Cast Adrift

 

Cast Adrift.  That's how we feel sometimes.  It's as if we don't know where we are going, or even why.  But often the soup just has to cook.  Time spent not knowing, just simmering has proven, in the past, for me, to be extremely beneficial.

The clouds of not knowing can settle down around us with a damp chill, closing in about our bodies and minds, leaving us feeling directionless, purposeless.  Sometimes, it's illness, sometimes it's financial devastation.  It can be social or environmental injustice, or simply a lack of connection with others and their support.  But if we hang in there, give it a little time, and our consideration, let the flavors, ideas and feelings meld together, our way forward gradually comes clear. 

I like to use affirmations and gratitude practices during those darker days to help me keep hope and trust alive.  All of the spiritual practices that we have learned can give us some direction.  Prayer, mantras, along with inspirational stories, poetry, music and art, these are the tools I turn to, to help me find the light ahead.

I remember years ago, while I was healing from a major injury, wondering day-after-day, why this devastating thing had happened to me.  What was to become of my life after so many changes had occurred, flipping everything I trusted and knew on its head?  I had gotten a degree in horticulture, had been running my own landscape business, had employees, had just bought a home and was planning to remodel and then everything stopped. I had to let the business go.  My financial situation shifted drastically.  I became sincerely dependent with no guarantee that I'd ever recover.

In that dim light of life, with the heat turned way down low, I simmered and grabbed what ingredients I could and tossed them into the stew pot of my days.  Meditation, dream-work, time spent musing quietly, alone with my thoughts, taking what small steps I could to help restore my peace of mind and my physicality.  It can be a slow process marinating in transformation.  The egg in the nest takes time to change and open.  The seed doesn't sprout overnight.  Dismal news can come.  We just have to let it go and keep focusing on the next one or two possible steps that we can see for the way ahead.

Peace Pilgrim used to say, "Stay in the present moment.  Do what needs to be done.  Do all of the good you can each day.  And the future will unfold."  This is a lovely prescription for finding one's way.  It has helped me greatly over the years.  It's the little steps that matter.  One at a time.  There is no rush.  It's a long life, and from my perspective, there are plenty of them.  So, we don't need to hurry.  We can take our time and go slow.

So, there I was, all those years ago, stuck in bed, doing next to nothing except visiting my chiropractor once a week, and slowly, incrementally, finding my balance again.  And that's when my empathy, my clairvoyance, my ability to see and know what was going on in the health and well being of others, started to emerge.  It certainly wasn't anything I had expected to have happen.  I had guided the ship of my life in a totally different direction.  But there it was, arising quietly and consistently from within me.  It took a process of many years to refine and smooth off the rough edges of my psychic skills.  But, as sure as the lady bug transforms from the larvae, a new me emerged.  When we trust ourselves and let our lives flow, riding the hills and valleys as gracefully as we can, our path eventually comes clear.

I remember hearing the story of a young man in Great Britain who had gotten off on 'a wrong foot,' and began his early adulthood stealing things.  He wound up in jail, got out, took on a small job that at first he didn't know how to do, but learned.  Then he found himself helping others, newly out of prison, in finding work and learning how to do those small jobs as well.  In time he had founded a nationwide service providing support for others who had walked a similar path and his purpose in life was revealed.  

We never know where these roads will take us, but if we hang in there, and do what we can to stay present and work daily to hold our heads above water, and help others whenever we can, the way before us will unfold.  We find that we were never really cast adrift, we just needed an unexpected course correction, to set us on the good and right road that was always before us.  From there we can look back, at the end of our lives, and see that the way was really always clear.  We just needed to simmer a little, let all of the ingredients meld and blend and create the true sustenance of our beings.

So, hang in there.  Trust yourself and the Universe.  Stay in the moment.  Stay the course and expect the best.  A deeper part of you already knows the way.  We just need to let it all gradually and gratefully unfold before us.

I will leave you with a little haiku-like poem that I wrote years ago.  It came to me after I awoke from a dream where I saw three of my footsteps in front of me, in a forest, in the deep snow.  Just three footprints.  On a clear bright sunny winter's day.

My feet are always falling - steadfastly - on my path before me.

© Josephine Laing 2024

 

One Can't Say Enough About Gratitude

 

 

 

Can there ever be enough said about Gratitude?  I don't think so.

And talk about a healing balm.  Picking up the reins of our mind and turning our thoughts toward thankfulness in any situation shifts the energy instantly and brings about positive change.  Not to mention, gratitude is one of the three main types of prayer, commonly known to all of humankind, next to, 'Help,' and 'Silent Union with the Divine.'

So, yes, Gratitude.  It is always worthy of mention.  And I could almost stop right there, with 'enough said.'  But, I'll elaborate just a little more.

