Michele Knight's Blog, page 213

Want to Feel All Write? How Writing Heals and Creates Happiness

Chances are if you are on a soul development path you already keep a journal even if it’s just to keep track of your psychic development exercises or tarot readings. Journaling has long been recognised as a incredible self-help tool – no we’re not talking about Bridget Jones’s ramblings about how much she dislikes Mark Darcy and how many cigarettes, alcohol units or instants she’s been through in a day. A journal allows us to vent our thoughts and feelings on paper and also gives us the ability to go back and see how far we’ve progressed and how we solved problems. When we hit another speed bump, our journals can provide us with the reassurance we need – after all, if we solved our previous problems it just proves we can solve subsequent ones. Journals are therefore written landmarks we create on our soul journey. (And Bridget did after all come to realise Mark Darcy was the far better choice than love-rat Daniel Cleaver!).

Dr. Evelyn Lewin in Australia began to notice the benefits of writing down what was stressing her out rather than just slumping down on the couch in front of the TV after a 14-hour shift. She found that by writing an email to a friend, the tension would leave her body and she would sleep better. A colleague, psychologist Damien Adler of Mind Life Clinic in Victoria, Australia told her she’d merely stumbled on the therapeutic benefits of writing. Dr. Lewin had discovered that writing can actually improve your health.

“Often our thoughts swim around our head in a jumbled-up sort of way,” Adler explains. When putting them on paper we need to organise them. In the process, he says, you often discover your true feelings. “It basically forces you to think in a clearer way.” Writing also clears your mind, especially before bed. “The most common problem people have with sleep is having a busy brain,” explains Adler. This is actually our brain’s way of trying to look after us by aiming to remember everything. But at night we just want our brains to shut up so we can sleep. The solution, Adler says, is to outsource your brain’s job, by writing down your thoughts. “So the brain says, ‘I know that information is stored over there, so I don’t need to store that in my head.’” Which means your brain can relax.

Researchers from Stamford University also discovered writing can help you lose weight. They took 45 women and split them into two groups. Both groups were asked to write for 15 minutes a day. While one group was instructed to write about things they valued – such as music and friendships – the others were told to write about things that didn’t matter to them. Those who wrote about thing that were important to them were not only engaged in positive affirmations they were re-experiencing what made them feel good – and we all know when you feel good you’re less likely to turn to food for comfort. They lost weight while the women who just wrote about things that didn’t matter to them gained weight. Another study conducted by the American Psychological Association showed that teenagers who blogged or kept a journal had better self-esteem than those who didn’t.

Writing down your psychic insights can be a good way to chart your psychic development. Writing about your day releases tension and promotes gratitude, happiness and a healthy way of life as well as reinforcing goals. Remember, even if you don’t consider yourself a writer just write about what interests you – and nobody need see it except you. Turn your life write around today!

The Great Mayan Mystery – Solved

We recently talked about how the discovery of a new Mayan calendar shows that far from the world ending in 2012, it continues to exist millions if not trillions of years into the future. This of course does not answer what happened to the Mayans themselves who appeared to have just vanished from the face of the Earth at the height of their civilisation leading many to speculate that the Mayans may have raised their personal energy vibrations and enter a parallel universe – something quantum physicists such as Michio Kaku believe may be possible to achieve one day.

The truth however, may be a little more anti-climactic or should I say climactic in nature as new research shows that the Mayans appear to have been wiped out by the very same problem we are faced with today – climate change.

Researchers led by geoarchaeologist Douglas Kennett of Pennsylvania State University, USA whose paper is published in the prestigious journal Science, have been able to precisely date the disappearance of the Mayans by comparing archaeological and climate data, solving the mystery once and for all. The Maya kept detailed records of events such as marriages, wars and the accession of kings and queens, all of which are linked to specific dates in the Mayan calendar and remain inscribed upon stone monuments. By comparing rainfall to these historical records the researchers have connected climate shifts to both prosperity, and collapse of the Mayan society. The results showed that years of high rainfall, such as in 440–660 AD, coincided with an increase in the expansion of the Mayan civilisation. Increased food production led to an increase in the population. When these years wer followed by severe drought which ruined crops, wars broke out in a bid to control what resources were left. The population began to decline due to conflict, migration and famine, social stresses mounted, the advanced political system the Mayans created was unable to keep their infrastructure together, leading to the eventual collapse of the entire civilisation.

