Rachel Archelaus's Blog: Psychic Life, page 22

It’s a Fashion Feeling

I like clothing with bright colors. What do you like to wear? Photo by Rachel Andrews

I’ve always been inspired by art in all genres, but fashion holds a special place in my heart. What I love about high fashion is that it’s functional art. People pay exorbitant sums of money to wear someone’s vision. Fashion is also very subjective. One person’s dream dress could be the picture of ‘ick’ for another. I used to dye my hair all the colors of the rainbow and wear just as outrageous clothing. When...

Be Who You Are

Don't let what others might think of you deter you from being yourself. Photo by Rachel Andrews

One major reason why we enjoy watching television so much is to become part of someone else’s intuitive decisions. Your intuition will always guide you to act in self affirming ways. The characters who put themselves out there risking ridicule and those who make gut decisions in the face of failure are utterly captivating. We watch them and become part of their lives, and in doing so, we get to expe...

The Transit of Venus – Validating the Feminine

A rhododendron bloom opening. Photo by Rachel Andrews

The transit of Venus astrological event that takes place today is symbolic of the feminine energies taking a front seat in the way this world consciously functions. There was a time in history when the subtle energies were used to guide decisions and power structures, and like all the cycles of nature, what was lost is coming back around.

The mechanization of every industry, is a great example of the masculine: livestock farming in concrete buildings, GMO food, the Industrial Revolution, corporate everything. The tipping point has been approaching though, and is evident in the way the service industry has increasingly taken over the market share previously held by manufacturing in this country.

More and more, assembly lines are disappearing and being replaced by life coaches, professional organizers, nannies, therapists, yoga instructors, consultants, and other more interactive and holistic professions. Because these other jobs require more fluid problem solving and communication skills, they rely more on feminine energy.

On a more humanistic level, look at what is happening to the male and female gender roles and expectations. There is less of a delineation between the sexes. More men are allowing the feminine to be present with in themselves, and more women are embracing their masculine side. We see people who are balanced in both aspects. Androgeny is also much more accepted than it used to be. There is even a high fashion model who switches between modeling men’s and women’s clothing because she can appear to be either sex.

Funneling down to the individual level is where this really matters. These societal and humanistic changes would not be taking place if we, as people, did not initiate them and allow them to be. This means that each of us is capable of working with the feminine in a deeper and more skillful way. We are giving the feminine energy validity again. The transit of Venus is emphasizing this and will open us up even more to the subtle energies that are ruled by the feminine.

There has never been a better time to connect with your inner voice! This transit will strengthen your efforts and boost the higher self’s urgings so that you can hear them and feel them more easily. There is a caveat to this, though, and you are also seeing this around you. Holding fast to the old, rigid masculine systems will only bring you pain. Look at the crumbling economy and which jobs are being affected. Look at the banking system and what types of other institutions are closing their doors or are being reformed. Trying to cling to those outdated ideas and models is a lost cause. Adding flow and ease to your life will greatly help you to transition into the new.

You already know what this feels like. You already know where your higher self is urging you to go. If you feel unsure about this, slow down your life. Pretend that you are a canoe moving down a swiftly flowing river and your arms are the oars. Your guidance system is within you and a subtle shift of your body from left to right is what keeps your canoe from gliding on to shore. Your intuitive knowing is active, ready and waiting for your to respond. You have all the answers to get you through this period of societal uncertainty. Just listen to your own wisdom.

The feminine energy remind us that life is fun, beautiful, flowing, graceful and peaceful. It shows us where our lives need attention with the presence of compassionate nudges. It also points us into where we find the most fulfillment in a gentle way. Remember this aspect, because it is different than the masculine “hit you over the head” feeling. The feminine is more like following a dance partner, feeling the pressure of someone’s hand on the small of your back so you know which way to turn. Pay attention for this lighter guidance, and you will have no trouble navigating through this transit and the building emphasis that the feminine energy is exerting on us all.

The Backbone of Manifestation

Manifest the light and leave the dark by following your intuition. Photo by Rachel Andrews

There can be a misconception about reaching the dream life. This happens because the goal often dwarfs the process, meaning that people think they will finally feel good when ‘x’ happens. Sometimes people picture their goal as having a specific dollar amount in savings, others see themselves in a specific career, and still others as living on a tropical island. Everyone has their own parameters to reach when describing the life of their dreams. But there is no build up with this model, no gradual climb. It’s all or nothing, which isn’t how it actually works.

