We love Duft Creations for the amazing energy they bring to our fairs. I asked Barbara if we could use her chart on crystals to help our visitors understand crystals more. 

By understanding crystals and their energies it is easier to select the crystals that you need at any given time, however, I find that usually you are drawn to a crystal and it is at these times that its good to have an understanding of why you are drawn to them.

After  you pick up a crystal and read about  what it's healing energy is for, you will usually find that it is the energy you are requiring at that time to bring balance into your life.

Barbara will always give you insight on the crystals you choose at the fair, but if you are anything like me, you may forget what was said on your way home....and this chart is a good memory jogger!!!

Please enjoy. I have listed the crystals and their properties below from Barbara's chart, but Barbara has also offered her chart in a pdf for you to download. 

Agate – Protection, Strength & Courage
Agate - Blue Lace – Purification & Communication
Agate – Moss - Abundance, Self confidence & Protection
Agate - Fire – Courage and Protection
Alaskan Gabbro Blizzard Stone – Spiritual & Psychic Connection
Amazonite – Psychic, Integrity & honour
Amethyst – Spirituality & Intuition
Amethyst – Chevron – Peace of mind, self awareness & inner strength
Ametrine – Optimism, psychic abilities & disperse negative energies
Ammonite – Abundance, release negativity & success
Amulet Stone - Ryolite – Resolution & perserverence
Angelite – Angelic contact, serenity, inner peace & calm
Apache Tears – Grief & Release Negative Emotions
Apatite – Intuitive awareness, ideas, intellect & imagination
Aquamarine – Courage, peace & communication
Aragonite – Magic charms, increase energy & boost confidence
Atlantasite – Spiritual Awareness
Aura Quartz – Aura protection & angelic communication
Aura Quartz - Aqua Aura – Increase Psychic Awareness & increase conscious awareness
Aura Quartz - Cobalt Aura – Creativity & promoting spiritual growth
Aura Quartz – Opal/Angel Aura – Aura Protection, Kundalini, Angelic communications
Aura Quartz – Tangerine Aura – Self Confidence, release sexual blocks
Aura Quartz – Tanzine Aura – Intuition/Psychic, Spirit guides, reclaim passion
Aura Quartz - Titanium Aura – Astral Journeys, Remove Blockages, Psychic
Aventurine – Success, prosperity & mental clarity
Aventurine - Green - Emotional Tranquility
Azeztulite – “Nameless Light”, higher chakra work, personal & spiritual growth
Bronzite – Focused Action, Courtesy, Inner Certainty & Muscular Tension
Calcite – Amplifies Energy & Reduce Fear
Calcite Black/Shamanite – Over come darkness, relieve depression & anxiety
Calcite - Orange – Joy & Lightheartedness
Calcite – Pink Mangano – “Reiki” stone, Self love & Universal Love
Carnelian – Creativity, individuality & courage
Celestite – Angelic Guidance, End Worry & Anxiety
Charoite – Spiritual Growth, Inspiration & Transformation
Chiastolite – Adapting, practical creativity & spiritual awareness
Chrysanthemum Stone – Encourages synchronicity and luck. Master manifesting stone
Citrine – Success, abundance, mental clarity, revitalizing & cleansing
Coral – Reconnect with nature, love & prosperity
Crysocolla – Harmony & remove negativity
Dallasite – Epidote/Quartz – increases perception, diagnosis of problems, amplifies manifestation
Desert Rose - Selenite – Intuitive & other perception, Still the Mind
Emerald - Love, Communication, Truthfulness
Fluorite – Focus & Protection
Garnet – Romance, Love & Self-Confidence
Gibbsite – Decision Making, Achievement
Goldstone – Ambition, Drive
Hematite – Energizing & vitalizing, Mental Organization
Herkimer Diamonds – Attunement, Mind/Body/Spirit balance
Howlite – Decreases stress & lower pain
Iolite – Psychic Healing, Curiosity & Sobriety
Ivory Stone – “The Supreme Nurturer”, balances yin & yang
Jade – Love, Fidelity, Generosity & Abundance
Jade - Green – Emotional Balancer
Jade – Serpentine – Attract Love & Money
Jasper - Bloodstone – Centering, adaptability & reduce anxiety
Jasper – Dalmation – Remove disillusionment & loyalty
Jasper - Dragons Blood – Enhances life force, healing & balance
