Love and Soul: An Interview with Jessica Shepherd

“Are you the one for me?”
It’s a question that pops up year-round, not just on Valentine’s Day. Our culture is overwhelmed with the idea of romantic love.

Hearts and flowers, warm fuzzies, and happily-ever-afters. Is this the reality of true, soulful love? Or is there perhaps something to be said for the type of relationship that occasionally puts us through the ringer, whether or not the ring is on the finger?

It being the month of amor, I decided to find out more. Since I have an inside connection to a professional love alchemist-astrologer, I knew exactly who to ask. Who is this love alchemist extraordinaire? Her name is Jessica Shepherd, long-time cosmic teammate, and one of the best colleague astrologers I know.

Two years ago, I had the opportunity to assist Jessica with her book project. As developmental editor, I helped prepare her manuscript for publication as well as the proposal that landed her a sweet deal. The result? Jessica’s masterpiece, A Love Alchemist’s Notebook: Magical Secrets for Drawing Your True Love Into Your Life, earning a fantastic feather-in-cap of a Publisher’s Weekly Starred Review. Bravo!

Yesterday, I caught up with Jessica to discuss just a few of the principles in her book. Being Valentine's weekend, it was a perfect time for a Travel and Soul interview on the topic of soulful love...

Love and Soul:

An Interview with Jessica Shepherd

Erin Reese: Jessica, we have so much to discuss. We’re going to have to break this interview up over a series!

Jessica Shepherd: I know. This is such a rich area – soulful love.

ER: I’m reminded of the power of your book. Remember, when I was editing the manuscript, how I was living in India and working on it every day? I had several experiences when my heart chakra actually began throbbing while reading certain sections of the book!

JS: Yes, I’ve since heard from several readers that the presence of A Love Alchemist’s Notebook, in itself, is powerful enough to open someone’s heart. Some tell me they keep the book on their nightstand as a sort of talisman – there is a sympathetic magic to attract true love, just by its physical presence. After a talk I gave in Vienna, a woman came up to me and told me how having the book in her house transformed her space. She felt more feminine, fun, receptive, joyful, magnetic energy – it was like Venus Herself was emanating out of the book!

What Is a Soul Mate?

ER: Jessica, your book focuses on attracting one’s true love. Do you believe that we have just one soul mate for life?

JS: We have many soul mates, and we have one. It’s a paradox. I define a soul mate as a person who brings us closer to our authenticity, our power, and fulfilling our dreams. That’s the kind of person we want to spend the rest of our lives with! A soul mate brings us closer to our self, opening us to who we truly are. The locus of a soul mate relationship has more joy and love than pain.

ER: That resonates. I can feel my heart chakra when you say that. It’s true!

JS: I’ve had many soul mate relationships – my sister, my grandmother, a friend who was like a surrogate partner for me for four years. Even if a relationship ends through death, divorce, or departure, it can still be a soul mate relationship. A soul mate relationship feels as if it can last forever; it does hold you in your truth and help you to self-actualize in a loving way.

What Do We Mean By “The One”?

ER: So if we have many soul mates, what do we mean when we say we are looking for “The One”?

JS: We do have a romantic mate, a partner that seems to travel with us from lifetime to lifetime. We may go a lifetime without meeting them, or live part of our lives without them. This is information I have gleaned through intuition and through studying reincarnation. This is a sexual, romantic partnership – with the soulful qualities of love and joy and self-actualization – that lasts. It’s also interesting to note that we have soul pods, or soul families, that seem to incarnate together over time to help us grow and evolve.

ER: It seems like over-emphasizing finding “The One” could be really limiting.

JS: Yes, it can be dangerous. We live in a culture where romantic love is shoved down our throats. We are raised and conditioned to look for princes and princesses. That viewpoint is not really arriving. It may be a piece to a puzzle, or may cause a delay in growth. That being said, romance is important in all soulful relationships to keep love alive: shared tenderness, eye-gazing, sexual satisfaction. Busy couples may need date nights – the type of romantic support varies. But romance is important to cultivate.

What Are Karmic Mates?

ER: One of the most interesting sections of your book, to me, Jessica, is the section on “Karmic Mates versus Soul Mates.” As someone who has had a series of relationships that have all helped me grow, I want to know more about this.