Having a goal is great, but the feeling of what it would be like to achieve it, is much more important than the specific desire. It’s the feeling that will pull in the experiences and circumstances needed to attract it. How you respond to those experiences and circumstances determines how or if you will achieve what you want. The feeling of an anticipated future event pulls that life to you gradually. It’s how you respond to your life in the present that determines the outcome. Even more simply: feelings + responses = future.

The real goal is to feel the way you want to in every moment of life. Take a moment to picture this for yourself. Translate your dream life into a feeling, and place it over your current life. Does your body respond? Do you feel expansion in your chest and a warm tingly sensation all over? Do you smile? This is the magic! This is what transforms lives. If you don’t get any feeling in your body from this little exercise, it’s time to dream bigger.

Having and connecting to the feeling component is the magic part, but what happens between now and the realization of your goal is the process. This means that how you live each moment of your life matters. The future is made in each little decision you make, each thought you think and each tiny feeling you have.

Your goal life is delivered to you in pieces. If you picture each piece of a jigzaw puzzle separately, they don’t amount to much. One piece doesn’t tell the whole picture. In fact, you probably can’t even tell if what you are holding is a piece of a tree or a t-shirt. It’s impossible to judge because you don’t have all the information. Living a magic life is much like this. You collect each piece and have faith that your feeling will draw the appropriate pieces to you so you get the picture that you want in the end.

What’s the trick to responding to life in the way that will bring the future you want? It’s easy! When you are confronted with a decision to make, pause and ask your intuition. Seriously? Yes. Think about that one again. To get the life you want and the big, fabulous, amazing feeling that it produces, all you have to do is respond to every moment using your intuition as a guide. The “yes, no” feelings of your intuition are your connection through time and space to your ultimate goal. In essence, you’ll use your intuition to keep the pieces of the puzzle that fit into your desired future, and leave the other pieces behind.

This is the backbone of the manifesting process. The key is really to develop trust in your self. You have to accumulate many, many pieces of the puzzle before what you have actually resembles anything, and this can throw a lot of people off. Don’t get discouraged and definitely don’t give up! Share your stories with me in the comments. I’m here for you!

Love,

Rachel

Intuitive Drawing – What is it?

A typical aura drawing for the question, "What is my life like right now?" Drawing by Rachel Andrews

I was recently asked in an email, “What is intuitive drawing?” I wanted to share the answer with you because I do a lot of it. If you’ve seen the drawings on this blog or my other site, you’ve witnessed the end result.

Intuitive drawing is a method of channeling energy patterns. The end result is a drawing which can be interpreted in a meaningful way to help you locate and heal from energy disruptions or to simply get answers to your questions. Here are the basic steps:

Supplies Needed:

pastels (my favorite medium), colored pencils, crayons, markers or any other colorful writing tool. Colors needed include red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple. Other colors are optional.

paper

1. Start by writing down what the colors of the chakras represent. For example, green is the color of the heart chakra so deep emotional love would be represented by green. Do this for all of the colors you can. If there is no chakra color, with white for instance, just ask yourself what you feel when you see the color white. For me it means purity. Your list will be refined as you become accustomed to the process but in the beginning these are a good guide to interpreting your drawings.

2. Set up your space. Sit in a comfortable place and lay out your supplies so you can easily reach them. Make sure your area is organized and quiet. You need to listen to your intuition for this process.

3. Ask a question. What do you want to ask yourself? Simple is best in the beginning until you learn to trust yourself and the answers you receive. If you are having trouble with a friend, mate, child or anyone close to you, you can ask yourself what is causing the problem. After formulating your question, state it in your mind.

4. Draw. When I am teaching new students, I ask them to close their eyes to draw. This eliminates judgment from the mind. You will pick up one color at a time and allow your hand to move freely on the paper. You will instinctively know what to do and when to put that color down. You will also get a feeling of completion when the drawing is done. It’s ok if you only pick up one color and it’s ok if you pick up a color, draw something, put it down and pick up the same one again. Everything you do is ok. There is no right and wrong to the process or the outcome as long as you are listening to your inner guidance. These messages are subtle so don’t second guess yourself.

4. Decode your drawing. After you are complete, open your eyes and review what colors you have used. Look at your color guide to figure out what each color means. If there are overlapping colors, the color that is underneath means that that emotion/feeling is located deeper in your system than the one on top. Address the top color first and work your way down. For example, taking the question from the step 3, if the top color is yellow, the surface problem is located in the solar plexus. This means there may be anxiety when you think about this person or are with this person. If the bottom color is green, the deep issue is in your heart. Are you blocking the love you feel for this person? Are you projecting past relationship issues onto this relationship? When you hit on the right answer you will feel it resonate in that chakra. Feel your way through this process using the drawing as a map.