Jasper – Kambaba – Plant growth & soothe nerves
Jasper - Leopardskin – Service, power animals & visualization
Jasper - Mookaite – Internal and External Balance, physical healing stone.
Jasper - Nebula Stone – Helps with Memory, recall. Removes fear & helps let go. Grounding. Jasper – Ocean – Love self & others, heal emotions
Jasper – Picture – Harmony, Visualisation
Jasper – Rainforest – Resolution & perserverence
Jasper – Red – Grounding & Stimulating
Jasper – Red Leaf Silver – Protection, healing & confidence
Jet/Black Amber – Heal Grief, Protect Finances
Kunzite – Stress, Broken Hearts. Relive stress & anger
Kianite – Chakra Balance & Reduce Anger
Labradorite – Magic, psychic protection & stress reduction, Spiritual Connection & Magic
Lapis Lazuli – Truthfulness, Inner Power & organisation
Lepidolite – Emotional balance, acceptance & calm
Malachite – Transformation, Energy & Balance
Merlinite - Dendrite Opal – Shamanistic, promote spiritual growth
Moldavite –Stone of transformation, cosmic consciousness
Moonstone – Sensitivity, intuition, protection
Moonstone – Rainbow – Calming, creativity, compassion & goddess energies
Morganite – Angel Stone, Heart Stone, eases pain of separation
Mother of Pearl – Prosperity, Intuition & Transmute Negativity
Nuumite – Protection from Negative Energy, Activates all chakras
Obsidian – Black - Protection, Grounding, Remove Negativity & Infections
Obsidian – Rainbow – Stone of Pleasure, love, light and scrying
Obsidian – Snowflake – Balance, serenity & protection
Onyx – Root chakra, protection, assists with challenges & stabilizing
Opalite – Psychic abilities, spirituality & transition
Peacock Ore – Chalcopyrite – Break up Energy Blockages – Perception
Peridot – Heart Chakra, Balance & Compassion
Petrified Wood – Inner Harmony
Prehnite - Strengthen Life Force, Increase Energy, Spirit Communication
Pyrite – Protection & Healer’s Gold
Pyrite in Magnetite/Lodestone – Major Manifestation stone
Quartz – Power, protection, harmony, balance & energy
Quartz – Blue – Aides diplomacy, soothing and calming, Cleanse aura.
Quartz – Cherry – healer for emotional wounds, anger and tension
Quartz - Clear – Energizing
Quartz – Golden Healer – iron oxide – Balancing chakras, healing change
Quartz – Green – Atract positivity, prosperity & success. Stimulate creativity
Quartz – Hematoid – Pain relief, Emotional balance, Accelerated healing
Quartz – Lemon - Optimism, well being & creativity
Quartz – Rose - Unconditional love, opens the heart, romantic & self love
Quartz - Smoky – Clears Blocked Energy
​Quartz - Spirit – Transform neg energy to pos, Dreamwork, Sharmanic Journeys
Quartz – Tibetan – Purification, aura cleansing, protection, energy blockages & powerful healing
Quartz – Tourmalinated – Protection & reduce anxiety
Rhodonite – Grace, Elegance & Decrease Anxiety
Ruby Fuschite – Balancing, solutions to problems
Ruby in Zoisite – Energy Amplification, Psychic & Heart
Ruby Kianite – Dreams into reality, releasing old patterns
Scolecite – Manifestation, Improve relationships, inner peace
Selenite – Clarity of Mind & Decision Making
Septarian – Nurturing, uplifting & group communications
Seraphenite – Higher Energies, Angelic Communications
Shungite – Healing, EMF radiation & protection
Soapstone – Steatite – treatment of fat digestion, stimulate liver & gall bladder
Sodalite – Intelligence, Efficiency & Communications
Stitchite – Tranquility, keeping promises & loving companionship
Sugilite – “The Healer’s Stone”, spirituality, healing & psychic
Sunstone – Decrease stress, increase good fortune & abundance
Tanzanite - Stone of Magic, Workaholics stone
Tektite - Raising vibrations, strengthening the aura
Tigers Eye – Personal power, grounding & integrity
Tigers Eye – Blue – Communication, courage & throat chakra
Tigers Eye – Red – Vitality, stability & willpower
Tourmaline – Happiness, compassion, supportive & channeling
Tourmaline Pink/Rubelite – Protection & Healer’s Gold, brings abundance
Turquoise – Sacred, Master Healer Stone & Abundance
Ulexite – Far sight, clairvoyance & balance
Unakite – Find animal guides, heal abandonment, weight loss & gardening
​Zebra Stone – Connect to mother earth
 

