Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Energetic Shielding

Now that everyone has been practicing their grounding technique, the next step in understanding energy work is shielding for protecting yourself from the ungrounded folks walking our planet.

What exactly is shielding you ask? It is a way to visualize keeping your energy with you at all times. It is also a way to keep other people's energy from effecting you and your day. How many times have you talked to a friend because they were depressed? Your focus was so set on cheering your friend up that suddenly you realized that your friend is happy, but now you are the one that feels depressed. Believe it or not, but this can happen in the reverse as well. Its okay. This has happened to all of us at one point in time or another.

The true purpose of Energetically Shielding is to assist you in understanding what "baggage" is your's and what belongs to someone else. I interact with no less than seventy-five people a day. That is a lot of energy to interact with for some folks. However, when I ground and shield, I know I can work through any issues that may arise from one, some, or heaven forbid all of those people.

In order to begin shielding, you must first ground. Take a deep breath and imagine yourself connected to the Earth. Feel the energetic connection from your hips and sink down into the Earth. Take another deep breath. Spend a few moments in this connection.

Now, imagine that Earth energy slowly begin to move up from the Earth and into your body from that grounded connection. As the energy starts to fill into your body, imagine it moving into your feet. Allow it to completely fill up each toe, each arch, each heel. Now fill up your ankles and calves with Earth energy. Take another deep breath as you pull more energy into your knees and thighs. Feel the warm energy fill up your pelvis, lower abdomen and into your stomach. Take a deep breath. Continue to pull the energy into your chest. Allow it to fill up your lungs and your heart, your shoulders and your throat. Now feel it fill up your head.

As it begins to spill outside of your body, imagine the excess Earth energy slowly creating a sphere or bubble around you. If you prefer, you can even imagine yourself surrounded energetically in your favorite car, plane, or spaceship. Use the Earth energy to make your sphere, bubble, car, plane, or spaceship more solid. Try to keep the image transparent. You want to be able to see through your shield. Take a deep breath. Imagine putting some color into your sphere, bubble, car, plane or spaceship. This is your shield.

Put more energy into your shield. Make it the strongest, most transparent image yet. Now examine your shield. Check for areas of weakness. This may show up as holes, rust spots, rips, tears, stains or even cords leading off to who knows where. When you find those areas, and you will, imagine using your hands to smooth more Earth energy over those areas. Feel the energy leave your hands to lay an extra coating of protection along the inside of your shield. This reinforcement assists you in your protection. Take a deep breath.

If you still feel that your weaker areas need more reinforcement, take a snap-shot of a favorite memory, movie, animal, location, or symbol and place it over the area needing more strength. You may feel like embossing, tattooing, painting, or taping that image on your shield. Which ever way you wish to adhere it to your shield is perfect.

Now take another deep breath. Feel the comfort of sitting in your own grounded shield. If you feel someone attempt to get into your energy, quickly dissolve your shield and create a new version of the image. In that new version, change the color just a bit or add a different color to what you have. You may even change the shape of your shield. If you previously surrounded yourself in a bubble, now would be a perfect time to shield yourself in your dream car. Take another deep breath.

By changing your shield, you change your energetic signature. If someone figures out your energetic signature, they can get into your shield. It is much like protecting your home computer from the internet hackers. Change your "passwords" and the hackers can't get into the valuable information on your hard drive. Remember, the more you practice your grounding and shielding, the less likely you are to be drained by others on a day to day basis.

Love & Light,
Barb

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Great Things Happening

What a busy summer. There are plenty of things to talk about; however, I would like to focus on the biggest. Healing Spirit Touch now has a location! Feel free to check out the Contact Information page.

Healing Spirit Touch will be working with New Vision Healing Center located in Southwest Portland. This wonderful opportunity presented itself through my good friends Susan and Tom Lynch, both certified hypnotherapists. I'll list complete biographies on Susan and Tom shorty. We will be completing the organization of the new space soon.

Please keep checking back for more information on sessions, classes, and general information.

Love and Light,
Barb

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Grounding Techniques for Everyone

Teaching massage therapy has certainly opened my eyes to the chaotic energy surrounding us each day. With all the crazy things going on in our world today, I have been finding the need to instruct and practice grounding techniques in the classroom. From those classroom experiences, I have created a grounding routine that should help everyone feel more connected to life, the Universe and everything.

So, what is grounding?

Grounding is the mindful technique of visualizing your connection to the Earth and the Universe/God/Goddess/Allah/Source/Creator/Great Spirit etc. This connection allows anyone the opportunity to flow with the natural positive energies of the Earth and the Universe.

Why is grounding important?

Grounding for people is just like grounding electrical equipment. At our very core, our bodies are made up of atoms. Atoms are held together by energy. When we are not grounded, our energy is left to affect others. Imagine if you will a radio plugged into an electrical outlet. The cord is frayed and wires are exposed. What happens if you touch those exposed wires? You get electrocuted. Granted the voltage from an electrical outlet is a lot more intense than that held in the human body, but I think you can see the correlation.

So, how does one become grounded?

