Cleansing

Hello, my friend!

Thank you for returning—it's so good to have you here. Today I want to talk about cleansing. I know I've talked about cleansing before, in the Grounding and Bubbles & Cords posts. Let's consider this a continuation of those. 

Ooh, before I forget: As always, if you have questions or want to make a comment, please feel free to do so. If you have the question, I promise someone else does, too. I'm here to help. I've enabled anonymous comments, in case people are shy. I've been there. Or, if you'd rather, follow the links and come talk to me on Twitter or Instagram. Besides, I LOVE to chat! So don't be afraid to come say "hi". 

The coolest part about the cleansing I'm going to go over today, is that ANYONE can benefit from it. It doesn't matter whether you believe in Spirit Sensitives, if you think you have abilities or not. Doesn't make a lick of difference. In fact, all of the exercises I've described in all of my posts are beneficial to EVERYONE. Shit. I'm not sure if that's a point I've made clear or not. I'll make sure to do that regularly from now on.

All right. So, the cleansing I'm focusing on today has to do with Chakras. 

If you've read any of my previous posts, you'll know that I don't get overly scientific about anything. The reason for that is because these posts are guided by Spirit. I specifically allow Spirit to write these posts so that they speak to those they are meant to speak to. When I'm done typing I go back and edit them. Spirit selects the topics and I try to stay out of it as much as possible. Chakras are something that is hard for me to stay out of, because I had a really hard time understanding them, when I was learning about this on my own. 

But, I'll try! ; )

What you need to know about Chakras is that they are balls of energy (wheels or disks) inside our body that correspond with major nerves and organs. Keeping the flow of energy open is important for our physical, emotional, spiritual, and energetic health. We're going to talk about the 7 major (or main) Chakras, although many say there are over 100 in our bodies. 

There are some very simple methods for keeping open and cleansed. Before we get into those methods, let's go over where each one is, what it looks like, and what it's responsible for.

Picture each of these snuggled up close to your spine. We'll start at the bottom and work our way up.

Root Chakra Red in color. Sits at the base of your spine. Responsible for feelings of being grounded or stable, sense of security.

Sacral Chakra Orange in color. Sits in your pelvic area, between your hip bones. Responsible for that fire in your belly, drive, determination. Also home of the sex drive.

Solar Plexus Chakra Yellow in color. Sits in your stomach/navel area. Responsible for creativity.

Heart Chakra Green in color. Sits in your heart/diaphragm area. Responsible for connecting with others, openness, kindness, compassion, and love.

Throat Chakra Blue in color. Sits in your throat/collar bone area. Responsible for being able to clearly communicate verbally, speaking your truth. 

Third Eye Chakra Indigo in color. Sits in your forehead/between your eyes. Responsible for all your sixth sense - that strong gut reaction to things, intuition. Also sometimes referred to as your Mind's Eye Chakra. This is also home of the imagination.

Crown Chakra White in color. Sits at the top of your head. Responsible for your spiritual connection to the universe, world, yourself, and others. 

Now that we know a little more about the Chakras themselves, and we know that it's important for them to stay open and flowing, let's go over how to accomplish that, which I refer to as "cleansing". 

There are two methods that I prefer: the shower method and the cord method

The shower method is super fast and super simple.

While you are in the shower, as you are washing your body, simply wash each of those areas with soap, in a circular motion, starting with the Root Chakras. When you've finished with the Crown Chakra, give thanks to Spirit and rinse off! See? Told ya it was easy.

The cord method is an extension of the Grounding and Bubble & Cords visualizations.

Start with the Grounding....then continue here...

Visualize:

    *Cords (same/similar to your Grounding cords) extending from the base of your spine and entering the earth. These cords can appear any way you want. They can be translucent and sparkly; black, like electrical cords; like tree roots - whatever resonates with you.

    *Your cord pushing down through the earth, through the mud and roots and worms and bugs, deep, deep into the earth. 

    *Your cords entering the same Grounding cave deep underground.

    *That you and the cords are connected.

    *Bright, pure, white light in the cave, filling it up. 

    *The white light entering the cord attached to your spine and traveling up and into your spine.

    *The white light moving up your spine, pushing all the dark, old, negative, stagnant, hurtful energy up, up, up, traveling as fast or slow as you feel comfortable with, ensuring that nothing but white light is left behind.

    *The white light continuing to move up your spine until it reaches your head. 

    *The white light pausing at each station, at each chakra to cleanse and energize them.

Visualize them as spinning balls of light. How bright are they? Are they dull and dusty or sparkly? How fast are they spinning? Which direction are they spinning in? If they aren't spinning at all, stay a moment and allow the white light to energize the ball until the ball is bright and spinning fast. Then, move on to the next and do the same - only moving to the next Chakra once your current Chakra is bright and spinning fast. Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, White.

    *The white light pausing here in your head as long as necessary to gather up all the negative energy, thoughts, and hurt. 

This may look like a ball of dust, with shards of debris. Whatever resonates with you.