JS: Karmic Mates are special people, too! What do I mean by karma? I like Osho’s definition, that karma means ‘incomplete action.’ There is something to resolve. Karmic mates are people with whom we have previously agreed to exchange a gift, a lesson, a healing with in this lifetime, or to resolve an old pattern with. The difference between a karmic mate and a soul mate is that, with karmic mates, we WILL complete it at some point. With soul mates, it feels it could go on forever – it is open-ended. Yet with karmic mates, there is some point of resolution.

ER: How do we know we’ve completed the karma, then?

JS: We recognize it because at some point the relationship becomes compulsive. Instead of love, something has to work itself out.

ER: Oooo, the relationship becomes compulsive with a karmic mate. That’s clear! It’s like a record that starts skipping.

JS: Exactly. We cling to it and get wrapped up in identification with the relationship and the pain body. That’s a karmic relationship.

ER: If someone has a lot of short-term relationships, should they feel they are doing something ‘wrong’? People can easily feel like they’re screwing up if they don’t have one long-term partnership.

JS: Not at all. Many people have many relationships with many fascinating people who turn us on to different parts of ourselves. The quality and ration and lessons will be different from person to person. There’s no cause to feel bad. It’s cause to cherish and really look. It’s possible it’s not in the cards to be with 'The One' right away or even in this lifetime. It’s truly about loving the ones we’re with. Be soulful with the ones we’re with now. That’s real spiritual romance.

Soulful Love

ER: So even if we’re with a karmic mate, we can be soulful… and ‘burn through’ karma quicker? That’s powerful, the simple understanding that I’m meant to put my whole heart into it, no matter what.

JS: Exactly. Bring all of your self, your knowing, your wisdom – all that you’ve learned through past relationships. Bring all of it to the current situation, with whomever you find yourself with. Be in the heart space together, find out the truth of what you are and be open to whatever you’re going to exchange with this person. It’s the freeing power of authenticity.

ER: It’s one of my favorite sayings, “The truth shall set you free.” I’ve found it to be truly liberating! To see the truth of who a person is…

JS: Right. We must break the conditioned con game that it has to look like X, Y, or Z to be meaningful. Maybe a mate can’t give you everything you want, but look at what they are offering you. Maybe he can teach you guitar, maybe she can inspire you to practice yoga or meditation. Find out the truth of what they are, and what they are offering, and be in that.

ER: That’s deep, Jessica. I feel it. When I see the truth of who a person is, my heart is blown wide open, and there is real energy and ecstasy – a blissful peace of acceptance. That seems to be what we’re after anyway, so we can experience it anytime, no matter who we’re with.

JS: Yes, that is soulful love!

ER: “Love the one you’re with.” Thanks, Jessica. I look forward to our next interview!

JS: Thank YOU, Erin. You were a big part of bringing A Love Alchemist’s Notebook into manifestation! Surely it is working in your own life and your Travel and Soul readers will benefit too!

To order your copy of Jessica Shepherd's A Love Alchemist’s Notebook from Amazon click here.

To receive one of Jessica's truly astonishing, specialty love astrology readings, email her here. Tell her you read about her on Travel and Soul, and you’ll receive a free Alchemical Goddess Venus report with any love reading. This is a special Valentine's offer good through February 17.

"I am delighted with the confident, graceful way Jessica Shepherd blends astrology, metaphysics, positive Pagan spellcraft, and plain chicken-soup wisdom." ~ Stephen Forrest, author of The Inner Sky

"Shepherd's approach is rooted in fundamentals - self-confidence, wisdom, and patience - and effectively makes enlightenment fun. A welcoming oasis for those who feel stranded by lower-your-expectations dating guides." ~ Publisher's Weekly starred review, February 8, 2010

"You may know the groundbreaking creativity book, The Artists Way by Julia Cameron. Jessica Shepherd's A Love Alchemists Notebook is THE Artists Way for love, relationship, and romance, with a complete creativity system to attract love into ones life. The alchemical principles are timeless, and the exercises within WORK." ~ Erin Reese, Travel and Soul Media

Less Is More Maui

“Now that’s an article I look forward to reading!” said StarLynn from Berlin, a longtime Travel and Soul follower. I had emailed her that my birthday excursion to Maui was filled with many sensorial delights, one of which literally involved swimming nude with whales. “That sounds truly ahhh-some,” she wrote.

