With so much research, and information obtained during continued studies, one could presume that we ought to be more aware, and have more knowledge, of the human digestive system and nutrition than prior to the many decades of research.

So why are more people presenting, and being diagnosed, with gut issues over recent decades?

Is it simply the varied choices of consumption we have and are now making? Additives, fats, preservatives, farming practises and medicines have changed what we consume and how we consume.

Out of season foods become available all year round.  Previously local food choices cross climate zones and continents.  Farming practises create hidden ingredients and unnatural products for consumption.  ‘Fake foods’ imitate real ingredients and products.

The variances go on….

Is there more to this though?

Previous conversations with the Animal Realm confirmed our nutrition and food choices were not exactly role-model material and were affecting our vibrations, making us physically, emotionally and mentally sick, individually and as a species.

A more recent conversation revealed that there was more to our sickness as a global community than just our consumption choices.

We have also increased the quantity and quality of fear we allow ourselves to accommodate.

A familiar word mentioned throughout life’s experiences and referred to often during healing sessions and energy work but what is Fear?  How and why does it affect us?

We are all familiar, and many of us nervous, when we relate to fear created whilst ‘getting spooked’ experiencing movies, simulations, video games, books, and other similar avenues.  Fear can be triggered by trauma, when experiences and events spark different areas of our brain to react differently to ‘normal protocol’.  Stored and suppressed emotions rise to the surface unexpectedly to help our healing process.  We are stimulated into a sense of instability, survival and instinct by these fears.  Most of us, uncomfortably.

There is the frying pan in the face fear, when we are fully aware of feeling and experiencing it.  Then there is the more subtle, gentle fear, which is so settled into our psyche that we don’t always know it exists.  Sometimes we do, but prefer not to acknowledge it to protect ourselves and our comfort zone.

Whichever fear resides in our physical being, the longer it is left unattended, the longer the physical, emotional and mental challenges co-exist with it.  Fear doesn’t like to be lonely, there is more chance it will be identified, rectified and resolved when isolated.

It was last year when the handsome, wise Lee shared how fear can reside in our bodies like a festering splinter.  The longer it stays, the deeper it can travel, creating infection, sickness and disease.

By allowing fear to become a part of us, we begin to adapt to its needs and conditions until we feel we are living with fear comfortably.  We are not comfortable, only adjusted.

Like the infection from a splinter, the signs and symptoms associated with fear can be diverse and appear very distant to the source site of disease.

We begin to live with fear as a constant and, as we are shown more situations, events or beliefs to fear, we also create more fear within us.  Along with that experience or belief becoming a part of us, we also allow fear to become a part of us.  It is then becomes what we believe our existence to be.

The recent insight from our wise animal friends showed that as more humans struggle to process increasing concerns and fears associated with individual and global challenges, the greater the challenges associated with digestion.

The reason becomes clear when we understand why this is happening.

When we hold fear within us, we create a blockage, like a knot in our energetic pathways.  Instead of these pathways being clear to allow energy to flow freely around our physical and ethereal bodies, energy gets ‘stuck’ in the knot.  Imagine it as blood getting clogged up and not arriving to the required organs, cells and tissues in our physical body.  Our body would struggle to function, until it eventually ceased.

Chakras and meridians in our body create pathways for energy to flow freely.  If we are holding fear, it presents in our third chakra, the Manipura, or Solar Plexus Chakra.  This chakra regulates the energy around the centre of our physical body – just above the navel under the ribs area.  It regulates the functioning of the digestive system and adrenal glands.  Therefore, as more fear is stored, the blockage in our Solar Plexus increases, creating numerous symptoms, primarily digestive issues.

So many eating disorders relate to fear.  Eating to protect (fear of loss), eating (or not eating) through fear of rejection, comfort or isolation.  Struggling to digest information, a situation or event in life can create a number of digestive issues.  Many humans find the challenges of life stressful and fear they are not in control.  IBS, cramps and other stomach diseases present the more we allow fear to reside in us.

By taking back responsibility and control of ourselves, we begin to release fear.

Our species is, literally, sick to the stomach.  We are struggling to digest and process the ever-accumulating fear triggers.  We allow others, consciously or sub-consciously, to instil their beliefs onto us like they were our own.

It may be this lifetime or another, but many fears have been borrowed from somewhere, or someone, else and need to be released.  They do not empower or support us.

So, how do we release our fears and re-balance our guts?

Very gently.

Facing and releasing fears can take a day or lifetime, depending on how deep-rooted they are and our willingness to release.  We may have further learning attached to certain fears.  If we still have an outstanding lesson, we will be unable to release that fear until the lesson is complete.  We may not feel ready to face, acknowledge and process that fear yet.  Patience, compassion and gentleness on self are the keys to processing our fear.

To assist in the release of fear, we have multiple aids.

We can ask ourselves, what is it that triggers me? What emotions are being brought up and what is I fear from that trigger?