    *The white light continuing to move up and out of your head, straight up into the heavens, connecting you to the universe. Now you are connected to the universe and heavens above, and the ground below.

Remember to give thanks for this beautiful grounding.

The cord method takes a little bit longer, but, for me is a little more effective. Try both and tell me which one works better for you.

So, in my daily meditation, I do the following, in this order: Ground, Cleanse, Bubble & cut Cords. Now you know all my secrets! 

But honestly, these are tools that I am very grateful to have in my toolbox. My life was so bananas before I got the hang of these. And, really, it still gets that way—when I forget these steps. Or go too long without doing one (or all!) of them. Because, let's face it: I'm human, and I have kids and a husband and a job and a life and I'm a writer and...well, I fucking forget, okay?! LOL 

Just so you know that we're in this together and no one is perfect. We all need help sometimes. I'm grateful that I have my husband and Jade and my planner to remind me to do these things. What can I do to help you?

Anyway, I hope that you will give these things a try and let me know how it goes! More so, I hope you find this helpful.

As always, Namaste

💖

Alain Davis

@HopelessOptimst

Boundaries

Hello, friend!

Today, we're going to talk about boundaries. 

But, first, let me thank you for being here. I can't tell you how much your support means to me. Truly. As always, if you have any questions or comments—drop them in the comments below. Or, come find me on Twitter or Instagram (my links are on the sidebar). I'm here to help and I'd love to hear from you. So, please don't think you're being a bother. You're totally NOT. 

All right! On to BOUNDARIES.

Let me just say, boundaries are super fucking important for anyone doing this sort of work. It took me awhile to figure that out. The hard way. And I'm not gonna lie—sometimes I forget these steps. Thank God for my husband and Jade, since it's usually one of them that remind me. (If you're not sure who Jade is, read last week's post here.) Like I've said many times I'm not an expert by any means. That's probably why this is referred to as a "practice", right?

For me, it took a little while to get the hang of boundaries. What it boiled down to, for me, was knowing that it was a combination of setting firm rules as well as bubbles over places/things I wanted to protect. In the beginning, I was just setting rules. But that didn't quite seem to be enough. So then I switched to just bubbles. But that wasn't enough, either. But the combination of the two has really done the trick.

Keep in mind, these boundaries are energetic, or spiritual, boundaries. These are what will really make it easier to work with your abilities. Before I put boundaries in place, I had Spirit trying to reach me at all hours—essentially whenever they wanted, however they wanted. Boundaries gave my life some order, gave me some control over things. But it's two fold - it also showed Spirit that I am absolutely willing to help them and work with them. They just gotta respect my rules. And I have to be consistent in being OPEN every day and working with Spirit.

So, what are my rules? They look like this:

    1. Only Spirit Guides are permitted in our house - all other Spirits must wait outside.

    2. Contact can be made with ME during OPEN hours only.

    3. Contact can only be made through Hank, first. He will bring you to me.

    3. You may not contact any other member of my family.

Simple, right? 

But in the beginning? OMG, it was fucking bananas. Spirit was trying to reach me, like I said, at all hours. My sleep was so disrupted every night. I was a walking zombie. Everyone in the house was having issues, too. Most especially the kids (who were much younger at the time). They were hearing "people calling their names". There were several times, we'd put the kids to bed, and then we'd hear one of the kids call out "mama". I'd go down the hall and they're all sound asleep. My daughter was afraid to sleep in her room for ages, and we'd always find her either in her little brother's room or in the living room because of "the man in her room". These were just a few of the instances we had—all of them in Arizona. 

When we moved to Iowa, the first thing I did was sage the house (I'll get into that in a future post). The house felt bright, open...clean. Then...it started feeling...hectic. Busy. Chaotic. Now, it might be important to know that before we moved my friend Jade gave me a message that there would be "a line of spirits waiting to speak to me" when we got where we were going. This was before we had even decided where we were moving. Well, guess what's two blocks down the road? Yep. A cemetery. So, here we are, in our nice, new, cleansed house and all of a sudden it's bananas. I was ready to tear my hair out.

That's when my husband got poked by that one spirit that was trying to get his message through (you can read about that here). My daughter also had a couple of experiences, and so did my sons. So, I went and re-read Kim Russo's book The Happy Medium (I highly recommend this book, my friend). I also went back to Jessica Lee's website (both of these I recommended in this post). I decided to try something different and combined the things I learned from both of them.

My husband and I decided what our rules were going to be. We went through and saged the house again. I grounded and cleansed and then, in my mind's eye, got on a bull horn and SHOUTED these rules. Then, I put our ENTIRE fucking property—the house, the backyard, the shed, even the giant-ass tree—in a humongous bubble...which I accomplished by the use of a helicopter. Yes. You heard me. What? How else would a bubble that size be able to be placed? LOL Okay, yes, it seems silly, but it's my mind's eye. Anyways. This bubble is SOLID. I'm talking the walls of it are at least two-feet thick. It makes a huge THUD when it meets the ground. Then, I visualize it going down through and under the ground in order to encompass our basement and water well—look, I wasn't kidding when I said our entire property—so that the bubble could close. From the ground level, it sort of looks like a pink, sparkly snow globe. 

