Continue reading ‘How Do Rituals Make Our Lives Meaningful and Spiritual?’ »]]> Rituals add meaning and spirituality to our lives, by serving as a bridge between our outer and inner worlds, between the profane and the sacred, and between the ordinary and the extraordinary.

“Rituals are tools that give us the freedom to take responsibility for the direction and purpose of our lives,” says Abigail Brenner, M.D., author of Transitions: How Women Embrace Change and Celebrate Life. “Our task is to seize and shape this freedom — conscious1y, deliberately, and joyfully.

Here, Dr Brenner describes how rituals help us enhance and celebrate our lives — especially when we’re going through major life or work changes! To learn more about thriving during a transition, read Transitions: How Women Embrace Change and Celebrate Life.

And, here are several ways rituals enhance our lives…

10 Ways Rituals Help Us Celebrate Our Lives
by Abigail Brenner, M.D.

Ritual has its roots in religion, and life’s fundamental passages are often traditionally accompanied by religious ritual. But life’s great passages are by nature spiritual. They affirm human mystery and mutability, our connection with the universal.

Rituals give us a sense of belonging. When we engage in the ritual process we are, in essence, connected to “original time.” Rituals awaken that which is eternal within us and show us how our individual lives are part of a much grander design.

Rituals connect us with nature and the seasons. The ongoing transitions that occur in nature provide the prototype for change. By watching the constant shifts and turns in nature we recognize our own cycles of life, our own rhythms as humans. Rituals remind us of the interconnectedness of all of life.

Rituals provide us with a sense of renewal. They offer us a time-out from our every day routine, habitual existence. Metaphorically, rituals are oases, a time to rest, replenish, and restore our selves on our long and winding path through life. Rituals help us to reevaluate our journey thus far and to reaffirm that the path we are traveling is the right one for us.

Rituals provide an ongoing way to structure our lives. The ritual process provides a sense of stability and continuity amidst the ever-changing, hectic and often chaotic world in which we live. Rituals engender a sense of healing calm and a feeling of trust in life’s flow and forward movement.

Rituals give us a way to connect to family, past and present. Rituals tie us to our ancestors and to our heritage. Their creation and performance helps us to understand where we came from. As a bridge between past and future, they enable us to access, honor, and strengthen our own identity.

Rituals remove us from the ordinary flow of life and place us in sacred space. It is out of the realm of ordinary space and time that rituals create their magic through the mysterious and mystical language of symbolic reenactment.

Rituals help us access our authentic selves through their ability to carry us into deeper levels of consciousness. By engaging all of our senses through the use of ritual elements inherent in the ritual process, we are able to bypass the intellect in favor of our intuitive, instinctive knowing. Rituals help us balance the work of our outer and inner lives and allow for the full expression of our soul and spirit.

Rituals provide the essential tools for co-creating our own lives. Creating and performing rituals that are personally meaningful to us helps us as evolving creations to set the exact intention that will ultimately enable us to manifest and reach desired goals and aspirations.

Rituals give meaning to our journeys and a sense of purpose to our lives. While the ongoing creation and performance of rituals prepares us for the next stages of life, the successive and cumulative practice of rituals over time has the power to ultimately transform us.

Rituals mark “rites of passage” - major transitional turning points - help us ‘connect the dots.’ They help us find and define the patterns and cycles in our individual lives that might otherwise seem to be random happenings if viewed separately.

By creating and performing personally expressive rituals for ourselves, we move freely into our own spiritual lives, taking charge of marking and honoring the transitions, the special moments in our lives that we find significant, in the ways we deem meaningful.

Abigail Brenner, M.D., author of Transitions: How Women Embrace Change and Celebrate Life, is a board certified psychiatrist currently in private practices as well as an ordained interfaith minister who helps people design, create, and perform personally meaningful rituals. She is also author of  SHIFT: How to Deal When Life Changes, and the co-author of The Essential Guide To Baby’s First Year, to be released April 2011. Visit her at Abigail Brenner, or follow her on Facebook.

Copyright © 2011 Abigail Brenner, M.D., author of Transitions: How Women Embrace Change and Celebrate Life.