With us facing the challenge of climate change today it is clear that we have a lot of learn from the fate of the Mayans. We have to remember their society was incredibly advanced with a highly-developed written language, huge scientific and astronomical advances which we marvel at today, and a sophisticated political system. Yet, none of this could weather the storm of climate shift. If we do not learn from history, we are destined to repeat it until we do. We can see this happening on an individual level with our own soul journeys – if we refuse to learn a lesson we continue to encounter similar people and experiences until we do and are then free to move on to the next level.

Dr. Kennett plans to use his data to study how climate change impacts on societies. “There are important modern implications – issues relating to global climate change and what that could mean in terms of socio-political systems and the disintegration of our own state that we live in,” said Kennett. “There are complex knock-on affects of climate drying: how that may affect agricultural systems, the availability of drinking water, but also how that is linked to social strife and instability.”

By learning from history we can start to create a new outcome. We are only doomed to repeat the past if we refuse to learn from it. The Mayans are an example we cannot afford to ignore and it would appear their calendar is right – 2012 has been the year for us to understand what happened to them and avoid their fate. This is their true legacy for all of us.

 

Hug Me – I’m Happy! Why Knowing Someone Is There for You In Good Times Is So Important

Having people who love and support you when times are tough is incredibly important for all of us. When times are tough it’s good to know you have people ready to offer you what you need – whether it’s a hug, emotional support or just the ability to listen. However, what we tend to forget is that knowing someone is there for us is just as important in good times as well as a new study shows us. Our partners and loved ones reactions when we have something good to report is crucial to our wellbeing and also our relationship with them.

Sharing good news with someone is called capitalisation. It allows you to relive the feelings of happiness and achievement. Researchers have discovered that the way someone close to us reacts when we have good news is however, an indicator of the quality of your relationship with them. If you’ve just landed a promotion or the job of your dreams is your partner or the person you’re telling happy for you or are they saying things like ‘That sounds like an awful lot of hard wor. Are you sure you’ll be able to cope?’ Perhaps you’re excited about your engagement. Are you friends and family pleased or have you not got the kind of reaction you were hoping for?

Two teams of researchers tracked a group of students over a period of a month. One third were asked to write about what they were grateful for each day and were asked to share their experiences with someone close to them. Another group were asked to write about them but not share them. Finally, another third were asked to keep track of what they were learning every day and share this with a partner or someone close to them. The study which is about to be published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships showed not only the effect the recipient’s reaction to the ‘good news’ had on the person delivering it but that participants who shared grateful experiences with someone close reported more life satisfaction and happiness than those in the other groups. So, we receive an additional boost from telling someone about positive life events above and beyond the feeling we get from the event itself. The study also showed that if the person you told responded positively, you would feel even better – unless they responded negatively or changed the subject. So, the reaction of the people closest to us is crucial when it comes to us enjoying our moments of victory.

On a soul level being able to respond positively to someone’s good news not only emphasises our closeness with them but shows how open we are to allowing good news and abundance to flow in our own lives. If you feel a pang of jealousy because your best friend just got engaged or landed that dream job when you’re still single and unhappy with your career; instead of responding in a negative fashion be joyful. If your friends can achieve happiness the fact that you are part of the same soul group shows that you can too! When we feel good for the people closest to us we just create more joy. Being there for each other in good times is one of the best moments we can have in our relationships.

 

Your Free Weekly Horoscope Video With Michele Knight

Hello Beautiful Soul,

This week Mercury is retrograde and we have a powerful eclipse in Scorpio which is shaking us up and bringing up deep rooted shadows from the past. However it leads to rebirth and transformation. Please forgive the quality of this week’s horoscope videos. I am in London and cannot get a decent wifi signal to download in good quality! I promise next weeks will be back to tip top shape! (blame Mercury and the antiquated wifi system in London hotels) My beloved cat Bella who I have had for 13 years died this weekend and it brought home the message of the cycle of life, death and rebirth. She had been with me in the best of times and the worst of times and was very special to me. It is very hard sometimes to go with the flow of letting go but at the end of the day we are all going home at some point and this journey and lifetime is a unique lesson for our soul and we should value each minute. The New Moon and Solar eclipse echo this but also give us a glimpse of the gifts of letting go. Whatever cycle you are in right now I send you much love and the knowledge that this too shall pass. Feast on the moment and dream big  and expect a wonderful opportunity for the deepening of your soul this week.