Now. Here's the thing. These have to be replaced fairly regularly. I think of them as being RENEWED. The rules, I renewed every day at first. Then once a week. Now it's like, once a month. I feel they are pretty solid at this point. The bubble is what I'm terrible at. I always forget to renew it. You'd think it'd be something I'd remember, given that I bubble myself every day (if not more than once). But no. I forget. And then things start getting a little...hectic feeling. You can just sort of feel the energy ratchet up a notch. And then my hubby will ask if I've put a bubble on the house recently. 

OOH...I should add it to my journal!! That worked for my daily grounding. I'm happy to report that I am on a 34-day grounding/cleansing streak!

Now, for you, you might find that rules alone might work. And your rules might be totally different than mind. Cool. Or, you might find that just bubbling your property might work. Or doing both only once in awhile is fine (my bubble seems to need frequent replacing). And that's okay, right? Because everyone is unique. But being unique doesn't make us any less valid. Your abilities are going to present different than mine. And that's totally cool. We're both still valid. 

So, tell me—what type of rules will you put in place? What will go in your Bubble? Give it a try and let me know how things go.

My Spirit Guide wants me to be sure to mention that even if you don't think you have these abilities, these techniques can be used if "you're being bothered by Spirits". If weird things are happening, if you're being bothered by frequent nightmares, if your little one is having trouble going down at night, if you feel like you get the creeps in a certain part of your house...If things are happening in your home, using these techniques may be helpful, regardless of whether you are like me or not. I can't say that they will solve your problem completely, but depending on the situation-it absolutely CAN HELP. At least a little.

The other part of boundaries is knowing that boundaries in our every day life are just as important as our energetic boundaries. Knowing what we are capable of, what we want to do, can do, and are willing to do are crucial to our overall well being. Setting healthy boundaries is going to help you feel more in control, more balanced, and better able to manage your life. 

Saying "no" does not make you the Bad Guy. It makes you the person who doesn't cancel at the last minute, the person who doesn't do a half-assed job because they really didn't want to in the first place, the person who isn't yelling because they just can't handle the stress of their too-full plate. Think of it as a kindness to the other person to just be honest from the get-go. They can then plan appropriately and you can take care of yourself. Mentally, spiritually, or physically. It's okay to put yourself first. When the plane is going down, they tell you to put your face mask on first. Think of your life that way, too. Can you really help other people, if you aren't helping yourself? 

If we started treating ourselves the way we treat other people, imagine how nice that would feel. Afford yourself the same care and kindness you give others. You deserve it. I promise. 

So, what boundaries are you going to put in place in your life? 

I hope you found this information helpful and I look forward to hearing your thoughts! 

As always, Namaste

💖

Alain Davis

@HopelessOptimst

Doubt

Hello, my friend!

I'm so happy to see you. Thanks for coming back. I hope you've enjoyed the content I've put up so far. Have you checked out the resources from my last post? Remember, if you have any questions or comments, you can post them on the posts here, or come find me on Twitter or Instagram. I'd love to hear from you.

So, today, we're going to talk about DOUBT. 

I'm just gonna say it: Doubt is a bitch. 

Even though I have been Spirit Sensitive for as long as I can remember, I still struggle with doubt. It has taken me a long time to get to a place where my TRUST in Spirit is greater than my doubt, but that doesn't mean that I don't have moments where I think I must be imagining things.

It was bad enough to doubt myself. We all do it. Even people who aren't Spirit Sensitive or Empaths doubt themselves. But those of us who are FEEL everyone else's feelings, in addition to our own. So, not only was I dealing with my own doubt, but I was dealing with other people's doubt, too. And in hindsight, it was everyone else's doubt that I struggled with the most. Because, while what I was experiencing, seeing, hearing, and feeling, felt so real to me...I knew that I could offer them little to no PROOF. Which I also knew meant there would be little chance of them believing me. And around and around we go. Right?

I told you. Doubt is a bitch.

Questioning the validity of what was happening is what held me back. For a really long time. 

The antidote to doubt is validation. After I met Hank and began to work through the other exercises in Kim Russo's book, then through some of the exercises on Jessica Lee's website, I was still dealing with a large amount of doubt. Even when I'd see things in my mind's eye, or hear things in my mind's ear—I'd still doubt if it was really happening. So, finally, what I did was ask that Spirit help me to recognize validation when it appeared. I have some examples of what validation might look like, a little later on in this post.

I don't remember exactly what the turning point was, where my trust in Spirit outweighed my overall doubt. Maybe it was meeting Hank and feeling the comfort and reassurance every time I saw something heart-shaped—it was like the feeling of a hand on my shoulder and someone saying, "It's all going to work out, you'll see." Maybe it was after that? I don't know for sure.