There is much more to it, but starting here is an excellent place.

Looking Up & Life’s Changes

Beautiful clouds on Prince Edward Island. Photo by Rachel Andrews

When I get stuck in a serious mood, I look up. The sky and all it contains is usually enough to remind me that my life is precious, ever changing and full of new opportunities at every moment. Why? Because what we see is space. The solid contents of the sky, like the birds that are flying through, planes in transit, and the clouds, are in motion. They are like our moments, they are moving, and it seems like they glide effortlessly from our perspective down on the ground. There is something so soothing about seeing one scene move across a vast open plane, and then have another one pop up right before our eyes.

The circumstances of our lives are the same way. We may want to hold on to a person, a job, or a mood, but we know that they will all pass with time. If we appreciate them in the moment for what they are, we can be in a better position to welcome the new, when it inevitably comes into view.

I am often asked by my clients why things are changing so rapidly in their lives. This period of time we are in is so filled with change, and that often resembles destruction. The reason things are breaking down is because they are not truly aligned to your highest good. Any relationships, jobs, or other circumstances that are not affirming you, will ultimately fall away from your life. This can happen on purpose, but it mostly happens with out our directly knowing why.

It is helpful to understand that if you are on the path of developing your connection with your spirit self, your outer life will align to help you. This can be hard if you don’t understand that it will benefit you in the long run. And not all of the changes in your life will be felt so harshly. Many amazing things will happen to you, too.

This is why I look up. To be reminded that everything changes, everything is always in motion, and that in my serious moods, there is always room for thankfulness that the sky is an ever-renewing picture. My mood will change, and I will be overtaken by joy in the next moment. Keep your eyes on the big picture when life feels stagnant, and it will help keep you on the right track.

Weed out Your Messy Life

Even the most fulfilling parts of your life can get crowded by activities not in alignment with your true self. Photo by Rachel Andrews

It has been my experience that most people view their lives like the picture above. There are cultivated plants and wild plants, they are all encroaching on each other, it’s hard to look at all at once, and nothing feels special and sacred – instead, it all feels like a jumbled mess.

Each new introduction to the ‘garden of your life’ was made with the best of intentions. You wanted to get involved with an organization that makes a difference, so you joined the PTA at your child’s school, the neighborhood garden club, or took on some other civic responsibility. You just wanted to contribute to a better world.

That’s a noble undertaking, and you felt great about at first. Then the time came for you to actually do something, and things changed. It felt like a burden, you didn’t have the time, you cringed all day because you knew you didn’t want to go to any more meetings, especially when they cut into your evenings or weekends. And, on top of all that, you felt guilty about not wanting to follow through!

The same goes for the gym membership, or the juicer you bought, or the new pair of running shoes you saved up for. You want to feel better, you want to look better, and you want to do what’s right for your body, but you are overwhelmed when it comes time to act on it. It’s as if you are waiting for the right moment to feel inspired to go for a jog, but that moment doesn’t come. Then, once again, the guilt comes as you watch your new shoes gather dust in the back of the closet. (If you haven’t already buried them out of sight)

When trying to tackle this mess, you need to look at examples where you actually did follow through with something. That will show you the formula for how to live with purpose, where your intentions and your actions are more free flowing from one to the other, and where the whole process is a joy instead of a pain. What used to get you excited and gave you that inspired moment to act is where to look, even if most of those examples are currently contributing to your mess.

How about the scrapbook you started that beautifully archived your most precious memories? The quilt that you cut out all the pieces for? The book you started writing? I could go on. These have partially birthed into physicality. These are real, and they came from a place of inspiration. Do you remember what feeling you had that enabled the cross over from thought (idea) to expression (physicality)? It was a rare communion with your spirit. You rode the wave of inspiration (in spirit), also known as the flow, and you were so in the moment and so filled with purpose, that you overrode the ego mind. You gave yourself space to create, and surpassed your ego.

Surpassed my ego mind? Yes! At any given point in time, we could all be doing a million things. We could be worrying about what bills are due, reminding ourselves to wake up early tomorrow, thinking about what to make for dinner, etc. But when we are in the flow of inspiration and in communion with our spirit self, the ego mind shuts down. We transcend it. This allows us to follow through with our intentions. Essentially, we are weeding the garden of our life for that moment, and each subsequent moment that we stay in the flow, to allow ourselves to focus on that one task.

