. Rarely, if ever, are all of the conditions you would like to see occurring in your life at once. You’ve probably noticed that.

So what does this mean in the scheme of things? It means if you are waiting for everything to be just as you would like them to be in order to be happy, feel fulfilled, feel alive, feel excited, well then, you’re going to have a very long wait.

When we live with the idea that all or most things need to be perfect in our world for us to feel perfect, we live in a constant state of lack. And that lack leads to sadness and depression and anxiety….You get the picture.

So, what to do about all of this, because we’re human and we want what we want. Here is another thing to consider, we are living with other humans who want what they want. And sometimes what they want is not what we want.

While we could bemoan the fact that those in our life aren’t doing what we want them to do, or situations or people aren’t presenting themselves as we wish they would, that only keeps us in a depressed, anxious loop, like the spin cycle I wrote about. It is also akin to diving into the emotional dumpster.

Here is the truth. Living conditionally only leads to misery. It might be a low-grade misery if there are only a few things on your “wish list” that aren’t there, or it can be a deep-dive into depression if many of those things aren’t on your list—especially really important ones.

The problem is, if you’re trying to manifest things into your life, this constant thrum of lack only pushes back all you truly want to have in your life.

The other thing about all of this, and probably the most important point—living a conditional life is truly disempowering. And who wants to live like that? Wouldn’t you rather live an empowered life? A life full of joy simply because you’re alive and you know that you are truly amazing and have high potential right here and right now where you are standing?

Furthermore, when we live conditionally when it comes to other people—for instance, wanting our significant other to do this or say that, or our kids to comply with our wishes, or our boss to notice our talents, we are on our knees at the mercy of their actions. Do you really want to be there?

So how to unstick yourself from the conditional living loop?

Here are some tips:

Identify all the areas in your life where you are living conditionally—be this people and circumstances and things.
Acknowledge that you aren’t doing yourself or even those in your life any favors by living this way and expecting things and circumstances that are truly out of your control.
Vow to identify as you go through your day the various ways you are living conditionally. Record them in some way. At the end of the day, examine your list and vow to stop yourself the following day when you start the, “if only they would do this, or if only this would happen,” then I’ll feel better.
When you wake up every morning, before you look at your “reality,” begin listing off all of the good things that are happening in your life. Give thanks for everything you can think of at the moment—be they small and “big” things.
Tackle your day, reminding yourself that you want to be in control of your life and your feelings, and in order to do that you can’t be at the mercy of people or circumstances.

This is a good list to get you started. As I always say, growth and positive change starts with awareness. The more aware we become of our thought processes about something that is no longer serving us and may be harming us, the more our thoughts begin to change and the loop slows down and eventually stops.

I promise you. If you can get off of the conditional living loop, you will feel a sense of power and contentment like you’ve never felt before. And guess what happens when you feel that peace and power?

You begin drawing in like a giant magnet those conditions and experiences that you do want to see in your life. At the same time, you see that you draw in what is truly yours. What your soul is calling you to feel and see and experience. And that is a wonderful way to live!

Should you just give up on a dream?

Leave a Comment Spiritual Julie Bawden-Davis

We all have dreams and goals and aspirations. But at some point, we may get to a stalling point where nothing seems to be working out in terms of our deepest wishes. Undoubtedly, at such junctures, we often ask ourselves, should I just give up on this?

When this question occurs, we tend to look at the “reality” of the situation and what hasn’t worked or happened or fallen into place yet. We may even list off all the signs that it might be a good time to just give up.

While giving up is certainly your prerogative, and it might look like the best option at the time, I would first suggest asking yourself the following two questions before pulling the proverbial plug.

1) Do I want this goal, dream, aspiration as much as I wanted it when I began the journey? Or has it paled in comparison to other dreams, goals, wishes, desires that might be more alluring at this time?

2) If I still want to to reach the goal, the dream, let me consider how I will feel if I don’t reach it. Let down? Disappointed? Heartbroken, even?

I think you can see where this is going. There are those dreams, desires, aspirations that we were meant to accomplish in this lifetime. If we don’t, we will be disappointed and perhaps even greatly disillusioned.

On the other hand, there are those dreams that flit into our life and seem like a great idea, but then the desire for them fades away. We may even find that those dreams are dreams of another that we thought we wanted for ourselves but discover that isn’t actually the case.

Determining into which camp your particular goals and dreams fall is important before deciding to just give up. If you determine that you won’t be happy until you succeed with a goal/dream, then it’s a good idea to muster up the courage and energy to plod on. When you do so, consider the following.