And, ahhh-some it was, ahh-loha style. For my birthday getaway, I couldn’t disappear for another long trip to warmer climes of Asia, and yet I needed – was starving for – some sea, sun, and surf. So I used some United Miles and bopped off to the enchanted isle of Maui for a week. On the cheap. As usual.

If you need a trip to Hawaii like nobody’s business, but you don't have a lot of cash in the vacation reserve, you’ll appreciate these “Less Is More Maui” tips from Yours Truly, Travel and Soul Writer. You don’t need to spend a lot of dough to Go Maui Wowee and have a simple, good time.

1. Whale Watching

It’s birthing season for the North Pacific Humpbacks, who come to Hawaii for the warm waters to welcome their young to the world. December to March, there’s a good chance you’ll see magnificent mamas and their offspring off the west coast of the island. What’s that out on the horizon? A fluke! A tail slap! A whole pod out there!

With the sunlight dappling the waves like a trillion diamonds, the sight of a ship-sized adult humpback breaching, with her baby mirroring right after – you’ll know you’ve flown to Heaven. Some of the locals asked if I'd heard the whales under the water. I didn't, but that doesn't mean they weren't speaking to me. I did have some amazing visions during my trip!

2. The Banana Bungalow
Stay cheap and best on the island in the Banana Bungalow Hostel in Wailuku! The Banana Bungalow is only $31 a night for clean dorm rooms. There’s a complete kitchen for use, as well as Internet, free WiFi - and a hot tub! True to hostel life ‘round the world, you’ll meet more interesting international characters of all shapes and sizes from different socio-economic backgrounds here than you would if you stayed in a regular hotel or condo. Sure, it’s a bit frat-house, summer-camp style with requisite pool and Fussball tables; but hey, if you’re on a budget, maybe you’ll even have fun joining in. How much time do you really need to spend indoors during the day, anyway? My female dormmates were respectful, quiet, and great daytrippers to boot.

An extra added bonus at the Banana is that, each and every day, there’s a tour you can hop on FREE OF CHARGE. One day, you can hike the Haleakala volcano; the next, it’s the picturesque road to Hana, or snorkeling at the turtle sanctuary.

You can rent a car for about $200 a week to give you more independence around the island. But, you can also hitch a ride easily in Hawaii (lots of backs of pickup trucks to ride in!). Not only that: the Maui Bus is only $1.00! Take the bus to most all of the major sights on the island, as well as to shopping and to and from the airport!

3. Nude Bodysurfing
“Catch a wave and you’re sittin’ on top of the world!” Indeed. Now THIS is the absolute crème de la crème for me in Maui. I’m sure there are many nude beaches in Hawaii, but this one happens to have a great surf to boot. If you catch the wave at just the right moment – not too late, not too early – you’ll BARREL all the way to the sand. Tuck your head, place arms into diving position, and soar into shore like a dolphin!

As for the nude part: I think I was shy for – oh, about fifteen seconds, before I realized that (a) I’d never see these people again; (b) there are very few places and opportunities in the world to dive into such splendor; and (c) what FUN! With the whales breaching just off the coast nearby, and the Sun setting in the distance, you’re set. Try to sunbathe before 11 a.m. and after 2:30 p.m. to avoid harmful rays. Bring on the healthy Vitamin D action.

I can’t name the beach, because that would make it too easy. But I guarantee you ask the first local you meet where the 'nude beach with great bodysurfing' is, and you’ll be directed in a jif. It’s Maui’s little secret that everyone knows about.


4. Organic Health Food Stores
If you’re on a budget, you’ll opt to picnic and cook for yourself much more than dine out. And Maui hosts at least three well-known health food stores in three strategic locations on the island - Central, East, and West. They’re all fabulous!

In Paia, the windsurf capital of Maui, there’s Mana Foods – one of the best natural food stores I’ve ever been in! In Kahului, near the airport and on the way to the hostel, there’s your standard Whole Foods. And near the best beaches on the west side, in Kihei, there’s Hawaiian Moons.

While you’re at the store, stock up on organic coconut oil to give your skin a blissful treat while you’re at the beach. Rub it in your hair before you dive into the sea. Grab a Kombucha for regenerative enzymes and refreshment. Live local, buy organic, and save cash.