Psychic Development Exercises You Can Do Anywhere!

If you want to hone your psychic skills but like many of us often feel your quiet time is at a minimum, don’t despair! Despite the fact that many psychic techniques do require peace and quiet there are also just as many exercises you can engage in as you undertake every day activities such as commuting to work, walking the dog, cleaning or even sitting at your desk. So, get ready to make every moment a potential psychic leap moment with these simple exercises.

1: Core breathing. This will not only open up your solar plexus chakra and enhance your intuition but will also boost your wellbeing. Would you be surprised to know that most of us don’t breathe properly? As you’re walking, sitting or doing any activity, take a deep breath and pull it right down into your solar plexus area. Slowly exhale. As you breathe in, imagine drawing in golden light into your area and slowly let it stream out as you exhale. Really feel your diaphragm as you breathe. You will find this not only strengthens your ‘gut feeling’ but you may experience increased energy, feel more centered and have stronger boundaries as a result.

2: Be Aware of Where You Are. Very often we’re operating on auto-pilot. Even if you’re at home doing something totally mundane like the washing up open up and notice your surroundings. If you’re the only person at home how does the house ‘feel’. What can you hear? If you’re doing something – like say the washing up, how does the water feel? Soft, hard, tepid, cold, too hot? What’s going on outside your window? By becoming more aware of what’s happening around us we open up to awareness from other, hidden realms.

3: People Watch. If we’re developing our psychic gifts it’s usually because we want to help people by reading for them. Your commute, your trip to the supermarket or to the school, your co-workers all provide you with opportunities to people watch. Everyone has a story. Even if you don’t know someone see what you can pick up on them. What star sign do you think they are from their looks? What do you think they do? Married? Single? Happy? Miserable? Get an impression of their energy. You can jot down your impressions or even make up a story about them. If you’re then reading for someone who seems to have a similar ‘vibe’ you can then refer to this – and find out just how accurate you’ve been.

4: Embrace ‘alone’ time. We spend so much time in the company of others – either with families, friends or at work. If we are alone we can come under pressure to rush out and find a mate whether we feel we want one right now or not. As a result, many of us get divorced from the power of solitude. There is a reason that many of the great spiritual paths place an emphasis on a retreat or vision quest – a time alone when we can receive insights from our guides. If you have the house to yourself for a few hours or if you are presently living alone resist the urge to fill your time with distraction, company and noise. Instead embrace solitude and tune-into the natural sounds around you – like the birds and the wind. The sounds of nature are well known for boosting our psychic ability and enhancing intuition.

We can be honing our psychic skills in the queue at the coffee shop or dropping the kids off at school as well as boosting our health and wellbeing. Looked at this way, every moment and every task contains the gift of soul development.

Reclaim Your Creativity! How We Can Re-Connect To Our Own Unique Genius

As part of my Quantum Creating techniques, I’ve been emphasising the fact that we are all unique and that we are all given our own unique gifts. Very often, confusion about our soul path arises when we become separated from our passion and we lose track of what it is we’re here to do. This can happen for any variety of reasons – sometimes our goals and dreams are mocked by the very people who should encourage or support us, other times our energy gets diverted into day-to-day living and life seems to be a struggle leaving us little or no time or energy to re-connect to pursue our goals which stops us from reaching our full potential. So how do we re-connect back to our potential?

As far back as 1968 a researcher called George Land started a test to measure children’s creativity using a test devised by NASA to recruit the most innovative minds they can find. He tested the children at age 5, again at 10, at 15 and so on. The results may surprise you. In the first round of tests which used 1600 children, a staggering 98% of the children scored at the genius level. However – by the time they were all 25, only 2% of the same group scored in the genius level. The conclusion Land came to was that being creative is natural and being non-creative is learned behaviour!

So, if you’ve lost your creative mojo and want to re-connect to your inner genius what can you do? The good news is that creativity can be re-learned and you can reconnect to your powerful original version of you, putting you back on your soul path.

Michael Gelb, author of the bestseller How to Think like Leonardo Da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day says all learning starts with imitation – and it’s the same for learning (or re-learning) creativity. “The great thing about being an adult is that we can choose who we want to imitate,” he reminds us. There are seven basic steps we can all take to reconnect to the creative genius we’ve lost touch with. Gelb lists them as Curiosity, Learning From Experience, Sharpening the Senses, Embracing Change, Whole Brain Thinking, Balancing Your Body and Mind and finally your Connections to Others. In other words – a recipe for soul and spiritual development as well as creativity!