Once you have identified areas of your life where you have been in the flow, you may be wonder how that translates into the rest of your life. There are two stages to this part. Stage 1 is identifying what areas of your life are in harmony with your spirit. Take for example the PTA meetings, or other civic duties you may have. Ask yourself, in the ‘yes, no’ format for asking your intuition taught in the first video, if that activity is in alignment with you. If it’s a yes, then it stays. If it’s a no, try to find something else you can volunteer for that is a ‘yes,’ and find a way to leave the current commitment.

If you did buy running shoes and have never used them, have you asked yourself if running is something you like to do? Again, use your inner self as a guide. You may not like running! Maybe you would actually like to bike, roller blade, play tennis, go hiking, etc. Exercise shouldn’t feel like torture, and you don’t need to like running just because other people do. Find something you love and this part of your life will be a treat instead of a source of guilt.

The other areas of life outlined in the picture are representative of what happens when you fail to make sacred space for important activities. Vacation, an exciting business idea, and anything else that nurtures you needs to be given special status. This is stage 2, and involves surpassing your ego mind intentionally. Leave the scattered thoughts at the door and take full advantage of your specially scheduled time here. Turn off the phone, don’t check your email and just let yourself go while attending to this part of your life. The benefits you get from allowing yourself to focus will spill over into every other part of your life. This is key.

Strengthening your sense of sacred space and time will help you strengthen your connection to your inner self, your intuition, and also make it easier to schedule your time around things that really matter. Your messy life will gradually turn into a more palatable version, with the potential for being a truly spectacular show of flowers and foliage that you just can’t wait to get to everyday.

Choosing your activities based on what is truly in alignment with you, and then honoring those commitments with a feeling of reverence will gradually reorganize your life. You will be more excited about what fills your day, and the feeling of accomplishment that is generated out of making purposeful use of your time will keep the process going. You’ll think twice about what you say yes to in the future. And pretty soon, you will want to share how beautiful your life is, instead of trying to hide it’s messy status from others and from yourself.

Creating Sacred Space

Focusing on one task at a time brings it into focus, clearing away the clutter that normally surrounds us. Photo by Rachel Andrews

One reason why rituals have been connected and used by religions throughout history is because of their effectiveness at focusing power. Taking a predetermined set of steps and using the same instruments each time the ritual is performed streamlines the energy and allows the participants to fit into a groove. This groove acts like a channel for the energy to flow in, making the most of the time and effort put into the ritual. Each time the ritual is performed, it’s effects become stronger. It’s basically the same premise as practice.

What ritual has that practice often lacks is the attention to the whole. Mind, body, spirit, emotions and environment are all part of ritual, where practice can still be effective when it lacks attention to one or more of these areas. You can bring the idea and benefits of ritual into your daily life to facilitate a better connection with your whole being and the work you do. It will also give you more power in what you are trying to accomplish. If you do this, you will be creating a sacred space for your activities.

Social psychologists have found that when people study in the same place and at the same time, they get into the groove much quicker, allowing them to be more productive and retain the information better. Setting up a specific spot for any given task will connect you with that task more quickly than if you were to do it in random places throughout your house or other environment. The spot for your task essentially acts as a cue to ready your body, mind, emotions, and spirit for the job at hand. This can be helpful for building a meditation practice, writing in a journal, or any other job where you want deep focus.

I have a desk for studying and a desk for my professional work. When I approach either of my desks I can feel the different parts of me engage before I even sit down. My systems are aligning with the task I am about to undertake. This makes it easier to surpass my ego mind and get down to business. It also allows me to slip right into that groove, which makes deep focus possible. I can sit here and pick up where I last left off. I don’t have to spend much time remembering what I did last, because the energy from the previous session of writing is still present in this spot. This is a trick that has been known for centuries, and you can harness it’s power.

To make your ritual spots more powerful, you can use other cues on top of the environmental one. You can use a specific pen, candle, crystal, mug, etc., to strengthen the connection between the task and your physical and energetic body systems. To do this, just simply mark that item as being part of that task. When you write checks to pay your bills, use only the bill paying pen. When you sit down to read at night, use the same tea cup for your beverage. These small things will help you to engage all of your systems so your ego mind is held at bay and you are more effective in your task. You are taking charge of your energy, and your integration with the task you perform will be much deeper.

If you think about a church, temple, or any other place of worship, all of the senses are cued into focus. Incense are burned for smell cues, flowers or altars engage the sight, the same building materials are common across faiths to engage touch (think of the rounded wooden top of a pue), singing or chanting is used to activate your hearing and voice, and the presence of spirits is almost always implied either by artwork or by the leader of worship calling them in. This is no accident. You are asked to leave your distractions at the door so you can be fully present in prayer.