Anger, sadness, discomfort and frustration are some of the signs a fear has been triggered. The fear could be a belief you consider as truth. An assumption or learnt behaviour.

The process of release requires honesty and patience.  Facing up to our triggers and fears is often very challenging and can stir up a lot of mud that has had lifetimes to settle.

Observing our emotions gives us valuable insight into our own fears and triggers.  This process of non-judgemental observation can be very confronting but very rewarding when resolved.

A chakra balance and energy work can help balance the energetic pathways in and around the body.  Imbalances in the aura and physical body will often shed light on areas requiring healing.

The animals also suggested we can ‘See our Soul” when releasing fears.  It will help the process feel more comfortable.  By reconnecting with our true self, we connect with the fresh, clean, ‘unprogrammed’ self which is our Soul.  At Soul level we have no fear.  That feature resides in our physical, human self.  It can be carried through lifetimes when unresolved, also passed genetically through generations which is another great incentive to get processing.

Through recognising and acknowledging that we do not need to hold onto any fear, we learn to live freely without it.  We begin to recognise that we can exist without these triggers and learnt beliefs which created the fear.  By actively releasing all fear, we connect with a blissful freedom and peace in life.  That is when we realise, although sometimes easier to live in ignorance which is softer on our emotions, how unhealthy it was to suppress rather than release.

Happy life = Happy tummy.

I have often been asked why the world is so much more violent, chaotic and challenging over recent years in comparison to previous times.

Is our species heading to an awful destruction of humanity, our beautiful planet and all her inhabitants?

A common belief is, that is where humanity’s path leads to but since discussing this over many years with numerous insightful animal friends (human and non-human), it’s becoming clear that humanity is rapidly evolving and merging.

Technology is integrating us physically, culturally and socially, as many aspects of existence, including knowledge, travel, sustenance and work are more conveniently accessible.

We are physically evolving into a community of Earthlings rather than Nations.

The energetic ripples we emit individually are coming together in a seemingly chaotic motion.  This Universal Merge, as with all major merges, will sometimes feel very challenging, so by understanding that this apparent chaos is just colliding ripples, ripples which will naturally merge and subside, we can release all fear of what humanity is to become.  This leaves us to focus on what we are doing, and where we are now.  Sometimes easier said than actioned.

Challenges between different connections in my social circle left me feeling very heavy hearted recently.  Clashes between other’s beliefs got me feeling very overwhelmed with issues and struggles facing humanity as we merge and evolve into this Universal Society.

When feeling overwhelmed, the mantra “I am doing all I can, with what I have” brings us reassurance.  Then there are times when this just doesn’t pacify our human-ness.

Like a major renovation, by looking at and considering the whole, rather than individual components, we may never start anything.  The procrastinators amongst us would be frozen in terror.  By choosing one job, we take a forward movement.  However small it may feel at the beginning, it is still a step towards the goal – the full renovation.

The Universal Renovation we have taken on as a species, consciously or sub-consciously, simply requires each of us, as individuals, to find our own job – our purpose – and strive to honour that.

As each individual does the same, we are all picking a task in that renovation, making it more achievable and less challenging for ourselves and each other, mentally, emotionally and physically.

Following my recent moment of feeling overwhelmed, I sat with the ever-patient Animal Realm to ask for their insight and wisdom.  I asked if they would share something with us for when we feel swamped and challenged on our journey.

They replied with two simple but strong messages:  “Keep moving” and “Awareness”.

The animals are urging us to keep our momentum going, as individuals and as One.  Keep that wheel of change rolling.  There are enough of us to keep it turning for when others need to rest, which we will.

Their message regarding awareness was more than just about creating it, which they are very eager for us to intensify.  They also explained how awareness cannot live alongside control.  Something which is getting more common and which is creating many challenges.

“The first step toward change is awareness. The second step is acceptance.” Nathaniel Branden

When we bring awareness, we are bringing knowledge, perspective and consciousness of a subject or situation to ourselves or someone else.

Creating awareness has been expedited since the emergence of a technology-fuelled society.  Whether it’s an awareness of a belief, culture, ourselves, event or each other, social media and the world web has given easy access to sharing and receiving information.

Awareness is invaluable in understanding other’s views, our own beliefs, journeys and so much more. It brings infinite insight.

Sometimes, our ego can then add a touch of control to the mix whilst raising awareness.  We go beyond bringing knowledge and information to each other, and instead focus on converting others to enact or embrace the subject or situation we are enlightening them about.

By attaching control to awareness, we are blinkering the insight.  We begin to remove the vision of choice and opinion, debate and discussion.  What can be learnt from the other point of view is often lost because we are so focussed on converting our listener. 

We may not agree with the awareness being shared with us, but we may still learn from that insight.