Other types of Quartzes Lemurian – Master Crystals, higher vibrational work
Atlantean – Record Keepers, higher vibrational work
Elestial - Uncover Secrets, Calming
Enhydro – Relationships, Stress Reduction
Lithium – Heal repressed emotions, Stress reducer, balancing.

Over the past week I have recorded some powerful channelled spiritual messages, all to do with creating intentions, focusing on your dreams and creating powerful affirmations that lead you in the direction you wish to go. These are messages to guide all of us on a journey to fulfil our soul intention, using our innate gifts and talents. I hope you enjoy them. (Best enjoyed in a seated position with your eyes closed)

Tree of Life

 Creating and Manifesting

Creating and Manifesting requires doing it 'correctly' and understanding more about how the mind works. In this short audio you will be able to more fully understand how to imagine and create into manifestation effortlessly. Best enjoyed in a seated position with your eyes closed.

​Trying to get to sleep the other night I had a spirit impress upon me a vision of their funeral. It was like I was sitting in the church looking at her portrait photo on the coffin. After a while, seen as I couldn’t sleep, I got up to have a glass of milk and she impressed upon me again, this time saying “I feel like I am in limbo, I don’t know where to go”. In my tiredness, I wasn’t being very polite to her!!!!

Anyway, the night passed, and the following day I had a client come to see me for a healing session. Just prior to Marie arriving, this lovely spirit turned up again. As I was about to see two clients in a row, I asked the spirit, which one are you needing to connect with. She told me very clearly that she wanted to connect with Jane.

When Jane arrived, we talked about the spirit that was in the room to see her. It was her friend Marie that had passed not too long ago and Jane had shut out her grief because she was very busy with work and family. 

Prior to Marie’s passing, they had many great conversations about spirituality, meditation and more. Both were nurses, and Marie was interested in Jane’s genuine interest in spirituality and would ask her many questions. 

When Jane came into the room for her session, the spirit Marie asked, “could I hug her, I want to feel my friend through you ?” It was a beautiful moment of connection. 

During the healing session we worked on lots of things, but towards the end, her friend Marie wanted to connect with her again. She was so excited to have the opportunity to connect with Jane and imprinted on me how she saw Jane as energy. It was exciting for Marie, I could hardly contain her excitement as she spoke through me to Jane. (The picture above is as close to how she saw Jane' energy as I could find).

At the very end she impressed on me to ask Jane had she read: The Afterlife of Billy Fingers. I asked her this and Jane began to cry. She told me how a while ago, she was in a meditation group I was leading which at the end I talked about a book called, ‘The Afterlife of Billy Fingers’ and asked them had they read it. As Jane hadn’t, she decided to buy it to read, however, because Marie became  gravely ill around that time, she ended up giving her copy of it to Marie, thinking it might be good for her. (Jane hadn’t time to read it before she passed it on). Marie read it in a few days, prior to her passing.

What is remarkable here is that Jane had talked to Marie about the meditation class she came to that I ran.  About meditation in general too and spirituality and the book I suggested to the group and how she wanted to read it. This I believe is why the spirit wanted to connect with me.

What is more remarkable though, is that in reading the book and knowing that Jane hadn’t read it, she wanted her to remind her to read it because it is a good book for someone to read, especially when they have had someone pass over to the other side.

It was also the perfect validation for this spirit to give Marie, seen as Marie gave her this book, just prior to her passing. It was perfect for triggering tears in Jane and a reconnection to her friend. She told Jane, “I will be right beside you as you read it”.

For me this was a beautiful session, we worked through many issues and many times the tears flowed, and most of it was about opening up to love. At the end,Jane said something to me that I will always cherish, she said “ this has been a life changing session for me”. I felt very priviledged to be a part of her connection to spirit and her personal healing. I know in the weeks ahead she will read the book and connect more fully with her friend and her own innate psychic abilities. She is a beautiful soul, gentle, loving and sensitive and in  rekindling her psychic abilities and opening her heart more, has made room for more love to flow.

I had a client come to see me because they were feeling quite fearful and wanted to clear the fear by finding out what was causing it. Her aim was to find the source of the fear and let it go. She felt it must have been a past life because of all things she was afraid of small birds. She said that they are lovely, but the fear was quite irrational and she didn’t know why she felt like that.
 
She said that she also felt fear at other times but couldn’t place why. Fear would surface and she felt it was completely irrational.  As we began her healing journey, where she felt she would experience a past life, a funny thing happened. I felt a spirit in the room and at the same time, she began to say that she was visualising a woman standing in front of her…with birds flying around her.
 
She  began to feel  quite frightened  at this point as she visualised the woman with the birds flying around her. She was confused as she said “part of me thinks she looks beautiful with these lovely birds around her, and a part of me is very scared”.
 
The spirit shared with me that when Jenny was a child, she was trying to connect with her, as Jenny felt very lonely and she was trying to be her ‘imaginary friend’. At that time, she imprinted on Jenny that she was surrounded by swallows so as not to frighten Jenny and so that Jenny could feel safe and visualise something pretty. Jenny, unfortunately was frightened as she ‘felt’ someone in her room and this was scaring her.
 
The spirit returned during this session to apologise to Jenny and share what had really happened to her. Jenny was a psychic, sensitive child but without training or knowing about her abilities, she was frightened. This is very typical of clients I have seen at other times who didn’t know they were psychic as a child, however, had psychic experiences and ended up shutting them down to survive – because they felt fearful.
 
During this session, I asked Jenny to connect with the vision she was having and sense the energy this lady was sending to her ( I hadn’t told her it was a spirit – I wanted her to sense what was happening). She said that the lady seemed nice and that the birds seemed ok. I asked her to let her ‘inner child’ sense this lady to see what she felt. She said that her ‘inner child’ was scared.
 