We can plan what we are going to do and wish mightily to reach that goal, but if we give up, we simply won’t get there. I assure you, you will get to where you wish to go if you just keep going—no matter the stones you must walk over or the storm clouds that threaten.

Yes, you will have to climb mountains at times and cross raging rivers. That’s the point of all of this, isn’t it? To experience the immense challenges to reaching your goal so that when you cross that river or traverse that mountain and come out the other side that you know deep in your soul that you did your absolute best to arrive at your destination, and arrive you did.

As long as you continue in your desired direction—grabbing life rafts and helping hands along the way—you will get to where you wish to go.

Yes, the journey WILL stretch and strain and pull you in multiple directions. At points you may feel as if the journey might break you, but you are not breakable when it comes to goals of the spirit. You are malleable. If you continue, you will arrive.

And when you do so, you will look back on your journey feeling exhilarated, satisfied and downright joyous. You will then come to the conclusion that there is ALWAYS forward momentum of the soul, and that forward momentum will win out—if you let it.

To find out more about our soul journeys, check out my book Mysteries of the Light Revealed: All You Want to Know about Life on the Other Side.

Do You Make Assumptions about Other People?

Leave a Comment Spiritual Julie Bawden-Davis

Do You Make Assumptions about Other People?

I often find when I’m doing spiritual coaching that many problems arise when clients make assumptions about other people.

This can occur when they are expecting to hear from someone and they don’t, or when someone has done something they don’t agree with. The list could go on—but suffice it to say, they decide why a person is not responding or acting the way they would like them to act, and then pass judgment. This is usually followed with anger and frustration that disrupts their serenity and gets them off-course.

All of this could be avoided, if they just stopped assuming and took the time to consider that there could be something going on in the person’s life. And then instead of continuing to focus on the other person, refocus on themselves and let Divine Timing and Divine Orchestration play out. All will generally be revealed at some point.

Walking in the shoes of another….or many others.

While I’ve always taken the above sentiment to heart, and remind myself of this whenever I am interacting with others, it wasn’t until a few years ago that I saw firsthand how meaningful this practice can be.

I was on a panel about writing that was being televised in front of a live audience. There were five writers, including myself. The woman sitting on my left wore an ill-fitting outfit. Interesting, I thought, but perhaps she feels she looks her best. That’s all that really matters.

The panel started then, and the moderator began asking each of us certain questions about writing. When it was time for the woman beside me to answer, I was a bit shocked when she cussed several times during her answer.

Rather than becoming offended, because believe me, I’ve done my share of cussing, I thought, well, this isn’t the appropriate time for those words, but I don’t know her whole story.

After the panel ended, each of us authors set up tables with our books. I was within earshot of the writer I had sat next to. At one point, I heard her say something that made my jaw drop. It turns out the day before the panel, her entire home burned down with all of her belongings in it. She was wearing a friend’s clothing, which is why her outfit didn’t fit too well.

I immediately thought, how remarkable that she honored her commitment to appear at the panel. How many people would have done so? The fact that she showed up spoke volumes. Many more volumes than ill-fitting clothing and a few off-color words.

It’s easy when you have interactions with others who bother you to make assumptions and condemn. But truly, you’ve never walked in another’s shoes until you’ve walked in them.

When you know a person’s full story, imagining yourself in their shoes can offer more understanding and compassion and sometimes respect than you ever imagined.

Meet Dr. A: The LightPlane Professor of Ascension

Leave a Comment Dr. A, Spiritual Julie Bawden-Davis

Dr. A. was my sociology professor back in college. At the time that I took classes from him, he was nearing retirement. He was a quirky soul who had the capacity to really make you think about the whys behind the things that people do, especially when it came to their roles in society.

Dr. A. and I got along well. In fact, he told me when I graduated with a minor in sociology and a major in journalism that I was his best student during his very long career. I was such a good student he used my tests as his key. I didn’t know back then but have come to find out that Dr. A and I have known each other over many lifetimes.

Over the years after I graduated, I thought about Dr. A. now and then and wondered how he was doing. Then in 2016, I began thinking about him a lot. He kept popping into my head, and I started to wonder if I should reach out to him.

It wasn’t until late one night when I was getting ready for bed that I suddenly realized and exclaimed to an “empty” bathroom, “Oh!!! You’re dead!!!”

At that point, he piped up and said, “Yes, my dear, finally!”

I apologized for not “getting it” sooner and said, “You probably have a message for me. Could we talk in the morning? I’m a bit tired, and I have a busy day tomorrow.”

Dr. A. replied in his signature droll manner, “I was going to talk to you about the philosophical and sociological paradigm shift that is currently your life. But we can talk about that later.”