Habitually switching our thoughts to gratefulness can take some practice, but it is one of the best ways I know of for coming up out of a funk.  One does need to first recognize and realize that a funk has descended.  Sometimes we can really get lost in a negative internal mind climate, festering and stewing like an infection.

This is where the idea of 'the witness,' (from Jnana Yoga, from Hinduism,) comes in.  Here, there are the two birds sitting in the tree of life.  One is busy doing and experiencing all of the activities of life, while the other is just watching.  This watching bird, within ourselves is 'the noticer.'  And the noticer gives us a little perspective.  It notices when we are happy.  It notices when we are sad.  And it can alert us, as the rider of our own horse of life, when it is time to turn a run-away situation around and head in a different direction, like toward Gratitude.

Listening to the news or just tending to the day-to-day chores or foibles of life can really get us all wound up.  But, there is always something to be grateful for, even in moments that can seem quite stinky.  If we look, we'll find it.  And that gives us our first step up out of that place in our heads.  "The sky is a beautiful blue."  "I can take a breath."  "I'm sitting next to you."  There is always something to be grateful for.  We can start there.

Huston Smith in his seminal book, The World's Religions, 1958, noted the three types of prayer that I was referring to earlier.  Universal to all religions, both oral and written, they are: 1.) The Asking Prayer,  "Please help me."  2.) The Prayer of Gratitude, "Thank you."  And 3.) The Prayer of Silent Union with The Divine, where we loose our sense of self and become one with everything.

From the asking prayer, I've heard that we can get three different answers: "Yes, of course."  "Yes, but later."  And, "No, I have something better for you."  All worthy of gratitude.  And when we loose ourselves in oneness, doing what we absolutely love, be it dancing in the waves or climbing a mountain peak, we have reached a state of bliss and what is not to be grateful for there.  So, yes, gratitude.  It is what keeps the world going round and helps us to attain humanity's greatest desire, Peace, both within and without.

So, let's pick up the reins, together and come round to a unity of being, reaching for and finding gratitude, as often as possible, in every moment of every day.

My Spontaneous Gratitude Prayer

    This Thanksgiving I would like to share with you one of my favorite prayers.  It just burst out of me one day while I was dancing in a large golden room, with my women friends, during a Thanksgiving Holiday, some many years ago.  I call it My Spontaneous Gratitude Prayer.  

    I most like to do this prayer while dancing, allowing my body to engage in free form interpretive movement.  I let myself twirl and swoop and rise to my toes with the words, before sliding down onto or toward the floor and then reaching up again, to frolic or slow down and sway and then romp about some more. 

         This prayer is a sort of free association experience.  I let myself drift into a slightly altered state of consciousness, and then I just begin to think of this and that and say whatever pops into my mind that I am grateful for, which is pretty much everything.  

    So this month, I'm inviting you to play with this idea, even while sitting or standing or lying down.  But if you are feeling frisky enough, try it while moving.  And in either case, set yourself free.  Let your mind drift and open your voice to express your feelings about the many, wonderful aspects of being alive on earth.

    Here is an example to get you started.

    "I am grateful for roses and kisses and bright sun shine.  I am grateful for the moon and the wind and still winter nights.  Oh how I love horses and birds and bees and trees and my beloved husband and all the children of the world and all the people and animals and plants of the world.  Thank you for each and everyone of them.  

    I'm grateful for barns and cats and fine wine, even though I rarely drink any, but I'm glad for those who enjoy it so.  And I'm grateful for the food that finds it's way to our table and for all who helped to bring it there.

    I'm grateful for soil and mulch and the good green and blue earth.  I'm grateful for the strength in my body that allows me to plant my garden and dig my fingers into the dirt and pull out potatoes and carrots and beautiful shiny bright earth worms.  I do love the worms and I'm grateful for my horse, who is in spirit now, and for all of the joy she brought to me, and all of the fun we had together, and how she helps me to laugh out loud, even to this day.  I am grateful for laughter.  Oh, how I am grateful for laughter and dancing and swimming and sleeping and eating and all of the lovely pleasures the world has to offer.

    I'm grateful to everything and everyone, who has helped me to form my life.  I'm so very grateful for the moments that have helped me to grow, even if they seemed difficult, they helped me to know better who I am and what I need and to better know my love for life.

    I'm grateful for grasses and the wild herds that feed themselves on the great plains.  I'm grateful for forests and rivers and all of the fishes and the great families of animals and herbs.  I'm grateful for volcanos and the fire of spirit that burns in us all.  

    I'm grateful for the cells and tissues of my body and the great inner wisdom that resides there and guides me through my days, with skill and expertise, all innate and free.  I'm grateful for health care providers and their assistance, so lovingly given and compassionate.  I'm grateful for compassion and love and for every human emotion and for all of the emotions of all sentient beings.  