If 98% of us score in the genius range when it comes to being creative when we’re young, it follows that our creativity is still there – just waiting to be re-awakened. Many people lead lives that limit their potential simple because they are unaware they were once self-expressive, unique soul geniuses. So, start by taking the first step – Curiosity and find out what talents or abilities you’ve been keeping hidden – both from yourself and the world.

Psychic Development SOS: Help! I Got It Wrong!

It doesn’t matter whether you have just started to explore your psychic skills or have been practicing for some time. There will come a time when either something totally unforeseen occurs or events just don’t turn out as you predicted. If you are just starting off, this can be a real confidence shaker. Even seasoned readers often experience feelings of doubt when this happens. However, before you lock up your Tarot cards forever or abandon your astrology books, it’s important to step back and look at what’s happened objectively as this can often be an opportunity to learn something that can enhance your readings in the future.

First, understand that no reader, no matter how gifted, can be right all the time. In fact, you should be cautious of anyone who claims to be ‘100% accurate’ as it’s statistically impossible! When a reading is done it usually reflects what will happen should events continue to unfold as they are doing. The fact is soul contracts can be changed at any time – this is what free will is all about.

Next, review all the times you have been right. Chances are you are predicting outcomes accurately most of the time.

Ask yourself: What is the lesson to be learned from this? Be honest with yourself. If the reading was for yourself did you fall into the trap of being subjective in your interpretation instead of objective? If the reading was for somebody else did you tell them what you felt they wanted to hear instead of what you intuitively knew would happen? Did you stick to the standard interpretation of the cards or aspects when your intuition was telling you something else? Did you feel not particularly connected to the person you were reading for? Were you thinking of something else at the time you were performing the reading? What was your energy level like? Did you feel tired, drained or unwell? Honesty in a reading and treating each reading as if it is your very first are 2 of my golden rules for readers.

If the reading was for yourself then if you are uncertain, ask a friend for their interpretation in future or else get clarification from one of our readers. If you were reading for someone else and you told them what they wanted to hear rather than what you felt would happen, then make a promise to operate from truth and integrity in future even if you feel the person won’t like what you have to say. If you don’t feel a connection with someone, if your attention is elsewhere or if for whatever reason your energy is not where it needs to be, then even if you are giving a reading for free, you need to tell the person that either nothing is coming through for you or you don’t feel you can give them the attention they deserve right now. Above all, if the traditional message behind the cards says one thing but your intuition is screaming another then always go with your intuition – this is what being psychic is all about!

Occasionally all readers have what we call a ‘missed reading’ – where the information that comes through just doesn’t make sense to the person you are reading for. Even psychics have off days. Sometimes what comes through may make perfect sense later or of course, there is the odd occasion when you are perfectly right but the person you’re reading for isn’t ready to hear what you have to say yet. If so, all you can do is wish them love and light but not take any criticism on board.

Remember, your psychic skills are like any other ability – you have to practice. Accept the fact that you will occasionally misinterpret the information you are given – after all – it often arrives as impressions, flashes and symbols. Provided you are operating from a desire to empower others and a place of honesty and love your readings will be relevant and filled with inspiration for anyone you read for – including yourself!

The Truth Behind The Friend Zone

In the Friend Zone? Want to be more than just ‘friends’? Have that nasty, suspicious feeling that when it comes to just ‘being friends’ no matter what a guy is saying to you there is more to it than that? The latest research tells us that when it comes to being Friend Zoned, what women have always suspected is true – it doesn’t happen very often, if at all. But women see the Friend Zone very differently to men.

Dr. April Bleske-Rechek, Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Wisconsin, published her findings in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships after inviting students to come to her lab with a friend of the opposite sex and answer questions about each other. The questions asked them about how attractive they found their friend, whether they would consider dating their friend and also how attracted they felt their friend was to him (or her).

First they discovered that the guys were all attracted to their female friends more than the women were attracted to them. This is consistent with the portrayals we see in the media – think Friends and Ross being more attracted to Rachel than she was to him and Jacob’s attraction to Bella in Twilight. Interestingly, both men and women were more attracted to their friend when they thought their friend was attracted to them – but it would appear that hardly any men think: ‘Wow! I bet she’d be a great person to just hang out with’ as women have always suspected.