That, and the support of my husband. He gave me the space I needed to explore these topics, without being afraid that he was going to judge me too harshly. He knew that I wasn't always going to have proof. He allowed me to speak freely about everything; to be excited when things worked, frustrated when results were halting, and sad when things stalled. He was the one that suggested that the increase in my migraines appeared to be linked to my lack of working with Spirit. (I had "closed" and was actively blocking Spirit at the time. We'll get into that another time, I promise.) He made sure that I knew he loved me regardless of what I could or couldn't do, or what I could or couldn't prove. He is my rock and my protector. I don't know where I'd be without that man.

In addition to my husband, I have a very dear friend who is also Spirit Sensitive. I won't use her real name, but you can know her as "Jade". We met almost five years ago, online, and have only met in person once. When we first met, I was not yet in command of my abilities, but was just learning to bubble. Mostly as a means of protecting myself because I was working in a toxic environment. I hadn't even started grounding! She gave me several prophetic messages, which of course I blew off then. One of which was that I would be writing a book (I am!), writing a blog (I mean, obvs, right?)...there were others, but we'll keep those in our pocket. I credit Jade with being my learning partner. Our relationship is beautiful, fraught with challenges, growth, validation, support, and love. We're like sisters in Spirit. I'm so grateful for her. 

So, what does validation look like in my world? Here are a couple of examples:

When we first moved to our house here in Iowa, I began daily sessions working with Spirit. I'd sit during my lunch break and work with whatever Spirit came through. I'd take notes throughout the session and then after work, I'd try to research and see if I could find proof that the person I was speaking with was actually deceased. And, if the Spirit had a message for a living person, try to find that person so that I could deliver the message. 

The first person I ever got was an older gentle man. He showed himself to me as having all white hair, wearing a blue top. He was friendly, but in dealing with him I felt terrible chest pain. Like the most horrible case of acid reflux ever. He didn't have any messages for me to deliver, but after work, I was able to find an obituary in our local newspaper from several months previous. The picture in the obit matched! Got my validation.

The next day and evening, the house was just...hectic. Everyone could feel it. There was just an energy about the place and everyone was acting a little strange. Just fucking bananas, you know? I was especially scattered and felt pulled in a million directions. My husband kept giving me strange looks. Just before we went upstairs for the evening, he jumped—like he got zapped, or stung in the back of the neck. But, since I was standing just behind him at the time, I can attest that there was nothing on him. I thought it was strange, but blew it off and we went to bed. 

The next day, I held another session. I got a young man in his late 20's, tall and lanky with a crew cut. He held a worn ball cap against his chest and said "ma'am" while speaking with me. He'd been in a car accident and wanted me to tell "his girl" that it wasn't his fault. He showed me several times the moment of impact, like a bird's eye view, of the accident—another car T-boned the driver's side of his. I tried to ask him for enough details so that I might be able to find him, and his living person, so that I could deliver this message (even though the idea of making contact with a stranger made me so nervous!). 

Towards the end of the session, my husband came into the room to let me know that my break was almost over. The young man looked back over his shoulder to see who had come into the room, did a double-take, and immediately became sheepish. After my husband left the room, the young man said, "Tell him I'm sorry." When I asked him what for he said that he had "poked" him, trying to get his attention. He explained that he had been trying to get mine, originally, but since I wasn't responding, he assumed that maybe I didn't work with men, so then he started trying to get his attention instead. He said he felt terrible about it because he knew my husband was really upset about the encounter. 

Turns out, I never found record of him, or "his girl". But I think we got validation for the encounter in other ways.

Both of these events took place just over two years ago. 

And, yes, I still have moments of doubt. 

For those who do not know, my dad is currently in the ICU for congestive heart failure. He is doing well, but when he first arrived, it was touch and go and he was on a ventilator. Just before he landed in the hospital, I'd had a dream where my dad was there. He wasn't doing anything, just kind of standing around, doing nothing, hanging out...waiting. Fast forward to him being in the ICU. My friend Jade had told me that I should try to speak with his Spirit. Which was odd, because Hank had told me to do the same thing. You can understand my hesitation. 

I wasn't even sure if this was something I could do. I never had before. 

I gathered my will and finally did, with Hank present. I thought it would be weird, but it was a lovely meeting and went very similar to sessions I've had with other Spirits, except my dad wasn't yet dead (talk about strange!) I explained what was happening with his body and that he needed to decide whether he wanted to stay and fight, or go into the light and move on. He said he was going to stay. 

Afterward, I told my husband about it. I also expressed that I wished there was some way I could get validation for the session. Because these were the kinds of things that make me think, "Well, that was a very elaborate figment of my imagination!" Right? I mean, who wouldn't want to hope and imagine that their dad, who's in ICU, would choose to stay and fight, right? I'm logical, I get it. But, see? Doubt. Even now, love. 