The steps to grounding utilize the mind's imagination. If you can visualize the following steps, then by the end you will be grounded. As you practice the grounding process, it will become easier. Soon you will find yourself grounded more often than not.

The following steps should be performed in a place where you feel comfortable and where you will not be interrupted for a few minutes.

1. Place yourself in a comfortable seated position. You are welcome to play some soft music in the background or sit in the quiet of your space.

2. Take a deep relaxing breath and close your eyes. As you visualize this process, you will need to continue to take deep relaxing breaths. An easy pace to remember, slowly breath in to the count of four (4), hold your breath for the count of two (2), then slowly release your breath to the count of four (4), pause to the count of two (2), then begin the cycle again.

3. Once you have established your rhythm of breathing, visualize your body relaxing part by part starting at your head.

Feel your hair relax, your forehead relax, your ears relax, your eyes relax, your nose relax, your mouth relax. Now feel your neck and shoulders relax, your upper back relax, your chest relax, your upper arms relax. Feel your lower back relax, your abdomen relax, your forearms, your wrists and your hands and fingers relax. Feel your pelvis relax, focus on the area between your pubic bone and your tail bone. Allow this area to relax more deeply. Take time to spend one or two cycles of breath here. Now feel your buttocks relax, your thighs relax, your knees relax. Feel your lower legs, ankles, feet and toes relax.

4. Now that you have relaxed your body and have patterned your breathing to continue this relaxed state, bring your focus to that area between your pubic bone and your tail bone. Spend a few cycles of breath focusing on this place.

5. When you feel ready, imagine a large beam of light, as wide as your hips, is coming from this area. It is focused down into the Earth. Imagine the beam going through the floor, down through the ground, down through the gravel, the rock, and into the hot molten core of the Earth.

6. Spend several cycles of breath expanding your light beam into the core of the Earth. Make the beam stronger, more solid, more bright with each cycle of breath.

Congratulations! You are now successfully grounded to the Earth.

In our next installment, we will talk about protection and shielding work to help keep your energy where it belongs... With you!

Love and Light,
Barb
Healing Spirit Touch

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Change is in the air...

Lovely beautiful spring time in the Pacific Northwest has brought a lot of change to our lives. If you notice, Healing Spirit Touch now has more information on the Services that Barbara can provide to you. Very soon, we should have some information from Susan as well.

Speaking of Spring and changes, who can forget about Spring Cleaning. Remember, as you clean, open up all your windows and doors. Getting fresh air is vital all year long. However, after a fall and winter season with the home buttoned up, it helps clear any stagnant energy that has been residing in your home.

Much like those pesky dust bunnies, stagnant energy builds up in the corners and dark places of your home. Sweeping those energy dust bunnies out the door can help revitalize your home. I've listed some quick and easy tips to help you clear your home and refresh the energy. This is best done after a general physical cleaning of the home.

1. Open all your windows and doors if you can. Make sure your pets can't run away, but open all the windows that you can. The cross breezes created help carry the stagnant energy out of the home.

2. Burn a favorite candle or incense. For the serious space clearing folks, I've found that Palo Santo wood is great for clearing the energy in the home.

3. Walk around your home with the candle or incense as it burns. Allow the smoke to get into the corners of the room. The smoke purifies the areas.

4. As you walk around with your candle or incense, say to yourself or out loud, "I bless this home with happiness, love and light. I ask that any and all energies in this home that are not here for my highest good to leave and go into the light."

5. Next, allow the candle or incense to naturally burn out in a safe place.

6. After you set the candle or incense to burn on it's own, go back through each room reciting the mantra in #4 as you clap three times up each corner of the room. The noise helps to disperse any heavier energy that the smoke could not.

7. Once you are finished, allow the windows and doors to be open a while longer. No more than 30 minutes is needed; however, some folks have done this clearing in the morning and left the house open all day to enjoy the fresh energy coming into their revitalized home.

Hope this helps your Spring Cleaning endeavors. Love and Light...

Barbara

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Forever Grateful!

I wanted to take a moment to thank Renee and all of my classmates for making a wonderful Angelic Healing class all it could be and more. I cannot begin to express in words how wonderful it feels to have like minded spiritual folks to work with. It was a great pleasure.

I'm here if you need help, advice, or a good laugh. Check out the links, I've put up as many as I could think of.

Barb

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Energy Class has been pushed out to May!

Hello Folks,

I wanted to let everyone know that Susan and I are pushing out the Energy 101 class to May. We are looking at the 15th as a tentative date. Too many things came up for us to put it all together for this month. Please check back in a week or so. We'll post information on how to sign up and where we will be holding the class.

Thank you and remember to breathe!

Barb & Susan
Healing Spirit Touch

Some Astrological Insights for Spring and Summer of 2010

Currently there are some intense astrological aspects going on. I thought some of you would appreciate having a little insight, especially as mass consciousness is going to be a wee bit crazy for the next 6 months.

There is a transiting aspect between Saturn and Uranus that is having an intense impact on our world. For those of you who don't know much about astrology, that information means nothing to you. Let's see if I can break this down in a way that is a little more understandable...

