Intuition: Instinctive Knowledge

Today I am interviewing Amy Cerny Vasterling, the Intuitive Pathfinder (Intuitive Reader). It is through Amy that I have gathered some of the information in my soon-to-be-published book, "My Spirit, My Journey-A Beginners Guide: How To Discover, Decide, And Delight In Your Spiritual Journey".

How do you define intuition?

I define intuition as our ability to sense via discernment or inner knowing. A way I often define how to work with it for my clients is it’s about seeing a pattern or connection in everything. If everything is connected, therefore there is nothing, which cannot be connected. 

Does everyone have intuition, or just certain people?

I believe we all have it and I believe some of us have it stronger than others but it is a skill to be honed, not a gift. 

"At that moment my son stuck a key in the socket and fell to the floor."

What are some indicators to know you are receiving intuitive information?

I feel intuition comes in two forms in my life, however, I think they are the same thing. This example comes in the form of a story. My daughter and I were in the kitchen preparing dinner when we both put down our cooking utensils and walked out to the living room without speaking or knowing why. At that moment my son stuck a key in the socket and fell to the floor. Both of us "knew" something was wrong. I believe we pick this up from the electromagnetic field of our heart. We sensed what was happening in the quantum field (the energy between the atoms) and it draws us in surpassing judgment. 

I also know because I am amply able to do it that we are able to see, smell, taste (ick), feel and sense energy and read it. This is psychic ability but a true intuitive passes it through their discernment before they dish it up. Many people today align to calling themselves "Intuitive" and I would challenge each of them for a definition. This is going to help you align with the best match in a good reader/intuitive for your specific needs. 

"This is psychic ability but a true intuitive passes it through their discernment before they dish it up."

Please tell us about some of the work you do as an intuitive.

This career has offered me a grand platform on which to expand. I've been a keynote speaker on the topic of aligning with your true self, spoken on a panel as the expert on "Reading Energy" and traveled around the US speaking about intuition and how to work with your own. I also teach on the topics of transforming grief, empowering kids through parenting and grandparenting, intuition and self-empowerment workshops. I coach, counsel and read for individuals as I can quickly see their core issues and give them tools so they can find the solutions. Lastly, I am currently working on a forthcoming project of podcasting on a whole host of topics. Some including but are not limited to; understanding what the angel, guide, saint, etc realms are and how they work. This will launch January 2016. Watch my website for more information.

I also am a fine artist and am working on a large body of work including 1,000 images. I draw with India ink on canvas using scientific eyedroppers and work with oil paint, sometimes using both! To learn more about this work visit my website at www.amycernyvasterling.com

"Have fun! My motto is 'Come and open yourself to a world, which in truth is all yours!'"

Can you give some suggestions for someone wanting to develop and work with their intuition?

Yes! My top suggestions are:

1) Ask a question! Before you go to sleep in those few moments when you are relaxed see if you can see, hear, sense, feel or smell something. If yes, ask about what it is and why it's showing up. If nothing, try again tomorrow night and so on. 

(Please note, I've been reading for years and it is subtle information that comes up for me, I can't see "it all" and I am no better at it than you. The difference is I committed to looking because I am a super curious person! I kept asking questions to the universe and they'd show up in a conversation or article in a magazine or another way for myself and I’d see them directly for others. I've read for hundreds of people and this experience has taught me the most. I say to my clients, "In 10 years the reader I'll be." Meaning we all start somewhere and 10 years ago I was in a totally different place so start somewhere, anywhere!)

2) Be CURIOUS! All energy is good energy. If you are afraid of evil, you probably are not to be entering this arena! Why? Because you are setting yourself up to fail based on what others say in place of what you have experienced. If you are going to jump into reading based on the ideas of others, stop. How YOU read energy likens to whom you are and how you operate not how others operate. The best thing to do is learn on your own without influence. Now, I know this is not for everybody but I see a lot of drama around reading. I've seen a lot of things and I can tell you this, I've met energies that were ready to take me down but instead of getting scared, I allowed, trusted and asked them what they need. What I found was the energy was simply misplaced, displaced or misunderstood. Just like humans! If we are in any of those attributes we will be horrible as an earthling! (Hitler is a prime example, he was misunderstood and this is what made him become so controlling, angry and destructive.) So I meet the energy to see if I can help. Most times I figured it out. Except when there are tricksters I call their bluff, roll my eyes and tell them to go away and they do.