To ease the effects of the Universal Renovation on ourselves, we can simplify our tasks.  Realise that we are unable, and not required, to control any other being or attempt to make them another version of ourselves.  This applies to all species.  The effort saved in trying to control a situation or another being can then be focussed on creating more awareness.

Release control and focus on bringing awareness to others from a place of compassion and openness.

When encountering injustice, misguided or misinformed information, bring pure awareness to that situation with no added ingredients.  While informing others, remain transparent.  Offer alternatives and help each other know and understand the facts while remaining open to learn from others bringing knowledge.

Raising awareness raises consciousness.

Hiding from awareness promotes fear and ignorance, making the Universal Merge experience much more turbulent for all.

“It’s a fact—everyone is ignorant in some way or another.
Ignorance is our deepest secret.
And it is one of the scariest things out there, because those of us who are most ignorant are also the ones who often don’t know it or don’t want to admit it.

Here is a quick test:
If you have never changed your mind about some fundamental tenet of your belief, if you have never questioned the basics, and if you have no wish to do so, then you are likely ignorant.
Before it is too late, go out there and find someone who, in your opinion, believes, assumes, or considers certain things very strongly and very differently from you, and just have a basic honest conversation.

It will do both of you good.”   Vera Nazarian

The following stems from a question I asked the Animal Realm recently while pondering life, our needs and purposes.

I asked them:

“Where will all the Souls go as more people follow a vegan lifestyle and fewer animals are consumed for food?”

I questioned how there would be fewer bodies for all the Souls to incarnate into.

It intrigued me.  Where would these Souls go?

The reply from the ever-patient Animal Realm was very clear.  “There will be less of us needed.  We are many while humans are transforming and developing.  We are here to infect with love”.

They showed me a big cloak of love energy, like a clear ripple from a blast, covering us all.  These selfless Souls will no longer need to incarnate into physical beings to raise our vibration and awareness.  They will be able to remain as energy and exist as energy.  That specific mission will be completed and they will continue to co-exist and connect with us from the higher vibrations.

A physical form is not essential, or required, to exist. That is only an human perception of life – a physical beating heart and breathing body.

So, what if life is energy, rather than life is the body?

Our perception of our connection with other animals and all around us would shift from temporary to infinite.

We would see, feel and experience our relationships as the eternal bonds that they are and not just fleeting moments in a ‘lifetime’.

By understanding that energy is existence and life is energy, we begin to realise we are actually all immortal.  Energy never ceases, therefore life never ceases.  Our connections never cease.

Our bodies are time-limited carriages, valuable aids to facilitate us though our purpose on Earth but we, as beings, are immortal.

As shared in previous articles, many humans understand existence from a three-dimensional perspective.  We are often only seeing the physical dimension and are unmindful to the other dimensions of existence where there is much to learn.

Aldous Huxley suggested that the function of the brain, nervous system and sensory organs is to filter information rather than for production.

Rather than our senses getting overwhelmed with the concept of multiple planes, the brain protects us and limits our senses to allow us to function physically.

So, what if we are beginning the process of change?  Shifting from brain dependant beings to spiritual beings?

Our species is already searching for, adjusting to and existing in other dimensions.  We are trying to venture further into our understanding of the Universe to explore ‘outer space’ but these explorations are still focussing solely on the physical aspect – moving our physical bodies via physical transport devices to physical locations and entities.

Some of my companions have previously asked why humans need to physically travel to be with loved ones when we can, and do, exist together at higher vibrations.  I reminded them of our human need to physically connect with others during important lifetime events, which received a compassionate nod of understanding.

The animals are sharing that it is time for us all to start focussing and practising travelling energetically to each other to higher vibrations and dimensions.  This will take practise, adjustment and re-thinking but it is something we can all do.  Many already do, with and without realising.  When we send our love, thoughts and prayers to others, we are being with them energetically from a distance.  We are sending our energy ‘out there’.  Now it is time for us to practise connecting with the energies we receive to create a two-way interaction.

This also got me pondering how the advancement of social media could be playing a part in this evolvement?

Often portrayed as the demise of intimate interactions, could social media be preparing us, as a species, for the advancement of non-contact and non-verbal communications?

Animal communication has been a catalyst for my journey, and many others, into energy travel and communication.  It facilitates one to energetically connect and ‘be’ with another being when not physically together, making it invaluable to growth, purpose and existence.

As my beautiful Spirit Companion, Xena, shared:

“We are all existing in a big bowl of energetic soup.  Those of us existing as physical beings are the croutons, veggies and other solid ingredients floating around with our energetic loved ones who have Transitioned or are waiting to join us.  We can feel them and sometimes see them with us, around us and supporting us.  The soup is whole but we are all individual ingredients combining together to become one substance.”

Bon Appetit

“Do humans need to eat meat?
What do animals feel about us eating meat?
Are we nourishing our bodies by eating meat?
Do other animals choose to be food for humans?”

