I instantly fell in love with it and contacted the seller to learn more about it.  It turned out to be originally made in Brisbane, but had been used in an old shop in Childers - so it was local.  It's history drew me in even more.  I decided I had to have it and arranged to pick it up from town in a few days.

I purchased my beautiful antique cash box and turned to leave saying "Thankyou so much" as I did.  To my surprise, the lady said, "I actually need to thank you."  "Why?" I asked.  

She then told me that she had recently bought a painting of mine that seemed to speak to her from the Artisan shop where I had my work.  She told me that her husband had recently passed away and that she was finding it very difficult to move forward.  She had been unable to sort his things and change anything in her home - which she really wanted to do.  My painting had drawn her in and so she had purchased it.  She told me that it had been the catalyst for her to move on.  She had put up the painting and set the wheels in motion.

The silky oak cash register pictured below is now a reminder to keep going, that what I do does make a difference - Oh and it is a wonderful place to store my labels, safety pins and other bits and bobs in my office.

It was such a beautiful reminder that I asked her permission to share it.

​

This year for the second time I entered the 2020 Roar Awards.  These are Australian Professional Industry Awards and I was drawn to them because they have a category for Artists, Creatives and Musicians.  I entered last year in 2019 and was blown away to be in the top 5 finalists amongst such an amazing group of men and women.  This year I made it to the top 3 and was awarded a bronze award.  The callibre of contestants this year was phenomenal and I still can't believe I'm up there with the best.

It really made me think about my journey and how far I've travelled in the past year and ultimately where I have come from during my life time.

I thought that I would share my submission answers with you below.

Tell the judges about yourself, your business and what you do? 
​
​I am Jane Marin, 57, artist, dancer, intuitive energy healer, life coach and more.  I live in the Bundaberg region of Queensland on a sugar cane farm with my husband of 32 years, Livio.  We have two adult children, Levana and Demetre and a grandson of almost 1 year.

Throughout my life, I have studied and used creative expression and alternative healing methods to overcome many hardships, health issues and adverse life events and now use my experience and learnings to assist others to heal their own lives.  I am passionate about helping people “find their heart and soul” - their joy.  This, I believe, is what life is about.

I work as an illustrator for various publishers/writers and I sell my mixed media artwork and products created from them, through my website, at my own art and wellbeing centre and through a local artisan collective at Bargara - Artisans 4670.  I have regular stalls/stands at Energy and Wellbeing Expos throughout South East Queensland. 

I run art workshops at Wattle Cottage Art and Wellbeing Centre on our farm, teaching participants how to find their own “art and soul” in a beautiful supportive environment.  These workshops are for small groups of no more than 8 participants and consist of one half day “Coffee Cake and Canvas”  and one full day workshop per month. I’ve also recently added “Art in the Vineyard”  a fortnightly art morning at a local Winery.   I believe that everyone has an inner artist, so I teach techniques and introduce ideas so that each person leaves with a piece of art true to themselves and that they can be proud of.

Wattle Cottage is a part of our farm history.  My husband’s family were tobacco growers in the Bundaberg district and the sheds and infrastructure are what I have converted into my studio/workshop space, shop and wellbeing centre where I run art, dance and meditation workshops.  We were recently featured on ABC Landline. (https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2020-08-02/bundabergs-tobacco-growing-past-lives-on-in-relics/12512422)

I also work with women and teens through such organisations  as YMCA Youth 360(underprivileged youth), Edon Place (domestic violence)  where I run a course of 6 x 2hour art journalling workshops based on my book “The Me Book - A Journey of Self Discovery”  and Richmond Fellowship  (mental health) who enjoy full day workshops where they create a completed canvas.

What was the reason and inspiration behind starting your business? 

The inspiration to begin my art business came whilst working as a scrapbook and photography teacher.   A series of dreams prompted me to create mandalas or circular artworks from my photography which were put together to eventually form “The Mandala Oracle” cards which I self published.   These cards became very popular and landed me work as a freelance illustrator for a couple of publishing companies.  

This experience was the catalyst that changed my world.  It was the first time in my life that I had listened to and actually followed my intuition about what I wanted to do. 

I began to receive amazing feedback on my mandalas and illustrations from clients and customers, describing how they could feel powerful energy emanating from my work. This prompted me to begin to study more about the healing power of light, colour and symbols. It also motivated me to learn to paint, which was something I never thought I could do.  When the opportunity to attend a series of intuitive painting lessons came up, I took it.  After a few lessons I felt myself able to tune in to spirit with my art in the same way I did with healing. I began to paint from my intuition, not my emotions, and eventually found that I had created a whole new modality for healing.
I began selling my work at Wellbeing and Energy Expos and eventually built a new business plan, which focused on my mission to heal people with art, love, light and connection.

What makes your business unique?  How do you stand out in your industry?  
My art itself has something special.  Described by many as “healing art”, each piece is infused with energy intended to “heal” the person for which it is destined.   The pieces of art that I create challenge the idea that art is simply for decoration. The energy I channel through these paintings is my way of helping others heal, and one of the reasons I love to paint. What you feel when you look at a piece of my art is more than an interpretation, it’s the vibrations that are infused within it. 
My paintings can also be physically infused with healing essences, quartz crystal and sometimes gold, all of which heal through their individual and combined vibrations. If something lifts your vibration, it is good for your health - physical, emotional and spiritual.

My workshops on the other hand, teach that absolutely anybody can be creative when we learn to relax and tune in to our heart and soul.  My students start the day with meditation, journaling and occasionally yoga or dance and then we paint.  Participants leave with an artwork to be proud of. 
Although there is usually a subject or a plan to my workshops, I teach techniques and ideas and then allow each person to find their inner artist. There is no right or wrong when your art comes from the heart.
Our workshop space is very peaceful and relaxing surrounded by canefields and natural bushland. 

Each person has challenges/obstacles to overcome.  What were some of yours and how did you overcome them? 

Following a difficult and abusive childhood, at aged 18, I contracted Ross River Fever resulting in nervous breakdown followed by diagnoses of  fibromyalgia and ME.  I  was bedridden for over six months and the fibromyalgia and chronic ME continued for more many, many years.  I developed severe depression, anxiety, body dysmorphia and was told I would be on medication for the rest of my life.  
Arthritis in hips, fingers and shoulders developed during my early 20’s and was then diagnosed with severe food and chemical intolerances.   This led to being house bound for more than a year as I was severely sensitive to car fumes.  However I dropped all of my medications and began to study alternative healing techniques.  This reawakened in me a healing gift that had been dormant since my early childhood; an ability to heal with my hands.  

In the year 2000, a car accident resulted in neck and back injury. An X-ray taken immediately after I had given myself an energy healing showed nothing but light in the areas on which I had been working.  This proved to me that the energy healing was real.  
However, as I began to recover physically and whilst bringing up two extremely intelligent and active children, I realised that I no longer knew who I was. It was time to heal myself mentally and emotionally.  I began playing with the creative arts including journaling, photography and various crafts.  I wrote “The Me Book”  a book of questions and prompts for journaling, as a way back to myself and began teaching it at a scrapbooking group.  I began to realise that teaching what I had learned was part of my life purpose.  
Using all of my knowledge and gifts seemed a natural progression and so I began so I started my healing practice, which slowly evolved to Jaaneman Art.  

What are your future goals/ambitions and how do you propose to achieve them? 