Continue reading ‘What Should I Give Up for Lent? How to Declutter in 40 Days’ »]]> If you’re wondering what to give up for Lent, this idea can help cleanse you spiritually and organize you physically. Here’s how to declutter your home in 40 days – in preparation for Easter. This guest post is from Elizabeth Kathryn Gerold-Miller – a spiritual blogger and write-at-home mother.

Before her tips, a quip:

“Eliminate physical clutter.  More importantly, eliminate spiritual clutter.”  ~Terri Guillemets

No matter what religion you practice, you can go through a period of materialistic and spiritual cleansing (whether or not it’s Lent!). Anyone can follow these tips to clear their home of 40 cubic feet of clutter in 40 days. After the initial push, you might actually yourself enjoying the ritual.

To learn more about the 40 days of Lent, read He Is Risen: Reflections on Easter and the Forty Days of Lent.

And here are several tips on decluttering for Lent…

What Should I Give Up for Lent? How to Declutter in 40 Days

Guest Post - Elizabeth Kathryn Gerold-Miller

Prayer, fasting, and alms giving are the cornerstones of Lent, a 40 day period of preparation before Easter. Christians often “give up” something. The token sacrifice of denying oneself a given pleasure is supposed to help put a person into a state of submission before God.  When people ask me what I am giving up for Lent, my answer in recent years is “clutter.” I usually get a quizzical look. Then I explain that by giving up stuff I don’t need, I am doing something that is difficult for me, while at the same time helping others because I am going to donate my clutter to people who can use it.

If you’d like to give up something different at Lent, here are a few tips.

Find an empty box, approximately one cubic foot in volume. Your goal is to fill one box of this size daily. Most likely you will get on a roll and exceed that.

Pick a room. If you don’t know where to begin, start from the left of the doorway and work your way around the room. You may want to start with a crowded closet or drawer. Fill the box with items you can do without.

Classify your unwanted items. Put clothing and stuffed animals in plastic bags. Pack knick-knacks carefully into a box. Put toys into a larger box. Books should go flat in a box.

Find the right charities to donate to. Your local St. Vincent de Paul, charity thrift shop, or church might take what you have. Big Brothers Big Sisters will come to pick up items if you call or go to their website to schedule a pick-up. Your local public library, children’s shelter, or social ministry may take book donations. Many of these charities may give you a tax donation slip as well.

Get it out of the house. Your de-cluttering doesn’t count if it is sitting in your garage or basement for the right time to get rid of it. Put it in your car and bring it to the charity, or schedule the pick-up as soon as possible. Once it is out of the house, check off how many cubic feet of stuff you got rid of. Remember your goal is one per day.

Don’t wait for the garage sale that you will probably never have. Feel the joy that comes from giving away something you don’t need, to someone who needs it.

Elizabeth Kathryn Gerold-Miller is a Long Island write-at-home mother to four children who love to create clutter. She blogs at The Divine Gift of Motherhood and writes the column The Long Island Motherhood Examiner.

If you have any thoughts or questions about Lent or giving up clutter, please comment below…

And if you’re want to make Easter more spiritual this year, read 6 Meaningful Ways to Celebrate Easter With Your Family.

Continue reading ‘Are You Spiritually Healthy? 4 Signs of Spiritual Health’ »]]> How do you know if you are spiritually healthy? I sometimes wonder how healthy I am, so I did some digging. These signs of spiritual health aren’t the only signs of a spiritually healthy person — and I’d be grateful if you shared your own ideas in the comments sections below!

Here’s what one spiritual guru says about being a healthy person:

“The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, or not to anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.” ~ Buddha.

It’s all about mindfulness, my friend. If you’re like me and you struggle to stay “in the moment”, you may find The Art of Mindful Living: How to Bring Love, Compassion, and Inner Peace into Your Daily Life helpful.

And, here are a few signs of a spiritually healthy person…

Are You Spiritually Healthy? 4 Signs of Spiritual Health

1. Harmony. Spiritual and emotional harmony is similar to authenticity. It’s the agreement between what you think, say, and do. For instance, if you’re gritting your teeth as you say, “Sure it’s no problem to get this report finished by 3 pm today,” then you’re not in emotional or spiritual harmony. Imbalances like this create stress, which produce feelings of anxiety and tension. Though occasional feelings of anxiety, stress, and tension are an inevitable part of life, a spiritually healthy person is better equipped to flow through them.

