Looking for Inspiration? Check out CNN Heroes.

CNN is always on at my gym. It's great to know what's happening in the world, but after about 2 minutes of the relevant stuff, the rest of the programming isn't really that mind-blowing. And it's repetitive, which is totally boring. But one thing the network has that I love is CNN Heroes. The tagline is "Everday People Changing the World," and every time they run a segment, I find myself choking back tears while on the treadmill or elliptical and resolving to contribute more to the world. CNN Heroes are people who just decided to DO something to help others, and made it happen.

A lot of the people I see in the course of my work are looking for a way to find greater meaning in their lives and to figure out why they're here. And the bottom line is, we're here to make a difference. Yes, we have to work out our own personal karma, and learn our own specific lessons and all that, but one of the coolest spiritual/universal laws I've discovered is that we are all one, all a part of source energy, and we're all here to contribute to the greater good, however that may manifest. Sometimes life is so challenging that it's hard to see that, and that's where watching inspirational programming like CNN Heroes can help. If you're feeling low or lost and need some inspiration, check it out!

You Can Turn a Picture into a Reality

A long time ago, I was stuck in a corporate marketing job that I hated. I sat in a stupid cubicle with very little privacy right outside of my mean boss's door. I didn't love the work that I did every day, nor did I love the people I had to work with. I worked there because I needed the money, and although I didn't like the job, the company was really reputable and the experience was good for my resume, so I stayed, though my spirit suffered.

My computer afforded me the opportunity to email with friends and family and surf the internet when I was done with my work for the day, and I was allowed to decorate the particleboard of my cubicle with pictures of things that inspired me. I remember distinctly one picture that I put up. It was a photo I pulled from a magazine of La Pedrera, a magnificent building in Barcelona designed by the legendary Spanish Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi. The building was so beautiful, so remarkably unique. I dreamed of traveling the world more than anything, and on days when work was so tedious that it felt unbearable, I would stare at this picture and tell myself that one day, I'd get there.

It took a couple of years, but I created a new, better job for myself, with a great boss (I love you, Heidi!) and a beautiful office of my own with a great big window and an awesome view. An opportunity to travel to Spain presented itself, and I jumped on it. I saw many things I'd been longing to see my whole life, like the Alhambra and the Mezquita de Cordoba. I even fit in a jaunt over to Morocco. But the most magical event on that trip was this perfect moment where space and time stood still, and I found myself standing on a street in Barcelona, looking at La Pedrera. I realized it was from the same point of view as that picture I had pinned up in my cubicle a couple of years earlier. I teared up when this hit home; the magnificence of that very moment when I realized I had turned a vision into a distinct reality.

You can do this, too! I love this Seth (as channeled by Jane Roberts) quote from The Nature of Personal Reality: "You are given the gifts of the gods; you create your reality according to your beliefs. Yours is the creative energy that makes your world. There are no limitations to the self except those you believe in."

One of the best ways to create your reality is to re-program your brain every single moment that you can. If you're stuck in a cubicle, daydream as much as possible about getting out of there, and then do everything you possibly can to make your dreams come true. Make what Esther and Jerry Hicks call a "Magical Creation Box" filled with images that support your dreams. Spend 30 minutes every day with these pictures, knowing that you are attracting them to you in each second that you're focusing on them, and that you are in the process, each and every moment, of creating your reality.

In the famous words of Pinnochio's Jiminy Cricket, 

"When you wish upon a star,
Makes no difference who you are...
Anything your heart desires will come to you. 
If your heart is in your dreams, 
No request is too extreme, 
When you wish upon a star,
As dreamers do."

 Good luck, and please keep me posted on your awesome new creations!

What can Intuition do for You?

I was talking to someone the other day about what I do, and I emphasized just how fun it is to teach people to tap into their own intuitive skills. He looked a little confused, and asked me how that could help people with their lives. I, in turn, got a little confused...I was like, how could you not see how helpful that could be? But I get that we're not hard-wired to understand these things, so I made a little list:

1. Using your intuition can help save you time and energy:
I used to love to shop just for the sake of shopping, but with a 7 month-old baby, that's a luxury, so I've taken to pulling tarot cards to see whether a trip will be worth it or not. Now I can avoid a whole 2 hour excursion. Most recently, the cards kept telling me a trip to the nearest Marshalls would be worthless. It made no sense to me until I drove by a billboard announcing their grand re-opening later this month; it had been closed for remodeling!