Later that day, I got to speak with him, via FaceTime. Granted, he didn't speak with me, because he was on the ventilator, but also because he was still a little out of it. I told him to fight hard and that we were here waiting for him. All the while, he would try to look at me, but he wouldn't nod or shake his head or anything. At the end of the call, I told him, "Come see me in your dreams, dad, okay?" And he nodded, very emphatically, three times.

Writing about that gives me chills.

I know it may not seem like a big deal, a head nod, but that was the validation I needed. I asked that I be given the discernment to recognize validation when it was happening, and when I saw those nods, I knew it was what I had asked for. 

Some might call validation proof. But I guess that depends on your definition of proof. 

Lately, what I'm learning—now that I'm working directly with Spirit more—is that sometimes the Spirit I'm working with needs to get their message across. They just need to tell someone. That's what is important. 

I used to believe that it was important for the living half of that exchange to receive the message. But sometimes, that's not the case. Sometimes, Spirit just needs to be heard. Sometimes, that's enough. 

I work with Spirits, all of them—whether they are living or not. And validation is as unique as people are. That's what I need to remember. 

So, while this post didn't necessarily have any exercises for you to try, I hope you found this information helpful.

As always, Namaste

💖

Alain Davis

@HopelessOptimst

My Spirit Guide + Resources

Hi again!

As always, I want to thank you for hanging out. I truly love this time we get to spend together. And, again, if you have questions, feel free to drop a comment on the post, or head over to Twitter or Instagram to message me there. My purpose is to help, so please don't be shy!

Today's post is two-fold. The first section will be a story about how I met my main Spirit Guide. Finally, right? We were supposed to talk about that last time, but Spirit hijacked my lesson plan. hahaha. I've double-checked and we are good to go with this one. The second section will be some of my favorite resources. 

My Spirit Guide

Meeting my Spirit Guide was a process. I've read some stories from other Sensitives about how they went to a development class and had an "opening" and then the ah-ha moment of meeting their guide. As you know, I'm not (and have never been) in any sort of development class. I just researched and learned on my own. There was a LOT of trial and error. Some stuff worked. Some stuff didn't. What I want to share with you is the story of when my main Spirit Guide and I finally, and fully, clicked. 

Before I tell you my story, it would probably be helpful if I tell you a little about Spirit Guides.

Each of us is assigned a main Spirit Guide. This Guide is with us from birth. I liken them to a bouncer, if you will. Like at a club or bar. Some Sensitives will refer to them as a Master Spirit Guide. I think there might be other terms for them. This is what I hear them referred to as. 

The purpose of the main Spirit Guide is to...guide us. To help us walk our Life Path, as best they can. That's the path that WE decided upon. These decisions were made before we came to this plane of existence. As a matter of fact, we selected our Spirit Guide at that same time. Anyway, there's more to that story, but we can go over that later. I'm trying to stay focused, which is really hard because there is so much I want to tell you. 

Okay, so, lots of sources I read said that Spirit Guides will communicate with you through many sources: symbols, intuitive senses (the Clairs), snippets of songs on the radio that hold a certain significance, signs—really, the list goes on and on. Basically, Spirit Guides will always work for your best and highest good, and will employ any method they can to get your attention, or get their message across. They are...relentless, sometimes sending the same message through many different avenues when necessary. 

For example, if you are struggling with a decision whether to buy that new home, you may start seeing your specific (special) symbol from your Spirit Guide—I'll get into that more in a minute—or seeing ads for home lenders, hearing more ads than usual for realtors or home lenders on T.V. or radio. See where I'm going with this? You may feel a tug of "recognition" when you see The Home. You know the one I'm talking about. The house that checks off all the items on your list. When you see it, you "just know" it's the house for you. These are all signs from Spirit, using every method possible to communicate with you.

So, in my case, I was pretty in tune with most of those methods by the time I decided to "meet my Spirit Guide". What I was aiming to do, was SEE him or her. I wanted to see what they looked like, HEAR their voice, and interact with them the same way I interact with my husband or my kids. 

Then, I came across an exercise to meet my Spirit Guide. This was the first main step I took. I can't remember exactly which source I found it. Or maybe it was a combination of sources. But the first exercise I ever did was to set the intention to meet my main Spirit Guide by having them show me our special symbol.

In my mind's eye, I held out my hand. I asked them to place in my hand something that would be our special symbol. Something that, any time I saw it, I would recognize and say, "My Spirit Guide is trying to reach me with a message." I have to say I was shocked, and then, definitely NOT, when I finally saw the symbol: a heart shape stone! 

My special symbol is the heart shape. When I was younger, I drew heart shapes on EVERY. THING. I am not fucking kidding. It was every where. I just assumed it was my thing. You know? But, I always thought it was really cool when I'd be walking along and I'd happen across a rock that was heart-shaped. Or, find a heart in the formation of a cloud. Sometimes, I'd see hearts in the droplets of water. I still see hearts all the time. Even my wedding ring has a heart in it. Two of my tattoos have hearts in them. No, scratch that. Four. Four of my ten tattoos have hearts, in some way, shape, or form. Before this exercise, I never really understood the significance of that shape, until I started actively working to develop my mediumship. 