Questions keep emerging with a similar theme regarding human consumption of other animals.

These are questions which create heated, healthy discussions about the roles other species share in our existence and us in theirs.
More humans are questioning our need, as a species and individuals, to consume the flesh of others.

All these questions have varying catalysts but a common theme:

Our relationship with, and understanding of, animals as food.

That so many people are asking these questions shows an increased awareness of our relationship and connectedness with the animals living alongside us.

When I put these questions to the animals and asked about the relationship humans have with other animals as a food source, they readily shared the word ‘disconnection.’

They showed a state of disconnection that began thousands of years ago, back to the moment when humans realised they could fence other animals.  Humans became collectors rather than hunters.

No longer were we hunting someone, we owned something.  Free will, choices and options for other intelligent, sentient animals were removed and the relationship of hunter/prey morphed into owner/property.

Food used to control our existence, we now control the existence of food in its many forms.

We continued to disconnect from understanding these animals as beings with Souls and, instead, connected with them as items of food.

Culinary names replaced species names as animals became dinner items rather than prey.  By altering the identification of the food source, this sense of disconnection became the norm.
Over time, humans lost almost all memory of the knowledge animals had to share.

Hunters and prey learn from and teach each other much.  Survival techniques, connection to Mother Earth and other species, respect for each other, gratitude and appreciation are strong when humans live alongside other species as equals.  Differences in physique, needs and abilities are recognised and existence is as one breathing, functioning unit.

As the physical, spiritual and emotional connections between species faded, what was a deep, knowing relationship became a very loose association with each other. 

The characteristics of certain species continued to be understood but we lost sight of these animals as individual beings with emotions, free choice and free will.

The animals acknowledge an understanding of why some humans use techniques to disassociate themselves from what they are eating and ask that we begin to reconnect with what, and who, we are consuming and fuelling our bodies with.

The animals also mentioned that we began to forget our association with what is around us: energy, and the ripple effect we have on each other.

When we individually move, react to something, have a thought, anything we do, we create a ripple which impacts on everything.  Depending on what we do within this web, we either help or hurt ourselves and each other.

Pain, trauma, disease etc. impact this network like a shockwave going through it.  The ripples become sporadic, heightened and uneven.  Through creating pain and trauma for another, we are doing that to ourselves.  By ingesting an animal who has been traumatised, we are consuming the remnant energy bonded to that trauma.  Energy cannot be destroyed, so any remnant energy is being transferred from one being to another, impacting on the new body.  The vibrational balance of that being then becomes unbalanced, often causing physical, emotional or mental illnesses to present.

The animals acknowledged that there are humans who still feel that they need to eat meat but that is on a vibrational level, not a physical necessity anymore.  They shared that meat slows the body’s vibration down, like a blockage within the digestive tract.

As a species, the animals shared that we do not need meat to survive, saying that as individuals, some are still weaning from previous lifetimes.  That is why some people find giving up meat challenging, they are still weaning.  We are weaning as individuals and as a species.  The human body, as a machine, is also adapting to a meatless diet.  Humans are developing and evolving physically into a species that won’t need meat.  As it is still a process, the species and body can feel challenged during that transition.

The whole process of disconnection, dissociation, reconnecting and rediscovery has created a gradual but very significant shift.  A shift that is still in the cycle of returning to respect, compassion and understanding.  More humans are recognising and acknowledging the emotions, thought processes, feelings and knowledge other animals have and are wanting to share.

An awareness is returning, faster than it was forgotten. 

Our knowledge has not been lost or found, just forgotten and now we’re remembering.

The animals living alongside us are amplifying this knowledge by helping us to reopen our memory stores.

To maintain balance we must give and take, there needs to be an exchange.

We can do this simply by looking into the eyes of another being and exchanging understanding, connection and love instead of disconnecting ourselves, our emotions, our instincts and our compassion.

While listening to music, recently, I got wondering about our connection with music, moods and energy levels. 
What is it with music that resonates with us all?

Then it came to me:
It’s all about the vibrations.  Just as the Beach Boys sang to us in their hit Good Vibrations.

It scared me the word ‘vibrations’. To think that invisible feelings, invisible vibrations existed, scared me to death.  My mother told me about dogs that would bark at people and not others, that a dog would pick up vibrations from these people who you can’t see but you can feel.  And the same existed with people”.         Brian Wilson, Rolling Stone Magazine 1976

We often connect with the vibration of the music which resonates with where we are at energetically. 
Could it be that our energy is harmonising with the music?
Research has shown that music can help people with cognitive illnesses learn a new perspective in their thinking.  Music therapy has been proven to help chronic and acute pain, reduce stress and “help those affected by injury, illness or disability through supporting their psychological, emotional, cognitive, physical, communicative and social needs”.  (British Association for Music Therapy).