2. Balance. When you’re spiritually and emotionally balanced, you feel calm, rational and able to make sound decisions. You know when you’re unbalanced: you hear yourself screeching or crying, and part of you knows you’re not acting rationally. Yet you can’t help yourself! We all feel unbalanced sometimes, even if we’re as spiritually healthy as Wayne Dyer (a bestselling author and spiritual guru) or Nicky Gumble (an Anglican priest and creator of the Alpha course). But, a sign of a spiritually healthy person is being balanced more often than not.

3. Courage. Are you able to take risks without being paralyzed by fear? Do you feel scared, but do it anyway? Those are signs of spiritual health! You’re nervous but you take the plunge. Your mouth is dry but you give it your best shot. That’s courage, and it carries you through the fear of rocking the boat, fear of confrontation, and fear of change. There are lots of things to be afraid of: divorce, death, destitution, degradation, depression, denial…but most of the things we fear don’t happen. Our fears are more alive in our minds than in reality – but we tend to let our minds control our reality. A spiritually healthy person relies on faith, hope, and inner strength.

4. Generosity. Here’s a great definition of generosity from Suze Orman: “Giving the right thing to the right person at the right time – and it benefits both of you.” In Women & Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny, she says that women in particular tend to give and give and give, until they’re diminished or depleted. Why do you give? Because you “should”? Because you feel guilty, embarrassed, or worried? That’s not true generosity. True generosity enhances your life, relationships, and experiences…and it’s a sign of spiritual health.

If you’re in a spiritual drought, you may find How to Renew Your Spirituality – 4 Tips for Soul Reconnection helpful.

What do you think of these signs of spiritual health? What would you add?

Continue reading ‘Develop a Positive Attitude with Gratitude’ »]]> You can easily develop a positive attitude with gratitude. Appreciating what’s going well in your life instead of complaining about what’s going wrong, will lighten and brighten your mood as well as broaden your life perspective.

What we focus on grows in our awareness. If we only pay attention to the problems, irritations and frustrations of life, this is all we’ll see. When we appreciate the little things along with the bigger pleasures, we attract more of this into our life.

“He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.” ~ Epictetus

If you’d like to be inspired by a heartwarming story of how a man turned his life of misery into one of peace and joy, read 365 Thank Yous: The Year a Simple Act of Daily Gratitude Changed My Life by John Kralik. And for tips on how to change your attitude into one of gratitude, read on.

Develop a Positive Attitude with Gratitude

As you go through your day, notice how much time you spend focusing on the negatives in your life. Observe your thoughts to see if they are marching to the tune of “poor me, why me, it’s not fair.” Listen to your words as you speak and notice how often you complain about the traffic, weather, your spouse, the government, and world events.

With awareness, you can shift your negative attitude into a positive perspective. Here are 4 ways to do this.

1. Be grateful for the little things. When something magnificent happens or someone does us a grand favor, it’s easy to be grateful. But these don’t happened every day. In order to develop a positive attitude, we need to be thankful for the small blessings as well as the big ones.

Feel gratitude for everything in your life. Be thankful for having a roof over your head, for the electricity that brings heat and light into your home, for the food in your fridge. Show appreciation to everyone who makes your life easier: the cashier at the store, the bank teller, the postal carrier, the gas attendant. As you express your appreciation, it will grow in your heart.

“If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, “thank you,” that would suffice.” ~ Meister Eckhart

2. Appreciate everyone in your life. It’s easy to be grateful for supportive friends and family, but what happens when someone triggers you, pushes your buttons, or invalidates you in some way? Do you go on a tirade about how awful they are, or can you see the hidden blessings they bring to your life?

View each person that walks into your life as though they have a gift for you. The person who tries to control or manipulate you is there to help you develop clear boundaries. The person who insults you is showing you where you haven’t developed self-esteem yet. Challenge yourself to see the opportunities within every relationship. This will help you develop an attitude of gratitude.

“Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity: it must be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at all.” ~William Faulkner

3. Be thankful for your life experiences. Everything we’ve experienced in life has shaped us into who we are today. Reflect over all of the opportunities, blessings and helpful situations you’ve experienced. Notice how they’ve added to your current circumstances and touch into your gratitude for them.

Now reflect over the difficult situations, but with a positive attitude. Just as individuals provide opportunities for growth and healing, so do challenging times. What strengthened, softened, or developed in you as a result of painful circumstances? Would you have grown into who you are today without these life experiences?

“Praise the bridge that carried you over.” ~George Colman

4. See the bigger picture. If we only look at one small piece of a story, we limit our perspective. We get caught in judging a situation as good or bad, depending on what we see in that moment. But if we broaden our horizon we see an array of possibilities.

When someone tells you of their woes, open your mind and heart to possible positive outcomes. Help others to see alternative perspectives to their situation. And when you find yourself in quandary, become your own best friend and trust that things will work out.

“Gratitude is an art of painting an adversity into a lovely picture.” ~Kak Sri

Try the above suggestions to see if they help you to develop a positive attitude. And here is a lovely prayer to reflect on each day:

“For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Do you have any questions or additional insights on how to develop a positive attitude with gratitude? Please share in the comment section.

Continue reading ‘Finding Inner Peace – 6 Ways to Be More Peaceful’ »]]> Finding inner peace isn’t just about prayer and mediation – though praying and meditating helps! These ways to be more peaceful are practical, easy, and effective tips for calming your heart, mind, and soul…which leads to peace.

“There is a criterion by which you can judge whether the thoughts you are thinking and the things you are doing are right for you,” says The Peace Pilgrim. “That criterion is, Have they brought you inner peace? If they have not, there is something wrong with them…so keep trying.”

Finding inner peace doesn’t just happen once — and poof! You’re suddenly a peaceful person! Rather, being more peaceful is a constant choice you must make, perhaps every hour or even every half hour. The following ways to be more peaceful with the people and events in your life are inspired by You’ll See It When You Believe It: The Way to Your Personal Transformationby Wayne Dyer.

Finding Inner Peace – 6 Practical Ways to Be More Peaceful

1. Let go of the need to interpret the actions of others. This is my favorite tip for finding inner peace: stop trying to decipher what others meant when they did this or said that! This need to figure out what people really meant by their words or actions will drive you to distraction — and not to mention the effect it has on others. I need to take this tip a step further, and let go of my habit of ruminating on what I said to others and what they think of me. Finding inner peace is about accepting yourself and others for who you and they are.

2. Replace worry with freedom. Worrying about the future and things we can’t control (or even things we can control) isn’t any way to be more peaceful. Worry may be natural to us as human beings, but it’s unnatural to us as spiritual beings. Whether or not you have faith in God, find ways to release worry, anxiety, fear, and doubt. Prayer and meditation helps you find inner peace by reminding you that life is more than the things you worry about.

3. Accept – and even enjoy - every moment in life. A key to finding inner peace is to learn to flow with events and people instead of fighting them. Flowing with even the most difficult moments in life involves not taking things so seriously, letting go of critical or negative thoughts, accepting that there is no one right way for life to unfold, and believing in yourself.

4. Avoid toxic or negative energy. Do you know someone who likes to pick fights, or who sees flaws and weaknesses everywhere? Are you that person — perhaps an emotional vampire? Instead of finding fault or being critical of who and what you see, practice seeing things and people without judging them. Be child-like, and see things as they are.

5. Connect to the hearts and souls of other people. The more love you give and receive, the more connected you feel…and the more inner peace you’ll find. To connect with others, initiate heart-to-heart conversations. Ask people what they think and how they feel – and listen to their answers. Spend time in nature, even if it’s in the arboretum in your office building at lunch!

6. Act spontaneously – and don’t be paralyzed by fears from the past. I love this tip for finding inner peace: don’t let the past stop you from being authentic and real right now. Dr Wayne Dyer calls your past “the wake”, and says it can’t pull you forward…it can only hold you back. Of course you need to deal with problems from your past, but you can’t let those problems paralyze you. Instead, follow your intuition and act spontaneously in the moment.

And, one last way to be more peaceful in this world…

“You have endless energy only when you are working for the good of the whole – you have to stop working for your little selfish interests,” says the Peace Pilgrim. “That’s the secret of it. In this world you are given as you give.”