I then spoke to Jenny about how she connected with this spirit during her childhood and that the spirit was trying to befriend her so she wouldn’t feel lonely…Jenny began to cry… she connected with the soul essence of this spirit who was trying to be loving toward her.
 
Her inner child did a remarkable thing then…..she visualised her reaching out and letting a bird settle on her finger. I asked her how that felt, and she said ‘ok I guess’.  I then saw a number of spirits around Jenny who had all tried to find a way to impress upon her they were with her when she felt at her loneliest, but because she had shut down out of fear every time she sensed a spirit, she couldn’t connect with them.
 
Over the next ten minutes we did a forgiveness exercise, where she was able to forgive them for scaring her, she really tuned in to compassion in herself, that they were there to help her, not scare her, the tears were falling softly and I knew my work was done.
 
We finished this session and I have sinced checked in with Jenny to see how she is progressing, and she is doing fine, oh… and birds are not so scary now.  Jenny is someone who meditates and practices Reiki. I am excited for her, as I have always felt her energy to be gentle and knew she was psychic, it just had to be rekindled at a rate she could handle. I believe  going forward that if she continues to meditate and practice reiki that she will slowly allow her psychic talent to become more open.
 
So…. back to: are you anxious or are you psychic? If you are psychic and you have shut down your abilities, it is likely that you are sensing spirit but are not sure what to do with it. It is worth learning more about yourself to discover whether you are in fact picking up on spirit and just haven’t been trained in how to connect effectively. In my own life, I suffered from anxiety for many years, not realising that whenever a spirit was near, I would start to panic and not know why. It wasn’t until I began to meditate that I opened my psychic channels and was shown that some of the fear I had was to do with sensing spirit. These days I use that ‘fear reaction’ to tune in to who is around me and connect as required.
 
Fear of lots of things, began for me when I was a small child. I used to have a recurring nightmare about 3 devils coming up out of the ground and dragging me across the dirt towards hell. It terrified me to such an extent that I still take up to an hour to fall asleep at night ( a habit from childhood where I was fearful to go to sleep!!!)
 
About 4 years ago, I had this most beautiful male child spirit in my room, as I tuned into his energy he imprinted that he wanted to apologise. He was a beautiful soul so I couldn’t understand why he wanted to apologise.
 
He told me that he used to talk to me when I was a child, he used to ask me over and over “I’ve been really bad, will I go to hell, I am frightened of being dragged to hell, will you help me? And he also showed me he connected with me through my dreams as the nightmare I had as a child, being pulled into hell. This was a light bulb moment for me, recognition that I had been connecting with spirit for a very long time but had not recognised it, as I worked so hard to shut it down. So if your child says, “there is someone over there” or you catch them chatting away to their ‘invisible friend’ know that you are likely dealing with a beautiful, sensitive, psychic child who may be in need of  your understanding or ability to listen without judgement. Who knows, given time they may surprise you with what they say and do.

For all of you that have ever wondered "why does this bother me?". "Why do I instantly dislike them, him, her?". "Why can't I speak up for myself" or "Why do I feel so connected with that person?" or any other relevant question, I hope this story will give you a greater understanding of why it is so.

To give you a better understanding of how past lives can impact on your present life, I wanted to share my own story.....or one small part of it. I recently did a past life regression as I am learning to speak up for myself more and trust myself more ...but this intention was bringing up some fear for me. A lot of fear in fact, so I wanted to clear it out, so that I could more easily express myself.

As a hypnotherapist and Past Life Regression facilitator, I have viewed many of my past lives, so when someone recently offered to do a past life regression on me, at a fair in Sydney, I personally didn't think anything new would come up. I thought I had seen so many of my lives and released so much fear, in trepidation and learnt so much about myself that I said no, and was about to walk away... when I heard behind me.."I'll give you a discount".

Well, it wasn't the discount that encouraged me to give it a go, but I felt that it was meant to be, as its not usual for someone to offer a discount on an already good price.I sat down, and when I was asked what I wanted to work on, I said " to be able to love more freely, to not block". 

We started the regression and I began to see a really large old door, an arch shaped door with an old locking mechanism. I pulled the door open to peer inside, only to see a cobblestone, cold floor and a very small dark place, with only a small window for light. I sensed I lived in this room, I looked like a man, I had very, old hands and my arms were very malnurished. I could sense that I had been in this room for a very long time.

The more I saw, the more I began to understand how it connected with my present life. During this past life, I had been a priest, and during my reflection and prayer time, I had discovered a personal God. I felt the presence of unconditional love and lightness. I was so exhilerated that I wanted to share this devotion to a personal God with everyone...so began to teach this. Unfortunately this was not allowed and so, I was thrown into prison to live the rest of my days. 