Numerous studies have shown the effects of music when played to animals and plants alike.
While this research and various studies are great advocates for music therapy, the majority of information focusses on the chemical effect on the recipient.   What about the effect on our vibration? Are they connected?    

“When you’re happy, you enjoy the music but when you’re sad, you understand the lyrics.”       Frank Ocean

Many healers, energy workers, light workers and spiritual workers mention vibrational energy when discussing their work and modalities, but what is our vibrational energy?

Without attempting to sound like an high school Physics teacher, I’d only get myself lost! I’ll attempt a brief overview of energy and vibration:  Stick with me a moment.

We are, and everything around us is, made up of particles of energy.  Everything then vibrates because energy just does that.  We all have our own energy field, with multiple layers, within and around us and the level at which our energy vibrates affects our state of being.  Things which vibrate slowly are considered low vibrations and make up the physical realms and, as our vibration speeds up, or gets higher, we move into higher states of awareness and consciousness, the Spiritual realms.  When particles vibrate at a very high level, they become unseen. A bit similar to water turning to vapour.  The particles of energy are not always visible in this state but we know they are there because the water was visible just before we boiled the kettle. 

So, after that physics mini-recap, (a whole lifetime of theories and learning in one paragraph!), it’s safe to summarise that our vibrational state directly affects our state of existence. 

Lower vibrational energies, as I mentioned before, exist in the very physical realm.  We feel very connected with, and become aware of, all things human about ourselves at this level.  Our emotions, our pain, our challenges, our ego.  This is the state for processing emotions, events and trauma as well as acknowledging, accepting and releasing.  It’s where we need to be to begin our journey into growth and healing.

As we learn, or rediscover, our ability to raise our vibrational energy, we begin to increase our well-being.  We begin to self-heal, reducing our levels of stress and dis-ease.  We help our physical, emotional, spiritual and mental bodies find balance and harmony.  Raising our vibration can be achieved via multiple paths, individually or combined, which I’ll explain later.  These methods often involve diving deep within ourselves, our psyche, and questioning, facing and changing vital factors which we’re allowing to keep us comfortable in our lower vibrational state.

There are many reasons to deal with issues attached to our lower vibrational energy, our physical issues, and we need to go to this state of being to begin growth on every level of our being. 

Often mistakenly understood and portrayed as ‘negative’ aspects of ourselves, our challenges and traits in those lower vibrations are crucial to self-development.  They are as much a part of us and our growth as our ‘positive’ traits.  It’s necessary to spend time acknowledging our fears, our addictions, our anger, our grief, our challenges, our beliefs and our dis-eases.  They are all a part of who we are, why we are here and are aids in our Soul’s development.  Characteristics for us to learn from. 

When we learn, we grow.

Acknowledging, although a major first step, is only the beginning of the climb.  We then move on to the understanding, learning, processing and releasing of what we acknowledged.

This is one of the many reasons some people chose to tread water above the issues going on inside of them.  The danger of staying in these lower vibrations becomes very real because it can be seen as a place of sanctuary.  Many comfort zones, fears, learnt behaviour and social imprinting have set up shop in this space of lower vibrations.  How long we shop here depends on what we need to learn and process.  It is vital to remind ourselves, regularly, that this is not a space to permanently move to, just to visit on holiday until we have processed what is required.  Like a retreat (no coincidence we retreat into ourselves to do this). 

When we stay in these lower vibrations without addressing our issue, we can become a victim or hostage to our lesson.  We allow it to become a ‘normal’ state of existence, we adapt our life to accommodate it and condition ourselves to life with that fear, that emotion, that illness.  When we take the step to addressing our fear, our guilt, our grief, whatever our lesson is, we begin to raise our vibration.  We can then allow ourselves to release what we have learnt from and begin to heal.

What if we are not ready to face, or process, our lesson yet?  We may not have realised, or want to acknowledge, what it is we need to process.  When this happens, that lesson will continue to manifest as a physical ‘issue’. 

Whether it’s a behavioural trait, re-surfacing emotion, a trigger, illness or injury, it will reside with you until the cycle of acknowledgement, processing and release has been fulfilled.    

Without processing these aspects of ourselves, we are simply applying fresh paint over a weather-beaten piece of wood.  It may look tidy and neat on the surface, but underneath it will continue to deteriorate and fall apart.  We need to address and fix what’s underneath for an holistic, long-term solution.
So, once we have accepted our lesson and decided it’s time to help ourselves heal, how do we raise our vibration?

There are many modalities and methods which assist with this.  Some we can do ourselves, others we can seek assistance from others to assist us to heal ourselves. 

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, Sound and Music Therapy are fantastic methods of raising our vibration.  Even if we don’t attend a structured session with a therapist, listening to music which resonates happiness, joy and positivity will uplift and assist healing.
Many other creative outlets, such as art, writing and craft also stimulate healing. 