5. Maui Swap Meet
The Maui Swap Meet is fun! And it’s only fifty cents entry! Every Saturday from 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Maui Community College grounds in Kahului, hundreds of white-topped booths converge on a pleasant fairground. You’ll meet local vendors with honey, produce, local grown goods. Crafts, souvenirs, clothing, sunglasses, tools, and baked goods... Coffee, skin crème, musical instruments... Unique gifts. My purchases this time around included delicious homemade kim chi, and the cutest white muu-muu! (Yes, a muu-muu, which is more elegantly known as a plantation dress.)

The winning find of the swap meet morn was definitely a $10-for-ten-minute shiatsu massage from Ed, a former Bay Area resident who keeps a booth there every Saturday. The massage was so good, I got two on the spot! Look for Ed and his magic hands...

GO MAUI ON THE CHEAP

TRAVEL LIKE A LOCAL

MAHALO

January 2011 Travel and Soul Newsletter

Namaste, friends!

With two days left in the month, I thought it'd be a fine time to send out my January newsletter!

But first - a little astro humor.

Changing the Light Bulb – Through the Signs

How many members of your horoscope sign does it take to change a light bulb?

ARIES: Just one. You want to make something of it?

TAURUS: One, but just "try" to convince them that the burned-out bulb is useless and should be thrown away.

GEMINI: Two, but the job never gets done--they just keep arguing about who is supposed to do it and how it's supposed to be done.

CANCER: Just one. But it takes a therapist three years to help them through the grief process.

LEO: Leos don't change light bulbs, although sometimes their agent will get a Virgo to do the job for them while they're out.

VIRGO: Approximately 1.0000000 with an error of +/- 1 millionth.

LIBRA: Er, two. Or maybe one. No - on second thought, make that two. Is that okay with you?

SCORPIO: That information is strictly secret and shared only with the Enlightened Ones in the Star Chamber of the Ancient Hierarchical Order.

SAGITTARIUS: The sun is shining, the day is young and we've got our whole lives ahead of us, and you're inside worrying about a stupid light bulb?

CAPRICORN: I don't waste my time with these childish jokes.

AQUARIUS: Well, you have to remember that everything is energy, so...

PISCES: Light bulb? What light bulb?

A Sun Salutation a Day

…and that’s it. Just ONE.

A single Surya Namaskar a day keeps the doctor away. And depression, sluggishness, and all kinds of pesky ailments.

Watch my "Sun Salutation a Day" YouTube video here to see an example of sun salutations in action… notice how I start with first the right foot, then the left. Then, switch: first the left foot, then the right. Both sides, evened out, forms one complete salutation.

There are myriad ways to do the sun salutation series – find the one that works best for you, memorize it, and off you go! (As a tip: it works really well to have an early morning pop-up reminder automatically come up on the email or your phone!)

On New Year’s Day, I led my first daylong silent yoga and meditation retreat at a private yoga studio in Marin. When the students came out of silence, we agreed that our hearts were opened, our minds were stilled, and our souls were deeply connected from Day One of 2011. What a gift!

Out of this daylong silent retreat, the students and I came up with the idea to commit to “A Sun Salutation a Day” every day for the entire year. Just one! Since the goal is so attainable, it’s easy enough to commit to, and keep that commitment. And the beauty is, regardless if more happens on the mat or not, you’re a success. Want to join us?

A Massively Networked Universe

Did you know that of the many offerings of the Travel and Soul Media umbrella, I also wear the hat of developmental editor? This means that I am the person who helps authors birth their book-babies! I review and advise on authors’ concepts, proposals, and manuscripts, and help midwife their book to successful print or electronic publication.

On that note, I’m excited to announce that my most recent editing project has come to fruition! Last night in San Francisco, I attended the launch party for practical visionary Pamela Lund’s new book, Massively Networked: How the convergence of social media and technology is changing your life.

In the book, Pamela takes the reader on an insight-packed modern journey not unlike a Celestine Prophecy for futurists. How are emerging technologies like augmented reality, a wired universe, and the Internet of Things influencing your body, mind, and spirit? What about the way you think about making a living? Did you know that when you imagine something, it’s simultaneously appearing in the massively networked universe? The truth is that now, more than ever, what you think matters – literally!