Now, you would think that I would feel angry and frustrated at this happening to me, or even full of anger, but, what I truly felt was unconditional love. I felt that if I ever had the opportunity again to share the personal spirit of God, then I would want to teach that. My words during this session were "only love is real", the rest is fabricated. (When I later looked up the meaning of this word I began to understand the significance of its meaning - it means: To invent something in order to deceive).

In that past life, I had wanted 'everyone' to experience the universal life force energy of unconditional love, known to me as God in that lifetime. I wanted everyone to go within, reflect, pray and find the beauty that I had discovered, however, it wasn't meant to be.

The irony is, that being placed in a cold, dank room for the remainder of my life, only gave me more time to reflect, pray and discover the internal presence of God / Spirit...so in effect it was a blessing in disguise. 

During this session, my whole body shook, from the inside out...as it does when you are shivering from the cold. I was suprised at how reactive to this session my body was. It made me realise how much I was holding on  to keep myself safe. 

In this lifetime, I have found it hard to speak up about what I believe to be truth. The fear stems from past lives, where I have been punished for speaking out. (burnt at the stake, imprisoned, mouth wired almost shut are lifetimes I remember). The memory of these lifetimes lie below the conscious mind, so it takes a good past life therapist to draw them out, and this was no exception. 

By clearing the energy from this past life, I have felt more free, more clear and more balanced on moving forward.I can now speak my truth...it may not be your truth.. and that's ok, but I will find my soul tribe and I will share what I need to share with them. It is very exciting to liberate yourself from past fears and allow your life to move ahead in leaps and bounds. Past life therapy is one way to do that.

Intuition is our connection to the universal, intelligent life force that resides within everyone and everything. It is felt as deep wisdom, an inner knowing and is an internal source of knowledge and understanding. As we develop our intuition we begin to sense what feels right and true for us at any given time.

Intuition is a practical tool that we can use to help us deal with life's experiences. Helpful decisions, solutions to problems and inspired ideas all come from our intuitive self. It is an incredible inner resource and gift that we can use to enhance the quality of our lives.

Some people think that intuition is a "special gift", which certain people have and others do not. Nothing could be further from the truth. We all have intuitive ability. Perhaps you have had experiences that you have not contributed to intuition. Such as:

Having a hunch about something. You knew the best decision to make and it paid off
Having a "gut feeling" that something would occur
The phone rang, and you just knew who it was going to be
You're out shopping and you feel that someone is looking at you, when you turn to look, he /she turns away
These are simple examples of intuition that occur quite naturally throughout the day.

Admittedly some people are more intuitive than others. People, who ponder, tend to use their intuition more. Inventors and leaders are two examples. People who ponder, tend to ask questions like "How can I develop this idea?", "How can I get this to work?", "What's the best way to improve this situation?" When they begin to relax and day dream, solutions seem to flow to them out of nowhere. You'll see the look of elation on their face when solutions manifest in their mind. People who use their intuition are dynamic, excitable and enthusiastic about living.

Intuition also comes in the form of connectedness with other people. Perhaps you have had that "gut feeling" for no apparent reason, that you really must phone someone or "out of the blue" you begin worrying about a friend, but you don't know why. These connections with others can be quite strong, depending on your level of intuitive ability. Here is an example of just how powerful it can be.

My mother was particularly intuitive with others. She had a passion and interest in the lives of her family. One night she walked the hallway throughout the night because she couldn't settle. She "just knew" that something was wrong with my brother in New Zealand. We were in Australia, so this shows that distance is of no consequence to "picking up" on others. In the morning she phoned him, only to find out that he was away for the weekend. She left a message that he was to phone her as soon as he arrived home.

My brother rang my mother late Sunday night and told her that he and his wife had gone camping for the weekend. They were camped near the side of a river. On the Saturday night, a storm swept in, and before they knew it, the floodwaters had created an additional channel of water. They became caught on a patch of land with water all around them. The only way to survive was to swim to shore. At this point they had lost all of their belongings and had a four hour walk back to their car.

Whilst this story had a happy ending, my mother couldn't settle until she knew that they was alright.

Unfortunately, not many people know what intuition is or how to use it. They may see it as something for the "gifted" but it is a gift for everyone of us to use.

Ponder this:

Wouldn't you find value in being able to find the best solutions to your problems? Understanding a pattern in your behavior that you can change to improve the quality of your life? Being gifted with inspired thoughts, ideas and having access to your greatest potential and being shown step by step how to turn ideas from potential to reality?

All of us have this very amazing power! All we need to do is raise our awareness about intuition and set our mind to harnessing it.

Intuitive guidance can range from a niggling feeling to a strong indicator or message. Your inner self is persistent and will consistently try to get your attention until you finally tune in!

A niggling intuitive moment is like a passing thought or feeling that comes from within. When it is an intuitive thought, it will come to mind many times if it is significant. For example, if you need to phone someone, and it's really important that you do so, you may find that you just can't get the thought out of your mind until you do.