How do you find inner peace? I welcome your thoughts and questions below…

Continue reading ‘Spiritual Growth and Signs of Spiritually Evolved People’ »]]> Spiritual growth is an ongoing process. But what makes some people more spiritually evolved than others? Is it the number of lifetimes they’ve lived on the planet? The amount of good deeds and service they’ve performed? Or the hours spent in meditation and prayer?

Even the definition of a spiritually evolved being may vary from person to person. In my view, it’s someone who is fully conscious; someone who knows they are a spiritual being, one with God, Creator, or the Source of all life. It’s not about what they do, but who they are.

A spiritually awake person sees beyond illusions, duality, and fear. They view life from their spiritual eyes and have compassion for those who don’t. Jesus Christ, Buddha, and Lao Tzu are examples of spiritually awakened beings.

The majority of us living on the planet at this time are not this evolved, but we’re all in a process of spiritual growth, whether we know it or not. Those of us who want to speed up this process can do so with awareness and intention.

Michael Bernard Beckwith suggests that, “just as a seed needs the proper soil, water, and nutrients to grow into its perfect expression, so are we to nourish the soil of our consciousness in order to evolve into our soul’s ever-expanding potential.” He includes 7 signs of spiritually evolved people in his transformative book, Spiritual Liberation: Fulfilling Your Soul’s Potential. I’ve summarized them below.

Signs of Spiritually Evolved People

To enhance your spiritual growth, adopt these 7 spiritual principles into your life.

1. Be grateful. “Evolved people give thanks for what most people ordinarily take for granted . . . they give thanks for life, for the intelligence within the body temple, within nature, for what most people don’t even notice as they navigate through their day,” says Beckwith. This also includes being thankful for what appears to be going bad or wrong. When we trust ourselves so deeply and trust that God is taking care of us, we know that every experience is an opportunity for healing, learning, and spiritual growth.

2. Be generous. “As individuals expand their understanding of universal law, they learn to give in order to live a life of inner wealth,” says Beckwith. Giving of your time, skills, knowledge and resources is a reflection of abundance and prosperity, which are aspects of spiritual growth. To be one with God, we need to live like God.

3. Forgive others. Beckwith suggests that a “competition worth entering is the race to see how quickly you can forgive because evolved people race to forgive first.” When we don’t forgive, we hold resentment and pain in our hearts. This prevents us from evolving spiritually. As we view ourselves and others through God’s eyes, we see there is nothing to forgive.

4. Celebrate life. Spiritually evolved people “view life as a celebration rather than a problem to be solved. When you function at this octave, you realize that in a state of God-consciousness, problems are dissolved,” says Beckwith. When I’m in a state of joy and enthusiasm, I often don’t see problems as a challenge, but as an opportunity to grow and learn. It’s up to each of us how we view situations, people, and circumstances.

5. Accept yourself. Beckwith notes that “evolved people accept themselves. They don’t try to run away from themselves or imitate others or be anyone else.” He suggests initiating an inner dialogue with your higher self and inner voice as a way to let go of the need for external approval and begin accepting yourself.

6. Choose happiness. “Evolved people do not sabotage their happiness with self-created drama,” says Beckwith. As people release the need to be the center of attention through crisis and drama, they free up their energy for positive life experiences. They discover that true happiness comes from within, not from without.

7. Enjoy downtime. Beckwith concludes the 7 principles by noting that spiritually evolved people “know that downtime is one of the most valuable gifts they can give themselves.” Constantly doing, rushing from one activity to the next, distracts us from our true nature. It slows down the spiritual growth process. When we take time to simply be instead of do, we open up to our higher selves, to the God of our heart, and to the flow of divine inspiration.

These 7 signs are just one chapter from Beckwith’s book, Spiritual Liberation. I highly recommend reading the whole book if you want to enhance your spiritual awakening process.

What supports you on your spiritual growth journey? Please share in the comment section so we can all benefit.

Continue reading ‘Allow Abundance and Prosperity to Flow into Your Life’ »]]> When you allow abundance and prosperity to flow into your life you experience a spiritual state of ease and joy. The illusion of scarcity slips away. The duality of “have” versus “have not” is transcended. And the reality that we are each a part of God with the power to create and manifest whatever we want in our lives is revealed.