Author Pamela Lund is a leading social media and Internet marketing consultant with a Harvard background. Far more than that: she’s a cutting-edge visionary here to help us adjust to and make the most of this wild, colorful, technological age. I encourage you to sign up for her mailing list here to find out about speaking engagements and her book tour. You can also preorder a signed, first-edition copy with free shipping on her website here.

Happiness Happens

At a party recently, chatting with a small group, a friend of mine named me as a magician, an expert at manifesting. I see it more as allowing things to naturally appear in the maya, the material plane. I have no idea how it works, and that’s probably why it does work – there’s no personal involvement to get in the way.

Someone in the conversation asked me, “Wow, how do you do that?” I laughed and said, “I don’t know, I just hook up!” pointing to the invisible line sprouting up from my crown chakra.

I continued: “When you’re connected, you're happy. So if you don’t have something, you don’t need it anyway. The only job is to stay connected to the Source."

And happiness happens.

With love,

Erin Reese, Travel and Soul Media

P.S. I'm going out of town soon! 2011 Intuitive Readings with Erin still available on Monday, January 31. Book today! Send me an email. Details here.

Staying Warm

Having lived in subtropical Asia during the winter months for the past four years, I haven’t experienced the likes of holly or heralding angels, fudge or shopping frenzies, Claus or Christmas, in quite some time. And, I most definitely have not experienced cold snaps, preferring to soak my soul in the sun of India’s southwest coast. Life’s Mystery recently turned the tides, and this holiday season, I find myself back in the U.S.A.

Now, a number one focus of mine is embracing the colder temps while learning new ways of warming up. In addition to the physical realm of cold, it is also easier in the darker months to become emotionally cold, lonely and isolated. It’s a hard time to get moving – literally – and to take the initiative and reach out for fellowship. Candles, twinkling lights, and friends – these are the sources of warmth we can turn to.

Here are five fun ways I’ve found to raise my physical and emotional temperature. May they also warm the cockles of your heart!

1. Run, Run Rudolph

Get the heart beating and the blood pumping. Even 15-20 minutes jogging in the neighborhood, along the beach, or in the park will improve your warmth, raise your metabolism, and boost your mood. Tip: Lay out your running clothes and shoes the night before. Dress like a layered onion with hat, gloves, fleece, and leggings. Aim for 4-5 times a week. Enjoy noticing the difference between a cold and crisp day and a run between the raindrops. Breathe in prana, chlorophyll-rich air, and light. Photosynthesize yourself.

2. Light Up Your Life

Burn candles, even when it’s not a special occasion. Bring a candle into your cubicle or office space. Glance away from the computer screen and look at the bright flame every now and then to exercise the eyes and mix up the brain chemistry. A candle flame will also keep your immediate space a few degrees warmer AND suck moisture from the air if you’re in a damp room in a rainy area (as will incense). Tip: Trader Joe’s offers a lovely pack of six Danish-style, white and off-white taper candles for only $2.79. These are especially nice as they are self-extinguishing, and made of non-toxic soy.

3. Make Play Dates - and Keep Them

It’s hard to get moving and visit friends across town when it’s dark out so early, and cold and windy to boot. Bundle up and go see your buddies. Make a date to go to an art opening, an off-Broadway or off-Market theater piece, or tea house. Tip: Consider ringing a college pal or coworker you haven’t seen for years. Reminiscing is a great way to warm the heart and get the endorphins flowing; somehow, seeing them on Facebook doesn’t have the same face-to-face warming effect.

4. Shake It, Baby

Go dancing! Forget all the nonsense about it being too late to go out (I'm sure you can manage until ten or eleven), or not having the right outfit, or not feeling sexy enough to boogie. Any live band will do – buy a ticket and go with a girlfriend or gang. It’s not so important the circumstances: what’s important is that you get yourself on the dance floor and shake your thang. Move the body. There are plenty of bands who would love YOUR presence out there, even if you’re shimmying on your own in the corner. A night out dancing – it’s not just for clubbers or 20-somethings. Tip: The last three nights out, I’ve been gifted with free CD’s from the band or DJ. A fun souvenir, indeed.