3) Have fun! My motto is "Come and open yourself to a world, which in truth is all yours!"

4) Ask to read for people, start your process and trust yourself. After you read for them, say to yourself, within 1 year they'll come back to me and let me know how the reading served them. It helps to have validation.

5) I've spoken to dogs, moved ghosts to the other side, gotten confessions from them and from murders still living. I've found there is nothing, which has come up that I couldn't do. I am able to read as a medium but I do not do it unless it is a murder, suicide or accidental death because my belief system does not align with me connecting you to your loved ones and Its not my sweet spot. Be true to you! Do what feels super easy, interesting and fun! This is what will make you unique. Then once you gain confidence, try other things. I am serious when I say a man approached me and said, "Can you talk to dogs." I said "No" Then I started spouting out what the dog wanted to tell him. He confirmed with me right there what I was saying was accurate. I gave him tools he could not see. I could talk to animals and I never knew it. Open up, you never know what skill you have in your back pocket.

6) Being highly psychic or intuitive does not make you special. I live a normal human life within my amazing family. I am married, have kids and am by most accounts a normal human being. Everything I've learned is self-taught. Public speaking, self-taught. Reading, self-taught. Creating classes & teaching, self-taught. You get the picture. I teach intuition so you learn it from you.

Thank you so much, Amy, for sharing your knowledge and experience with us!

To learn more about Amy, visit her website at intuitivepathfinder.com.

Empath vs. Empathy-What's The Difference?

Today I am interviewing Julianna Muthu, Shamanic Counselor, Energy Healer and Mystic. It is through Julianna that I have gathered some of the information in my soon-to-be-published book, "My Spirit, My Journey-A Beginners Guide: How To Discover, Decide, And Delight In Your Spiritual Journey".

Julianna, tell us about your first memory of empathic feelings.

Great question.  Before I even answer that, I think its important to clarify the difference between “empathy” and being an “empath”.  Thanks to Caroline Van Kimmenade for her clear articulation.

When we experience empathy, we are able to “relate” to the experience or situation of another.    As an empath, we shift into more psychic experiences called clairsentience - “clear feeling.”  An empath senses or feels the information she receives, rather than thinks her way through.   

The clearest experience I had of understanding myself  as one who feels the emotions of others was when I was having dinner with a friend who was sharing about a recent breakup. I felt a pain in my heart that I was clear was her pain, not mine. Or, at least, my interpretation of her pain.  

We must be very discerning in our interpretations of our feelings as empaths;  My body will speak to me in a way that has meaning for me that I have had to discover.  It is important to be very careful about interpreting what we are feeling, and putting that on another person. Just because my heart was hurting, didn't necessarily mean that my friend's heart was hurting,  it may only mean there is high probability that some part of her was hurting about this breakup. What I can say for sure is I experienced a pain in my heart that wasn’t mine.

So you were able to tell right away that it wasn't your feeling, it was hers?

Yes.

Did it take you by surprise?

It really did. In fact, I think had I not had some previous awareness through reading or listening to other people or some basic understanding that this was possible, I think I would have thought I was having a heart attack.

It was pretty heavy?

It was momentary, but it was sharp and intense. I think I could have gone into a place of fear if I hadn't had some understanding of what was occurring.

"I couldn't differentiate what was mine and what was somebody else's."

It was the very first clear experience I had of feeling something that  was not mine.  I had grown up in a family with a lot of people so there was just so much happening, I couldn't differentiate what was mine and what was somebody else's. This was my very first experience of understanding that all I was feeling wasn’t just me!

An astrologer looking at my natal chart validated for me I had this level of sensitivity and that it was imperative I develop what she called at the time "psychic boundaries".  I didn't understand what any of that meant, but I felt the resonance of truth in what she was saying.  