As a spiritual counsellor, I have found intuition to be a valuable tool when assisting clients. It puts me on their "wavelength". If I follow my intuition and express to them what I am seeing, feeling and experiencing for them, they often have a healing experience. Intuition in this form is about connectedness with others.

Psychics, mediums and spiritual healers receive intuitive messages ranging from:

Clairvoyance:seeing a clear picture 
Clairaudience:hearing inspired thoughts 
Clairessence: sensing smells which are not present, eg roses, essential oils 
Empathy:feeling other people's energy 
Dreaming (Déjà vu)

This gift is too precious to be limited by a belief that only certain people possess it. There are many ways you can develop your intuition. Intuition is available to everyone. Become aware of how your inner self communicates with you, so that you too, can have greater access to your intuition.

Ways to develop your Intuition

Practice meditation techniques

Practice taking time out every day to experience silence. Calm your mind by using a meditation technique. Release your need to think or analyze everything. The best information comes from the deep within.

Be open to new possibilities

Be open to the gift of intuition and allow yourself to accept what is has to show you. You may find initially that you "try too hard" to focus on receiving something and end up receiving nothing. This happens when we concentrate rather than let go. Pretend that you don't have a care in the world, allow yourself to fully relax. It is in that moment between thoughts that intuitive messages emerge.

Ask your inner self questions

When you ask yourself questions, trust that your intuition will bring you the answers. Don't strive to think or analyze your question, hand it over to your intuition. Remember that intuitive messages come out of the blue, when you are meditating, daydreaming or in a relaxed state. If you are busy you may not pick up on an intuitive message, it may come through to you just as you are about to fall asleep. For this reason, keep a pen and paper on your bedside table and write down any intuitive messages. Don't hope that you will remember them in the morning.

Personal Development Tip: Ask yourself any question that you wish to know the answer to. EG "What is my overriding life goal?" "What can I do to resolve this issue?" "How can I achieve this goal?" Every answer you seek is within you, learn to trust your internal guidance. It will lead you in the direction of your highest potential.

Creative tools to connect to your intuition

Not everyone meditates to connect to their intuition. There are many other ways to achieve this connection. For example, walking, painting, writing, dancing, sowing, knitting, reading, and talking with others. Practice something calming, that helps you connect, or get into the "flow". Creativity is an expression of your spirit presenting intuitive guidance to you or for others.

For example, my daughter sketched an amazing picture of an angel for me when she "picked up" intuitively that I needed to receive spiritual guidance. Her sketch was a snapshot of how I was feeling at the time. You know what they say 'a picture is worth a thousand words', well; when I saw this picture I was able to interpret its meaning for me.

Doodle

Have a pen and paper with you when you meditate or relax, if you sense words being dictated to you, write them down, tap into your feelings and ideas, allow your words to flow forth. Sometimes, valuable insight and knowledge is gained from this connection to your inner self.

One valuable lesson to learn about intuition is that it cannot be forced; you need to allow it to surface of its own accord. By all means make an intention to tune into it and then let go. Intuition will surface when you least expect it.

Personal Development Tip: If you have an important decision to make and are not 100% sure about making that decision, stop and think about it. This may be your intuition showing you that this decision is not quite right for you. It may feel like you have some resistance to making the decision even though you are unsure why. These feelings often indicate further reflection on the issue is needed. The easiest way to ponder is to meditate or take time out for yourself and relax.

Alternatively, you may "know" that a decision is right for you, in these instances you can choose whether or not to allow yourself to enjoy the opportunities shown to you.

Intuition is like having a mentor who knows you intimately. Intuition is always available to you. It waits patiently for you to let go and tap into your inner resources. It gives you wonderful inspired guidance and solutions to problems, and all you have to do is ask!

To connect to your intuition and use it more often requires you to nurture this relationship with your inner self. Give yourself time each day to develop this skill. The inspiration, guidance and awesome experiences that you will encounter can only enhance the quality of your life.

About Cheryl Cattarin

Having worked in the Personal Development field for over twenty years, Cheryl Cattarin has taught thousands of people the skills to improve their lives. Her latest book "From Crappy to Happy" teaches how to transform thoughts from negative to positive and remove self-sabotaging patterns that hinder success.

Beliefs and Creation

THIS moment is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on what you wish to create going forward. For you are in control of your thoughts and visions and these will be reflected back to you in your reality.

You have the power and the wisdom to create that you seek but you must be very clear on what you want to achieve. If you can be very clear in your intention, then you will see a massive shift in the way things come into your life, quickly and effortlessly and without a struggle.

You can create the life that you wish and desire, but this does not mean that you sit on your laurels. Once you determine what you wish to achieve, you need to then move confidently in the direction of your goals; actioning the steps to achieve those said goals.  

The universal energy will work with you, as YOU move forward confidently. The clearer you are about what you wish to achieve, the quicker the universal energy can create for you. 