The only thing that prevents us from living an abundant life is our limited perspective. People have been programmed over centuries to believe in lack, struggle and suffering. As we release false beliefs and open our eyes to the truth, we see that abundance is our birthright.

I was blessed to receive John Randolph Price’s The Abundance Book; a pocket sized book filled with spiritual truths and a 40 day prosperity plan. Reading statements in it such as “God is lavish, unfailing Abundance, the rich omnipresent substance of the Universe. This all-providing Source of infinite prosperity is individualized as me – the Reality of me,” helped me to release limiting beliefs and see life in a whole new light.

I’ve found that maintaining an abundant attitude is an ongoing process. It goes against the grain of society and to truly embody it takes time and practice. I’ve offered tips below to help you shift your perspective.

Allow Abundance and Prosperity into Your Life

I experience abundance as a spiritual state of ease. It has a vibration or energy set to it. Much like how scarcity feels tight and fearful, abundance feels light and freeing. In order to experience prosperity, we need to bring our mind and body into alignment with our soul perspective. Here are four ways that I’ve found helpful.

1. Let go of scarcity mentality. The notion of lack is an illusion. As spiritual beings, we are one with the God, the Source of all life. We have the same creative power to manifest form out of energy. Reflect over all the prosperity you have experienced in your life – the friends, support, love, material wealth, and other various resources available to you. The next time your thoughts wander down the road of scarcity, wake yourself up to reality by looking at your life and the riches surrounding you. As Price states in his book, “Gratitude and thanksgiving are vital ingredients in developing a prosperity consciousness.”

2. Rise above programming. What did your family, culture and religion teach you about abundance and prosperity? If you are like most people, you’ve been brainwashed to believe that life is hard, it takes effort to get ahead, and to live an austere life is spiritual. These stem from an old paradigm, one that was based on unconscious premises. Become more conscious and transcend limiting money beliefs by looking at life through your spiritual eyes instead of your intellect alone. From this perspective you will see that abundance is available to anyone who chooses it.

3. Spend time in nature. There’s no better place on earth to experience abundance than immersing yourself in nature. A walk in the forest reveals a rich variety of plants, trees, insects and other creatures. Sinking your feet into a trillion grains of sand at the beach, or staring at an infinite number of stars in the sky is an instant reminder of how abundant the Universe really is.

4. Experience abundance. If you want to have more abundance in your life, you need to embody the feeling of it. Price points to an important truth: “Abundance in the physical world is an outpicturing of a prosperity consciousness, so work from within.” Take time each day to meditate and touch into the energy of abundance. Let this feeling flow throughout your whole body, down into the cells. Overtime it will become a normal way of being and you will naturally attract all that you want into your life.

I hope these suggestions help you to develop a prosperity perspective so you can attract wealth and a variety of spiritual riches into your life..

Do you have any questions or further insights on how to allow abundance and prosperity to flow into your life? Please share with us in the comment section.

Continue reading ‘How to Know if You’re an Empath’ »]]> One way to know if you’re an empath is to reflect on how many times people have accused you of being too sensitive. Emapths are highly empathic and sensitive to the energy, emotions and suffering of others.

According to Yvonne Perry, “as spirit or energy, we are all empathic to some degree, but some people have the uncanny ability to feel energy more easily and intensely than the average person.”

Being an empath has its pros and cons. Knowing how another person is feeling and what they are experiencing is a great skill to have as a counselor, coach, or therapist of any kind. It’s also a quality that many people are drawn to in friends.

On the downside, being highly empathic can be overwhelming. Feeling an array of emotions that don’t belong to you, taking on other people’s problems, and feeling compelled to help others solve their problems is downright exhausting and sometimes debilitating.

In Yvonne Perry’s book Whose Stuff Is This?: Finding Freedom from the Negative Thoughts, Feelings, and Energy of Those Around You, she offers a comprehensive explanation of what it’s like to be an empath along with a variety of solutions for protecting yourself from other people’s energy so you can live a normal, balanced life. But first, read on to find out if you are an empath.