2. Using your intuition can keep you in the loop at work:
So many workplaces like to keep employees in the dark. My friend Ruth worked for a very high-profile, solid company for several years before the corporate office began a big re-structure; layoffs were coming. She tapped into her intuition to figure out whether she'd survive the first round. Yes, she was stressed out, but she trusted her gut, which told her she'd be okay (this time). She didn't completely trust that all would be fine in the long run, though, and decided to be really conservative with her expenses over the course of the next year. When they decided to close down the office she worked in and move operations back to New York, she was fully prepared and not surprised in the least. In fact, she had several other options lined up and is now living her dream of freelancing while building her own reputable brand in the creative arts field.

3. Using your intuition can help you know if someone's right or wrong for you:
I did a session a while back for a woman who was having an affair, and wanted me to see what I picked up on the other guy. I visualized him as a giant rat skulking around in a nasty, yucky apartment. I told her this, and she said it pretty much verified what she intuitively felt. She was physically drawn to him, but she knew he was bad news. She ended the affair with the rat and went back to work on her marriage.

4. Using your intuition can help you make informed decisions:
When I was car-shopping a few years ago, I found a great used car that I loved, but worried about buying it because it was retrograde mercury and you're never supposed to sign papers or make any big purchases during that time. So I did a neat little clairvoyant trick to see if there were any major issues with the vehicle. I saw an issue with something in one of the corners under the hood and asked a mechanic to check it out. Sure enough, the radiator was broken. The dealer replaced it and I purchased the car, which has been fantastic for 6 years now.

5. Using your intuition can help you in business:
One of my favorite clients is a financial planner who doesn't make a single move without checking in with his gut instincts first. I love working with him because the information just flows (it takes two to tango, especially in a reading, and the more intuitive/tuned in a client is, the more awesome the session). 

You can use your intuition to figure out all sorts of things, from the mundane to the awe-inspiring. The books listed on my sidebar offer fantastic tips and techniques to strengthen your intuition, and I am always offering workshops and classes if you want live support. I was trained by Debra Katz, and together we've created a fantastic online course to help you access your clairvoyant abilities. It's so much easier than you'd ever think! Once you start training yourself to use your intuition, a whole new world will open up for you, and it's much more fun than you'd ever believe!

3 Ways to Get Him off your Mind

I can't tell you how many women come to see me with questions about the men who are (or are not, or are, but tenuously so) in their lives. Women from all walks of life, from wholesome to exotic, from plain to drop-dead gorgeous, college students, entrepreneurs, psychologists, models and high-powered executives, all have one very troubling thing in common: they can't get certain men out of their heads. It's like there's some weird pull that takes place, some mysterious energetic force, and the next thing you know, women are booking appointments to find out what he's thinking, if he's thinking of them, why he hasn't texted, when he'll call again, what his deal is. And each time I check out the dude, he's just, like, ho-hum. Not complex, not worried about it, and, in the case of the guy who's not returning texts or phone calls, just not really thinking too much about the woman in general.

It leads us back to the heart of the matter, which is the fact that it's just not comfortable to have someone on your mind so much. If you find yourself focusing on someone who's not as invested in you as you are in him, the healthiest thing to do is to get him out of your head. While that's easier said than done, here are 3 techniques that have worked well for me, my friends, and many of my clients:
  
1. Realize that you're building him up to be much, much more than he really is:
One of my favorite clients ever is Mina. She's a super cute, successful Asian American business woman with a petite frame, an excellent sense of style, a spark in her eyes and a great sense of humor. Mina was hooked on a guy she'd had a few dates with, but who was playing hard to get with her. When we looked into him in a session, I saw him as much less enticing than he seems. He eats TV dinners, surfs the internet too much (hint, hint), works too much, and isn't that adventurous. I worked with Mina to clear the image she has of him as the perfect partner she can't have because he's not committing to her, and to see the truth of who he really is. You can do this, too. Just think of all of his flaws, and recruit your friends to help. Years ago, I had a crush on a guy who drove the most absurd car ever. That would be my go-to image to get him off my mind. It worked.

2. Whenever he pops up in your head, replace his image with something else:
Very recently, I met with a very lovely woman who was trying to get over a really handsome man who had essentially dumped her and then immediately started dating someone else. She was so hurt, and what hurt her even more was the fact that she just couldn't get him off her mind. This technique takes a ton of effort, but it worked for her, and I know it can be done. Realize that focusing on him too much is the equivalent of watching bad TV. It's not good for you, but sometimes it can be addictive; you don't like it, but you go to it out of habit. So make a concerted effort to switch the channel in your head to something else. Think about someone you'd like more (movie stars work well here). You can also just force yourself to focus only on what you're doing; that's called mindfulness and it takes practice, so why not use this time to start? You can also imagine there's a door in your head, then shove him out of that door and shut it. Your head is your space, and he doesn't belong there.