So, then I understood that when I randomly saw a heart-shape, my main Spirit Guide was trying to reach me. Trying to communicate with me. Guide me. Reassure me, tell me that it's meant to be.

That was all well and fine. For awhile. But that wasn't what I wanted. Like I said, I wanted more than that. So, I kept looking into it and kept meditating. All the while I could HEAR my Spirit Guide. Their voice sounded like my voice. The same voice I have when I'm thinking. If you think that didn't cause some doubt, think again!! That's why I wanted more. I wanted something to help clear my doubt. Something more tangible. 

Finally, I got what I wanted. More or less. I set the intention that I wanted to SEE my Spirit Guide and come to know them as well as know they me. I asked if I could meet them, asked them to show me what they looked like and used a blank window as the backdrop to help eliminate distractions. All in my mind's eye, of course. This took several attempts but finally I saw my main Spirit Guide.

There, against the window, the image of a cowboy emerged. The only thing missing was the spurs. He was dressed the same as you'd expect a cowboy from the late 1800's would be dressed, including the dark leather duster. His cowboy hat was pulled low, so I couldn't see all of his facial features. He was very cordial and addressed me with a polite, "ma'am" and a tip of his hat. He introduced himself as "Henry". 

I was so excited with this progress! After that, you can imagine my frustration when, in asking for guidance or help with something, I'd get halting answers or only half pieces of information. It was clear there was a breakdown in communication somewhere, but damned if I knew how to fix it! My progress was at a standstill. I was frustrated and getting nowhere. Dammit.

One night, I was reading "It" by Stephen King (again) and one character referred to another character named Henry as Hank and I had a gut reaction. That clear knowing, if you will. I sat up and said, out loud, "Hank? Is that your name? I thought it was Henry?" And clear as a bell, in my mind's ear, I heard my main Spirit Guide say, "Only my momma calls me Henry. Everyone else calls me Hank." 

From that day forward, I have had NO trouble communicating with Hank. His voice began to sound different than my own, more distinct and unique. 

Granted, I still can't see all of his facial features clearly. I can for the most part, but not all of them. I don't know what that's all about. I don't know that I'll ever figure out what the deal is there. It puzzled me for a long time. But, for now, I've decided that some things are not for me to know. Or, not for me to know RIGHT NOW. Sometimes he's wearing his duster, and sometimes he's not. Sometimes he's not wearing his hat, but he usually is. I get the feeling he's pretty attached to that hat—It's never very far. 

So, the cool thing is that after I met Hank, I met my other Spirit Guides!

We get other Spirit Guides, too. I call these, Specialists. Other Sensitives have other names for them. Some Guides come and stay for awhile, some for a long while, and some only for a short while. It all depends on the need. It's important that we call them to us—they are always here for our highest good, but we still have to ask for their help—and then they stay until their purpose has been served. 

So, if you have a project you need help with—maybe there is a lot of math involved and math isn't your strong suit (Heaven knows it isn't mine!)—ask for help. Seriously, this applies for ANY situation. 

Right now? I have seven. SueAnn-she helps will all things Spirit related. Lydia-she helps with things in the kitchen. George-he's super helpful with accounting, budgets, management, work. Peter-he is super handy with everything mechanical. He helps me figure out how to fix stuff. Lyle-he is sort of my jack-of-all-trades, but is very artistic. And last, but not least, Holly. Holly is another one that helps with Spirit stuff, but I actually think she belongs to a close friend of mine, rather than me, per se. Holly is super quiet, so I've had a hard time figuring her out. But I do know that she works with that friend of mine.  Anyway, I've had them all for quite some time. None of them show any signs of leaving. It's cool. They can stay if they want. They are super helpful, so it's all good. 

Right then. So, on to some resources!

Resources

Below are the things I have found to be super helpful. I still use these sites and sources. 

HeadSpace

I credit HeadSpace with helping figure out the whole meditation thing. I've explained in a previous post that Meditation and I had a rocky relationship. Meditation, in and of itself, is the practice of just being. But many guided meditations incorporate visualizations, which, of course, utilize the mind's eye. For some silly reason, I had a hard time with this concept. I think the problem was that I had been using it for so long and it was already so developed (without ever having labeled it as the "mind's eye") that I assumed the mind's eye MUST be something different. What a relief it was to finally figure this all out. HeadSpace breaks down meditation into simple, easy to understand concepts. Once you get past the basics, there are meditations in many forms that you can use in their app.

Lisa Berry

Lisa Berry is a beautiful soul. I credit her with teaching me how to breathe. Yes, breathe, dammit! She taught me how to center myself with a 2+2=4 breathing style. Breathe in for a count of two, hold the breath for a count of two, and breathe out for a count of four. As she says in her website, "This slight manipulation of our breath (which can be done to combat everything from panic attacks to stage fright), ignites our parasympathetic nervous system– aka, our chill mode."  Repeating this cycle as many times as necessary to return to ourselves, allows us to reconnect to our hearts. I love this so much. I highly suggest you sign up for her newsletters. She has begun an intuitive project that is simply divine. You can follow her on Instagram, too. She's lovely.

