Tea for Tuesdays

Some favorite tea-related Etsy finds…

How amazing is this? A perfect combination for tea and literature lovers during the Halloween season. Find it here.

Mmmm, make-your-own chai! Love this, find it here.

For any matcha lovers, this bowl is perfect! Find it here.

So cute! Find it here.

A unique and beautiful tea bowl. Find it here.

Okay, so I have a few things to add to my Amazon wishlist today : )

Enjoy!

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A Sunday Morning Card Reading

I love doing an oracle card reading for myself when I am facing a particular issue, or even when I just want to know the energy trends surrounding me. This morning after a peaceful meditation, I pulled cards from the Angel Answers deck by Doreen Virtue and Radleigh Valentine.

The cards I got were: Big, happy Changes, It’s Up to You, Success, Helpful People, Yes, and Ask for Help from Others. When I pull cards for myself, I also believe that they are world energies. The cards in my reading also apply to anyone who might be reading this blog post.

Basically, have hope, you will be successful, ask for and accept the help that comes to you because nothing big is accomplished in isolation. And remember, it’s up to you! You have free will on this journey through life. What do you want most? What is your soul calling for you to do, be, or become? You can do it!

Happy Sunday Everyone!

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Intuitive Journaling

I have often written about journaling on this blog. However, I have recently transitioned to automatic writing for about 20 minutes every morning. This has allowed me to tap into a higher guidance system. Rather than writing about problems or fears I am having, I pose a question, connect with my higher self, and allow myself to write down the wisdom that comes to me. I have found this to be both empowering and healing, as it allows me to step out of my day-to-day story and into a higher perspective.

This morning I sat in my meditation corner, listening to healing music, wrapped in a cozy blanket. I had trouble sleeping last night because a lot was on my mind. A project I am involved in is taking longer than I had hoped to get off the ground, and there is a lot up in the air. Instead of harping on this story, I wrote this:

What is the potential for you, if you were able to see the future as something that could be known–that there are many probable future destinations. You have the power to choose which outcome you would most like to see. The outcome you would like should be focused on solely for it to come into physical manifestation. You can draw pictures, create a vision board, and ask to see this for the highest good. When you think of how to serve others, your power increases significantly. It you were to focus on numbers and money, people would sense your fear and stay far away. But, when you focus on service and affirm that you will receive more than enough to meet your needs, all will be done in Divine Timing.

Much more empowering than a whiny journal entry about money!

If you happen to be in the area, I’m giving a workshop on Intuitive Journaling at Terraloka Wellness in Kent, CT on October 11th. Comment below if you’d like to join!

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Hello Again!

It has been almost exactly a year since I last posted on SpiritualiTea. Although there have been many changes, my overall mission has remained the same: to offer a warm, safe space to explore spirituality (with tea).

What has been going on for me? Well, I became a life coach (yay!), began doing professional intuitive readings, left my job…more on that in a later post. I’m currently living life on my terms and have never felt happier, or more inspired! I began creating other blogs that I thought would perhaps express my new self, but in the end I’ve come back to SpiritualiTea as my home.

I’m excited to begin posting here again with a new voice and renewed passion.

There will be book suggestions, helpful resources, musings on my own spiritual life, and of course tea!

I also have a new feature: I will soon be venturing into the video podcasting world, and I hope to take you along with me! Each week I will post a new video providing an intuitive reading for the coming week’s energies. Grab a cup of tea and sit down with me on Sunday morning to find out what the week will bring for you.

Finally, I have two exciting offerings: the first is an online course that trains you to be a SpiritualiTea Facilitator in your community. Learn how to start a group, keep it going, gain members, find friends, and make a little extra money along the way!

Second, I am offering private intuitive readings by phone or Skype. I would love to get to know you and offer clear, accurate, empowering guidance on any challenges you are currently facing.

It feels good to be back.