How to Know If You’re an Empath

There are a variety of signs of being an empath. See if you relate to one or more of these.

Taking on other people’s emotions. Do you have strong mood swings – feeling angry, sad or depressed for no reason? You may take on the emotions of friends, family, and co-workers without realizing it. Do you cry or react easily watching the news and other television programs? You might also carry the problems of the world.

Uncomfortable in large crowds. “Empathic people can be psychic sponges that absorb energy everywhere they go,” says Yvonne Perry. If you feel anxious, pressured or tired at large gatherings, it may be because you are sensitive to all the feelings and moods of those around you. This can be overwhelming if you don’t create healthy boundaries.

Listening to everyone’s problems. Are you the one friends and family come to when they have problems? Do you lend your ear, insights and anything else you can give? Because empaths are so good at understanding others’ feelings, people (even strangers) tend to dump on them. This can make them vulnerable to energy vampires who drain their energy.

Feeling responsible for others. Empaths are often kind and caring people who want to heal others’ pain and suffering. This is partly because they have difficulty separating their emotions from others. If you tend to be over responsible in caretaking and rescuing others, it may be because you are taking on problems that don’t belong to you.

Physically and emotionally drained. We can’t process other people’s emotions and problems for them, so carrying these within us feels heavy and draining. If we don’t release other people’s energy it can lead to physical illness Some highly empathic people even match the physical symptoms of loved ones, compromising their own health even further.

If you relate to the above signs of being an empath, you’ll find comfort and helpful solutions by reading Whose Stuff Is This? by Yvonne Perry – I know I did.

Do you have any questions or further insights on how to know if you’re an empath? Please share below so our readers can benefit.

Continue reading ‘Why and How Do I Pray? Reasons for Prayer, and Prayer Tips’ »]]> The answer to your “Why and how do I pray?” question may be different than mine! But, these reasons for prayer – and these prayer tips – can help you figure out why you pray, which may strengthen your relationship with God.

Above all else, prayer allows us to tap into God Himself…

“Through appreciation of the wisdom of the past, through prayer, and most of all, through deep meditation, we can become one with the inner silence that is a part of God,” writes Jeffrey Moses in Oneness: Great Principles Shared by All Religions.

Becoming one with God is why some people pray…but what does that mean? What are the consequences or side effects of getting closer to the “inner silence that is a part of God”? How do you develop a better relationship with God? If you struggle with the whys, hows, and whens of prayer, you may find How to Pray When You Don’t Know What to Say: More Than 40 Ways to Approach God helpful.

And, here are a few thoughts on a prayer-filled life…

Why Do I Pray? Reasons for Prayer

Different people pray for different reasons, but here are three common ones…

A sense of peace, comfort, and love. When I pray, I’m often (not always) consumed with love, gratitude, warmth, peace, and comfort. I feel like God’s arms are embracing me, that I’m protected from harm. I feel happy, joyful, and cared for. It doesn’t matter how I pray – a quick “God, be with me!” when I’m nervous or scared can be effective. Prayer quiets my thoughts and fears, and gives me strength.

Spiritual growth, enlightenment, and awareness. “But prayer, obviously, isn’t just about our basic wants, needs, hopes, and fears,” writes Tom Harpur in Prayer: The Hidden Fire: Journal and Companion Guide. “It’s ultimately about growing into an intimate relationship with the One in whose image we have been created. It’s about enlightenment, about finally awakening to who we really are and to our total unity with God, with all other living beings, and with the seemingly inanimate parts of the cosmos as well – the sky, the seas, lakes, rivers, mountains, and winds.” Why do we pray? To connect with the Universe; to become part of the Whole.

Acknowledgment of the Creator. Another reason why I pray is to “tip my hat” to the God who created me, who sustains me, and who loves me. As with any relationship, you need to put time and effort into your relationship with God. One way to do this is to develop a regular prayer life – and learn how to pray with your whole heart. When you pray, you give God your attention, time, and energy. You acknowledge that you are His, and He is yours.

How Do I Pray?

There are several models of prayer or “ways to pray”, but I believe God is less concerned with how we approach Him than how often we approach Him! I doubt He’s looking for a formula, even one like the Lord’s Prayer. Don’t get me wrong — I know Jesus told us to pray the Lord’s Prayer, and I pray it often. But, I also think there are hundreds of good ways to pray. And, we don’t have to approach God in a specific way all the time.