Of course, I reacted by exclaiming, “On second thought, let’s talk right now!”

And so, I sat down and wrote out the following Light Plane Ascension Chart as given to me by Dr. A. According to him, this is a step up from Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Maslow was an American psychologist who created this chart back in the 1940s.

If you are ascending, you will find that you fall somewhere on this chart. It’s important to note that we do tend to move up and down on the chart at times as we experience life. As long as we continue to work on our spirituality, however, we will climb the ascension “ladder.” It may take some time, but it will happen.

Dr. A’s LightPlane Ascension Chart

Progression-Transformation©

Dead Sleep of Despair: A cataclysmic event or chain of events that pushes you to the depths of despair. Examples include divorce, death of a loved one, illness and disease, loss of a job, loss of a way of life, or loss of an illusion. (Not everyone starts their ascension journey this way, but many do.)

Awakening: Coming out of the dead sleep of despair to see the light, so to speak. Glimmers at first and then brighter and brighter bits of light that give you hope and lead you to seek out the light—such as going to spiritual schools/reading spiritual books, learning about mediumship, etc. Knowing that there is “more” and knowing that you truly want that “more.”

Enlightenment: This is when you begin to seek knowledge; you become extremely ravenous and thirsty for everything you can find about Spirit/the Light Plane/the Other Side. The drive is strong and at times can be all-consuming. For a time, you may also shirk some responsibilities, or at least become scattered and forget to perform some EarthPlane duties. The LightPlane shines so brightly that you wish to simply immerse yourself in its glorious rays and lap up the knowledge that you find at every turn and the knowingness that you are on the exact right path and that glory shines ever so brightly for you now and even brighter in the future. You often experience a bit of “fly away,” so to speak—where grounding becomes quite important.

Attainment: This is the phase during ascension where you grasp onto the knowledge that has come to you from the Light. You feel the rightness of that knowledge and rather than thinking you are imagining things, because you have such a vivid imagination, you know that you have attained a higher level of Light on the EarthPlane and that you are grounded in the reality of the “real deal,” which is the Light, not the EarthPlane. You come to understand that this here on Earth is an illusion.

Glory: When you have grasped the prior step and know you are on the path to the amazingness of living a dual life on the EarthPlane and the LightPlane, it is as if Angels suddenly break out in song in your head and heart (and in truth, they do!) You feel the immense power of the Universe at this point and realize with wonder and delight that you are an integral part of the immense power of the Universe and that you sing in tandem with many like-minded souls. This is the point when you begin to know, deep in your core/psyche/soul, that we are all inextricably linked. So linked that we could never, even if we tried, split from one another. Our atoms—our entire being—is intertwined with one another and this glorious tapestry of life and love in all of its forms.

Security in yourselves and your destinies: Now that you have obtained a vision of your true place in this Universal web of creativity and love and compassion, you become grounded and you know deeply to a soul-DNA level that you are absolutely perfect and that you fit into this web of life—this puzzle of the magnificent in an utterly perfect way. You no longer question your path. You simply take next indicated steps, because during your ascension journey, you’ve learned to accept and allow all that comes to you and all that you know will come ahead of you. There are no questions and concerns anymore about your place in the world or where you are going, and you know to your core that every step you take is preordained by you, directed by you and internalized by you. You are so perfectly divine, and you know it!

Peace and Tranquility. You now arrive at a serene peace so pure and so unadulterated by any of life’s commotion or noise. Chaos can swarm around you and you, for the most part, remain undeterred and unbothered and simply feel a sense of calm that truly does pass all understanding. You know that all is exactly the way it should be—the birds in the sky, the crumbs that fall at your feet, the smile from a stranger and the hugs and warmth from loved ones—each and every little action/decision/wish even, is exactly what and where it should be. Here you are fully grounded, yet at the same time tapped into the Universe and its life force so that your third eye is open to the eternal wisdom of the Universe and its absolute glory! You remain unruffled and full of infinite gratitude.

Abundance—All that You Yearn for and More: It is at this point you realize that you had the ability to have all that you yearn for with you all of the time! Like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz and her red slippers! But at this point you know and find that you had to go through the prior steps before you could reach this conclusion. There truly are no shortcuts, you find. And at this point, you are happy about that. For you know that you wouldn’t have traded a moment of the journey to reach this Apex of Your True Life. At this point, not only do you get all of the riches of the Universe you have so longed for and attempted to manifest, but you realize the most important lesson of all—You and You alone are the Epicenter of Your Own Life. You are you and only you, and knowing this to your core gives you the most precious gift of all.