Peace,
Shannon

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I Brake for Geese

Although there is much sadness in the world, and horrible things happen to good people, the world is still a beautiful place and people are still generally kind. Please do not forget this. When we become cynical, or engrossed in the destruction in the world, we do violence to ourselves on a daily basis. Look around and take comfort in nature, in the cycles of the moon, and the flow of the ocean. All is well.

On my way home today I saw something that helped me renew my faith in humanity. I was driving along a narrow, curvy road and saw brake lights ahead. I quickly came to a stop, worried about why there seemed to be a traffic jam. As I came to a halt I saw a beautiful Canadian goose flapping its wings as it crossed the road. I had to chuckle to myself when I considered that at least 5 cars came to a screeching halt, almost hitting one another, so that a goose could safely cross the road.

Yes, bad things happen. Yes, we live in a world where trauma occurs somewhere to someone every second of the day. Yes, it is a beautiful place. If you can hold this paradox in your head, and accept both sides of the coin, peace is yours.

 

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A Weekend of Words

 

Over the last four days I have been immersed in the world of poetry and healing. When most people think of poetry, they remember being forced to memorize metaphor, simile, alliteration, and on and on. Not fun! The National Association of Poetry Therapy’s annual conference, held at the Cenacle Retreat Center in Chicago, would be enough to change anyone’s mind. Poetry can lead you down the path of healing by opening your heart to beautiful, expressive language. Poetry takes our human experience and condenses it into concise and powerful words.

Although there were many fantastic workshops, I fell in love with the combination of poetry and dance in a workshop held Saturday morning. Tired from the day before, I entered the workshop not quite sure what to expect. The facilitator immediately had us on our feet, in a circle, holding hands. I felt the familiar demons rising up in me: oh no, am I going to look foolish? Will I get the moves right? I took all of these thoughts in and accepted them (welcome to the party)! and began to move and flow with the rest of the group. It was an amazing, healing experience that broke down many barriers, resulted in a lot of laughs, and a huge outpour of words on paper. How true that our bodies hold our stories, and they just wait for a chance to release them. Here is the poem I wrote after the sacred dance:

Twilight closes my eyes

And the stars glimmer from the purple smooth

I honor the four directions

The divine directions of my life

I feel love filtering through the circle

A ring of flowers, each in a different state of bloom

The music plays and my soul rises to follow the beat

Trembling in joy

I came to poetry therapy as an English teacher, wanting to forge a deeper connection between my students and the written word. I left the conference with a truer vision of what I am: a healer, both of myself and others. In this vein I have decided to extend my poetry therapy training to actually studying counseling at a local college.  I have decided not to leap into this path as soon as possible, however, and instead wait until the fall of 2014 to begin this training. 2013 will be a time of great rest and reflection. I must say, it does feel good to have some clarity! And I take with me on this journey the words of wisdom from the great poets, and the great healers, I met this weekend.

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David Whyte: What to Remember When Waking

I recently purchased this beautiful audio set by David Whyte, a poet whose language is rich and deeply moving, yet still accessible. He speaks of awakening not just to each new day, but to ourselves and our continual rebirth as something and someone new.

Here is the poem titled What to Remember When Waking:

In that first
hardly noticed
moment
to which you wake,
coming back
to this life
from the other
more secret,
moveable
and frighteningly
honest
world
where everything
began,
there is a small
opening
into the new day
which closes
the moment
you begin
your plans.

What you can plan
is too small
for you to live.

What you can live
wholeheartedly
will make plans
enough
for the vitality
hidden in your sleep.

To be human
is to become visible
while carrying
what is hidden
as a gift to others.

To remember
the other world
in this world
is to live in your
true inheritance.

You are not
a troubled guest
on this earth,
you are not
an accident
amidst other accidents
you were invited
from another and greater
night
than the one
from which
you have just emerged.

Now, looking through
the slanting light
of the morning
window toward
the mountain
presence
of everything
that can be,
what urgency
calls you to your
one love?  What shape
waits in the seed
of you to grow
and spread
its branches
against a future sky?