I am now working on expanding my timetable to include art retreats next year at Wattle Cottage.  As Wattle Cottage is a registered farmstay, I am looking at the addition of a “Glamping” experience with belle tents for overnight stays.  Perfect for my “art and soul” retreats.  This will enable women to travel and stay at Wattle Cottage overnight for weekend (or longer) group retreats and workshops. This had been planned for 2020 but with the Covid-19 set backs, other priorities came to the fore.
This year gave me the push I needed to put together a series of video workshops which are available to purchase on my website and PDF worksheets that I will put together to make a book of intuitive art lessons.  This will enable me to teach women all over the world. I think it is important to share workshops that absolutely anyone can do even with no knowledge or experience with art. 

Also on the cards for next year is an open studio bus tour in our region to take visitors to artists and artisan studios who are “off the beaten track”.  We have many in our region (including myself) who are too isolated to be part of the local tourist trade.  And many artists on rural properties miss out because they can’t afford time and money for travel to have exhibitions or market stalls, so why not take tourists to visit their studios.  Once again this was something planned for 2020, but has had to be put on hold.

If you could start your business again, what would you do differently?

If I could start my business again, I would ask for help right from the beginning, especially with financial and marketing assistance.   I struggled along on my own for so many years. Our farm and family was first priority for me for many, many years, so when it came to my business, I didn’t think that what I did was important enough to ask for help.  
If I could start again, I would treat my art as a business right from the start, talk to someone about loans to get my infrastructure in place instead of trying to do it all myself.  I would have found the money and the support strategy to reach so many more women in need of my art and workshops.  I guess it’s all about listening to your intuition and following your heart.  I now understand that my heart and soul never lead me astray if I actually listen.   I knew in my heart that I had something to offer not only other people but also a way to subsidise an unpredictable farming income.

If you could ask someone who has carved the path before you one question, what would it be and why? 

How do you build an online following?  I have my online workshops and shop ready to go, but when it comes to building an online following my knowledge and confidence are holding me back. I’m also on a tight budget.  I would like to have money coming in from the online side to support the face to face work that I do.

Why did you enter the Roar Awards and why do you think you should win your category? 

I entered this award because I want to ROAR.  I want to let people know that life is what you make it.  Just because someone told you that “no one will ever love you”,  you’d “never amount to anything”, just because you don’t want to “use your brain”, just because you are in to “arty farty, airy fairy nonsense” - all of which I was told on a regular basis -  doesn’t mean it’s true.  I doesn’t mean you can’t be a success.  In the words of  Maya Angelou “Success is liking yourself, liking what you do and liking how you do it”.  
I love who I am, I love what I do and how I do it.  I have had the courage to face many hardships in life and I haven’t just accepted who I am, I have “allowed” myself to live my truth.  This process I share with all I meet through conversation and by example.  

I believe that what I do is unique and its effect ripples through those that come in contact with it. My art heals, it connects and it changes the way we look at our surroundings and our practices. I paint to help people overcome their struggles, to bring joy to their life and love to their hearts, and I run my workshops bring people together to share creativity and help heal souls in a way that is gentle, loving and safe. 

My love for what I do, and for those I help, is my driving force to achieve my goals, and is my motivation for entering these awards. Winning this section would not only be amazing for my business, but would allow me to reach so many more women who would benefit from my art and my workshops. It’s for these women I have entered this competition, and for these women I believe I should win. 

FINAL WORD

Every aspect of our lives can be improved by tapping into our innate creative energy. 

We all have a creative soul.  We are ALL born creative.  How could we not be?  Whether it is music, dancing, painting, writing or any other creative expression, we all have it deep inside of us.   How about Engineers, teachers, farmers?  All can benefit by tapping into that creative soul.  I believe that creativity is not learned, but the opposite - it’s often buried on the way to adulthood.

As a small child I was passionately creative and I had clear picture of my purpose in life.  I won my first national UK art award at age 3.  In my teenage years I discovered graphite and photography BUT THEN it all stopped. A troubled and unforgiving childhood took its toll.   It would be decades and hitting rock bottom as my own family prepared to leave the nest, before my heart finally cracked open enough to reach inside my soul to my creative self and begin to heal my life from the inside out.

I rediscovered, rather late in life it would seem, that the purpose of existence is to find joy and happiness and this can only come with a connection to the universal life force and the  infinite love of all that is.  
Many of us have to go through trauma after trauma to learn this lesson, but creativity is the way back.  It teaches us how every single thing in this universe vibrates with energy and affects everything around it. 

My paintings are how I share that energy, my joy and the infinite love of the universe.  I work on paper and canvas using acrylic paints, pencils, collage, water colour, pastels and whatever takes my attention.  I rarely begin with a clear picture of what I am about to create.  I work with many layers and the images evolve.
Through my workshops I’ve helped countless women (and men) find their creative spark reigniting a joy of life.

The biggest lesson I learnt has been to throw out all of the RULE books associated with the arts.  They crush the creative soul.  I did it with dance and became a soul dancer, I did it with art and became a soul artist  (I’m working on my music and writing!)  

Links


Website:                www.jaanemanart.com    

Social Media:        www.facebook.com/JaanemanArt    
                               www.instagram.com/JaanemanArt    
                               www.linkedin.com/in/jane-marin2963    


        
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(Yes, that's me on the right.) 

There is nothing quite like a 40 year High School Reunion to make you feel your age, right? Well I was surprised.  It didn’t do that for me at all.  What it did do however, was to remind me of how very far I’ve come.   It reminded me of the power of the mind and how changing your thoughts can literally change your life.

You see those years were probably some of the worst years of my life both at school and at home.  I lived my senior school years in tears each and every day. My life had become a helter skelter, a downward spiral both emotionally and educationally.  I was an emotional and physical wreck.  I hated school and I hated home and I had become very good at hiding it.  I had gone from absolutely loving school to just wanting to escape. I took every opportunity I could to “wag” school and hardly anyone even noticed.

I was born a gifted child with high IQ (163 at age 7)  with hyperactive child syndrome (ADHD)  a thirst for knowledge and a love of learning. I had a reading age of 12 when I started school at 4, working with the older children right from the start.  (There is another story in this - for a later page)

I loved flouting my intelligence and throughout my infants in UK and early primary school years in NSW it was never a problem.  Due to my father’s work, I was backwards and forwards between schools in different towns each year and each new placement began with an intelligence test so that the teachers knew where to place me in the class, what reading to give me and which library books I was allowed to borrow.  I loved astounding my teachers with the results of these tests and I was treated to extra reading material, quizzes, and fun things to do.  During the school holidays I would work through maths text books two or three years ahead.  I loved this too and was so proud of myself when I came to the end of a book.  But things didn’t go so well as I got older.

My father’s work relocated him to a new town for three years and I was stuck at the same school from grade 5 to grade 8.  My grade 5 teacher had no patience for someone who was so far ahead.  He refused to allow me to work at my own pace and I was hit with a ruler on a number of occasions for “showing off” or  doing long division “the quick way”.   In grade 6 I was banned from maths and english games in class because I always knew the answers which meant that no-one else had a chance.  I had to sit by myself and watch everyone else struggle and not be allowed to help.   I began to get so miserable.  By the time I finished primary school as DUX, I was being bullied by other students for my intelligence, for being English and even for being skinny.  On a few occasions I was even threatened at knife point by another student. I told no-one.   I thought I knew how to fix it though.    As I began grade 8 I vowed never to be top of the class again and I even tried failing exams on purpose.  My class results started to slip, but I realised that I wasn’t really happy.  And to top it all, I was now being teased and laughed at for NOT being top of the class. 