Intuitive Souls Blog

Jessica Lee's website and blog is PACKED with a shit ton of FREE information. She is genuine, down-to-earth and you can tell that she provides information that is Spirit guided and from the heart. I considered her site my "go to" place whenever I was stuck and learned SO. MUCH. 

Kim Russo 

I have read Kim Russo's book "The Happy Medium - Life Lessons From The Other Side" four times. Twice on my kindle and twice on a hard copy. I finally bought in hard copy so that I could mark the pages, highlight, and basically use it like a text book. I'm pretty sure the bubbling technique I use now started from what I learned in her book. I'm not sure if it's exactly the same now, since it might have evolved over time, but I'm pretty sure that's where it started. Her book is basically a memoir and describes how it was for her, growing up with these kinds of abilities, and how she developed them. But, mixed in are lessons and exercises for the developing Medium. I can't say enough awesome things about this book—I highly recommend it. (And, no, I haven't yet read her new book.) 

Calm and RainRain are great apps for meditation if you need ambient background noises. (I mean, you can use them for other purposes besides meditation, of course!)

DownDog is my favorite app for yoga. It's great-even for total noobs (beginners) like me. 

Just as an FYI - I am not being paid by any of these people to say any of these things. These are my honest opinions. I truly enjoy and utilize these sources. If I didn't, I wouldn't recommend them to my friends. That would just be a shitty thing to do, right?

So, I think I've talked your ear off enough for today. I hope that you continue to have an open mind and open heart. I hope you watch for signs from your main Spirit Guide. And, of course, I hope you find this helpful.

As always, Namaste

💖

Alain Davis

@HopelessOptimst

Bubbles & Cords

Hello, Friend!

Today we're going to talk about a few different things: Bubbles & Cords. How to use them and the importance of them. The cool thing is that they can be used by ANYONE. Doesn't matter if you believe in Spirit Sensitives or if you think you have abilities or not. Everyone can benefit from using these visualization techniques.

Before we get started, let me just say that I appreciate you. Thank you for joining me, supporting me, and arriving to each post with an open mind. It was incredibly nerve wracking to commit to this—baring my journey for all to see. Being vulnerable. Not just suspecting, but knowing that I would have mistakes and setbacks, that my journey wouldn't be complete and pretty. That I'd be open to criticism and ridicule. That was the reason I resisted following this path for so long. But Spirit is insistent. And, I have to say, this has been one of the most freeing experiences of my life. So, thank you for sharing this with me and accepting me as I am.

As always, if you have questions or want to make a comment, please feel free to do so. If you have the question, I promise someone else does, too. I'm here to help. I've enabled anonymous comments, in case people are shy. I've been there. Or, if you'd rather, follow the links and come talk to me on Twitter or Instagram. 

Okay. One last thing, and then we'll start. Remember in my post where I talked about the dream with the church? Well, I finally got some good pictures! If you don't remember, just click here to get caught up. So, here is the church as it stands now, the one from my dreams. Except in the dream, of course, it was run down and falling apart. Isn't it beautiful?

Thank you for letting me get sidetracked there. I was just so excited that I finally got those pictures. The cemetery is across the street, so I had to drive through the cemetery to get a good picture of the church itself.

Okay, now then! Let's move on to the actual purpose of this blog post. 

Bubbles

As with the grounding visualization we learned last time (you can click here if you need to get caught up), this is something that is unique to YOU. Certain aspects are common, but the DETAILS can be whatever resonate with YOU. I might give examples of what mine look like, or what they look like for my family or friends, but those are just to serve as examples. More or less to kick start your imagination. Usually, whatever comes to mind first, is the one you'll end up going with, but don't be surprised if these change over time. If the details shift and meld as you use them more and more. That's totally normal. They way I bubble today looks nothing like it did the first time I bubbled.

The purpose of bubbling is simple. Remember how I explained that we exchange energy with people all the time? The bottom line is that bubbles help us separate our energy from everyone else's energy. 

More specifically, let me try explaining it this way: Hold both your hands in front of your face, palms facing you. Spread your fingers and touch your fingertips. Now, shift your hands slightly, and move them closer together so that your fingers are like the cogs of a wheel. Now move them back, so just the fingertips touch again.

Imagine that one hand is you/your energy and the other hand is someone else/their energy. The bubble forms a barrier of sorts and makes it so that just the fingertips are touching again. It makes it so that you can take YOUR energy back from them, and you can give them back THEIR energy. 

This is especially helpful in situations where emotions are high. But honestly, it's helpful any time you just want a little clarity. For Empaths and Spirit Sensitives, it's critical to bubble on the regular. We are open ALL the damn time and exchanging SO MUCH. For us, it makes it so much easier to discern whether what we are feeling belongs to us, or if it is from another (living or not). 