A few prayer tips…

• Worry less about what and how to pray; focus on talking to God.
• Open your heart. Listen for God’s voice.
• Remember that nothing is too small or trivial to bring to God in prayer.
• Practice different ways to pray (meditation, chanting, aromatherapy, etc) until your own “best way to pray.”
• Pray with other people. It’s awkward at first, but it strengthens your relationships and spirituality.

To learn about the power of prayer in relationships, read Christian Prayers for Couples – 5 Ways to Approach God Together.

What do you think of these thoughts on why and how to pray, or my prayer tips? I welcome your comments below…

Continue reading ‘How to be Joyful and Find Inner Happiness’ »]]> Nothing can dampen your mood when you know how to be joyful and find inner happiness – no matter what the circumstance. When you carry a light of joy within it shines on difficult situations and challenging people, making them seem easy and benign.

And there’s no need to wait for something special to happen or for someone else to treat you in a certain way in order to be happy. True joy and happiness come from within. As Thich Nhat Hanh said, “Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.”

So rather than give your power away to external events, situations or people, use the power of your mind, body and soul to ignite your inner joy. I’ve offered several tips below on this, but for a deeper exploration read Happy for No Reason: 7 Steps to Being Happy from the Inside Out by best selling author, Marci Shimoff.

How to be Joyful

Joy is a feeling and an attitude. We can cultivate joyfulness in a variety of ways. Simply smiling induces endorphins and other uplifting chemicals in the brain (while frowning actually triggers stress hormones). But so does exercise, positive thinking, meditation and prayer. Play with the following as a way to increase joy in your life.

Think positive. The first thing that often kicks the joy right out of us is our thoughts; particularly those pesky negative ones. Cognitive therapists have known for years that negative thinking can trigger depressive episodes while adopting a positive attitude can significantly improve a person’s mood. Bring awareness to your thoughts throughout the day and replace pessimism, worry and negativity with hopefulness, trust and optimism.

Focus on gratitude. What we focus on expands in our vision. Shift your attention away from what’s not going well and focus on all the things you appreciate in your life. Make a list or start a gratitude journal where you record all of the people, situations and circumstances that you are grateful for. Look around your home, community and life for what brings a smile to your heart.

Move your body. Lack of movement and exercise can create stagnant energy in the body. Notice how much more joyful you feel when you stretch, dance, or go for a walk outdoors in nature. Tune into your body to see what form of movement or exercise it needs in order to feel energized and happy.

Be creative. Creativity nourishes the soul and ignites joy in the body. Ask your inner child what it would love to create today. Forget about the end result; just play with colors, words, sounds, textures or movements. Let your body, heart and soul express it’s inner joy through creation.

Pray or meditate. Connecting to your higher self and the God of your heart through prayer or meditation will immediately bring joy to the surface. When we align with the Source of all life, joyfulness radiates through every cell in the body. Spend at least five or ten minutes each day in inner stillness. From this place you can easily shift your energy vibration. Touch into the source of joy deep within you. Turn up the volume and let it flow through your whole body until it radiates outward.

Using these body, mind and soul tips will help you to be more joyful when you feel down. But to access a continual source of inner happiness, explore the following tips.

How to Find Inner Happiness

Joy and happiness are our birthright – just look at babies. Even though they can’t talk, walk, or dress themselves, they have an inner source of joy. This is because they’ve come straight from God and haven’t been conditioned yet to give their power away to external circumstances and people. Overtime though, we all become entranced by the outer world, believing it holds the key to our happiness.

Here’s a list of do’s and don’ts to help you reclaim your inner happiness:

• Don’t compare yourself to others – there’s no one like you on the planet.
• Never invalidate yourself – accept where you’re at right now.
• Remember who you are – you are a child of God.
• Stay in the present moment – this is where your inner happiness lives.
• Love unconditionally – love yourself and others with all your heart.

If you practice the above suggestions on a daily basis, you will uncover your inner joy and no one will be able to take it away.

Do you have any questions or further tips on how to be joyful and find inner happiness? Please share below in the comment section.