Towards the end of grade 8 - first year of high school, my father’s work took me to my final school destination in a regional city - no need now for the boarding school for which I had won a scholarship.  I was full of good intention - I would be able to prove myself again.  BUT the mind is a powerful thing.  I couldn’t for the life of me turn things around.  I was still a good student, but I could no longer put pen to paper on a written test or read multiple choice without making stupid mistakes.  I COULD NOT pass an exam.  As soon as an assignment or an exam hit the desk in front me I would freeze and my mind would be completely empty.  My essays became a series of dot points containing all the facts, but nothing else.  I was called lazy at home due to my results, and I began to take it on board - I was beginning to believe it.

Gradually,  I was failing almost every subject except art (which not surprisingly I did not enjoy). I had gone from top of every class to literally the bottom of every class.  Music and Dance kept me going and also gave me my escape route from school.  I was part of the school Stage Band and concert band, learned flute and tenor saxophone at school and studied ballet externally.  I made friends with the school office staff who would mark me away at dance or music classes when I needed to escape.  Nobody ever knew what I was going through, although I have an idea that my friends in the office suspected. Unfortunately during my last two years at school I was made to give up my dance to concentrate on improving my school work - I lost that escape route.

By now the tears had started - at school because I didn’t want to be there and then I’d cry all weekend at home because frankly I would rather have been at school.  I had nowhere to go.  

With the problems at home, the looming end of school was especially terrifying.  I had nothing to show for my years of study - there was really nothing I could do in those days, but become a secretary or shop assistant.  I did both.  I moved out of home at 17 and worked one full time job in an engineering office, part time in a dress boutique and part time at my parents picture framing business.  All in an effort to prove that I had some worth.  I would walk to work at the office at 6am in the morning and not leave until 6pm. Then work weekends and Thursday nights at my other jobs.

But then life caught up with me and at the ripe old age of 18 I collapsed after contracting Ross River Fever.  I was bedridden for 6 months and had to move back into the family home  (another story for later).  This culminated in diagnoses of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia, early onset arthritis, depression and anxiety and in all honesty I did not expect to make it to 30 years of age.  BUT I was determined.  There are many stories to tell around my long recovery, but those I will share in parts at later stages.

Surprisingly though,  I didn’t give up on myself.   I’m here!  I’m fit, healthy, happy and living my dream.  I learnt to change my thinking.  It did take me a good few decades, but I’ve never given up. I have multiple  qualifications in different areas as I found that studying outside of school suited me well.  

I now understand the workings of the mind in creating reality.  Life really and truly is what you make it.  You can make it negative or you can make it positive.  The choice really is up to you.

In the words of  Mike Dooley  “Thoughts become things. Choose the good ones” 
to edit.

I don't know who sent me this little cartoon, but it really struck a chord with me.  It's to do with a lesson I've learned (very belatedly) during this whole COVID-19 episode.  You see, I have always equated recieving help as being pampered.  Silly I know.  Maybe it was my upbringing that forced me to become so fiercely independent, but I've finally figured out how much of a disservice I've been doing myself.

You see it wasn't actually the pandemic that stopped me in my tracks - in fact living on a farm and enjoying being isolated anyway, it really had the opposite effect.  I went in to overdrive.  Working more, supporting other people and actually quite enjoying myself and getting sooooo much done.   "I don't need other people around me anyway." was my way of thinking.   So the universe (or my higher self) kind of decided that I needed to learn an important lesson.  

One day whilst home alone, taking my dog for a walk,  I tripped down the front step injuring my foot.  I couldn't stand myself back up and Hector the Cavoodle was careening  out towards the road, dragging his lead behind him.  My first thought was for Hector and I tried to call him back to me, but I must have frightened him when I fell and he would not come when called.  I dragged myself off the steps and onto the grass and lay down having the idea that he would want to lick my face and play.  This he did and I managed to secure his lead to  the veranda post.  I then realised that I didn't have my mobile phone with me to call for help, but as luck would have it, I had had a call earlier on my landline, and taken it outside to talk.  Instead of putting the phone back in its cradle, I had just opened the flyscreen and placed the phone on the floor, just inside.  I managed to crawl back up the steps and call my husband at work. Now, being the "strong independent woman" that I am, I had NEVER in the 40 years we've been together, asked him for help during  my long periods of illness or my many  silly  injuries.  Therefore, it came as a bit of a shock to me that now that I'm not as young as I used to be, I quite possibly would have to ask him to help me stand up (and God forbid, more).   He, poor thing, is the kind that hides away, or puts up a barrier when confronted with any kind of ill health or suffering, so I saved him the worry and called an ambulance.  These lovely paramedics were so kind and helpful.  They splinted my foot, carried me to the ambulance and hubby met us at the hospital. 

A few hours, xrays and consultations later I was dispatched home with a pair of crutches and instructions to keep off my foot for two weeks and to then have more Xrays.   Turns out I had torn all the ligaments quite severely, pulled the muscles and tendons and ended up with a beautifully multi coloured foot.  This would mean weeks, if not months of time off it.

Although it wasn't broken I was in quite a lot of pain but the worst of it???  It began to look as though I would have  to ask my husband for help with cooking, cleaning, walking the dog.  I knew he wouldn't do anything without being asked.  He just wasn't used to it and I wasn't used to asking. Consequently, I tried to do everything I could and spent a good few days in tears.  

Over the few months prior I had been doing quite a lot of work on self love and self worth and at the end of the first week, when I finally allowed myself to accept that I HAD actually injured myself severely and it wasn't just my imagination, I had an epiphany.   What if asking for help and allowing people to help you is part of self love and self worth?  Had all of this happened to me to make me realise that I didn't know how to love myself, to honour my body and to give myself time?  And do you know?  As soon as I made this realisation, the energy changed.  Something changed in my husband too.  I didn't even need to ask for help any more.  He was offering and I was allowing.  

It's been two months now since I injured my foot and although i am pushing myself to heal quickly, I've been honouring myself and allowing people to help me. I think it's brought my husband and I closer together too.   I'm back on my feet again now, and although still in a little pain (though this is nothing new for me) Hector and I are walking twice a day.  I am quite sure that my husband secretly enjoyed his walks with the dog,  but he says he doesn't miss them.  He gets enough exercise on the farm.  

Anyway - Message to self!!!!  Accepting help is NOT the same as being pampered.

​I love myself unconditionally, I deserve the best in life.  I AM love.

Growing up was a difficult process for me.  I had a less than happy childhood with many forms of abuse by many different people.  I was bullied wherever I went, by children and adults alike.  By the time I hit high school, I was afraid of everything and everyone.  I was scared to go to school and scared to be at home.  I hated weekdays and hated weekends.  Each night I would lie awake and wonder how I would get through the next day.  Those that know me from high school would probably remember me in tears most days in my senior years.  

BUT

During these years, something miraculous was also happening.  Something that kept me going,  something that I wouldn't recognise and understand until many, many years later.  Each and every morning as I stepped outside, as I did every morning at about 5am, I would be flooded with a warm, white gold light.  I would feel instant peace, instant bliss and I would KNOW that I could get through another day.  This happened spontaneously each day until the day I moved out of home at age 17.  