    I'm grateful for rocks and pathways into the woods.  I'm grateful for dogs and for cats and bumble bees, antelope and whales.  I'm grateful for leaves on the trees blowing in the breeze.  

    Moving in my mind into the prayer position, I'll stop here.  But, let me just finish with how grateful I am for you.
    Happy Thanksgiving.  With love.

Wake Up Your Psychic Ability

We are all already psychic. It's part of our natural human birthright. Just as we can learn how to drive a car, we can all learn how to develop our psychic skills. As our psychic skills increase, we gain appreciation, love and respect for ourselves and for the world around us. This hour long talk was presented to members of The Institute of Noetic Sciences both in Alaska and more recently in Los Angeles. It gives numerous tools, tips and techniques that will help you to develop your psychic abilities.

© Josephine Laing 2018

Four Building Blocks for Developing Psychic Ability

These four practices, of meditation, dream work, sanctuary and prayer, when firmly placed on a solid foundation of self-love, will not only help you to develop your psychic ability, they will also let you claim your own true purpose while deepening your individual spirituality.  Please enjoy this hour long talk that was given to an enthusiastic audience in July of 2018. 


© Josephine Laing 2018

"Let's put our hands together..."

"Let's put our hands together..." is an expression we use when we want to share our appreciation of someone's accomplishments.  We give them our applause.  Clapping is also a way that we can gain the attention of another.  We clap loudly in the kitchen to scare the dog away from the cat's food.  In this day and age, we can clap to turn on or off a light.  I sometimes use the sound of a good sharp clap above my head to align the main chakras or energy centers in my body.  It brings them abruptly into balance and coherence.

Aside from the seven main chakras of the body, there are numerous chakras in our hands and feet.  There is a tiny little chakra at every knuckle, one at either end of every bone in our skeleton.  And since our hands have so many bones, nearly thirty in the hand and wrist, this results in lots of potent energy centers all giving to and receiving from the world.

Some of you may have seen the graphic depicting the sensory receptivity of our bodies.  This shows a little person with big eyes, lips and tongue, extending out from his body are gigantic hands.  It helps us to understand just how much of our perception of the world around us is generated through our hands.

The Chinese meridian system of the body shows how energy travels through our bodies.  Meridians are shown as pathways of energy running from top to toe and passing through an organ like the liver, the lungs or the kidneys.  Each of these meridian lines has a number of points along the way.  For example, K-27 is the 27th point on the kidney meridian.  Several of these meridians begin or end at our fingertips.  When we place our finger tips together, either in thought, or in prayer, it feels good.  It connects some of the circuits of our meridians.

Something that I have enjoyed doing since childhood is to hold my finger tips up to the full force of the water coming from the shower head while bathing.  I also do this with my toes and with my lips and gums and the teeth in my mouth.  This stimulates the nerve endings there, activating the meridians that travel up and down, revitalizing my whole body and many of my organ systems.  And quite often the other end of a meridian, either coming up from or going to the mouth and toes, is located in the fingertips.

We 'drum' our fingers when we are thinking.  We sit at our desks and fold our hands to quiet and center ourselves.  We snap our fingers to keep time with a beat in the music.  We put our hand on a freshly skinned knee.  It brings the intention and the healing power of our whole body quickly there.  We shake hands in greeting and to show the other that we mean no harm.   

We touch our loved ones lightly to make contact with our finger tips.  Hoofed animals use their noses for this, but we use our fingers to convey our love.  With a hand on someone's shoulder, or holding hands with another, we put the love in.  Our hands and arms extend out from the area of our hearts and express our love.  We give hugs, pulling our loved ones in close, so our hearts can touch.  Our fingers and hands are beautiful tactile extensions of our love.

And then in solitude, while in meditation or in personal ceremony or prayer, we connect our fingertips together or cup our hands, one resting inside the other, or press our palms lightly together, connecting the circuits of our own heart's energy, feeling the love.

So, let's put our hands together for just a moment now and feel the flow of this love within.
As we enter into the last month of the first quarter of this new year, I give my love to you all with best wishes for a joyous, love-filled and blessed rest of this year.

© Josephine Laing 2018 

Blessings and Group Prayers

Please enjoy this short video which includes my favorite mealtime blessing, some ideas on group prayer and a few common calls to prayer that can serve to remind us of our ability to reach for Universal Source and connection throughout our days.

