Inner Child

If you have ever had an emotional outburst or been triggered by something it could well be your inner child acting out in your adult life. Our foundation as a child and the experiences we have had growing up both positive and negative play significant roles in who we are and our emotional triggers and issues.

Based on these experiences you can develop many different unhealthy beliefs. These core believes come to us from our childhood experiences. For example a child who has often been reprimanded by a parent may fall into a poor me victim mode and fall into despair when things go wrong. A child who has judgemental parents may always be looking to be perfect or achieve the next new thing in order to feel a sense of worth. Perhaps even somebody who has lived a sheltered life with little struggle may fall into complacency and expect life to go their way holding very little resilience when it doesn't.

I'd like you to ask yourself now, what underlying inner child issues you struggle with: for me I particularly find I can be hard on myself and sometimes become slightly neurotic, obsessing over things trying to be good enough, worthy enough, trying to be perfect (an unattainable ideal).

- Do you feel the need to constantly achieve and be perfect?
- Do you feel bad stuff always happens to you?
- Do you feel life should come easy and unfair things happen/have happened to you?
-Do you feel unloved/rejected by others?

These are not nice nor are they self-serving feelings. Luckily when we become more self-reflective and listen to what these lower level feelings are telling us we can heal them. 

When these or other negative behaviours come up think, how does this relate to the inner child in me? How can I heal them and in turn heal myself?

For example sometimes around my monthly womanly time when emotions are strong I can become very needy and my need for security in these moments can sometimes cause me to start to lash out at those around me. Why haven't you done this? Why are you doing that? Why am I not the center of your universe? Not a healthy or rational way to be. 

In this moment I stop and I ask myself what past trauma have I experienced and why am I feeling this way. In this instance, it is the need for love, praise, I need to feel loved to feel accepted and good enough, hence the perfectionist and critical side appears. 

Once you have identified where your emotional triggers lie you can begin to heal them by:

Mantra

Use positive self talk to change your negative feelings into positive healthy ones.

Some examples:

This isn't good enough - I am doing the best I can and that is good enough.
I hate the way I look - I love myself unconditionally as I am right now.
Bad things always happen to me, it isn't fair. - Good things are coming, I learn from setbacks.

Sending Healing Energy to your inner child

Imagine yourself as a child, visualise pink/green light going through the child, see the child smiling as you send them love.

Nurture your childlike side

Be silly; try to steer away from taking life too seriously, have fun, muck around, make fun or yourself, humour and being silly can help us nurture and tap into our inner child energy.

Be creative; sing, dance, cook, paint, colour, draw. Do something fun that you used to do as a kid, just because you're an adult doesn't mean you can't have a go at these things and it is okay not to be perfect at them, fill yourself with inner child confidence and have ago with out judgement.

Be spontaneous; look at the world with wonder, try something new, go on an adventure, eat a new food. Look at the world through curiosity as a child would, don't be afraid to explore and reexplore it.

Be wild; go out in nature, garden, put your hands in the dirt, run around, play a game, swim in the ocean, embrace your wild child-like nature. Live a little.

Be imaginative; have fun imagining what could be, or thinking up silly things. Imagination is sadly lost as we grow older, don't let it slip away, it a can be a lot of fun.

Happy Inner Child healing

Thanks for reading

The Spiritual Novice

Protecting your Energy

Protecting your energy is vital. If you have ever felt a sudden boost or drain on your energies, chances are you are energetically taking or giving to another. Take note about how you feel when you are around different people and environments. Do they feed you or drain you?

If you are feeling not quite yourself or you know you will be around a situation that is toxic or involves a heavy emotional energy there are things you can do to protect yourself. Try:

White Lighting

Visualising a white light around yourself is one way you can protect your energy. Make this part of your spiritual practise and you will see the difference, you will feel different not taking on others energies. A simple intentional asking of placing the white light around yourself or visualising yourself with a strong white light surrounding you, will help shield against picking up on others emotional energies.

Cutting Cords 

If you ever feel off try 'cutting the cords'. After being around some people you can feel scattered, unsettled  and just not right. This may be because you are picking up on a heavy or unbalanced energy of another or feeding into a situation which is draining you. If you know you have been around a heightened person, or situation cutting the cords can help. Imagine in your mind's eye a cord between you and the person/situation, next visualise cutting the cord from this energy. This may take several times to take effect, so you may have to repeat this process until you detach from the energy completely.

Ask for support

Asking for your energies to be protected from others is a simple way to protect yourself. Repeat a simple statement such as "I ask that my energies be protected from any lower or heavy energies that may come my way as I go through out this day."