Learning how to bubble was amazing for me and I do it all the damn time. 

Taking a few minutes to center and breathe and visualize never hurts anyone. So whether you are here out of curiosity, belief, need, or entertainment, I urge you to give it a try.

Bubbling literally takes minutes, if not seconds, to do:

Visualize a bubble. It's shiny, right? A little iridescent.

Imagine this bubble is PINK. 

Visualize this bubble expands and grows until it is big enough for you to fit inside. 

Once it's big enough, imagine you walk inside of the bubble. Doing so does not make it pop. This bubble is strong and resilient. It only permits light and love to enter. You can move about freely. 

Give thanks for this bubble and open your eyes, knowing this bubble will go with you. 

Feel free to "reapply" this bubble as often as you'd like. The only important aspect of that visualization is that the bubble is pink light. Pink is for protection. There are other colors with different functions. We'll get into those in another post. 

If you're not comfortable being encased in a bubble, you can picture it being similar to a wet suit. Or maybe a spot light while sitting on a stage. Or maybe it's a shield. That works, too. Pink light, baby. That's what it's about.

Okay, on to Cords!!

The way I understand it, any time we interact with someone, and an exchange of energy takes place, a "cord" is created. The more we connect with an individual, the stronger the cord. Thicker, for example. So, maybe you have a pleasant exchange with the customer service agent at Target or whatever, but it's not like you'll be meeting for coffee or exchanging phone numbers, right? Still, a small, skinny, little cord exists. Connecting you two as you move about your day. You and your spouse? Obviously a much stronger, thicker, resilient cord. 

As you bubble, it's important to cut all of these cords. Now, don't panic! Doing so does NOT mean that you won't be able to connect to anyone! It doesn't mean that you don't care about the important people in your life. I promise, everything will be okay. 

If you have ever done any gardening, you know how important it is to to "dead head", or cut off all the dead blooms. That way, all of the plant's energy can go into feeding what is viable. Cutting all of the cords means that you will be able to keep your energy where it belongs, in YOU. Then YOU can decide where to invest your energy. 

As I said before, for Empaths and Spirit Sensitives, it will make it so much easier to discern what belongs to/comes from you and what is coming from others. It won't be such a mixed up jumble of emotions and feelings anymore. 

For example, as a Spirit Sensitive, when I don't bubble and cut cords regularly, I'm a mess. I will be going about my day and go from being calm and relaxed, to angry and frustrated for no apparent reason. It took me a long time to figure out that it was because I was absorbing someone ELSE'S energy. That anger and frustration didn't belong to me. It's that simple. It happens all the time. Usually after being in large crowds, such as after going grocery shopping. But not always. It can be just hanging out at home. But if someone else is upset (or happy!), I'll absorb it. Bubbling and cutting cords makes it so that I can feel that someone near me is angry and frustrated (or what have you), but I'm not. It also makes it possible to get rid of those other feelings and emotions, after the fact. 

For the Empaths and Spirit Sensitives: I'm not gonna lie. These things are no "cure", or "fix". But, man, have they sure helped me. I still have moments of breakthrough. I've learned that I need to do this more often. There was a situation recently, where I discovered that I have the ability to feel someone else's physical pain. An ability I was not aware I possessed. Well, not to that degree, anyway. I found out the hard way that I cannot forget to bubble and cut cords. And that this will need to be done multiple times per day, in my case. 

To Cut Cords:

Remember when we grounded, and sent our cords deep into the Earth? Okay. 

First, picture your bubble. 

Then, picture cords, similar to the ones you used for grounding. But, picture lots of them, coming from out of your bubble,—all different shapes, sizes, thicknesses—extending out into the distance. 

Then, you know those giant-ass scissors Mayors use when they break ground or christen a new building? Picture those scissors snipping all of the cords. 

If you have a specific place, person, situation: Put yourself in your bubble. Then put the other place/person/situation in a similar bubble. Visualize a cord connecting the two bubbles. Then cut the cord with your giant-ass scissors. 

For example, if you have a specific person you've been at odds with. That person goes in the other bubble. After, you may find it easier to see where the other person is coming from or find it easier to identify a solution. If you have an important project at work coming up, the title of that project goes in that bubble. You may find your anxiety about it eases up a bit, or maybe you can more clearly see the path the project should take. If you have a place that you've been to that gives you the creeps, picture that place inside the bubble. You may find it no longer gives you the willies quite as bad. 

Summary

Okay. So, bubbles and cords used together will help you regain control of your own energy and make it easier to see things more objectively. 

For Empaths and Spirit Sensitives, they are abso-fucking-lutely crucial to our every day life. Using them, in addition to grounding, will ease anxiety, allow us to be more centered and stable, make it easier to discern our own feelings and emotions from those of others, and make it a little easier to manage our abilities. 

These are tools that I am very grateful to have in my toolbox.

I hope that you will give these a try and let me know how it goes! More so, I hope you find this helpful.

As always, Namaste

💖

Alain Davis

@HopelessOptimst