At 18 I contracted a severe form of Ross River Fever and was bedridden for more than 6 months during which time I had to move back to my parents home.  It was a horrible experience and resulted in a thirteen year journey through chronic fatigue, depression and anxiety.

During the years of therapy that followed, I was often asked how my heart had managed to remain so full of love.  Most people, I was told, who had been through what I had been through in my childhood and beyond, would have crumbled, would have been on the streets, alcoholics, addicts of some kind - but here I was relatively sane and with a heart apparently radiating love.  And what I struggled to understand was how I could ever let anyone love me back.  I was so undeserving and so messed up.   When, during therapy, I was asked to think of a happy experience, I could honestly say that I could not remember one. Sometime in my twenties, I ditched all medications, all therapists and decided I needed to heal myself.  After all, since I was still around, I obviously had a purpose. I just needed to find it.

My healing journey is another story altogether, but with the decision made, I began to once again have glimpses of this golden white light connection from my childhood.  I began to start imagining it happening until it actually did.  I pictured that white gold light above me, And I began to hold on to it.  Breathe it in, fill myself up and feel that instant bliss, that joy of life.  And it became a regular part of my healing journey. 

I understand now, that I was so very lucky to have had the experience that I did in my childhood because it enabled me to recognise that light. And I believe that it stopped because I needed to make it become conscious.  I needed to learn that I could connect to the universe, I could draw in the energy and unconditional love at will. I needed to hit rock bottom to learn to heal myself and others. 
There are  many books and writings that speak of calling in the light, charging yourself with love and then radiating it into the world.  This is how we heal each other and the world around us.  

 It keeps your vibration high, your connection to the source strong and with this you can face anything.  You can create miracles.
​
Meditation
Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths into your whole body.   Then imagine roots growing from the soles of your feet into the earth and feel the earths energy traveling up through those roots into your body, anchoring your, feeding you, healing you.  Then imagine or feel a ball of golden white light hovering above your head.  Breathe it in through your crown and feel it filling your whole body with light.  Let it mingle with the earth energy, filling each and every cell within you.  Then let that light expand outside of your body so that you are cocooned in light.  Take a few more deep breaths and imagine or feel a pink light radiating inside your heart.  Allow this light to grow until it fills your chest.  Then send a beam from your heart out into the universe and watch it enveloping the earth and all of its beings.  The whole world needs love right now and we can all contribute.   When you are ready, take a few deep breaths and open your eyes.  

Do this exercise every day and you will find that it will become spontaneous for you.  You will only have to intend it and it is done.  You will know it is done because you will feel the energy and the bliss and the joy. 

Namaste
​Jane

 
​

The Chakra System Part 1
Throughout history, the idea of a universal energy percieved throughout all of nature has been held by mystics, religious practices and more recently Western Scientists.  Think od the Indian spiritual tradition of prana; the Chinese calling vital energy Chi: the Jewish Kabala referring to astral light and the Christian religious paintings indicating a field of light or halo surrounding Jesus and other religious figures.
As I mentioned in my last blog,  human beings can be viewed as networks of complex energy fields that interact with physical and cellular systems.  The physical system resonates at a particular vibration and is an integral part vibrating at a lower frequency with the higher energy systems surrounding it. These higher energy systems referred to as our subtle bodies are composed of matter with quite different frequency characteristics than those of the physical bodies.  These systems are physically superimposed on one another in the same space and together they play vital  parts in the total functioning of the human being.
Various writings from the Indian Yogic teachings refer to special energy systems which exist within these subtle bodies. They are known as Chakras

The word Chakra comes from the Sanskrit meaning 'wheels or disks', and they resemble whirling vortices of subtle energies. These energy systems are associated with accessing universal energy and transmuting it into a useable form within the human structure.

The origin of the seven fold chakra system that is most commonly followed today,  has its roots in the Hindu culture.  The earliest mention of the term chakra is said to come from the Vedas, the four holy books of the Hindus, believed to date back before 2500 BC.  However, the notion of seven “maps of consciousness” for optimum well-being goes back much further.

Physiologically, the chakras are involved in the flow of higher energies via subtle energetic channels to the cellular structure of the physical body. Therefore, the chakra systems seem to function as energy transformers, stepping down energy from a higher frequency to a lower level of energy. This energy is then translated into the hormonal and physiological system to bring about cellular changes throughout the body.

Although the human energy system is said to have many chakras, and new ones are being discovered all the time, the traditional Hindu system names the seven major ones previously mentioned. The location of the seven chakras associated with the physical body corresponds with the major nerve networks. Each major chakra on the front of the body is paired with its corresponding one on the back of the body. Together they form the front and rear aspects of a chakra.  There are also  believed to be at least twenty-one minor chakras.

Energetically, the chakras are openings that allow energy to flow into and out of the aura. As this energy is associated with a form of consciousness, the energy exchange is experienced in terms of seeing, hearing, feeling, sensing, intuiting or direct knowing.

The tips of the chakras where they are connected to the Universal Energy Field (UEF) are referred to as the heart or root of the chakra. Within the heart of the chakra are seals which control exchange of energy between the layers of the auric field (subtle bodies).  To allow certain energy to flow from one layer to another through the chakra, it must pass through the seals in the heart of the chakra. This is most probably why the Yogic literature uses the flower analogy - a lotus flower opening and shutting to explain the chakra.

Even when we are perfectly still – as in a static yoga pose or sitting in silence doing nothing more than breathing, - the chakras are doing a dynamic dance.  They are opening, closing, shifting, spinning, expanding and contracting. 

The energy generated by the Chakras moves up and down the spine.  When flowing freely, that energy can connect us with the Earth at the same time that it connects us with the Higher Realms of existence.  The energy has the power to lift us out of fatigue, depression, illness and despair.  It has the ability to bring body, mind and soul together as one. It is therefore important to open the chakras and increase the flow of energy, the more energy flows through the system the healthier the human system will be.  

A brief look at the individual Chakras

The first chakra, Muladhara (Root Chakra) is situated near the coccyx and is associated with the adrenals, triangular shaped glands that cap each of the kidneys.  These glands secrete a variety of hormones including those that regulate the body’s metabolism.  These glands also produce adrenalin, the hormone essential for our fight or flight response.  The Root Chakra is associated with survival.
The second chakra, Svadisthana (Sacral Chakra) originates near the tip of the coccyx or sacrum.  It is associated with the male and female reproductive organs or gonads.  Our relationship with our own sexuality and issues of emotional balance concerning that is a key association of this chakra.
The third chakra, Manipura, (Solar Plexus Chakra) lies in the upper middle abdomen below the tip of the sternum. It is associated with the pancreas which lies behind the stomach and secretes a variety of substances essential for the effective digestion of food. 
The fourth chakra, Anahata, (Heart Chakra) can be found in the mid sternal region directly over the heart and is associated with the thymus gland. The thymus produces hormones that stimulate general growth, particularly in early life.
The fifth chakra, Vishudda, (Throat Chakra) is situated in the neck near the Adam's apple, directly over the thyroid gland. It has associations with both the thyroid and parathyroid glands.  The thyroid manufactures thyroxine, which controls the body’s metabolic rate, and the parathyroid gland controls the level of calcium in the blood stream. 
The sixth chakra, Anja, (Brow or Third Eye Chakra) in the mid-forehead above the bridge of the nose is situated over the pituitary gland.  This vital gland influences growth, metabolism, and general body chemistry. 
The seventh chakra, Sahasrara, (Crown Chakra) is located on top of the head over the pingland which produces melatonin, a hormone that affects the modulation of wake/sleep patterns and photoperiodic (seasonal) functions.