5. Miso Happy

Buy a tub of miso and regularly make yourself a mug of soothing soup. Put a huge dollop (a heaping tablespoon) in a colorful mug and dissolve it up in boiling water – don’t boil the miso directly, though. Put a dab of ghee or butter in there, too. Add a pinch of sea salt, and a teeny pinch of paprika and/or cayenne. Sip it any time of day – it’s very nourishing and warming. Not only that, miso has been proven to detox the cells and keep your immune system up. Tip: Try Miso Master Mellow White, available at most health food stores. Experiment with adding dried seaweed strips or flakes.

Stay warm and bright, give and receive lots of hugs, and snuggle with animals, too!

Love,

Support the Travel and Soul Magazine! Click here to leave a tip in the Tip Jar. Your contribution makes a world of difference.

Erin Reese is a freelance writer, editor, and astro-intuitive healer. She works remotely with clients all over the world. Find out more on her magsite, www.erinreese.com.

Healing In the Non-Linear Now

Speaking with a friend last night, the subject of reliving past trauma came up. We marveled that even if events occurring in present time are hardly traumatic or dramatic, we are often triggered and plunged into a state of fear, anxiety, rage, and especially shock.

When we are in shock, there is often no traceable, ‘good’ reason for it showing up in present time. Here are a few scenarios, for example:

- Your girlfriend calls and asks when the two of you can go shopping for a Christmas tree together. She says she has the whole weekend free and wants to spend the entire time with you, baking cookies, wrapping presents, and snuggling. For no ‘reason’ at all, you freak out and seize up. Your old wounds of being smothered are tripped up.

- You live abroad in a totally foreign environment for several years, in a completely different cultural mindset. You return to your home nation, now immersed in a western, materialist world where the focus is on having and doing, rather than being. You find yourself incapable of functioning, wondering if something may be severely wrong with you. Why are you paralyzed in this infrastructure while everyone else seems to be getting along so ‘normal’?

- You’re sitting in a restaurant with old friends enjoying a great night out, laughing, talking, eating excellent food. The rambunctious party seated next to your table suddenly kicks it up to a particularly boisterous, drunken gear, and the smell of their liquor of choice – scotch whiskey – starts wafting over to your corner in gusts. Your olfactory center is triggered from a dark time in the long ago past. Like a fast-wilting flower, you are suddenly no longer having fun with your friends. While your buddies are still joking and carrying on with joy as before, you now feel depressed, lonely, and isolated – for no ‘reason.’

What do these three vastly different scenarios have in common? Shock.

How can you tell if you’re in shock? For starters, your internal GPS system completely blows out. You can’t think clearly, you may not be able to form a coherent sentence or come up with a clear answer. Someone might ask you a normal question and you won’t be able to get the words out. Your heart beat could go off the charts, or your palms might sweat. Extreme tension may arise in the body, especially in the gut or solar plexus. You could experience searing pain in the sciatic nerve.

Often, we turn freezing cold: when any animal goes into shock, the life force energy congeals itself in the deepest center of the body in order to preserve and protect, while the appendages are cut off from warmth.

Shock can be set off simply by the way a lover ends a phone call. The way a boss signs off an email. The way holiday shoppers prance around you at the mall with Christmas music blaring in your ears. The way a man looks you up and down as you board a bus. The way a seemingly normal discussion of finances with your mate sends you into an irrational, reactionary state.

None of these situations directly has anything to do with what is happening “now.” It’s what they are triggering in you from the past – or potentially even the future (intuition). Your animal instincts are up. It’s fight or flight, to which I now add – freeze. Fight, flight, or freeze.

The Blazing Flame of Awareness

How to come out of it? Interestingly, the solution is also an f-word: FEEL. The answer is to feel.

When we go to the place in the body where we most experience the seizing up, we automatically bring warmth via the light, the blazing flame of awareness. We go where the trauma, tension, lock-up or quiver is located, and observe what exactly is happening there.

That’s the first step. The second step, which is key (and easily avoided by those who prefer to stay in their intellect or spiritual superiority), is to FEEL the uncomfortable, nauseous, stuck, painful, fluttering, spinning, gut-wrenching, or even indescribable sensations that you’ve got going on in there. You might be surprised: there could even be pleasure, or a sense of soaring or floating. Usually, there are layers, and we keep going in, and in, and in to uncover until there is nothing left but spaciousness.