When a similar situation happened to me, I was just overcome with emotion. I didn't know why, because I wasn't sad, but all of a sudden I just had all this..."stuff"-I was filled with it. I didn't know what it was, or what I was supposed to do with it, or how to get rid of it...

The way I understand what you're saying is that you're also a ground for the expression and movement of that emotion. That's a lot of what empaths do as well. There's a lot of people who don't have a clear relationship with their feelings and emotional bodies. Those of us who are empaths will become the grounding rod for it.  

It does take us by surprise unless we understand that this is possible. It is surprising because we recognize "Wow, I'm not actually feeling sad but I have all this sadness moving through me" and so to come into an understanding of that and cultivating your compassionate heart is really a big piece of understanding that you're the  container, you're kind of a gift, an offering to this person and that in the moment you can really feel your feet on the ground. The energy needs to be able to flow.  That is what it is seeking, a place to flow.  If you are a path of least resistance and you are standing next to someone who is resisting feeling, you very well may become the conduit for the flow of that energy, that feeling or emotion.  

As an empath, differentiation is imperative.  We must  have some understanding of our own wounds and vulnerabilities, and the idea of projection.   Were you an empath for another’s unfelt feelings, or did what was being said, light up your own tender vulnerabilities and hurts?  It is imperative one develops an understanding of their own inner emotional geography and have tools to do the clearing and healing that is required. It takes training to become a clear empath, to clear your own channels so one can differentiate what is theirs, what is another’s, and notice when something gets stuck and have the tools in place to clear your own energy and physical body.   

"Emotion wants to move..."

You can be a very supportive tool when someone is dealing with a lot of energy themselves, or dealing with a lot of energy in response to somebody. Breathing into my heart, feeling my feet on the ground and just breathing. Emotion wants to move, and when we don't acknowledge it, it gets stuck and jammed up. So people who are empaths are going to be the ones who are helping it move.

Please explain about breathing through your heart.

What I mean about breathing through the heart is simply putting my intention on my heart and breathing. I can sit here right now and put my attention on my nostrils and I might feel the sensation of the air moving in and out. What does that feel like? Does it feel warm? Maybe I open my mouth and feel the sensation of that. When I'm with somebody or in a situation where there's a lot of energy and a lot of emotion, I simply put my intention into my heart. And put my intention of moving my breath in and out of my heart. And that's really it. So I might be more aware of that part of my body that moves with each breath. It is kind of holding dual awareness. I'm listening to the person, I am also feeling an intensity in the environment of one sort or another. Could be my own-I could just be reacting to somebody so that I'm doing it for myself. Ultimately, that's what you're doing.

We go to people who call themselves healers-certainly for support, but it's really up to us to show up and do our own healing. When in a situation where's there's an intensity of emotion, it could be mine, and it could be that I'm in service to this other person, I don't always necessarily know and I don't need to know. But I am feeling something  so I need to feel my feet on the ground and put my attention into my heart and feel my breath moving in and out of that heart space.

Do you find the more you work at this it gets easier or is it a case by case basis sometimes being easier and sometimes more difficult?

It absolutely does get easier. For me, that's where meditation and the journey process comes into play.

At times I may have what one of my wonderful teachers calls "resi-do-do" (and I think we can all imagine what that means). If I've had an interaction  with someone and I go home and I'm perseverating about it or I have stories in my mind or  judgments, like "Oh, I wish they would have done 'this'", or "I wish they wouldn't have done 'that'", that kind of thing is a story that I'm going into. That, to me, that's "resi-do-do".  That's where I find having a meditation practice, or a journey practice or some relationship with guidance or spirit, helps me then tend to that-clear it, or see what it's pointing to so that I can have a different understanding of it.

"I think that's the piece that's really valuable, is we don't have to know."

When I had that experience of feeling my friend's feelings that hurt my heart, I wasn't coaching at the time. I didn't know what to call what I was experiencing.  But I had an understanding that it ran me, and that there was an invitation there for deeper understanding, so I was curious. I think that's the piece that's really valuable, is we don't have to know. We're not going to know everything.