You've seen or heard me talk about energy and energy healing on my posts, my workshops and through my art.  So what is this energy that I'm talking about?  Below is part one of my article on the Human Energy Field.  I hope it answers some of your questions.  

Everything within and even outside of our universe vibrates with energy.  It has been accepted for centuries through many, many cultures, that the human body draws energy into itself from a universal energy field. The human energy field is the manifestation of this universal energy in and around the human body.  Its outer boundary can be described as a luminous egg-shaped cocoon surrounding the physical body. This energy field is constantly moving, ebbing and flowing, expanding and contracting and changing in intensity.  Throughout history, the knowledge of this universal energy present in all of nature and surrounding the human form as what we sometimes call the aura, has been recognised and illustrated by many traditions including the Indian spiritual tradition of prana; the Chinese energy chi; the Jewish Kabala reference to astral light and the Christian religious paintings indicating a field of light or halo surrounding Jesus and other religious figures.
In scientific terms, human beings can be seen as networks of complex energy fields that interface with physical and cellular systems. These energy fields or auras consist of layers, known as subtle bodies which resonate at higher vibrations than the physical body. To put it another way, these higher energy systems, (subtle bodies) are composed of matter with different or higher frequency characteristics than that of the physical bodies.  These systems are superimposed on one another in the same space.  Together they play a part in the total functioning of the human being.  Healers understand that the aura holds the key to a person’s physical, mental, emotional and spiritual states.
Although many systems have been created over time, we generally refer to seven layers and these are defined by location, colour, density, form and function. These seven layers are grouped into three Planes, The Physical Plane, the Astral Plane and the Spiritual Plane. It is important to remember that because of the differing intrinsic frequencies, physical and etheric matter can co-exist harmoniously within the same space; just as radio and TV waves can exist in the same space without interference.
Each individual person has an aura unique to themselves, in intensity, size, colour and vibration. 
This field of electromagnetic energy can be felt and sometimes seen by people who are highly sensitive to different energies.  They may even be able to see or feel each layer separately.  So here is a quick description of The Energetic Layers.

Etheric Body
This can be viewed as the state between energy and matter and consists of tiny energy lines similar to the line on a television screen
The following aspects characterise this layer:

• It has the same structure as the physical body including all anatomical parts and organs
• This vital energy field forms the blue print for the physical matter of the body tissues
• Colour varies from light blue to grey
• It extends from one quarter to two inches beyond the physical body and pulsates at 15-20 cycles per minute 

Emotional Body
This is associated with feelings and follows the outline of the physical body but does not duplicate it.

• The following aspects characterise this layer:
• It tends to be coloured clouds of a fine substance in continual motion
• It extends one to three inches but also penetrates the physical body
• Chakras are associated with various colours
• Colours of this layer vary from bright clear colours to dark subdued colours

Mental body
The mental body extends beyond the emotional body and is associated with thoughts and mental processes.
The following aspects characterise this layer:

• It appears as a bright yellow light/aura around the head and shoulders
• It extends three to eight inches from the body
• This becomes bright when the person is engaged in mental processes
• Thoughts can be observed as blobs of colour with other colour superimposed
• This tends to be the emotional feelings associated with these thoughts.

Astral body
This has no fixed shape.  It is composed of clouds of colour similar to that of the emotional layer

• A rose pink colour tends to dominate
• This layer extends from six inches (15cm) to a foot (30cm) from the body
• This layer is the bridging plane between the lower three auric layers and the upper three spiritual layers
• The energy transformer between the two general levels is the heart chakra.

Etheric template body
This subtle layer is further removed from the first layer and contains the etheric template blueprint for the physical body.

• It extends from one and a half (45cm) to two feet (60cm) from the body
• This layer has an oval shape and contains all the chakras, body organs and body form in negative, like the negative of a photograph.

Celestial Body
This is referred to as the emotional level of the spiritual plane
It extends about two (60cm) to two and three quarter feet (85cm) from the body

• This is where spiritual ecstasy is experienced
• This is the experience level of unconditional love in that the heart chakra is connected through all the layers
• The Celestial body appears as a shimmering opalescent light
• There is no body shape, but light radiates from the body like a glow around a candle.

Ketheric template (casual body)

• This extends from two and a half (75cm) to three and a half feet (105cm) from the body
• The outer form is an egg shape of the subtle bodies and is strong and resilient
• Its colour is gold and it contains structure of the physical body and all the chakras
• The vibrations are at an extremely high rate.

So you can see that we are not just a physical body, but a complex integrated set of subtle energy fields, all vibrating at different rates.  These subtle layers extend beyond the physical and create a force field of energy and luminous colours.

Many scientific and technological researches from holographic patterning through to Kirlian photography, to different types of scanning have observed and recorded the human energy field in a physical way.  Kirlian photography was developed in 1939 by Russian electronics engineer Seymion Kirlian. It was discovered that when leaf was cut in two and photographed using this technology, the energy field remained intact and recorded the same shape as when the leaf was whole.  It is thought that this phenomenon may explain the “phantom limb” reports from amputees who  can still feel pain and sensation in the area where the missing limb used to be.  

More recently, the development of Polycontrast Interference Photography or PIP, by researcher Harry Oldfield became one of the major advances in detecting the body’s energy fields.  It is a complicated technology, but put in simple terms, the subject stands in front of a white screen and a form of digital camera photographs the different light intensities around the body while a computer translates this into a visual image, which can be “read” by a trained technician.  This is useful  in areas of diagnosis of imbalances and tends to validate the concept that all matter is energy and forms the foundation for understanding how human beings can be considered dynamic energetic systems.  Humans are beings of energy – the solid nature of physical matter is a perception of our physical senses.

Aura Photography is often available at New Age festivals and in many new age shops.  Aura photographs are taken by having the subject sit in front of a plain background and placing one hand on a sensor plate which detects the energy emanations from the subject.  The aura camera then translates this into a visual image and onto a photograph for the subject to take home with a reading from the photographer.  The colours that appear can be “read” to give an indication of personality traits, states of mind, and general health at the time of the photograph.  These photographs can be highly influenced by the subject’s mood and emotion at the time as the energy field is constantly changing. 

Next time we'll discover the Chakra System, it's purpose and function within the fields.

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The Empaths Guide to Managing Energy
 
If you are an Empath, you might find that you need some extra pointers for managing your energy at any time.  I hope these ideas will help you out a little.
 
Being alone: Empaths need time by themselves where they are less likely to be tuning into the emotions of others around them. It doesn’t mean you’re anti-social or that you don’t like people! It just means you need to refuel before going back out into the world. Make sure you have plenty of alone time during which you’re doing something that is not emotional, such as knitting, gardening, cooking, etc. I like to play video games which requires strategy but has no emotional triggers for me. Be creative!
 
Stay away from people and place that drain your energy
Do not feel guilty about avoiding these people and places until you are stronger.
 