Restoring energy

Try building up your energy by:

• Going outside - too much time inside is a major energy drainer.
• Moving - too much time being stationary is not good for anybody, move and reenergise.
• Avoiding excess screen time - try other activities outside of electronics, gardening, reading, writing, doing something creative or artsy, try to find other things to fill your time other than social media or TV!!
• Eating well - Fruit and veggies and drink lots of water, fatty, sugary and processed foods leave you heavy and drained.
• Counting your blessings - focusing on negativity and perceived lack in life is enough to exhaust anyone! Focus on what you do have and what is going right.
• Visualise source energy coming to you - breathe in white light, breathe out stagnant energy.

I hope this advice helps you feel more energetically well, 

Thank you for taking the time to read, 

The Spiritual Novice

Meditation made easy

How do I shut off my crazily busy mind? How do I tune into the real me? How can I sit still for that long? For anyone who would love to meditate but has no idea how or where to start, or feels frustrated with trying to meditate... this post is for you. 

Discovering Meditation 

Many years ago watching daytime telly, Oprah Winfrey sat with a man on a couch and I was lucky enough to discover the world of meditation through this incredible human. Thanks Deepak Chopra! 

The 'I am' meditation was my first experience with meditation and for someone who at times has an overactive mind I appreciate this style of mantra meditation so much!

How do you perform it:

1. Sit comfortable on a chair or cross legged on the floor. 

2. Close your eyes, breathe deeply and listen or feel your heart beat.

3. Begin to say silently or aloud 'I am', repeat this phrase to the beat of your heart, if you are repeating out loud you can begin to do this silently when you feel comfortable. (I am is a phrase that allows us to enter into the space between mind chatter).

4. You can let go of the let go of the mantra after a few minutes if you feel you want to try mediating with out it. To do so, listen to your heart beat as an anchor, if thoughts restart, try not to get angry or stop them (this can have the opposite effect), instead just return to the phrase 'I am'. 

5. When you are finished meditating for whatever time you choose gently wiggle your fingers, toes, get some slight movement back into your body, open your eyes. 

6. Enjoy the peaceful, reenergising feeling! 

Congratulations you just meditated.

Why meditate? 

• Helps you to reduce stress and anxiety levels 
• Improves sleep
• Creates space for creativity; especially great when you have some sort of mental block!
• Helps to work through emotions in a healthy way 
• Makes for being a calmer and happier you
• Helps tune into intuition and connect spiritually. 

Meditation Hacks

• Insight Timer app (free): Includes a timer with background music, chimes to tell you when your set meditation time is up and connects you to other spiritual people meditating all over the world! It has reminder notifications, free guided meditations, healing music, talks and even courses to sign up to (paid) if you so wish and is just generally awesome. 
• Guided hypnosis/ meditation on YouTube: so many fun guided meditations you can try out for free. It is a great way to get started on your meditation journey. 
• Smiling minds (free): great for parents, educators or even adults; a whole range of guided age levelled mindfulness/meditation exercises.

What next

• Try meditating with a crystal that speaks to you.
• Try the 'Tuning in' meditation (see Fostering Inner Strength post)
• Go for a meditative walk when you tune in to your surrounds. 
• Try visualising a nature scene use all your senses!

Thanks for reading! Happy meditating,

The Spiritual Novice

Fostering Inner Strength

The card of the day is Power and embedded is the message of finding peace and inner strength. 

The power is not related to the physical but to inner strength. Ask yourself today ‘How can I build my inner strength?’, ‘How can I foster resilience, courage, determination and acceptance of what is?’ Not what is gone or what is yet to be. When I draw this card, I know I need to dig deep and find a way to be balanced so I can tackle whatever life throws at me. If you want to foster mental strength you need to find balance; mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically. Try:

Grounding: 

When: your physical energy is low or if you are feeling mentally cluttered (aka I can't get my mind to shut up). 

What to do: Go outside and be in nature; the beach, a park, your backyard, anywhere natural. 

Why: In doing so, you will find mental peace through the stillness and calm found in the natural rhythms of earth. Better yet take off your shoes and soak up the earth's natural healing properties, this counteracts harmful waves from electronics. Breathing in fresh air and being outdoors naturally livens our energy and restores a sense of wellness to us.

Tuning in:

When: Feeling into strong emotions: when your world is rocking, stop 🛑 

What to do: Close your eyes, feel where you are feeling this pain in your body, start to breath into this space. Does it have a colour? Does it have a temperature? Is it hot or cold? What shape is it? Continue to breath, name this emotion... sadness, grief, irritation, disappointment, fear... keep breathing, eventually you will find slowly but surely the feeling dissipates. 

Why: Feeling into emotions helps you to recognise when your emotions and mind are overrunning you. By taking the time to be with them you are self-healing and self-calming through what could otherwise be a very painful moment with no release. Bottled up emotions can lead to explosions and a toxic internalisation which will manifest in our lives one way or another... doesn't sound fun does it! Give yourself the time and attention you deserve!

Self-care (a favourite):

When: Anytime you feel weak physically, emotionally, mentally or spiritually.