Spending quality time with our animal companions and in nature will, without effort, raise our vibrations.  Animals and plants have a naturally occurring higher vibration than most humans.  They live and exist in the present, without many of the energy imbalances most humans develop throughout their physical life.  This is due to many factors, most of which are why we find ourselves in the lower vibrations.  Animals and plants live without the social conditioning and learnt behaviours many humans develop as they grow.  They don’t develop the belief patterns many humans do as they develop through childhood.  They don’t hold onto emotions or live in fear.  All of which keep us from raising our vibration and healing.  By just ‘being’ in this higher vibration with them, we raise ours.  This is why we often feel good after being in nature or spending time with our beloved companion.

Animals and plants exist in a state of higher vibration, making them natural healers. 

Meditation enables us to just ‘be’ with ourselves.  To connect with self both on a cellular and higher consciousness level.  It can be a gateway to realisation, acceptance, enlightenment, understanding, connection and so much more.  Meditations can be guided (with the use of pre-recorded audio or a meditation teacher), in group or practised alone.  Whether it’s a 5 minute meditation or 1 hour, it will help raise our vibration, bringing healing and awareness.

Reiki is a wonderful method of raising our vibration.  Whether it’s Self-Reiki, following an Attunement, or seeking the assistance of a Reiki practitioner, this gentle energy healing modality connects with the Universal Source Energy to raise the vibration of the recipient and heals on multiple energy levels.  Reiki gently encourages the body, Soul and mind to heal itself, promoting an holistic, thorough treatment.

Flower Essences, Bush Essences and essential oils are wonderful aids when we seek healing.  The essences are produced by harvesting the vibrational essence of the plant or flower.  They work directly with the vibrations in our energy fields to bring balance and encourage self-healing.   Essential oils focus more on the cellular level, stimulating areas of the limbic and respiratory systems, amongst others.  They also help the body to heal itself and balance energies in the surrounding environment. 

Other forms of energy healing and bodywork, including amongst many others, are Light, crystal and Pranic.  They all work with our energy fields to bring our vibration higher and heal on multiple levels.  Our energy flows in waves, just as in sound, light and wind.  

Nature’s energy waves and our energy waves harmonise when we are in balance, raising our vibration and promoting healing, awareness and understanding.

Changes in diet and medication can help raise the vibration of our energy field.  What we fuel our physical body with impacts on how we perform and function.  Like all fuel, if we use the wrong product, we can mess up the well-tuned mechanics of the body.  This can then manifest as disease, illness, behavioural issues and more.  Medications, like a poor diet, can suppress the physical body’s own ability to adapt and heal.  A change of medication is not always a possibility so combining conventional medicine with one or more of these natural healing modalities helps the recipient balance the effects of the medication on their energetic and physical levels.

Through these modalities, the energy fields within and around our physical, emotional, mental and Spiritual bodies harmonise with the vibrations of the Universal energy.  As we change the level of our vibration through healing, it resonates through our physical, mental and emotional bodies, lifting the vibration of our multiple energetic layers.

We are re-balanced and, as our vibrations rises, so does our awareness of our connection to ourselves, our loved ones, and our world. 

Our awareness of the Higher Consciousness is heightened and we recognise who we truly are at Soul Level. 

It can be challenging, confronting and unsettling to hear that what you thought you were doing to help someone, could be serving completely the opposite purpose.

Sometimes, it can be more comfortable for us to fully commit to helping others if it is:

• easy for us
• within our understanding
• something we have experienced ourselves.

It takes more effort and feels more uncomfortable when we are helping from a place of uncertainty. 

So how do we know what help, if any, someone is really needing?

Simple:

• Step 1: Ask them.
• Step 2: Honour their response.

By connecting and communicating with other species we co-exist with, we can do this, just as easily as asking our partner on the couch, neighbour across the fence and even ourselves.  (Although we can all be guilty of not honouring our own needs on occasion.)

One of the many benefits that comes from communicating with others is being shown things from their perspective.  It’s a valuable insight.

Many humans would understand so much more about the true needs of other species, and their own, if they saw and heard it from that viewpoint.

We are not able to fully help animals, including ourselves, until we see things from that Soul’s perspective.

A simple shift from what we think another wants and needs, to what we know they want and need is a massive step.  A simple but critical oversight which can go unnoticed when helping others.

Perspective does not rely on understanding and agreement to exist.  When combined with understanding, it offers great insight and growth, but even if we don’t understand, an alternative perspective has so much value. 

Perspective, I feel, isn’t right or wrong.  How can it be, if it is someone ‘seeing’ from their own experience?  How can another being view something incorrectly?

A battle scar is a constant ugly reminder of a traumatic experience to one being, while another welcomes it as a sign of strength from a battle survived. How someone else sees that scar is insignificant, possibly even judgemental.