Another benefit of creating sacred spaces for your tasks and using ritual elements to strengthen that space, is the feeling of time vanishing. In the groove, you are so consumed with your task, you become it. Your energy, from the core of the earth to the universal source, is aligned with what you are doing. This flow allows you to draw on energy from your soul memories and from the collective unconscious, as well as the ‘all that is, was, and ever will be’. Have you ever heard of artists not wanting to take credit for their work because they felt it “came through them?” They were in the flow. They were open to receiving the words, images, songs or information because they were in their own sacred space.

These benefits are available to you, too. If you apply these principles to your life, to even one task, the effects will ripple outward and a deeper focus will develop within you. You will strengthen your natural state. Starting with tasks you enjoy is easier in the beginning. Once you have the hang of it, it’s fun to make even mundane activities seem important enough for their own ritual. And often, turning menial jobs into sacred acts is what shifts our focus from lack to abundance.

Free Video Mini Classes, Here’s # 1!

Each week new mini-class will appear on the site. They are short, and easy to integrate into your daily routine. This week’s class is about observing your environment and then fully engaging the senses. This makes it easier for your sixth sense to speak up. Once that happens, it can inform you of the best choices to make to bring you into harmony with your most fulfilling life.

You can make use of the comment section below to ask me any questions and to communicate with your classmates. I’m excited, are you? I hope so!

Finding the Best Foods for You

It is not uncommon for psychically connected and sensitive people to have a finicky stomach. It also makes perfect sense. If you are highly sensitive to people, your surroundings, and everything else you come into contact with, what you put in your body will make a big difference in how you feel. Your reactions to caffeine, sugar and other strong ingredients will be amplified. Everyone will be slightly different in what foods make them feel vital and what foods give them discomfort. Also, over time, the good and not-so-good food list will evolve and change. Using your intuition and maintaining observance of your body will keep you apprised of what will keep you feeling good.

I am no stranger to having a good food/not-so-good food list. From the time I was born, I’ve been afflicted with almost every food allergy there is. When I was younger, it became apparent that I handle dairy foods poorly. I used to cry at dinner when I had to drink milk. Luckily, when my parents figured out the problem, we switched to water. Throughout high school, I dabbled in vegetarianism to try to alleviate some of my other food discomfort. That helped a bit, but I still felt my body needed some meat. Re-incorporating some meat into my diet felt good. It didn’t solve all of my problems, though. A few years later, I figured out that I have an intolerance to gluten, and that more than a little processed sugar makes me irritable and overly emotional.

So with no gluten and minimal dairy in my diet, what I am left with is fruit, vegetables, some meat, nuts and seeds. I eat a mostly raw diet, which helps me to feel clean and light. Though I do still eat potato chips and the occasional Snickers bar. You aren’t shooting for perfection here, just to eat what makes you feel good. I would write out my entire history of dietary changes for you, but your own list will provide you with much more relevant information. I share this much, so you can see that you may have many layers of food challenges, and they may come and go. Some weeks I can eat nuts without a problem, and other weeks they give me heartburn.

To find out what is causing you discomfort, you can check in with yourself to monitor how foods make you feel. Here are some steps:

1. Sit still and listen to your body. Scan inside your body for feelings. Are you bloated? Cold? Anxious? In pain? Constipated? Sluggish? Irritable? It helps to notice the physical discomfort along with the emotional and mental discomfort. Being in physical pain, whether mild or severe, will have an effect on your thoughts and mood. It all goes together.

2. Pair those bodily reactions, feelings and thoughts with what you ingested. For example, I ate eggs for breakfast and I feel heavy, lack motivation and my thinking is foggy, or, I am feeling anxious, excitable, and slightly nauseated, and I drank an extra cup of coffee today. Observe and correlate what you think goes together.

3. Test your findings. Try eliminating the foods or beverages that you paired with discomfort. Try this for at least a week so your body has time to adjust. Do you notice a difference in the way you feel, think and act? If not, adjust your list and try again. Maybe it was the combination of foods that made the difference, and not the individual foods. You can always re-introduce the foods or beverages you left out of your diet again later. Whatever made you sensitive to them may pass with time. As you clear yourself on an energetic level, the responses you have to certain foods will change. As I said above, everything is connected.

Paying attention to your body can have huge benefits. You may not know how much discomfort you are in until it’s gone. I wish you success in tailoring your diet to meet your needs, and I know if you do, you’ll feel great.

Love,

Rachel