The Perils of Comparing Yourself to Others

Leave a Comment Spiritual Julie Bawden-Davis

How often do you find yourself comparing yourself to someone else? And how does that make you feel?

Generally speaking, comparisons either make us feel less than or more than. And neither is really a good place to go or be.

For the most part, comparisons are best left by the wayside. Because you don’t go to good places with comparisons. When you compare yourself against someone who seems more successful or beautiful or luckier or richer or—you get the picture—you only end up feeling horribly lacking.

Depending on where you are in your life, comparisons can make you depressed or cause you a hissy fit at the “injustice” of it all.

Social Media’s influence on mental health

Of course, the opportunity to compare has always existed. Superiors such as teachers, bosses and parents are known to compare. But thanks to social media, today’s world is even more rife with comparisons.

For what occurs when you open social media and start scrolling through all the pretty people and their perfect lives? You tend to compare.

Afterall, there are so many people living their “best” lives on there. Everything is curated and crafted to look as if they are on top of the world.

And what commonly happens when you look at such stories on social media? Even if they are fabrications, you can’t help but compare yourself and your situation to what you read and see.

In fact, studies such as this one have shown a link between social media use and depression. When you look at it, what would cause depression when using social media? You guessed it. Comparisons.

Comparisons that you can never measure up no matter how hard you try. Comparisons about how you have nowhere near the seeming abundance that others have. And the list goes on.

Where do comparisons to the “less fortunate” leave you?

If, on the other hand, you compare yourself to someone who seems to be down on their luck or making a mess of their life, you may end up feeling superior. While that might make you feel better for a short time, in the end superiority is not such a great thing.

When you really think about how gleefully comparing yourself to someone who is suffering makes you feel good, you’ll likely feel a little or a lot ashamed of yourself and your thoughts.

The question can be asked. Where does all that comparison leave you in the end, and what good is it, anyway?

What to do about the comparison trap

How can you navigate the landmines of comparison and stay happy and sane?

If you want to compare, compare yourself with yourself. Look at how far you’ve come, for instance, and how far you plan to go. If you’ve been trying to get a bad habit under control, for instance, compare your progress from day to day.

Because the best way to improve and reach your goals is to challenge yourself. And the best way to challenge yourself is to compare yourself against yourself.

But what to do about scrolling through social media? How to avoid the comparisons? I recommend going ahead and scrolling, but the moment you find yourself comparing yourself to someone else or their circumstances, shut it off and do something else.

You’ll soon forget about the comparison rabbit hole you were just about to go down. And that’s a much better, healthier and happier place to be.

What to Do if You Find Yourself in the Spin Cycle of Worry, Fear and Anxiety

Leave a Comment Spiritual Julie Bawden-Davis

Do you sometimes find yourself in the spin cycle?

By this I’m referring to jumping into the washing machine of worry and anxiety and what-ifs and taking a not-so-good ride that pummels you about until you feel rung out and hopeless.

The trouble with the spin cycle is that it just doesn’t seem to stop once you get going. In fact, it speeds up. That is until you’re nearly lifeless and can barely think.

The process goes something like this:

1) Something occurs to worry, alarm, upset, or anger you.

2) You immediately fly into the fight or flight mode. Your body responds by releasing hormones, resulting in fear or anxiety or both, and the spin cycle starts.

3) Before long you are what-iffing. What if this happens in response to what just happened? Or this? Or, OMG, this!!! You find that the more what-ifs you come up with, the less breath you have left in your lungs, because you’re now flattened against the side wall of the washing machine as it relentlessly spins and continues to pick up speed.

4) You can’t get a clear thought out. Your head feels stuffed to the brim with sheer anxiety. So much so that you begin to wonder what exactly you should be the most worried about. This or that or that and that??? Truly, there are so many variables that keep smacking up against you in the washing machine that you don’t know where to pin your anxiety and worry.

5) Becoming dizzy with all of the spinning, you find you have to sit. It’s truly necessary, or you could literally fall down.

6) Now with your breath coming in short gasps and your head spinning like a runaway top, you do your best to get a grip on yourself. If anyone or anything needs your attention at this point, you tend to snap at whoever or whatever presents.

7) It is at this point you realize things are completely out of control. It’s as if foreign forces are tapdancing all over your body and brain. You either realize it’s necessary to reign things in and get grounded and talk yourself off the ledge, or you continue to spin, becoming totally ineffectual.

Once you decide the spinning is doing no one any good—especially yourself—I’d suggest doing the following to climb out of the spin cycle and get to a state of normalcy.