Requesting a vet to euthanize a suffering loved companion can send waves of guilt through families for years.   If only they saw how their loyal companion was wanting that release from their failing physical body.  Many animals have shared the need to leave their physical bodies for various reasons.  Pain, physical limitations, to assist their humans better from Spirit, or maybe to join someone already Transitioned.  Their point of view, and needs, during this time are crucial to honouring their purpose.

Animals being transported for food are not wanting fear, pity, anger and misunderstanding from animal welfare campaigners meeting them at the gates of the slaughterhouse.  These selfless beings, born into the farming industry, have chosen to do so to bring awareness to the increasingly intensive processes and greed associated with it.  They are extremely sensitive and empathic to the overwhelming cries, shouts, anger and fear from those trying to bring awareness to their plight.

It is upsetting for them at a time when they are needing strength and understanding.  These animals ask for our love, respect, compassion, support and gratitude to help ease their journey and purpose.

They want to reassure all humans campaigning for their welfare that they fully understand their chosen life path and ask them to focus all that passionate energy into helping them raise awareness through other, more productive methods. They are wanting focus and transparency brought to the industry but via other resources.

By offering them this support we are helping them on their own purpose, not aiding our own agenda.

We need to shift our thinking radically, here, to help them and not make it more traumatic or upsetting.

Other species exist at a much higher vibration than many humans. Their connection with Source, and awareness of the Higher Purpose and their existence, is more acute than many humans.

Most humans live and exist predominantly in lower, physical vibrations.  We seek to help others, predominantly, in that state.  From that level, we get a perspective that is on a single dimension, it does not factor so many other levels of existence and ‘being’ which other species and beings know and understand.

This perspective limits our understanding and vision of a Soul’s existence, also limiting our understanding and ability when helping others.

We can offer advice and guidance to others, when it’s sought, but it’s important to always check-in with ourselves that we are offering this from the perspective, and for the good, of the recipient and their higher purpose.

We all have a purpose in this life, regardless of species.  To respect another’s purpose, and honour it, is crucial to co-existence.  This begins with helping others from a perspective of theirs, not our own.

Grief.  Its processing and accepting it into our daily routine.

• Peanut butter.
• Bed-space.
• Returning home from work.
• Carrots.
• Vacuuming.
• Grocery shopping.
• Being able to unexpectedly stay out all night.
• Porridge.
• Music.

Up until recently these were all very random, uneventful items and events…….. Until the beanbag incident.

I thought I had processed my grief following the passing of our much-loved and cuddled Staffy, Xena.

I had found myself recalling so many shared memories happily and with a smile.  Odd moments attracted nostalgia, a tear or two, a sigh and a pause but life was continuing on since Xena checked into Rainbow Bridge.

For the past 6 years, rights to a resident beanbag had been mutually shared. More mutually by me but it was considered dual occupancy.  Xena had the beanbag whilst I positioned myself, yogi-like, on top of the remaining beans. Fair deal (in her big brown eyes).

It was a mobile occupancy.  Moments shared in our bean-bag included the deck, in front of the TV, on holidays but mainly in The Healing Room where we spent many hours working together.

To then, one day, have sole rights to said bean bag was not a moment for celebration.  There was just too much space and I was not comfortable.  The multitude of beans brought emotions back to the surface which I’d considered processed, not dormant.

Xena joined me during that moment of resurging emotions but I still had all the beans.  There was no requirement to contort around her little body, allowing her to snooze undisturbed.  I felt her laughing warmly as I wrote this.  Suggesting I make myself uncomfortable for nostalgia’s benefit.  I graciously declined and thanked her for her advice, making a mental note to get more beans.  My bottom didn’t sink to the floor with two of us in it.  Maybe it did, I just never noticed.

Just as I never noticed the significance of the items on the above list either.  They were just items and events prior to Xena’s ‘departure’.

 

Suddenly, every aisle in the supermarket became a reminder of Xena.

Grocery shopping morphed from a part-present meander into a teary blurred dash as each aisle housed an item fit for our Warrior Princess.

The uneventful process of plastering a layer of peanut butter onto a slice of toast became a monumental mountain of emotions as I revisited Xena’s choice of food in her final days.

The lack of clippety-clop as her nails crossed the hardwood floorboards to welcome you home, turned silence into a deafening emptiness.

And housework turned me into a heartless traitor.  How could I possibly vacuum her hairs away?

I felt like I was erasing her slowly as each hair was sucked up.

Washing her blankets and bandanas were not cleansing experiences.  Who would have known housework could become such a conflict of so many emotions?  We did have a giggle to ourselves when I suggested to Xena maybe I should never clean the house again!

Throughout this whole processing of grief, a process which will keep me company for this lifetime, I was graced with the comfort that I could still connect with Xena.  I had not fully redeveloped the ability to communicate with other animals before our beautiful girl, Ethel, relocated to Rainbow Bridge and found her passing much more traumatic.