What are we curious about? Follow the path of curiosity that has you wanting to move forward and understand things more deeply. Because when we do that, there's something called providence-I love that word! Providence steps into that place of curiosity and points you to the places you need to go in order to understand what you are wanting to understand.

Neither my coach nor I knew what that was, or what to call it, there wasn't a language at the time we knew of, but I had this very clear pure experience and so I could ask friends. I shared with a very good friend and she said, "Oh, you might want to check out this school". I checked it out and it resonated. I had some judgments about the name. I wasn't prepared to understand psychic energy, being that I had a lot of fears around the idea of “psychic”.  Part of me wanted to just pooh-pooh it, but when I looked at the courses they were offering, it resonated.  

They were teaching me tools to clear my energetic body of anybody's energy that wasn't natively mine. I love the tools! I don't know why, but I'd visualize the Tasmanian Devil character spinning around my energy field picking up everything that wasn't natively mine. I will still use that tool if I've gone to a place where I've picked up a lot of psychic residue. It doesn't happen so frequently anymore, but if it does, I still will use that tool.

"I call all of my energy back to me whole and complete."

Sometimes when I would travel, I was leaving energetic parts of myself places. I didn't know I was doing this. So what I learned to do was call back all my energy to me whole and complete. It's such a beautiful thing to say-"I call all of my energy back to me whole and complete." My whole body just wants to take a deep breath, you know. I'm calling all of my energy back to me whole and complete.

As an empath, you really are often a conduit for feelings and emotions, found in people and in spaces.   And you don’t usually have control over when this channel of perception gets turned on.  You just have to be able to flow with it and find tools that assist you staying grounded and centered.

Cultivating the element of compassion is also very important. I think that we can sometimes help by just stopping and asking "Are you OK?".  Or tuning within and asking,  "What is wisdom here right now?" For me to just be quiet and breathe through my heart or to go a little deeper with this person?  It depends on the relationship and if appropriate saying,  "Wow, I'm really aware of feeling this in my body right now, Are you OK?"

Thank you, Julianna, for sharing your experience and knowledge! It's been a pleasure.

To learn more about Julianna, visit her website, JuliannaMuthu.com.

Celebrate w/me! My story is in The Wisdom of Midlife Women 2

Good morning,

Today is a BIG day for me!

It’s one of those days that you mark on the calendar with the words “Dream Fulfilled” in hot pink ink!

I’m stopping by today because I would LOVE if you joined me to celebrate today’s release of The Wisdom of Midlife Women 2 Kindle book.

It’s a BIG DAY because MY story, "Letting Go Of Anger", is one of thirty sacred stories bought to life by three time best-selling publisher Linda Joy of Inspired Living Publishing.

I’d Love Your Support! Be a part of the celebration!

Order The Wisdom of Midlife Women 2 Kindle Book TODAY

& receive 30+ transformational gifts.

www.WisdomofMidlifeWomen2.com

I’m honored to be in this circle of women who had the courage to change things up midlife, blaze a new trail to authentic living and who openly share their story to inspire other women to believe they can too.

Meet my coauthors here:

www.WisdomofMidlifeWomen2.com

No matter where you are on your midlife journey, this sacred collection of thirty stories will provide you with deeply profound inspiration and a valuable reminder that every challenge in your life is an opportunity for self-discovery and transformation.

Order Your Copy of my New Kindle Book Today

& Receive Instant Access to 30+ Gifts (Limited Time)

www.WisdomofMidlifeWomen2.com

As my publisher Linda Joy shares in the Introduction…

“Almost all of the struggles we experience come from the times when we ignore the truth of who we are to fit into the world’s model of who we think we are supposed to be. Each time we smother our inner wisdom, we get further away from the core essence of who we are and our purpose here”

I’d love your support today!

Order Your Copy of my New Kindle Book Today

& Receive Instant Access to 30+ Gifts (Limited Time)

www.WisdomofMidlifeWomen2.com

Be inspired to overcome obstacles and stand in your power! If these ladies can do it, so can you!