1) Take several deep, restorative breaths. In through your mouth and slowly out through your nose. Force yourself to only focus on the breathing. Every time a what-if tries to make its way into your psyche, refocus on breathing. You’ll soon find that the spinning starts to subside.

2) Remind yourself there is a solution to everything and that there is a solution to your present problem. Continue to take deep breaths.

3) Remind yourself you can ask for help. Help from those in your life, and perhaps even more importantly, help from Spirit/The Divine.

4) Remind yourself everything happens for a reason and there are no “accidents.” You planned whatever just happened. Rather than becoming angry at yourself for this fact, ask yourself an important question: “What is my lesson in all of this?” If you don’t get an answer right away, know you will.

5) Now that your breathing is more even and the washing machine has slowed to a crawl, remind yourself that getting as upset as you got helps no one, and actually hinders. Sometimes greatly.

6) Remind yourself there are solutions to every problem. And that sometimes the solutions are something you wouldn’t have thought about if whatever happened hadn’t happened.

7) Continue to quiet your mind as the washing machine comes to a stop. Take several more deep breaths and then get out of the machine. Wait until your head clears and ask yourself once again, “What is my lesson in this?”

Rather than slipping into “why me?” or “how on earth did this happen?”, continue to tap into the lessons that came from the experience. The more you can do this, the more I assure you everything will become more clear. In fact, things may suddenly become crystal clear as an epiphany pops into your consciousness. An epiphany that wouldn’t have appeared if things didn’t get shaken up.

Of course, it’s preferable to not jump into the spin cycle in the future. But when you do experience the cycle, I suggest following the above steps to get you to a place of calm and understanding. Then, once things “dry out,” you’ll find that a funny thing happens.

More and more epiphanies come filtering in until you do something you may never have thought possible—you thank the spin cycle for spinning you so hard you were forced to stop, breathe, and ask questions.

Questions that the answers to may very well bring you clarity and wisdom. At the very “least,” you will experience great peace and knowing that all works out in the end for your betterment.

It’s just a matter of waiting for things to stop spinning.

Have Faith in Your Divine Plan: Embrace the Journey

Leave a Comment Spiritual Julie Bawden-Davis

Do You Have Faith in Your Divine Plan?

We’re often asked by Spirit/The Universe to have faith as we travel our path. We’re told that all will work out well if we just have faith and enjoy the journey. While that all sounds great, it’s one of the most difficult things we are asked to do.

Why? Well, because we are human. And when humans are told that everything is going to work out swell as long as we keep taking next indicated steps, we tend to stop moving forward and instead start asking questions.

The conversation with Spirit/The Universe goes something like this: “Okay, fine, I get that I need to have faith and that all will work out as long as I keep going. But before I can go on in a comfortable and assured manner, I need to know a few things.

1) When is what I want to happen going to happen? You want me to keep moving forward. But I want you to tell me at what point this, that or the other thing or person is going to appear along my path. It’s only fair!

2) This thing that I really, really want and that I’m heading toward—or so you tell me—seems like a bit of a stretch. That being said, I’d like to know just how this is going to come to fruition. Just how are you, Spirit/Universe, going to get me what I want? I can keep moving forward if I know the how behind things. I’m sure you can understand my need to know this!

3) Who is going to help me along the way to obtain what I want? There must be individuals along the way who are going to help make my dreams come true. But I’ve been looking around and there isn’t anyone in sight. Therefore, it’s necessary before I take another step to know just who you are going to corral to help me achieve my goals. Certainly, you can see why I would need this information! After all, you don’t want me to miss the person when they appear!

The above questions all make perfect sense on the one hand. But on the other hand, you know in your heart that all of these questions are the antithesis of faith.

What is faith?

True faith is the belief that all will work out in your very best interest in the ABSENCE of any proof or reassurances. And yes, numbers 1-3 are all about proof. Proof that what you want is going to come to fruition just as you want it to and when you want it to.

Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, that’s just not how faith works. And it’s not how achieving your goals and dreams works either. The only way to what you wish for is on a road of faith with no guaranteed roadmap in hand.

Instead, you want to close your eyes and put one foot in front of the other, knowing that each step, each stumble, are all divinely timed and orchestrated by you.

When you reach your destination and open your eyes, the view is going to be more beautiful, more infinite and more inspired than anything you could have ever imagined.

And when you do reach that apex knowing you made your way on the fuel of faith alone, and you see in person that your grand, secret plan was indeed grand, there is no better destination.

So, go ahead and set out on your faith journey. I promise you that it will be the most challenging, most incredible trip you’ve ever taken.