Grounding: Here are some very effective grounding techniques that I use every day!
1) Eating: This is a delicious way to stay grounded as long as you pay attention to the food your eating! So pick something you really like and bring it along. The process of eating is ground, and so is digesting. You’re less likely to be reading other people in restaurants
 
2) Wear a crystal: I have at least 10 different crystal pendants (rose quartz, lapis, danburite, moldovite, etc). When I go out, I pick a pendant to wear (even before I pick my clothes!).
 
3) Wash your hands: I get the urge to wash my hands when I go to people that are tricky to deal with. It’s a great way to make sure their energy is not sticking to you and keep your own energy flowing.
 
4) Use visualizations: Imagine that you are growing roots from the bottom of your feet. The roots keep reaching deeper in the earth. They’re flexible too, so that you can lift your feet and the root follow you. Try it at home first then you’ll be able to do it while you carry on a conversation too!
 
Managing your own energy
Raising your vibration, grounding and Shielding (for emergencies only) :Shielding and protection is a technique I teach my clients as an emergency safe guard whilst they build up their own energies and raise their vibration.
 Lets start with an exercise to build up your own energies, a practice which needs to be done two or three times daily in the beginning until it becomes automatic.  We start by becoming quiet and visualising or feeling a bright white gold light above the head.  Know that this is your connection to the universal life force.  see or feel that light entering in a stream down through the crown of your head and filling your whole body from head to toe, every cell, every fibre becoming alive with light. 
Then feel or visualise roots, like tree roots, growing from the soles of your feet into the earth, feel them running deeper and deeper.  Pull red light up from the earth through the soles of your feet, filling your whole body, toes to finger tips.  You are now connected to the universe and the earth together. 
From the centre of your heart space notice a ball of light.  Imagine it as a pink light.  This is unconditional love.  Allow this light to grow and expand to fill your whole body.  Let it expand further and further until it extends past your body and you see yourself encased in a cocoon or egg of light.  Know and intend that this light will heal and protect you raising your vibration to its highest level.
For emergency protection you can create an extra shield of light around you to help you in sticky situations.  You can experiment to find out what works best for you.  I use a spiral of light that spins around the outside of my  body.  I program it to knock away anything that will bring my own energy down.
 
It is Not Necessary to Take Responsibility for Other People’s Hurt
If you are an empath you are finely tuned to the pain of other people, tending to internalize it as your own. Remember that there is only so much you can genuinely do to help other people. Of course, you can try to help them or guide them as much as you see fit, but at the end of the day the person experiencing the original pain must be willing to help themselves for any true healing to occur. Often our caring natures blind us to the fact that many people don’t want, or aren’t prepared to be fixed because they are content in the safety of their misery.
 
Go into Your Pain Rather Than Trying to Escape from It
It sounds counter-intuitive doesn’t it, “going into your pain”! But it's a very important step to releasing the pent up energy inside of you. When we are preoccupied by escaping, repressing and avoiding our pain, we perpetuate the cycle of our suffering. Rather than giving in to the temptation to run – stop – be still. Sit down and let yourself feel the fatigue, the confusion, the anger, the hurt. Only once you face the truth of the pain you feel can you then progress to the next stage of letting the suffering go.
 
De-cluttering.
The first step is to get rid of all obvious "trash"!  Throw it out or put it out for recycling.
As we mentioned earlier, empaths pick up on energy in objects as well as people.  Take a look around you at all the "things" you have gathered over the years.   We will start by gathering everything together that you don't use or haven't seen in the past year.  This can include, shoes, clothes, books, ornaments.  Put them in bags or boxes ready to donate or sell.  That was the easy part. 
Now You will notice things around you that you don't actually like, but perhaps were given to you by a friend or family member. Remember, if you don't like it, it isn't you, then it will be affecting your energy.  You can use the cord cutting technique we learnt earlier to release any attachment you have to the object and the person who gave it to you, then take note of how you feel!  Do you still dislike the object?  if so put it into the sell or donate pile.
What about things that you really love, but you find it difficult to be around?  These need to be dealt with in  a similar way and honestly I find it best to cut the cords and get rid of them.
Complete this exercise for every room in your home and workspace, garden and shed.  It is also necessary to do your handbag and your car. 
You will already find that you begin to feel lighter.
 
Catharsis and Body-Mindfulness = Useful Techniques
As an empath it is so important that you incorporate some consistent form of catharsis into your everyday routine to rid yourself of the stuffy energy you might be harboring. Favored forms of catharsis among empaths include journaling/writing, meditation, walking and jogging. Other forms of catharsis include singing, dancing, screaming (privately), laughing and crying. It is also extremely beneficial as an empath to teach yourself how to get in touch with your body – I call this “body-mindfulness” or “somatic mindfulness.” Basically, learning to be in touch with your body is an excellent way of anchoring and grounding yourself in the present moment rather than getting lost in the flood of emotions and sensations that come your way. Body-mindfulness is also a good way of learning to listen to your needs, as well as nurturing and taking care of yourself. I wrote more about how to practice this form of mindfulness here.
 
Realize That as an Empath, You Are Not Immune to Projecting Your Feelings onto Others
Let’s be honest here. Part of the appeal of identifying as an empath is that it sometimes provides a doorway of escape to us; an opportunity to pin the blame on others. Yes, you might soak up the emotions of others like a sponge, but that doesn’t mean that you are exempt from creating, and deeply experiencing, your own emotions. It is all too easy to portray ourselves as victims in life, and much harder to take responsibility for our own happiness. A key realization on the path of healing as an empath is to learn to distinguish what WE are feeling from what OTHERS are feeling. And there isn’t always a clean cut distinction. Often you will find that you are feeling about 45% of the emotions, and others are feeling about 55% of the emotions, or you might be feeling 20% and others 80%, and vice versa.
 
Shielding
Which means, creating a shield between yourself and all those feelings out there. You can do this a variety of ways, but the most common is visualisation.  By visualizing a force field around yourself. This field is pure energy. The more vivid the image you imagine for that field, the stronger it will be. You can set this field to selective, so that you will note others feelings, IF and only if, you want to notice other energies. 
This is not just your imagination at work. As we ask the mind, so it will do for us, and if you ask yours to build a stronger aura of energy around you, it will. You don't need to know the exact details of how it works, as your mind is perfectly able to build it for you, all you have to do ... is tell it to as strongly and vividly as possible.
As a temporary technique, shielding can be helpful, but it is not a long-term solution. It is actually counterproductive to becoming an Empowered Empath.  Shielding is essentially about resisting ether people's energy and resistance only serves to continue the cycles of fear and pain within. Rather than fighting, open yourself up through the heart chakra. Allow yourself to experience the emotions, but also let them pass by not adopting them as yours. To do this send them down into the earth asking the earth to heal.  This takes time and practice. But non-attachment is a much better long-term solution.
 
Know your own mind:
Meaning, to know yourself, very deeply and to have that information about yourself and your emotional state, on tap, all the time. So that you can easily realize that those feelings your feeling, are, or are NOT, your own. This is critical, as if you are not aware of your own mental and emotional state, you can have a very hard time telling what is, or is not, your own feelings, so keeping a monitor on your own state, at any time, is paramount.
 