Imagine that you are like a magnet, as you visualise and assert your desires, you magnetise the universal energy toward you, bringing to you what you have declared you want in your life.

Be sure that your declaration to the universal energy is what you want as the universal energy listens and creates. If you want to magnetise energy toward you, you must be very clear about what you want.

When I listen to most people, I hear a variety of messages that are very often inconsistent with their goals and dreams. They have competing beliefs affecting their vision.

To give you an example, a person who desires happiness and wellbeing will also focus on what really annoys them and makes them angry. A person o desires riches (of any kind) will also focus on poverty thinking. I see this time and time again and I am asking you  to take time to ponder what you wish to create and manifest in your life going forward.

There is no way that you can have conflicting thoughts or positive and negative thoughts and achieve what you wish to achieve. For one will always be cancelling out the other. If you wish to achieve, focus on what you wish to create, declare that you are creating this and then do everything in your power to move in that direction, as you do this, you will magnetise the universal energy around you and draw to yourself the very people, situations and events that you require.  This is not uncanny or unusual but how the universe works, so be mindful of what you think and see in your mind’s eye, as this is what you will create in reality.

Over the past few years 'vision boards' have become the popular way to visualise what you wish to create. You can create a vision board by taking photos, pictures from magazines or from the web and plastering them onto a board which you then make sure is in your line of sight every day.

You can also think about what you want to create each night prior to falling asleep and first thing in the morning, when the brain is naturally in alpha brain waves (best for visualising). Or you could write yourself a message stating what you are going to achieve and how you are going to achieve it. You need to read this everyday.

Another way, is to brain storm, chat with a friend and fuel your passion by sharing ideas.

Over the years I have given out my goal setting booklet to hundreds of clients to help them focus on what they wish to achieve and how they will go about it. It works, its fun and its yours if you want it. Send me an email via our contact form and I will send it to you. By the way, mention in the notes 'goal setting booklet' please. 
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©  Cheryl Cattarin  2016

(Picture: Abraham Hicks, Emotional Guidance Scale)

​Today I was reminded yet again by spirit to: "focus on your strengths and not your weaknesses" I had been concentrating on a weakness! However, we grow from our strengths, because concentrating on these causes our confidence to soar.

When we focus on our weaknesses we are more inclined to feel bad about ourselves and this can cause our  confidence or self esteem to plummet.

Just for a minute, I want you to think about your strengths, what draws people to you? What are you good at? What are your assets? What do others admire about you?

Alternatively when you meditate next, ask spirit or intuition to reveal to you your strengths...

Each of us has strengths and weaknesses, focusing on our strengths will bring more happiness and wellbeing into our lives and cause less stress on your body.

If you have been focusing on your weaknesses you will tend to move away from pursuing your goals and dreams. A negative focus can be a form of self sabotage that can cause you to spiral downwards in energy and vitality. When you focus on what's "not right" with yourself you will lower your self esteem and all of your affirmations will be negative ones. You will be implying to yourself that you are not good enough.

As this focus comes from within you, you have an alternative that can cause you to spiral upwards in energy and vitality. And it is this, focus on your strengths, focus on what you are good at and do more of those tasks. This will raise your self esteem and confidence.

Over the past 25 years, there has been a coaching style developed in the sporting world called peak performance. As a result of the success of peak performance, this coaching style entered the mainstream and became known as Business and Life Coaching. The main techniques applied by business, sports and life coaches is that: - People grow from strength, not from weakness

This means that people grow by focusing on successful outcomes. Or in other words, "What have you done in the past that ensures your success?"

For example: in peak performance in sport, a golfer will focus on his best golf swing - he will visualise it, see it in his minds eye and then he will practice his swing physically. By focusing on what works - he will become better at what he does.

On the other hand, the golfer who plays haphazardly, sometimes good and sometimes bad, has no real focused direction and will continue to play haphazardly.

Peak Performance concentrates on what works and gets you to focus on improving what works.

If you focus on what works, you are focusing on successful outcomes and on your strengths.

If your focus on your weaknesses, then your goal attainment will be weak too. Sometimes doing well and sometimes not doing well.

Each and everyday say to yourself: "Is this thought leading me to or away from my goal?". If you are focusing on your weaknesses it is likely that you are procrastinating and not focused on your goals. If you are focusing on your strengths, what you can offer the world, then it is very likely that you are moving forward and attaining your goals.

A positive mind set motivates you to achieve your goals and dreams, where as a negative mind set can lead you to procrastination and frustration. Spiral up or spiral down. The choice for how you think, rests with you.

About Cheryl Cattarin
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Having worked in the Personal Development field for over twenty years, Cheryl Cattarin has taught thousands of people the skills to improve their lives. Her latest book "From Crappy to Happy" teaches how to transform thoughts from negative to positive and remove self-sabotaging patterns that hinder success.