Love and Blessings,

Theresa

PS. Please share The Wisdom of Midlife Women 2 with the women in your life!

I’ve made it easy, breezy for you! Just copy and paste the following into Twitter and Facebook

I just ordered #TheWisdomOfMidlifeWomen2 #Kindle book! Grab yours & get 30+Giftswww.WisdomofMidlifeWomen2.com

Believe In The Possibilities Of Your Power

Who among us has not followed through with something we REALLY wanted to do because we didn't believe we could do it?

Why wouldn't you believe in yourself? Look how good you are at believing in your friends, your spouse, your kids.....

When it comes to you, it's different, isn't it? Let's say you have taken to pedaling your bike around the neighborhood after dinner, enjoying the outdoors and getting a bit of exercise. A friend tells you about someone completing a cross-country ride on their bicycle. You say, "I would LOVE to do that, but I'd never be able ride that far." Here's what's racing through your mind-

• what if I fail
• what if I actually did it
• big things like that are for other people, not me
• people would think I'm crazy
• no one else believes I could do this either

"When you doubt your power, you give power to your doubt."

Honore de Balzac

Now What?

Whether you think so or not, you have accomplished things in your life! Think about the things you've completed that you're proud of. how did you feel when you were in the beginning stages? 

You notice by starting to do what you can do at the time, celebrating milestones (no matter how small), and keeping your vision focused on your end result, you gain confidence.  The more you do, the more you can do. You get used to feeling that you can do these things that once seemed out of reach. 

You are more POWERFUL than you believed was possible!

How Do I Do This?

• keep company with people that support you
• visualize your success
• make a list of positive characteristics you have 
• trust yourself
• keep trying, don't give up

Now get on your bike and ride!

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What's happening with me this week-

Well........

Wisdom of Midlife Women 2 Kindle Book

Register for VIP notice for 8/25 release of
 #WisdomofMidlifeWomen2 Kindle book & get 2 gifts
from my publisher 

That's right! I am now a published author :-)

I am honored to have been included in this wonderful collaboration of inspiring women sharing their stories.  

This is a great example of believing in yourself. I thought this was for other people, not me. I was afraid-intimidated, maybe? But I went for it. I trusted myself, I visualized it, and I had great support.  

This Is Where I'm At

Wow! Since my last post lots has happened.  I went on a road trip to Washington with my friends/bandmates.  We had a great time, played lots of music, and got to see some really breathtaking sights. The time spent on the road is a perfect time for thinking/soul searching.

I've quit my full time job and am looking for part-time work now.  I've had too many years of working all day every day for someone else and trying to cram everything I want to do plus that pesky housework that doesn't go away into the Saturday/Sunday crunch.

I know that might seem crazy to some people-YOU QUIT YOUR JOB??? Yeah, that's right.  And I'm going to be just fine.  I have plans (lots of them!) for how to get my message out to the world.  I need to start talking to people, playing music for them, showing them how they can do, be, and have what they desire!  I've taken the first steps in that direction.   I am SO excited, I feel like I am unstoppable!! That is perfect, because that is what is propelling me forward on this journey.  I have a ton of ideas and wish I could split myself into many pieces, assigning a "take this idea and run with it" task to each piece of me. Patience is something I need to remind myself of often! As I sit here with a desk full of scraps of paper with notes written on them, notebooks with ideas and lists, and several post-it notes stuck to the computer monitor, I can only smile as I think of how this small pile of chaos on my desk will turn into something that makes me feel happy and fulfilled.  I love it and I can't wait!  (Hmmm...there's that patience thing again!)

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What's happening with me this week?  Getting together with some people that I am proud to call my friends!  With my new-found freedom (haha) of being available during the day, I'm able to meet with these awesome folks that I love and appreciate.  Fuel for the fire of getting my projects done, some of which will be featuring these wonderful guys & gals!

And I Quote......