3. Utilize this standard clairvoyant healing method to release his energy from yours:
Sit in a quiet place, close your eyes, and bring your attention to your third eye. Now visualize a screen out in front of you, and on that screen, create a clear rose, and ask it to fill with the color of your own true vibration. Give that rose a nice, strong stem that burrows deeply into the earth. Next, ask the rose to show you a color or colors that represent where his energy is running through your vibration. Ask those colors that represent his energy to release down the stem of the rose into the earth, and watch as they drain out of the rose. Now fill the rose up with even more of the color of your true vibration. Then imagine you're taking that rose out of the screen and hold it over your head. See it explode into a million pieces and shower your body and aura with your own true energy.
For more techniques like this, check out Debra Katz's work.

On a subtle energetic level, other people sense when we're thinking about them. The more you obsess about him, the more uncomfortable he will be, and this will make him want to avoid you like the plague! If you really want a man to contact you, the best thing to do is disconnect. Just leave him alone, be done, move on! This worked for one of my clients who was sort of involved with a professional athlete. She noticed that he'd text or message her even more when she very strongly and clearly stopped thinking about him. I'm not saying this will make him want to be with you forever and ever, but I have seen cases where it really is beneficial. So get a manicure, go shopping, sign up for a dance class and take a weekend trip. Do whatever it takes to re-direct your thoughts and energy to get him out of your head!

The Truth about Telepathy

While I wish that telepathy was as magical and phenomenal as I thought it was when I was a kid, the truth is that it's just an animal instinct we all have. Biologist Rupert Sheldrake has done a lot of work on this, and if you're interested in learning more, I highly recommend reading his books. On his website, he states "My research on telepathy in animals (summarized in my book Dogs That Know When Their Owners are Coming Home and published in detail in a series of papers (listed here) led me to see telepathy as a normal, rather the paranormal, phenomenon, an aspect of communication between members of animal social groups. The same principles apply to human telepathy, and I have investigated little explored aspects of human telepathy, such as telepathy between mothers and babies, telephone telepathy (thinking of someone who soon afterwards calls) and email telepathy."

Despite the fact that telepathy is more of an instinct than a super power, it's still fun to see it in action. I'm thrilled every time I hear my cat Coco meowing when I open the door, not to my apartment, but to the building I live in. How does she know it's me? Telepathy! I used to know my mom was coming home when I was little because I could hear her heels and I knew her walk, but Coco knows it's me even when I'm in ballet slippers. It's remarkable.

Children are super telepathic. I was astounded the other day when I had Ivan, my 7 month old baby, on the changing table. I thought I heard my husband come in through the front door, but I wasn't sure. The next thing you know, Ivan turned and looked towards the doorway of his room as if Ryan was there. I looked too, but he wasn't. Literally 10 seconds later, though, he came in. Ivan literally sensed his presence!

My friend has two little girls who are extremely telepathic. The other day, she was driving the car with her girls in the back seat, wondering what to pick up for dinner. She knew they'd be passing a McDonald's on the way home and pondered taking a different route, because once the girls saw McDonald's, they'd beg her to get it for dinner, and she thought "I can't let them have that - it's not healthy." The next thing you know, her 4 year old piped up: "Mama, we shouldn't eat at McDonald's, because that food's not good for you, is it." They hadn't even passed McDonald's, and my friend hadn't uttered a single word about what she was thinking: her daughter literally picked up her thought and carried it through as though they had been having a verbal conversation.

Some people worry about telepathy because it makes them fearful that someone will go in and read their mind, accessing their private thoughts. But it doesn't work like that. You'd have to be a pretty nasty, manipulative person if your motive was to find out what everyone was thinking so you could use it either against them or for your own gain, and it would take a lot, lot, lot of hard, focused effort to get to be that good at it. Luckily, most people are too lazy for that. They'd rather just be wicked by scheming or blowing stuff up.

If you approach telepathy with a pure, ethical mindset, and a sense of delight and fun, it can serve to protect you and just help you to be more aware of what's going on around you. You'll be able to sense how your friends and family are doing, and in turn be able to respond to them more intuitively. You can develop a knowing, a sense, of the subtle underlying energy of things, and this will help you respond to the world around you with more grounded awareness.

To develop your telepathy, just set the intention to become more conscious of, and responsive to, the energetic world around you. You can test yourself by guessing who's calling when you hear your phone ring, or when you get a text or email alert. Try and sense what kind of mood your boss will be in when you get to work, or what your family will want for dinner. Rupert Sheldrake has developed some fun online telepathy tests you can access here. All it takes is practice, because telepathy is an instinct. You just have to work on it until you get the hang of it.