 
Do not allow become a dumping ground
Mow this is something that happens on a very regular basis to every Empath, unless they become aware of it and take steps to prevent its happening.  Most " ordinary" people, are able to be aware  that a such and such a person is "someone they can talk to" by this I mean, they know that after they have spent time or spoken with you, they feel better and that somehow you help them with their pain.
This makes you a magnet for people with a major emotional load to drop. People will come to you and start to tell you their life story, as if a part of them believes that you could make it all better.
And you can, for the most part, however, permitting this to happen, without controls, is asking for trouble. You will find yourself getting to the point where you will not even want to go places where there are strangers. And that is not a good thing.
Shielding helps, but sometimes,  you just have to look people right in the face and say no, unless you want to deal with helping them handle with their anxiety. There are two kinds of people, those you can help and those you can't, and there are a lot more of those you can't help, than you might believe.
Therefore we need to......
 
Set limits:
Just because we can perhaps do something about another's pain, doesn't necessarily mean, that we should. Often times, they are in pain for a reason, maybe they failed to handle something well, and that's a lesson they need to learn. If you take away all that suffering for a mistake, the lesson might go unlearned. So you need to learn to analyse the situation carefully. Know when it's time to say ... No.
 
Cleanse your etheric body often:
You have learnt that as an empath, you are an emotional magnet, feelings can cling to you . So it becomes very important to metaphysically clean out all the feelings and emotions that are not your own, from time to time. I cannot stress this enough, as if you fail to do so, the stress on you just builds and builds, and there is a limit to what any one person can endure, and stay sane !
Fail to do so and you may begin to suffer from  stress, anxiety and depression yourself.
 
You do this by meditation, relaxation, grounding, the light body exercise, and use the power of the mind to cleanse out anything negative or left over. In a deep state, you can see this light body and will learn to see the problem areas. For most empaths you will find them around the heart and head Chakras, as those are the areas most affected.
 
 
Trust yourself
One of the other big problems that an Empath faces, is wondering if what they ARE feeling is real or accurate.
This is why knowing your own mind and emotional state is so important, as without this knowledge, it's harder to figure this one out. Trust yourself, trust your feelings, and know you can get a handle on this, it just takes time and practice.
 

Anyone's Guide to Raising your vibration
At this time of the year, it is especially important to keep your energy and vibration strong.  There are lots of emotions, both positive and not so positive flying around.  Keep yourself on top of everything by following these guidelines.
​
Become conscious of your thoughts.
Everything you think, say or feel becomes your reality. There is a saying, "Thoughts become things". Choose the good ones.  Every single thought that you have has an impact on you.  When you change those thoughts for the positive, your reality is likely to become positive too. The more you do this, the easier it becomes.  Try using positive affirmations to turn your thoughts around.
Next time you find yourself having a negative thought, take the time to acknowledge it, thank it for showing up, and then say "Cancel clear and delete." and replace it with a positive affirmation.

Appreciate the beauty all around you
There is incredible beauty in this world of ours, yet so often we miss it in the hustle and bustle of life. Learn to appreciate art, colour, sounds and smells.  Stop rushing for a moment and take the time to appreciate your surroundings wherever you are. Go one step further and actively look for the beauty in everything.
 
Spend some time in nature every day.
It’s easy to get caught up in today’s world of information and forget the natural world. Whether it’s a bush walk, a stroll along the beach or a quick half hour walk through the local park on your way home, getting out into nature each day will help you clear your mind, ground, become more present and remember you are part of a beautiful, living, interconnected planet.
 
Consciously choose what you put into your body
As well as containing important nutrients, food has an energetic vibration. Some foods vibrate at high frequencies, and some lower (broccoli has a high vibration as do blueberries; Big Macs barely vibrate at all ;-). Choosing healthy, fresh, whole foods over processed, frozen, stored or chemically altered will help you raise your vibration. Swap junk food snacks for healthier alternatives. Always read the labels and know what you’re putting into your body.  If you are consuming packaged foods, chemicals and pesticides found within plastic packaging, will leave you vibrating lower.
Eat good quality organic produce, food as nature intended it, and feel the high vibrations emanating throughout your body.  If you can’t afford organic, at least buy free range. Most importantly, pay attention to how eating certain foods make your body feel.
 
Become aware of the vibrational level of your friends, acquaintances and extended family
You can raise your own vibration by spending time with people who vibrate at the same or higher rate than yourself. Choose to spend your time with people who are empowering, have the same morals as you.  Remember your friends are a reflection of you.
 
Drink water.
Water is a form of energetic life force.  It helps to keep your energy levels and vibration nice and high. Always drink plenty of water (filtered is best) to assist your body to flush out toxicity day to day. Toxicity has a significant impact on your vibration so we must do whatever it takes to reduce its impact within us and around us.
 
Meditate.
Even if you only have one minute, take time to be still and silent.  Sit in a comfortable position, close your eyes and breath in and out. Too often we rush through our days with a scattered brain leaving us in a state of anxiety and stress. Meditation helps to calm your spirit down and put you in a peaceful state of mind. It can help you become more conscious of your thoughts, which in turn helps you to break bad habits. It also creates space for inspiration and spiritual awareness to come through. Just 10 minutes of meditation a day can change your life forever.
 
Practice Gratitude
Gratitude shifts your vibrations from focusing on what you don't have to what is already abundant in your life. Most of us don't recognize how much we have to be grateful for. There is more to be grateful for than you could possibly imagine.
 
Practice acts of kindness.
Kindness (as opposed to being mean) puts you at a higher vibration. Make a donation to a cause, send a thoughtful gift, or even a message.  Giving to someone else (without expecting anything in return) shifts your thinking from “I don’t have enough" or "Woe is me", to "I have more than enough to give to others.” Abundance itself is a high vibration. Gossip or treat others badly and your vibration will suffer.
 
Practice forgiveness and compassion
This may seem like the most difficult thing on the list, but its one of the most important.  Thoughts of being the victim or thoughts of revenge are both low vibration.  Instead surround yourself and your abuser with unconditional love, and raise your vibration higher and higher
 
Get moving
Exercise not only keeps you fit and toned but the movement gets chi circulating around your body. Vibration requires movement, the more you move the better your vibrations move. It also helps you to ground and gives you an opportunity to clear mind chatter.  So Get Active! Dance, run, jump, climb! The happier you feel, the more you will draw happy experiences to yourself because you are operating at a different frequency.
 
Create a higher vibrational home or sanctuary-like space for yourself.
You are inside your home a lot!  It will consequently affect your vibration.  It’s important to have a space where you can feel serene and creative. Use salt lamps, candles, plants, prayers, paintings, books and crystals to decorate your space so it feels peaceful, inspirational and supportive. Even the colours on the wall and the way your furniture is arranged can affect your energy. You might even like to create an altar area that serves as a focal point for your spiritual awakening. Put some meaningful objects on it and light a candle now and then, setting an intention for what you want to create next upon your path. If you live with others and can’t change the whole house, just focus on making one room your higher vibrational zone. Learn how feng shui can help to increase the vibration in your home!
 
Actively develop your spiritual awareness.
Whether its learning how to communicate with your spirit guides, joining a spiritual development circle or simply taking time to reflect on the spiritual dimension more often, developing your spiritual awareness will remind you that you’re connected to an all-encompassing force and that.
 
Treat yourself to some form of energy healing and re-balancing every couple of months.
Reiki and shiatsu are both great modalities for healing, rebalancing and promoting vibrational change in your life. Find a good practitioner and commit to going every couple of months. You’ll always feel better afterwards and be glad you did.
 