Transform Your Life with Full and New Moon Ceremonies

Leave a Comment Full and New Moon Ceremonies, Spiritual Julie Bawden-Davis

New and Full Moon Ceremonies

I discovered full and new moon ceremonies a few years ago. If you haven’t tried such ceremonies, I would highly recommend doing so. There is something practical yet at the same time ethereal about the process. These rituals by moonlight are something that can change your life and mindset significantly.

Why Full and New Moon Ceremonies?

While they are fun and a bit trendy, I have to say that new and full moon ceremonies can be especially cathartic and empowering. When you participate in such a ceremony—which doesn’t have to be particularly complicated, and I don’t suggest it is—you will experience changes in your life.

Each type of ceremony has a different overall reason. Full moon ceremonies are meant to enable you to shed that which no longer serves you. On the opposite end of the spectrum, new moon ceremonies are designed to call in what you truly want in your life.

It’s a funny thing about life. There is a tendency to move along at the status quo. We get busy and get the “if things aren’t broke don’t fix them” mentality. Along the way, we adopt the “someday” mentality, and the “this is good enough for now” thought process.

But the fact is, as Dr. A., my psychology professor now in the Light who I channel says, “Today is Someday.” Yes, we never die—our souls live on forever—but this incarnation of ourselves will not.

So, why not create the life you truly want right now? A full moon ceremony followed two weeks later with a new moon ceremony can help you do just that.

I’m going to discuss full moon ceremonies first, followed by guidelines for new moon ceremonies.

Full Moon Ceremony Tips

As mentioned, a Full Moon Ceremony is designed to shuck off that which no longer serves you. This frees you up emotionally, mentally, spiritually and even physically to live the life you truly wish to live and manifest the desires you wish to bring forth.

When it comes to deciding what to get rid of in a Full Moon Ceremony, I suggest tackling just one area of your life at a time. There will be another full moon next month, so there is no need to stuff everything you want to get rid of into the same ceremony. In fact, it can dilute the effects and confuse things.

You also want to be very specific during the ceremony. Determine what you want to release—be it an emotional or material way of being—a mindset.

For instance, lack mindset is very broad. Try to drill down on such concepts. What particular lack mindset do you wish to release? The idea you will never make enough money to live a comfortable life? The belief you won’t ever own a home, or find the perfect partner?

What about Releasing People or Circumstances?

You may wish to release the effects from a certain experience or relationship in your life. The instinct with this is to try and release the person or a period in your life. But that isn’t advised or possible.

Instead, list the lessons that came from the circumstances or experience with the person. Take your time with this. Rather than proclaiming, “I learned to never let anyone make me feel small and insignificant again,” dig deep.

Ask yourself why the person made you feel small and insignificant. And then look this truth squarely in the face: You allowed yourself to feel this way. And may I go a step further and say, you welcomed it.

Before you balk and click off, let me remind you of something. Free will is the Law of the Universe. We plan our lives on Earth with willing souls who agree to collaborate so we can all learn lessons. Often, those lessons are different for each of us. Sometimes radically different, especially when there is an antagonistic nature to the lessons.

But this is the thing. We are inextricably tied to those souls with whom we learn lessons. Because they are often part of our soul group or soul DNA cohort. That means if you try to cut the cords and throw them out with the bathwater, you have missed the point completely. The lesson is much deeper than, I need to steer clear of narcissists, abusers, breadcrumbers and the like.

And when you miss the lesson, it lingers.

Here is what to do instead. Thank the people you’ve collaborated with for helping you learn the lessons and send love and light to their higher selves. Then let go of the lessons. Nothing more. By doing this, you will assimilate the lessons and act in a manner that is good for the higher good.

This is not to say you return to tolerating poor behavior. In fact, when you release the lesson, such behavior will often suddenly repel you.

It also doesn’t mean you should forgive the person, because that isn’t your job. You’ve carried enough of that burden. It just means that particular “class” is over.

New Moon Ceremony Tips

Ideally, it is good to follow a Full Moon Ceremony release with a New Moon Calling in Ceremony. Once you’ve done the release of something like a lack mindset surrounding something you wish for in life, you can use the New Moon Ceremony to invite in what you truly want.

For example, say you release at the Full Moon the idea that you will never have a fulfilling job where you are appreciated and able to thrive. At the New Moon Ceremony, you want to call in your dream job. To do so, list the top attributes you wish for in your ideal job.

As with the Full Moon Ceremony, don’t attempt to call in a certain person, place or circumstance. For instance, don’t ask for a relationship with a specific person or a certain position at a company. Instead, put in your order for the perfect job or a reciprocal relationship and trust that Spirit/The Divine will bring you what you want in the Divine Right Time.