Feeling the sensations on a body level (see also bioenergetics and somatic therapies) brings healing awareness to a happening that made us lock up and freeze at some point in the non-linear now. Will we know or find out exactly what specific incident occurred? Maybe. It’s not important, however. The important thing is to stay with it – and breathe.

Whether we take five and excuse ourselves from our desk or the dinner table, head to the washroom and find out what’s going on in the body, or we have half an hour to lie in bed at home and feel the fear in the body – we must give it our attention. Otherwise, the shock rules us and we are zombies, the walking wounded, and cut off from our essential self. Traumatized and trapped, suffering animals.

But what about the external people, places, and things that are triggering you? What do we do about them, you ask?

NOTHING.

You sit there and breathe into the stone in your solar plexus or that sciatic nerve spasm arising (and stretch, and drink water!). You feel that heart beat so ferociously it seems your chest might explode. And breathe. As the hologram of an individual that you are, you’re delivering awareness to the point in the past or future where the actual event, trauma, trigger happens.

You’ve just given yourself a huge helping of natural healing – in the present, in the Non-Linear Now.

Erin Reese is a freelance writer, editor, and astro-intuitive healer. She works remotely with clients all over the world. Find out more on her magsite, www.erinreese.com.

Support the Travel and Soul Magazine! Click here to leave a tip in the Tip Jar. Your contribution makes a world of difference.

The Gift of Intuition

“Tell me how you did it!!” read the subject line of an email received yesterday from an Italian friend living in Bali.

I’d given Andrea an intuitive reading in India about nine months ago, and I'd foreseen that he’d be in a stable, new home for the long haul, as of this very month. Turns out, he signed a lease on his Balinese dream house on November 1, and this super skeptic was now totally impressed. Andrea was baffled as to how "I perfectly predicted his new home." And, of course, he has more questions! He wants to know when and where he will meet The Love of His Life. And he wants to know when he’ll start earning six figures per annum.

Fine with me, I say. I will consult the stars and cards and see what the Divine Mystery reveals for him. I can’t control when or whether the information will come available to him through me, but I can certainly check the cosmic weather report.

The Cosmic Weather

Astrology and tarot are the tools I use to access the power of intuition – that grand ability to grok the entire picture in one go.

Like Madeleine L’Engle’s Wrinkle in Time, linear time collapses upon itself in the space where the past is the present is the future – and some of us humans seem to be equipped to go there. It is the intuitive whole mind that can see beyond the seen. It is mysterious, and a gift.

Last weekend, I was conducting a career reading via Skype, and I kept seeing drinks – glasses of bubbly and wine. “Drinks!” I told her. “I keep seeing lots of drinks – fizzy, alcoholic beverages.” Turns out, the client was about to have a promising interview with a beverage industry magazine.

“How are you doing this??” the client asked. “Like, I know you use tarot cards and all that. But, I mean, HOW ARE YOU DOING THIS?”

Good question, I thought. That is a very good question. Perhaps one of the main reasons it works, is that I don’t question it.

I explained to my client that I’ve been highly intuitive my whole life. I began cultivating the gifts in my late teens, beginning with awareness of energy and that which lies beyond the seen. A psychic-healer aunt introduced me to the realm of tarot divination when I was seventeen, and I began studying the art and science of astrology in earnest at the age of twenty.

Over two decades of study and practice in mysticism and transpersonal psychology, the intuitive gifts increased. And, it appears that a dozen years of yoga asana and meditation served to further prepare this body-mind vehicle, culminating in a fundamental psychic awakening.

About six years ago, my third eye (the sixth chakra) stretched and grew and popped open- whoop there it is! There it was, my ajna chakra – wide awake like a big glowing bindi, looking around to see what it could see. And the divine marching orders were clear: You Must Read for Others, Young Woman. I couldn’t help myself anyway: I was a person-sized antenna, buzzing like a lightning bolt, naturally higher than a kite, and one of the only things that would peel me off the ceiling was to read for others.

I never “thought” about becoming an Intuitive. Like everything else that involves Grace and the Divine (which is, in fact, everything), it simply happened…

How You Can Cultivate Your Own

One of the simplest ways to grow your own intuitive power is to make a commitment to listen to your insights – your hunches, your gut feelings – every single time, without fail.