Is it waiting
in the fertile sea?
In the trees
beyond the house?
In the life
you can imagine
for yourself?
In the open
and lovely
white page
on the waiting desk?

~ David Whyte ~

(The House of Belonging)

 From panhala.net 

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Living in the Light by Shakti Gawain

 

Recently I was at a metaphysical bookstore, Lantern House, and Shakti Gawain’s Living in the Light jumped out at me. I had read Creative Visualization during the summer, so I was excited to see another title by her. I highly recommend this book. The language is simple and accessible, yet the concepts she discusses take a lifetime to work on. This is her second edition of the book, and according to Gawain, she spends more time talking about our shadow sides. She argues that we cannot live in the light if we cannot also accept the darkness. It is so true. Many times we want to live in peace and happiness and forget about the “bad things.” That is impossible. We must accept our shadows, whether they be anger, sadness, fear, or anything else. This is the key to healing.

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Wholehearted Work

While reading Crossing the Unknown Sea: Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity by David Whyte, I came across a quote that I loved. Whyte describes a conversation he had with a friend, Brother David. Whyte is exhausted from work and asks his friend to tell him about exhaustion. Brother David replies, “You know that the antidote to exhaustion is not necessarily rest? The antidote to exhaustion is wholeheartedness.”

How true! We seek respite from our work in vacations, time in front of the television, reading, etc. Sometimes we feel so burned out from our fast pace that we feel physically and mentally exhausted, completely sick. If only we could see that it is not rest we need, but living a life that is true to our hearts. I am coming to realize this now, and reading this quote was affirmation of my feelings. I have rushed through two degrees and a full-time job without really stopping to think if my heart was in it. Now that I have stability, I am searching for some wiggle room. Luckily my job affords me a lot of time off to pursue my passions. I am deciding now how to live more fully in the wholehearted state, while still maintaining stability.

Brother David goes on to say, “You are only half here, and half here will kill you after a while.” I have lived a half life for quite a while, too afraid to jump in completely. I have dipped my toe in the waters of my heart, and pulled it back quickly when what it asked of me was too much to bear. No more. I am now wading into those waters, and finding that the temperature is just right.

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The Missing Piece

I just finished reading The Nature of Personal Reality: A Seth Book, and truly enjoyed it. One of the main messages I received is to truly experience each of your feelings without trying to negate them in any way. Many people try to suppress “negative” emotions and apply positivity like a bandaid. The wound remains underneath, unhealed and raw. Instead, you must examine your personal beliefs that cause your emotional states. Identify what you are feeling when you experience sadness, anger, or fear. When you honestly get to the core of your belief system, and face all aspects of yourself head on, you can start to make a change.

I wanted to share some of my favorite quotes from the book with you:

“You, being yourself, helps others to be themselves.”

“You must begin to trust yourself sometime. I suggest you do it now.”

“You cannot fear your own being and expect to travel through it, to explore its dimensions.”

“It is very important that you understand the true innocence of all feelings, for each of them, if left alone and followed, will lead you back to the reality of love.”

I especially like the last one; it is beautifully said. It has been challenging to examine my beliefs, because I find myself hiding some of the more painful ones from view. One of my personal beliefs has been that I think that I am unworthy and undeserving. I hid this from myself for the last month while reading this book, because I thought that I had gotten over it a while ago. Apparently I hadn’t. When I held this belief in front of me, I felt all of the corresponding emotions: pain, fear, sadness, humiliation, powerlessness, and emptiness. I immediately saw in my mind’s eye a puzzle, and each piece represented an accomplishment in my life. However, one puzzle piece was missing from the center of the puzzle. It was the belief in my self-worth, and I immediately knew that I could accomplish many wonderful things in my life, but without self worth, it would always feel like something was missing. It was so hard to face this, because I felt that my accomplishments would create my self-worth. I realize now that it is actually the other way around, and I am practicing changing my belief in my unworthiness.

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