Full and New Moon Ceremony Steps

The following will help you with the process, but feel free to make tweaks as you see fit.

Since I am in Southern California, I often go to the beach at sunset for my ceremonies, but not always. Sometimes I do them next to my pond. You could find yourself drawn to different elements. This can be affected by whether it is a full or new moon and what astrological sign the moon is in.

Have your intentions for the ceremony written down or on your phone so you can read them.
If guided to bring a candle and/or sage, do so.
When you arrive wherever you have decided to go, sit peacefully, get centered and light the candle and/or sage.
For a Full Moon Ceremony, say what you wish to purge 3-5 times. Once done, visualize the burden being burned up and dissolved.
For a New Moon Ceremony, say what you wish to call in 3-5 times and visualize it becoming a part of your consciousness and way of being.
Blow out the candle and extinguish the sage.
If possible, go to the water and submerge your feet. I generally stand in the surf for a while.
When the ceremony is done, thank your Higher Self, Life Guide and the Universe/Divine. Breathe deep and feel the lightness envelope you.
Over the next few days, notice how you feel about whatever it is you got rid of or called in.

Check here for timing of New and Full Moons.

Unlocking the Power of Life Guides: Insight, Purpose, and Inspiration

Leave a Comment Life Guides, Spiritual Julie Bawden-Davis

All About Life Guides

We have a wide variety of guides who help shepherd us through life. Whether we know their existence or are unaware, they are there to guide us through good times and more challenging situations. They are the reason we might take a left instead of a right and avoid an accident, or why we rise to the challenge of a project that becomes quite successful.

I’m going to share with you some of the more common types of guides to help you recognize your guides and even access them when you need them.

Personal Life Guides

We are going to start with Personal Life Guides, because they are something that every one of us has, and their influence is the greatest over us and our Soul Purpose.

As mentioned, all of us have a Life Guide. In fact, we are born with our Life Guide. And we die with our Life Guide by our side. Our Life Guide doesn’t leave us, because our Life Guide’s sole assignment is us.

You may be thinking, but I’ve never sensed my Life Guide. I must not have one. Or maybe he or she is in hiding. While it may seem that way, it’s just that you haven’t yet accessed your Life Guide. Doing so is generally something that we do when we are ascending. So, if you are just starting to ascend, you may not have noticed your Life Guide yet.

Even if you haven’t sensed your Life Guide, just know that he or she is there. And you will sense and even communicate with your Life Guide when the time is “right” (AKA Divine Timing.)

Our Life Guides can be male or female. There are also Life Guides that are androgynous. Generally, however, I have found that people have a male or female Life Guide. What sex your Life Guide presents as doesn’t necessarily have to do with your sex in this lifetime. By that I mean you won’t necessarily have a male Life Guide if you are male in this lifetime.

Why we choose a certain sex for our Life Guide is a personal matter that has to do with a few factors. One of the most important of which is the particular soul who we decided to sign up with to be our Life Guide. If the soul presents as mostly female, for instance, then it is likely that soul will be female for us.

As just mentioned, we do sign up with our Life Guides. At the same time, our Life Guides sign up to be with us. Generally, our Life Guide is someone with whom we have incarnated and have spent a lifetime or more with on the EarthPlane as humans. We generally jive well with this person and get along with them quite well.

Our Life Guide is a more ascended being, who when we knew the person in human form was training to be a Life Guide. Being a Life Guide is a high honor and a great commitment. This soul signs up to guide us indefinitely throughout our lifetimes. As far as I have been shown, we are guided by our Life Guides until we no longer reincarnate.

What are the functions of our Life Guide? In short, to guide us throughout our lifetimes and to help us walk in the direction of our Soul Purposes, for yes, many of us have more than one Soul Purpose. Our Life Guides also protect us from danger. In some respects, you could consider your Life Guide as a Lifeguard.

Our Life Guides love us unconditionally and have our backs always. They know what we wrote in our life script, because they wrote it with us. In many ways, they know us better than we know ourselves, because they are privy to all that we planned—even those things that we wish for but haven’t arrived yet.

Our Personal Life Guides have our master plan in hand, so it’s a good idea, if we can, to check in with them about our progress, and simply to be reassured and given a virtual hug.

Tips for Accessing Your Personal Life Guide

First, I would like to say, take a deep breath and know that you will access your Life Guide and feel him or her when you are ready. That being said, it may very well be that you are ready. If you are one of the people who have already accessed your Life Guide, then this will give you even more ways to enjoy your Life Guide and learn from him or her.