They also discovered that the men’s attraction to their female friends didn’t change with relationship status – either his or theirs. But for the women, if their male friend was in a relationship they found him less attractive and when in a relationship themselves, all women were significantly less interested in the prospect of dating their ‘friend’.

The last part of the findings are perhaps the most significant of all. It was discovered that men consistently over-estimated their female friend’s attraction and desire to possibly date them while the women consistently underestimated their male friend’s attraction to them but accurately gauged their desire to date them! So, if you’re a woman in the Friend Zone your ‘vibe’ about whether your male friend wants to date you or not is probably correct. If you’re not in a relationship you could do worse than a quick inventory of your single male friends because it’s likely they consider you attractive and want to date you. Remember the study showed women consistently underestimate how attractive their male friends find them. Guys, your female friends most likely just want to be friends. End of story.

Remember, just because two people are attracted to one another does not necessarily mean they will become a couple. On a soul level we learn from every relationship as all close personal relationships are about the same thing – love. Sometimes this is expressed romantically and sometimes just as a very close friendship. The Friend Zone is just another place we can make a lasting soul connection.

PS Excuse the heterosexual bias of this piece the research was based on men and women finding each other attractive. Most articles are inclusive of all sexualities!

Quantum Relationship Attraction: How Getting Clear on What You Want Gets You What You Want!

When we’re deciding on what it is we want to Quantum Create I’ve always emphasised the importance of getting very clear and being specific about what it is you want to attract. The more detail we put into this the better – with of course the caveat to then let it go and be open as to how it comes to us or even bring us something better than we haven’t even thought of! Now new studies into why relationships fail where others succeed proves that people who are very clear about not only the qualities they are seeking in a partner – but how important these qualities are, are more likely to have successful long-term relationships than those who don’t.

Although there are many factors that can contribute to a relationship failing, one important factor has emerged that appears to determine whether it does succeed and that is the degree to which your partner matches your vision of your ‘ideal’. Notice I said ‘ideal’ and not ‘perfect’ as we can say there is no such thing as a perfect partner – only that you may be perfect for each other.

Dr Paul Eastwick and Dr Lisa Neff of the University of Texas studied 169 newlywed couples and asked them to complete a questionnaire about their preferences for an ideal partner and how they felt their actual partner compared to this. They were then contacted every six months for the next 3.5 years. Let’s say a sense of humour is a vital quality for your ideal partner. In importance you would give this an 8 out of 10. When it comes to say, honesty you would give this 9 out of 10. So, honesty and then sense of humour in that order is what’s important to you. What Dr. Eastwick and his team discovered what that it wasn’t whether you rate your partner’s honesty at say a 7 and his sense of humour at a 6, it is the fact that you score your partners qualities in the same order as you value them. The study found that couples who felt this way were three times LESS likely to get divorced than the ones who didn’t.

Although every relationship gives us important soul lessons and someone who we feel is a soulmate can often give us the hardest lessons of all! Our job is to evolve our own spirit and value our unique soul and nurture ourselves as well as others. The liberating fact is we can grow from happiness not just difficult relationships and we do have the power of choice no matter what ‘destiny” throws at us!

To understand the qualities we need in a partner we need to have arrived at a stage where we understand ourselves and our requirements in a relationship. Soul knowledge empowers not only us, but also our relationships. When we understand our needs we can avoid getting caught up in relationships with people who are not at the same stage in their soul growth and are therefore unable to give this to us.

So, if part of your Quantum Creating  journey is to manifest your ‘ideal’ partner, start by making a list of their inner qualities and getting clear about which are the most important for you. By setting your intention that this is the kind of person you want to attract you are sending out a signal to bring someone with the right set of qualities – in the right order – to you. When we consider that nobody would criticise us for getting very specific about the kind of job we would like – and making a list ranking things like ‘job satisfaction’, ‘opportunities for advancement’ and ‘excellent pay’ in order of importance, why shouldn’t we apply the same rules to something that will affect every area of our lives. And for those critics who might say this is unromantic – there’s nothing more unromantic than break-ups or divorce. Personally I can’t think of anything more romantic than Quantum Creating your ideal partner. Get clear on what you want, be clear on your purpose and clear the way to creating your ideal life on every level.

 

Your Weekly Horoscope Video With Michele Knight

A scorcher of a week as the Astrology heats up. Make the most of the intense sky to off load any unwanted baggage and fly free.