Each planet represents a different energetic dynamic. Saturn represents security, building foundations and solid structures. As well as manifesting in the physical world. Uranus represents awakening to the bigger picture (usually with a humanitarian bent). Uranus energy is sudden and explosive and has a tendency to come out of nowhere. (Imagine a tornado or a tidal wave.) It is extremely powerful.

When these two energies meet, structures get blown away. Sometimes that is very good. Some structures are not built on firm foundations. Some structures are worn and dated and need to be renovated or remodeled, or frankly demolished and completely rebuilt. The process of those structures being blown away can be very devastating and disorienting for those who have relied upon them. (When referring to structures: This can be from our mental and emotional paradigms, the systems we have in place, internal structures as well as external structures. It doesn't necessarily mean your home is going to fall down around you.)

Since October 2007 these 2 planets (Saturn and Uranus) have been having a conversation....actually it has been more of an argument. What it has felt like to most of us is that our security has been blown away and that we've been unable to find our footing. Structures that we were able to rely on are not available. Yes, we are being freed from the old but we are not feeling solid and secure and that makes a lot of people fearful.

These 2 planets had a big argument the end of Sept. 2008 through the end of March 2009. Then they stepped away from each other for a little bit. They came back for round two, mid August 2009 through the end of October 2009. They are now up for round three. The intensity is building and we will feel the full impact again starting April 23, 2010. This aspect will remain with intensity through August, with another full impact July 22, 2010 thru early Aug. 2010. Things will begin to settle down as the fall progresses. By Spring 2011 we will be able to start building on solid ground again. Yeah! Yeah! Oh, Yeah!

If your birthday falls on (or close to):
March 18th - 27th
June 19th - 28th
Sept. 21st - 29th
Dec. 19th - 27th
This aspect is going to feel very personal to you!!!

Navigating this time. The more you resist change during this time, the more you are going to get tossed against the rocks. It is a time to be open to new opportunities and look in the direction you want to be going. And most importantly, accept that this is a time of upheaval. The good news is this too shall pass.
Optimistically, you can look at this time as when structures that are old, stuck and flawed will be shattered. A time when people have to consciously look at what safety and security really mean to them. Where is it found? Is it a specific amount in a bank account? Is it the ability to change and adapt what we do and who we are, depending on the circumstances? (Makes me think of the book "Who Moved My Cheese" by Dr. Spencer Johnson.) Overall, it is shaking people out of their comfort zones and hopefully waking them up to being more conscious.

Personally this transit has "inspired" me (sounds so much better than "forced") to make meditating and centering a priority in my life again. When I am able to be fully in the present moment and appreciate what I have in that moment, I am able to feel good. More importantly, when I am clear and in the present moment I am connected to my intuition and have a better sense of direction and how to navigate this challenging time.

More on Saturn: Saturn represents the energy that wants to create structure. In order to manifest something out of chaos, energy has to be organized and there needs to be a system or pattern. When this energy is in balance it manifests as: safety and security, tangible results through disciplined effort, acceptance of duties & responsibilities, patience, reliability and represents authority and tradition. When it is out of balance it manifests as: rigidity, coldness, defensiveness, wanting to control out of fear or insecurity. It looks a lot like Scrooge.

More on Uranus: Uranus represents the energy that wants the freedom to be original, independent and have excitement. When this energy is in balance it manifests as: the ability to break out of old patterns that are no longer useful, inventiveness, freedom of expression and humanitarian efforts. When it is out of balance it manifests as: extremism, purposeless change or rebellion, constant need for excitement and disruptive activities.

Keeping it in perspective - Historically this aspect has happened on a regular basis and was in effect during the World wars, the Depression, the Korean and Vietnam wars.

Final note: In September 2004 Grenada was devastated by hurricane Ivan. After the storm their motto was to "build it back better". That is a good focus for these times.

Thanks for reading,
Susan Lynch

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Introductions

I'm a massage therapist by trade and a manager of a college massage program by choice. I've been working as a massage therapist for seven years, teaching for three and a half years and managing for three years. It has been a great adventure teaching folks about the fundamentals of massage therapy. Lately though, I've been feeling the pull to do something "more" with my work.

Massage therapy is a very hands on and energetic business. A massage therapist has to understand the energies involved in touching people every day. One of the things that I have found as I have been teaching, is that a lot of students don't understand the dynamic that is involved in peoples' energies. I'm not just talking about a client coming in who has had a bad day and that energy rubs off on the therapist. I'm talking about the deeper aspect of our work.

Many clients go to see a specific therapist because they feel comfortable, or just get a good vibe off of that therapist. Not every client is going to be comfortable with every therapist. We all give off our own vibe. That good vibe, harmonious energetic allows a client to feel comfortable to open up for true healing. But what can a massage therapist or other healer do to help these clients on a true healing level?

Healing Spirit Touch was created to be a space for therapists and other healers to come for education and training on the deeper energetics of healing the human body from a more holistic point of view.

In April, we plan on offering a beginning level energy class for folks in Portland, OR. If you are interested or have questions, feel free to email us at healingspirittouch@gmail.com or leave a comment here.

Thanks,
Barbara Pickle, LMT
OR#11011
Healing Spirit Touch