After you’re done taking a deep breath and knowing that you will access your Life Guide when ready, try these tips:

Get into a quiet space away from interruptions and anything that would cause you to be anxious or worry or get distracted. Once you are in this space, get yourself into a meditative state however doing so works for you.

When you are settled, ask that Archangel Michael or another Archangel you like to connect with protects you and your space. Call on the Archangel to help guide you to your Life Guide.

If you already meditate or think reflectively in a quiet space, then you know what to do to get to this state. If you need some help, go with your astrological sign in terms of what might get you to a meditative state. If you are a fire sign, looking into a candle or a fireplace may work. If you are a water sign, put on the sound of water or sit by a fountain or a body of water. If you are an earth sign, sit where you can plant your bare feet in the earth. If you are an air sign, get some air going. If you can’t go outside or it is still out there, turn on a fan. Listening to windchimes may also work. The goal is to get to a meditative, receiving state.

2) Once you are in a receiving state, use your strongest Clair to begin welcoming in the information. (See this article on Clairs to identify your strongest one.) So, if you are particularly clairsentient and feel your messages, ask to feel the energy of your Life Guide. If you are clairaudient, ask to hear him or her. If you are clairvoyant, ask to see something in your mind’s eye or around you that represents the presence of your Life Guide. Or you may be particularly Claircognizant. If so, and you feel a knowing that your Life Guide is right next to you, believe and know that.

When you connect with your Life Guide, it may be an extremely profound experience that brings you to grateful tears, or it could be a mild knowing. Everyone is different in how they connect with their Life Guides.

Rather than concern yourself if this “working,” simply allow what will come to you to come to you. You may not connect today, or you may. Or you may experience precursors to connecting. Either way, it is the allowing that is important.

3) As you feel, hear, see or sense your Life Guide’s energy, ask for some sort of a confirmation from your Life Guide. It could be a very mild sign, such as a slight breeze or a feeling that someone has touched you on the head or shoulder, or it could be something louder, like a car suddenly racing by or the mailman dropping your mail into your mailbox.

4) Ask that the feeling/knowing/sensing you are experiencing be imprinted into you. You will know your Life Guide by these feelings and knowings and sensings. That way when your Life Guide comes to you in the future, you will know he or she is communicating with you.

5) Once you have become good at sensing your Life Guide (this could take a few tries and confirmations until you feel sure), then you are ready to start asking to receive messages from him or her. Get into the meditative receiving state and ask him or her to please begin sending you messages. Keep in mind that your Life Guide has been sending you messages all along. You can even acknowledge this, but now is the time to let him or her know you are ready to notice and receive the messages, and that you will be alert and waiting.

6) When you receive what you believe is a message, believe it. Remember that there are no coincidences with this. Thank your Life Guide for the message, and then ask for more messages to build on that first message. Consider writing down the messages as they come to you. You will be surprised after stringing a few messages together that they will present you with a full message that may astound you.

How to Figure out What Your Life Guide is Telling You

Now that you’ve tapped into your guide, or believe you have, or are on the verge of doing so, let’s look at how you can ascertain and understand the messages you are getting.

While it would be wonderful if your Life Guide could walk through the door and sit down and begin giving you a coaching session, much like a human coach, that doesn’t always happen. It can—depending on how advanced you are in terms of your psychic development—but it’s likely you are at the beginning of this—hence you’re reading this.

I do have heart-to-heart talks with my Life Guide, Evan. But then I am a Master Channeler and extremely clairaudient, as well as clairvoyant, and I have been practicing for many, many years. This is a level you could also get to—in time. The key to this happening is communicating with your Life Guide as often as possible. Here are some tips for doing just that.

First, it’s especially helpful to know/identify your top Clairs, as it is through those means that your Life Guide will “speak” to you.

Here are some ways that your Life Guide could speak to you. Note these various ways, and then as you go about your days, try to tune into the many nuances that surround us. Those nuances are often our messages. If you would like to think of them as messages “in disguise,” that might even help you.

Here is an example of how your Life Guide may speak to you throughout a given day using the various clairs.

You awaken before your alarm sounds. Something—actually someone—your Life Guide—nudged you awake. You have a thought/a knowing, you might call it, about something it would be good for you to do or someone it would be good for you to contact.

Voila! Your Life Guide has given you a message.

You go to get ready for the day and find that your coffee/teacup isn’t where you usually put it. This sends you on a hunt. You are sure that you put it away but are led to another room where you find it next to something that reminds you of something you need to do.