Breath meditation is a very simple meditation that you can practice almost anywhere.

Give yourself around 15 minutes to just relax and let the world go by. Then practice this meditation below. Read it first and then action it.

Sit in a comfortable position in your favourite armchair. Close your eyes and roll your shoulders backwards to open up your chest cavity. 

Begin your meditation by saying the following intention "I call on the highest and purest energies of the universal life force energy to guide  me moment to moment as I experience this meditation. I ask to only experience that which is for my highest good". 

Then, to begin: 

Take a slow breath. A slow breath takes around three seconds to inhale and three seconds to exhale. 
As you breathe in, imagine that you are breathing all the way down to just below your navel. Pause, and then exhale slowly. As you breathe, your abdomen will begin to expand and contract. If you find that your shoulders are rising and falling, this is due to shallow breathing where you breathe into the top two thirds of your lungs. To practice deep breathing, place your hands on your navel and feel your abdomen move out and in with each breath. The added benefit of deep breathing is that your diaphragm moves up and down which gently massages your lower organs. If you need to concentrate on slowing down your breath, count slowly to three on your inhalation and exhalation. 1......2.......3

Practice this breathing for around fifteen minutes a day to develop your meditation skills. Use this time solely to focus on your breathing technique. 

Mind Traffic

If you find that you have a lot of thoughts surfacing, do not become distracted by them. If you have a pen and paper beside you, you can use the first five minutes of your meditation to write down your mind traffic. Just gently open your eyes, write the thoughts, then closed them again.

Focus Words
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If you need something to focus on, you can use the word “calm” or “relax” on your outgoing breath. If you are tired, you may find yourself falling asleep during your meditation, this is quite normal. When you have a time restraint though, be sure to have a timer handy to wake you. If you use a timer to finish your meditation, be sure that it is not too close to you, as it may startle you when the alarm rings. 

Alternatively, if you want to finish your meditation naturally, imagine that you are awakening from a deep sleep. Wriggle your toes, stretch slowly, open your eyes and focus on the room around you. When you feel that you are fully awake, you can attend to your usual activities. 

Shamanic Drumming is an amazing experience designed to allow you to enter an altered state of awareness. During meditation, the shaman's drum will be the  focus of your attention as you listen to the rhythmic sounds, taking you gently into a meditative state. Shamanic drumming uses a repetitive rhythm that slowly builds in intensity. The ascending tempo induces a light to deep trance state allowing you to journey through your meditation and enter into a level where healing can occur. When ready to finish the meditation, the shamanic healer will simply slow the tempo of drumming, to help draw your consciousness back to normal awareness.

Sound is an effective way of establishing a connection with the spirit realm. Sound travels through space, time and physical energy. Shamans strike particular areas of the drum to summon helping spirits. The ever changing variations in the sounds of the drum allow the shaman to communicate with the spiritual realm. The shaman uses the drum to create a bridge between the spirit world and our world.

How it works

Everything in our universe is made of vibrational energy, from the smallest subatomic particle to the largest star or planet, everything has a specific vibrational pattern.The vibrational energy of the drum will influence your vibrational energy and take you into a meditative state. As you focus on the sound of the drum you will experience a shift in your energetic field.

Different rhythms transmit different meanings and enable the shaman to contact different beings in different realms of the cosmos. Volume and tempo create feelings in the listener and communicate symbolic meanings directly as aural sense experience.

Shamanic journeys begin with drumming. You focus on the sound of the drumbeat, which symbolizes the heartbeat of mother earth or the universe. If you have any difficulty with connecting to your inner self, mind-travelling to the sound of shamanic drumming may be an effective method of  connecting with your inner guidance. There is nothing like the hypnotic, heartbeat rhythm of the drum to help you to let go and flow with the rhythm into a meditative, healing space.

Sometimes shamans will connect you with your Power Animal or Guide. Working with a power animal or guide will help you to recognize  and work with your inner energy.

How it affects your energy

The rhythm of a shamanic drum changes your brainwaves? Your brain waves begin to move from Beta brain waves, where you focus and analyse everything to Alpha brain waves, the brain waves of meditation, using intuition and discovering your spiritual depths.

At the end of the shamanic drumming session — usually it’s around a half-hour — a different drumming sound will begin, allowing you to know that  it’s time to come back from your journey.

Shamans have always been recognized leaders in their communities whose purpose is to heal the injured and sick, perform sacred ceremonies, sing, chant and dance, expressing themselves artistically, acting as the bridge between the living and spirit, communicating with spirits to receive knowledge and teachings to help  provide healing at all levels. 

Shamanic drumming and meditation is a wonderful way to connect fully with your inner self, your guides and your innate talent.

We have an amazing shamanic drummer at our fairs that offers a workshop that helps connect you with your spiritual self. Elizabeth Cobden from Empowered Alchemy will lead you in an amazing meditation of empowerment.