Heal and let go of the past.
Most people go their whole lives without ever clearing out the cobwebs and as a consequence prevent themselves from living a happy and fulfilled life. If you feel you might have unresolved emotional patterns or negative belief systems from your past, find a good practitioner who can help you work through them over a number of sessions.
 
Reduce your drug and alcohol intake (or cut it out completely)
Alcohol, tobacco and all types of drugs vibrate at a low rate.  Not only do the substances themselves vibrate low, but you will find yourself hanging out with people that vibrate at a low rate as well.  You don't need alcohol or drugs to have fun, you need to be vibrating at a higher level.
 
Be aware of what you are watching, reading and listening to
Every form of media has a vibration. What you watch, listen to and read can either lift or lower your vibration.  Much of our TV these days dramatises and glamourises a lower vibrational way of life.  Become aware of how you feel whilst you are engaging with it. Watch love stories, or comedies, things that make you smile and laugh. 
Become conscious of what your music is saying to you Lyrics that speak of heartache, pain, violence, drama or fear send messages to your subconscious.  You want to listen to songs of peace, love and real passion. 
Remember that everything is energy, so be mindful of the frequencies you’re submerging yourself in.
 
Do more of what you are passionate about
Expressing yourself through your art, music, writing, creativity, dancing, climbing, running etc.  is vital for your well being and will raise your vibration tremendously.
 
Take at least one step towards your soul’s task every day.
Even if you just get some ideas down or do some planning. Working towards your soul’s task each day will help you feel happier, more fulfilled and content that you’re doing what you came here for. If you don’t know what your soul’s task is or want some direction and structure, find a good coach who can help you.
 
Set goals and consciously plan your week ahead.
Take time  each week to consciously plan your week ahead. Set an overall intention and specific goals for each area of your life. Visualize yourself achieving your most important goals and play the images through your mind like a film. Then, break each goal down into doable steps and put the steps in your diary. Make sure you’re making the most of your life and doing the things that matter to you.
 
Don’t blame your circumstances for your vibrational shortcomings.
Sure, a home and job that supports and encourages a higher vibrational way of life is always preferable, but for a lot of people this just isn’t possible. You must therefore take full responsibility for your awakening and transformation in the face of lower vibrational energies and triggers, and put strategies in place that support you. If you can’t do this, what hope does the world have?
 
Keep going!
Transformation is a gradual process with a few intense shifts along the way. It’s inevitable there will be times when you slip back into your old ways and feel like you’re going two steps forwards and one step back. Go easy on yourself during these times, get the learnings, refocus and get back on your way again. Whether it’s in this lifetime or the next, you’ll get there eventually, and in the end it’s really about the journey anyway.
 

Then what is an Empath?
There are subtle but marked differences between empathy in an everyday person and empathy in an Empath.  Empaths are highly sensitive people or HSPs, but actually very few HSPs are Empaths.  Empaths possess a markedly higher degree of sensitivity to another's emotions and feelings.  They take empathy to a whole new level.
An empath experiences another emotions as their own and it is not uncommon to therefore feel overwhelmed in crowded, public places.  An Empath doesn't consciously connect to others, then feel what he imagines the other person is feeling.  An Empath will literally feel it and unless he is trained to understand this, may not be able to separate his own  feelings from those around him.

There are of course varying degrees of sensitivity and even different types of Empath and although it seems to have both genetic and spiritual aspects, most Empaths do not learn about their gift until later in life.

How does an Empaths gift work?
Everything has an energetic vibration or frequency and Empaths are able to sense these vibrations and recognise the smallest changes which would otherwise go unnoticed.  Feelings, emotions and even words of expression hold an energetic pattern that emanates from each and every one of us.  In fact every living creature.  It's imprint is left on everything that we come into contact with.  It is this energy that is picked up by the Empath.

Are you an Empath?
Take this quiz to see if you are an Empath.  Answer yes or no to the following:

• Do you tend to just know stuff without being told? Do you have a knowing that goes beyond intuition or gut feelings?
• Do you find being in public places like shopping centres, supermarkets or theatres overwhelming?  Do you feel, mixed up emotionally or even physically in these sorts of places?
• Do you feel the emotions of those nearby and sometimes at greater distance?  Can you tell if someone in a room is angry, sad or excited without a word being said?
• Do you find that watching violence, cruelty or tragedy on tv becomes unbearable?
• Can you tell when someone is not being honest? Can you tell when they are saying one thing but feeling or thinking another?
• Are you extremely uncomfortable around some people without understanding why?
• Do you find that certain people drain your energy physically and you leave feeling tired or unwell?
• Do you find that some people become uncomfortable around you  and try to avoid you because you can "see right through them"?
• Do you pick up physical symptoms from others, particularly friends and family even when they are nowhere near you?
• Do you want everyone to be happy?
• Do you suffer unexplained digestive disorders and lower back problems?
• Do you always look out for the underdog?
• Do you find that you attract broken people and those that want to offload their problems onto you?
• Do you feel frequently drained of energy? Have you been diagnosed with ME or chronic fatigue?
• Do you think to much?
• Do you get irritated when there is too much to do and you don't know where to start?
• Do you enjoy the peace and tranquility when it is raining?
• Do you have an addictive personality?
• Are you drawn to healing, holistic therapies and all things metaphysical?
• Are you an artist, writer, singer, dancer, musician or designer?
• Do you love nature and animals? Do you love to be outdoors?
• Do you crave connection with rainforests, trees and waterfalls?
• Do you feel peace in the presence of the ocean or the moon?
• Do you have a tendency to always put others first?
• Do you rebuff compliments?
• Do you need periods of solitude to regroup?
• Do you get lost in the background on purpose?
• Did you grow up feeling misunderstood or more importantly "unheard"?
• Are you easily bored or distracted? Have you ever been diagnosed with ADD or ADHD?
• Do you find it impossible to do things that you don't enjoy? Do you feel like you are living a lie if you do?
• Do you hate to depend on anyone, yet everyone depends on you?
• Do you always strive for the truth?
• Do you descibe yourself as a free spirit?
• Do you hate clutter?
• Do you spend time daydreaming given the change?
• Do you find routines, rules or control by others debilitating, yet need your own routines to feel safe?
• Are you prone to carry excess weight without over eating?
• Are you an excellent listener?
• Are you uncomfortable with gossip or small talk?
• Can you "feel" the days of the week?
• Do you often choose not to buy second hand goods because they make you feel sad, or any other type of emotion?
• Can you sense the energy of food = particularly meat?
• Do you often appear aloof?
• Is your home a "sacred space"?
• Do people tell you that they feel better after talking to you or just by spending time with you?
• Do you find your emotions or physical sensations in your body changing extremely from one moment ot another when in a room full of people?
• Can you read people?
• Do you feel extremely responsible for the well being of the people around you? Do  you struggle with boundaries and find yourself tired of giving everyone everything and getting nothing back?
• Do you often feel icky , murky or unpleasant in the body, even with no medical condition to attribute these feelings to?  
• Do you have unexplained headaches, stomach aches and chest pains due to overwhelming negative home environment?
• Do you tend to feel what is outside of you more than what is inside?

If you can say yes to most or all of these, then there is more than a chance that you are an empath.  It occurs in less than 5% of the population  and with the right training can be a wonderful gift. Stay tuned to learn more over the coming months.