I've had communication going with my intuition my whole life. I haven't always listened to it, thinking I knew better than it did, but of course, I was wrong.  If I always go with the little nudges it gives me, seems like things just go better.  I found some really neat quotes about intuition that I'd like to share--

“At times you have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you'll discover will be wonderful. What you'll discover is yourself.” 
― Alan Alda

“Don't try to comprehend with your mind. Your minds are very limited. Use your intuition.” 
― Madeleine L'Engle, A Wind in the Door

The comfort zone is the great enemy to creativity; moving beyond it necessitates intuition, which in turn configures new perspectives and conquers fears.

--Dan Stevens

“Our bodies have five senses: touch, smell, taste, sight, hearing. But not to be overlooked are the senses of our souls: intuition, peace, foresight, trust, empathy. The differences between people lie in their use of these senses; most people don't know anything about the inner senses while a few people rely on them just as they rely on their physical senses, and in fact probably even more.” 
― C. JoyBell C.

“intuition is always right in at least two important ways;
It is always in response to something.
it always has your best interest at heart” 
― Gavin de Becker, The Gift of Fear: Survival Signals That Protect Us from Violence

The more you trust your intuition, the more empowered you become, the stronger you become, and the happier you become.

--Gisele Bundchen

My intuition guided me to quit my job and pursue what I feel passionate about, which is helping people to realize their self worth, especially children (isn't that where it starts?) and spread a message of love and gratitude!  Hey, I'm just getting started, but I am ALL ABOUT THIS!!!

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What's up with me this week?  Road trip!!!  Later this morning my friends/bandmates and I are packing up the van and heading for the state of Washington for a couple weeks of spreading the love with our music!  I'm hoping to make some connections for moving forward with my new venture. 

Decision To Change

What happens when you think of changing something?  For lots of folks, change is resisted unless they are the initiator of the change.  We are comfortable in our routines, our homes, our lives.  Yet often, we wish for something "better".

What stops us from doing what we know will make things better? I believe the biggest thing that stops us is fear.  What are we afraid of?  The unknown?  Ourselves?  What someone else may think?  When it really comes down to it, YOU are the one who has to live in your body, with yourself, 24/7.  YOU are the one who feels your feelings, whether you express them outwardly or not. YOU are the one who know what really deep down inside will make you happy.  Why would you want to live your life unhappy when you have all you need inside you to live a happy life?  Fear. The unknown is scary, but my gosh, look at people who have stepped into the unknown, bowled over the fear, and are now much happier for it!  You probably know at least a couple people who have worked through something they were afraid of doing and are now SO glad they did it.

How do you make a decision to change?  You just do it. Make the decision.  As soon as you do, you'll probably feel some relief that you MADE the decision, and at the same time will be flooded with "yeah buts".
Yeah, but if I change, they won't like me anymore.
Yeah but if I change, someone else may have to do more work.
Yeah, but if I change, they will be angry with me.

Think about this.  What would REALLY make you happy?  There is no law that says you have to be miserable so that someone else can be happy.  It's nice to think of others, but remember, you are not at your best for them unless you are at peace with yourself.  Start by making "small" decisions-things that are on a smaller scale, but still as they change will make you happier.  As you make each small change, you'll notice your confidence building and you'll become a little more daring and adventurous in making change.  I do recommend a book by Susan Jeffers, called "Feel the Fear And Do It Anyway".

I have made many decisions to change over the past several years that were scary at the time, but once I was on the other side of that decision, was so glad I made up my mind to do it.  As they say, the one thing that's constant is change.  There are things I am in the process of changing now that are super scary to me!  I am keeping the faith that once I'm on the other side of the changes that are happening now, I will be feeling much happier and peaceful.

If you feel so inclined, comment about your experience with a change you've made that you were afraid of, but you powered through!
I also have a forum on my website Attract Your Desires that you're welcome to post in about many subjects!

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What's happening with me this week?
This past weekend I went to a Holistic Healing Expo.  We only get them twice a year here, so I make sure to go-I love it!  I had a reading from a very powerful reader I know.  She confirmed some things my intuition had already told me-things I am trying to change and am afraid to do!  I know (and she confirmed) that once I can get this change completed, I will be so much happier!  I am certainly taking my own advice and taking small steps through this.