© Josephine Laing, 2015

Premonition, Synchronicities, Cards, and Coins: Allowing Spirit In

Spirit continuously steps in to assist us, often saving the day.  We can make room for guidance from spirit to more easily reach us.  Dreams, meditation, and prayer work wonders.  Or we can cast the Runes, the coins of the I Ching, or layout decks of cards.    Synchronicities can also point the way that will best ease our day.  For some of us,  it's deja vu and premonition that let inner guidance reach us.

In our dreams our physical bodies communicate through pictures.  Our higher self sends inspirations as well, in the form of images placed in our minds.  As we meditate we learn to quiet our minds.  This can allow information to flow into our conscious awareness from on high.  Our prayers are how we express our needs and our gratitudes, and engage in conversation with our own version of the divine. 

Some of us find guidance by laying out cards or casting the runes.  The symbols and the placement speak to us about where we've been and where we need to go, what qualities can bring us strength, and what might hold us back.  The I Ching is another mode of divination, meaning "to give the voice of the divine."  With this ancient Asian method of finding guidance the user tosses coins and makes note of where the coins lie, and if they are heads or tails. This leads the seeker to a passage in a book that can bring answers and insights to the questions asked. 

Another way that spirit can edge its way in is through synchronicity. We wake from a dream about a certain friend, that morning they call with an invitation to go swimming. We had plans to clean the garage, but because of the dream image we decide to go with them instead. At the water's edge we just happen to meet someone who needs something done, and we are just the person for the job. Synchronicities can channel us to right where we need to go. This is divine love saying, "Go this way, you'll like it."

Some lucky souls are granted the gift of premonition.  These individuals receive strong senses of knowing and inner guidance.  My mother was a premonition dreamer, and once or twice she saved our lives. We were so impressed by this skill that we never hesitated or doubted when she got that certain look in her eye. 

My brother inherited the gift of premonition as well.  One day he was driving on Mulholland highway, speeding and squealing around the turns, going way too fast.  Then suddenly, he got an image, blatantly and strongly, right in his mind.  It was of the front wheel of his car popping off its axle. This startled him so much that he slowed way down.  And on the next turn it happened.   His wheel came off and his disk brake plowed into the ground, saving him from sudden and certain death.

I often think about how our angels are watching over us.  I imagine his angel was riding on the front corner of the hood of his car, watching those bolts on that wheel.  When they started to get loose the angel zoomed that image right into his mind, getting his attention and causing him to make a change. This allowed him to live on to make a lifetime's worth of positive changes in the lives of others. 

When we are open to guidance in our lives, guidance comes.  It can be subtle or strong, it may follow a circuitous trail, but it brings us to right where we need to go.   

© Josephine Laing, 2014

The Answers to All of Our Prayers

I've heard it said that there are only three answers to prayer.  The first is, "Yes, of course."  The second is, "Yes, but later."  And the third is, "No, I have something better for you. 

The Country Western singer, Garth Brooks, titled one of his most famous songs, "Thank God for Unanswered Prayers."  In it he describes his younger self's passionate plea to be able to marry a woman whom he thought would satisfy his life's desires.  But years later, he sees her and realizes how grateful he is that his prayer went unanswered and how happy he is with his own wife and the life they lead together.  I think his story was not about an unanswered prayer, but rather was about the third answer to prayer, "No, I have something better for you."

For my own part, in my early adult years, I settled into the life that other people had in mind for me.  I achieved the required level of education, got the degree and began an acceptable career.  But spirit had other ideas in mind and arranged for a course correction in the form of a major back injury that would not only change my life's direction, but would also give me the necessary tools to prepare me for what lay ahead. 

Having to spend a year in bed mending my back opened the door that allowed me to fully develop my psychic ability.  Knowing how important positive thoughts are in healing, I began with self-love.  I also spent time meditating and interpreting my dreams in the sanctuary of my home. 

I was nearly healed from the first injury when another big injury landed me in bed again.  This one was so serious that I got down on my knees and prayed, to a God that I really didn't know, asking to be spared.  I said that in exchange for granting me my life, I would do anything, whatever the Divine had in mind for me. 

This is a very powerful experience.  When we give ourselves over to Divine Will, we surrender our lives and subsequently find our true purpose.  As Gandhi poetically said, "God demands nothing less than complete self surrender as the price for the only real freedom that is worth having.  And when a person thus loses their self, that person immediately finds their self in the service of all that lives.  Such service becomes their delight and recreation.  They are now a new person, never weary of spending themselves in the service of God's creation."

Committing myself to God's will not only gave me a new and different life which was much more true to who I am, but it also taught me about the transformational power of prayer.  This was the final ingredient that allowed me to truly step into the magic of my own life.  It created for me my life's work as a Clairvoyant Healer.  It has allowed me to thrive with joy.  And it taught me the answers to all of our prayers: "Yes," "No," and, Surrender.

© Josephine Laing, 2014