Say you’re driving home from work, and out of nowhere, you get a flash about taking an alternate route. No real reason – but it feels like a pull. Your job is to do it – take the other street. You may not find out the reason why, but that’s OK. You’ve just given your intuition the message that you are listening, you are receiving the messages, and you are welcoming the insight. The intuition grows as a faculty as trust is deepened.

When I began this very practice over twenty years ago, I committed to listening NO MATTER WHAT. If my gut told me to stop in a shop and try on green sneakers, I’d do it. This is both a training period for your third eye – and an adventure.

The more you do it, the stronger the messages will be. It will, over time, become second nature. Your creative inclinations, whether you’re an artist, writer, or a project manager, will increase as you learn to sense the waves’ motions, and ride them. Understanding and heeding currents of energy is being intuitive – it’s a big part of what makes certain stock speculators ‘lucky.'

Intuition is a businesswoman's best friend.

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The Yoga of Astrology

The Yoga of Astrology helps you to come home to your Self.
There are no ‘bad’ parts of you. All is essential.

The word yoga comes from the Sanskrit yuj, meaning ‘to unite’ or ‘to integrate.’ How might this union apply to the realm of astrology? It’s quite simple, actually: a birth chart is a snapshot – the snapshot – of the heavens at the exact time, date, and place of your birth. It’s your unique cosmic picture. No two people, not even twins, have exactly the same chart. We are like snowflakes – absolute individuals. Your birth chart is a gift from the universe, a window to the soul.

Astrology is both an art and a science. It takes extreme care and technical skill to master the mathematics and analytics needed to properly interpret a birth chart. But technical prowess is only half the story.

An effective stargazer must also be a highly intuitive human, gifted with the heart and soul of seeing the picture in its entirety. In short, the best astrologers can see the UNION of the person with their highest Self. She will be able to explain in truly useful terms exactly how you can integrate body, mind, and soul as a whole.

Why do I offer the Yoga of Astrology as a service? Twenty years ago, I heeded an undeniable inner calling and took up the craft. For years following, I voraciously studied the art of the stars. I found the nuances of the language to come automatically to me – as if I was literally downloading it from the ethers. My favorite used bookstore couldn’t keep astrological texts on the shelf; I’d devour them so fast.

In fact, my own birth chart reveals a natural talent for stargazing: I’m a cosmic February Water Bearer with Sun conjunct both the Midheaven and the Moon’s North Node (points of profession and destiny), all in the sign of the Aquarius, whose ruler Uranus governs the field of astrology. (Click chart to enlarge.)

Quickly, I discovered I could help you by sharing my gift: I can see YOU as a whole being – a complete mandala of uniquely balanced components. You are already perfect, whole, and unified – you simply need someone to help you see it, and that’s the astrologer’s role. I can help you understand how the you of You fits into the larger Self of the Universe, revealing strengths, weak spots, points that can be played up and areas that call for your attention. Through transit analysis (my particular passion, being a future-oriented Aquarian), together we can help you make decisions and determine timing of events – what is likely to happen, when, and how.

The Yoga of Astrology helps you to come home to your Self. There are no ‘bad’ parts of you. All is essential.

In India, Ramesh Balsekar (1917-2009), my own advaita (non-duality) philosophy Teacher, held a firm view of astrology. Ramesh was noted for cutting through the crap with a sharp sword of truth, often harshly. When I first brought my work to his attention, I half-expected the renowned Jedi jnani-sage would toss astrology in the trash heap as a silly, useless concept.

On the contrary: Ramesh said, “Astrology itself is 100% accurate. How much of the gift an individual astrologer has been given, no one can know.” Later, when I brought up lingering questions as to whether practicing astrology for my clients was a beneficial use of my energy, he looked at me pointedly, eyes blazing with light, and commanded, “You can help a lot of people!”

I got it. My beloved Teacher wanted me to use my skills for the benefit of others. And out of respect and out of love, I offer the Yoga of Astrology to you.

Please email me, or simply click on the Astro-Intuitive link for more information on my offerings and prices.

Namaste,

When the British astronomer Sir Edmund Halley
supposedly spoke deprecatingly about
astrology to Sir Isaac Newton,
Newton said to have responded,
"I have studied the matter [astrology]. You, Sir, have not."