With Xena, she had prepared us for her transition and brought in so much support for herself, and us, while she went through that process.  We connect often which brings so much comfort.

Grief still pops by to say hello and acts as a gentle, sometimes not so gentle, reminder of how much love we shared.  If we hadn’t shared so much love, we would not feel so much grief.

Grief is merely love wearing a different mask.

Other emotions which accompanied the grief, namely guilt, disappointment, regret and loss have subsided.  Xena has walked me through that minefield.  Interestingly, a dear friend mentioned recently how she has surrendered to her situation and experience of a very turbulent pregnancy.  I noted simultaneously how I have surrendered to my grief and its process during this experience.  As my friend surrenders to her challenging experience of creating life, I surrender to the events surrounding a loved one leaving this lifetime.  I surrendered totally to the events surrounding Xena’s Transition.

It was suggested to me that I had maybe processed my guilt too quickly.  But by feeling guilt and regret would suggest I had an option of controlling Xena’s Transition.  Maybe I did, but to have taken the process of her passing into my own control would have been for self-benefit.  To relocate control of another being’s final choices during their lifetime, away from them, would have been unjust and undignified for anyone, especially for our Warrior Princess.

Allowing another to Transition as s/he chooses, is the most selfless act of love we can offer them.

It is often said that when a loved one passes into Spirit, we feel a part of us goes with them, like they are taking part of us with them.  There is always a part of us in a loved one when they pass on and they are in us, and will continue to be.  Like the ocean when waves move along the beach, droplets will be left on the beach and evaporate in the heat.

We will move on physically from one another as our energies change but we continue to be part of the same consciousness. 

The droplets remain part of the ocean and always return there over time.  That is the special personal bond and connection we share with loved ones for eternity.

Prior to our beautiful, Xena, Transitioning into Spirit last year, she took a moment during a Reiki session to show me an image of what she called the Rose of Life.

It was an image of twisted plant roots spiralling up into a tower. Humans were entwined amongst the roots which spiralled up to a higher platform of consciousness.

Xena continued to explain how, during the process of Transition, a Soul who has connected strongly with another Soul in the physical world may choose for part of her/himself to leave when a loved one, or someone they have formed a strong connection with in the physical realm, passes in Spirit. The process involved specific Souls combining energetically while in physical form.

It got me thinking, is it possible, then, to be actually mourning and missing a part of our own Soul when a loved one returns to Spirit?

It would explain why grief affects us differently as individuals and with each individual relationship.  There is the obvious lack of physical connection which we lose and mourn when a loved one passes.  There is the removal of verbal and visual contact which we also grieve for, but there is something much deeper which Xena was showing me during that Reiki session.

Could it be this disconnection from a part of our own Soul which makes us feel so lost and alone after the passing of someone we are strongly connected to?

Is this why grief is an experience as individual as we are? Something we all process differently and in our own time because we are, in fact, readjusting at a Soul level?

For anyone who has ‘lost’ someone they loved, the physical pain within their heart can feel unbearable to continue living with.  To some, it is, and there are numerous instances of people Transitioning soon after their beloved has passed, even when they were in reportedly good health prior.  Could this simply be that their Soul has decided to fully join their connected Soul on their return to Spirit?  Maybe their joint purpose in the physical realm was fulfilled.

The imagery and process Xena shared would also explain why we often still feel someone we love around us after s/he has moved on.  Because our Souls have combined, part of her/him will still be within us and vice-versa.  They never completely leave us while we are so entwined energetically.  There are numerous sayings such as “You’ll always live on in my heart”. “Forever in my heart”. “Safe in my heart forever” etc. We feel this within us.  There is a deeper level of understanding that someone is, and always will be, in our heart because we are so interconnected.

Knowing that part of a loved one does stay with us, and us with them, after leaving physically brings enormous comfort.  It did for me when Xena passed.  I realised that we never really ‘lose’ someone when they Transition, nor do they lose us.

Xena’s Transition was still painful while I processed the grief of her physical absence and some sadness and hurt do occasionally return when I have more to process, but by understanding what she patiently and lovingly showed me has made it bearable and easier to live with.  I feel her existence within me constantly and by connecting with her energy, I connect with Xena.

Although we are not all able to physically see those who Transition after they move on, we can begin to feel and sense them around us if we take time to be still and connect with them from our hearts.  For many, this may take some time following the period of grieving because we are busy processing many emotions.  It can be challenging to be truly still enough to connect, but it will come and when it does, it will bring enormous comfort, love and understanding.

So I embrace my grief as a continual reminder of my love for a very special Warrior Princess and encourage anyone else living with grief to do the same.

Allow it to teach and guide you whenever you need to process another aspect or emotion involved in the experience.

The communications with Xena have delivered comfort, understanding and release.  It is a comfort I am wanting all others to be able to experience themselves which is why, with the guidance of Xena and many other patient animals, we aim to bring Animal Communication to as many people as possible.