What to do: Put the kettle on, make yourself a cup of tea, read a trashy/ non-trashy novel (I prefer the former), run a bath, exercise (even if you can only manage a walk, or yoga), eat something healthy and nourishing, listen to your favourite music, spend time with a pet, meditate. Do anything that brings you joy. If you are a parent reading this thinking how can I find time, make time, get up a little earlier when you can, ask for help, set bed time a little earlier. You are worth it... you deserve it!

Why: If you do not filly up your own bucket with love and care, you certainly will not be able to have inner strength when times get tough. A little time for you now creates calm and inner strength tenfold for when difficult situations arise.  

I hope these suggestions help you to foster a deep inner strength which I know we are all capable of having. 

Thanks for reading, 

The Spiritual Novice 

Beginner's Guide to Tarot

A love of tarot begins

One of the first places I started to connect to spirit was through the amazing world of tarot. I remember quite literally freaking out when a card so connected to my question or current life situation would seemingly magically appear or repeatedly turn up in readings. At first, it truly did shock me, I was in awe of this mystical connection, some sort of magic that I hadn't previously connected to. What was this mystical phenomenon? I mean I'm sure we have all had eerie experiences; that friend you were chatting about that you haven't seen for ages who suddenly bumps into you on the street, the book you flick through which lands on the exact page you were searching for, yet somehow this direct, immediate connection is what really solidified the truth for me. There is something greater out there than us. With that, I would like to share with you how to use tarot and my hope is that it brings to you the comfort, guidance and empowerment that it has brought me.

Choosing a deck

There are so many decks available these days, so many that it can be a little daunting choosing which one feels right for you. Most decks aim to give guidance, but in my recent years I have discovered powerful decks which offer healing and spiritual teaching. If you are in the market for a beginner's deck I would recommend 'The psychic tarot - oracle deck' by John Holland. This deck was my very fist deck I ever owned seven years ago and still to this day I use it on a regular basis. Based on the traditional tarot deck it includes major arcana cards which offer the strongest messages and four suit representing card sets; physical (pentacles suit), spiritual (wands suit), mental (swords suit) and emotional, (cups suit). The deck further includes chakra cards which can be useful to use to align yourself when you are out of balance in life. What I love about Holland's deck is the simple and positive messages he uses, unlike with traditional tarot which can feel a little doom and gloom, the messages are delivered in a gentle way and offer suggestions to overcome adverse situations in life. Most bookstores and many online stores sell tarot cards, read over the description once or twice and see if the picture displayed speaks to you. To find a deck that is right for you go with your gut instinct. Which deck are you drawn to, which deck speaks to you? Choose that deck.

How to perform a tarot reading

There is no right or wrong way to read tarot, but it is important to protect yourself when performing a reading. I like to always start by grounding myself and asking for protection. Before a reading, I will imagine roots coming from my base chakra (located at the bottom of your tailbone) or feet growing and deeply connecting to the earth, grounding you and protecting you. Following this, I ask to receive only messages which come to the light to come to me and visualise a white or purple light enveloping me and shielding me from any lower level or heavy energies. If you feel connected to angelic energy you can ask archangel Michael for his protection at this time.

Next, take a few deep breaths and allow yourself to clear your mind. When you pick up the tarot cards you can gently knock on them to clear energy, place your hand over them and visualise white light clearing them or use a smudge stick to cleanse them when you feel the need. After this, shuffle and ask for general guidance or ask a specific question. You can either stop and draw a card when you feel the urge or stop shuffling, cut the deck as many times as you feel is right, choose a smaller deck from the ones you cut and spread, finally select card/s using your left hand going to whichever card you feel drawn to.

Simple spreads

Some of my favourite spreads include:

•  Asking a single question and pulling 1-3 cards for guidance.
•  Past, present and future spread; first choose present and place in the centre, then past and place to the left of present and finally future and place to the right of present.
• Situation, advice and protentional outcome; place in order as listed.

Important dos and don'ts of Tarot reading

• Try when possible to read when you are emotionally calm as strong emotions can sway readings.   
• Don't overread a question (admittedly I have been guilty of this) when you are not getting the message you wish to receive, this will give you an altered message. When things seem off track in a reading often time will give clarity and shed light on what seems like a strange, unrelatable message.
• Be patient. If you truly feel off track in a reading put the deck away and come back again in a day or two.
• Tarot is not about fortune telling! What is true on the given day of a reading may change in the future. Tarot is meant to guide us, not to be a be all and end all for future predictions. It guides us and gives gentle advice for the future, tarot is not an absolute. Take guidance but don't feel trapped by a reading. 
• Have fun with it; sometimes it will take a bit of practise before you feel connected to your deck and more importantly your intuition so don't feel bad if at first you feel a little odd while reading your cards.

Thank-you for taking the time to read this post, I hope this article inspires you to pick up a deck and tap into your own connection with spirt! I would love to hear about your own experiences with Tarot and answer any questions you have!

Sending light and happiness your way, 

The Spiritual Novice