Amy Collette

After my friend Mary died, I was surprised by the waves that would hit me. They would come at weird times, like in the shower or while I was driving. I didn’t even know I had so many memories of her, until I would smell her favorite food, drive past our old happy-hour bar, or see a bee on a flower. My connection with her was strong in life, and has become even stronger since she passed. She taught me so much in life, and is still there to point things out or show me the gift in an experience.

Grief can be a brutal teacher. But it can help show you the strength within that has been waiting until now to show up.

• Feel what you’re feeling. Grief is uncomfortable to watch, but it’s intense to survive. Whatever you feel is your “normal.” Allow yourself to define what is ok for you to be doing, thinking, or feeling.
• Go easy on yourself – there’s no “right” way to handle it. Your experience is unique and you cope with it your own way.
• Give yourself time. Your grief is a process – allow it to unfold however it appears.
• Let yourself smile. Sometimes when you’re missing the one you’ve lost, a happy memory shows up. Bees on a flower remind me that Mary is an angel in my  life.
• Let people in. Trust your friends when they say they want to help. You may want to be a hermit at times, but tell your friends what you need: help with meals, making phone calls, cleaning, etc. And it’s ok to let them know when you need to be alone.
• Accept the spiritual support that is all around you. Your angels are always there for you, supporting you and lifting you up, whether you’re aware of it or not. Meditation, prayer, quiet time, flower essences, chakra clearing, a walk outside, and time with a pet are all ways to access that support.
• Reach out for professional help when you need it. If you’re worried you might be stuck in a place so deep that you can’t see a pathway, seek some help to talk it out.

It’s easy to say that happiness or any other condition in your life is a choice. But what does that mean? Does it mean that if I’m not happy that I’ve consciously chosen to be miserable?

Well, it means that you may have developed a habit of unhappiness. For instance, you probably know someone who is Doctor Gloom – always looking at the dark side of life, complaining about how things these days are just not as good as “back then.” I was just at a party, making small talk with some people I rarely see. One woman wished me a happy new year, then proceeded to tell me how everything was going to hell. I don’t think she saw the contradiction.

No matter where I steered the conversation, she was determined to draw it back to how things were different (meaning worse) than in “her day.” Whew! I felt drained and exhausted when I finally made an excuse to get another drink just to move away from her.

She is an extreme example, but we can get caught up in that victim thinking so easily. Because it’s all these things around us, and all those other people making bad decisions that make the world a sad place, right? There’s nothing we can do about it…

Except make a choice every day to see it differently.

It’s a practice – to start looking for other things, for the light side. It’s not until you start to do this that you realize that victim thinking is just a habit – one that most of us have.

For me, it started with gratitude. That’s the foundation of a whole life, of being a complete person. From there, I added other practices, like self-care, meditation, intuition, and healthy relationships.

It’s never too late to start a new habit – and it happens pretty quickly. I invite you to start today – not to make grand, sweeping resolutions that are impossible to keep. Just start with one practice. When you wake up or when you go to bed (or both!) breathe in the feeling of  gratitude. Let your breath take your mind to whatever floats up in your mind to be grateful for. And invite that feeling to be with you in your dreams and in your day.

It’s the start of choosing joy.

(More happiness practices)

I woke up this morning worrying – I think I was worrying in my dreams. Waking up like this used to be a common occurrence, but I thought I had my worrying tendencies under control. I guess the worry snuck in when I wasn’t paying attention…

I read a wonderful book about how to worry less. It’s called “Feel the Fear . . . and Do It Anyway” by Susan J. Jeffers. I’m not talking about the real fear you feel in a dangerous situation. I mean the fears that live in your mind – spinning around until they become a part of your everyday life – diminishing your joy bit by bit.

Jeffers guides you through some simple processes to get to the other side of crazy. And – they work! One of her techniques is to deeply feel the worst-case outcome of your worst fear. It might be awful – really horrible. And – you find out that you don’t die. That you probably could live through your worst fear if it did come to pass – which it most likely won’t.

That alone is amazing. The energy you used to spend on this constant worry can now be turned to something else. And just like with any habit, it’s a good idea to replace it with something else, or you might just slip back into it. But I wanted to take it further, to turn that depleted energy of worry into a machine for happiness.

Meditation is my method, so I chose to turn the scary scenarios of my worry into a platform for transformation. My biggest worry was that my husband would die. At times I was convinced of it happening, and felt my own grief at the news. It did make me feel kind of crazy sometimes. If that energy was having that effect on me, what was it doing to him? I know as a kid the drain that my mother’s worry was on me. I felt responsible for her obsessive focus on imminent danger and death. It surrounded me with fear.

So, in meditation I began to picture a time when my husband was happy, when he was filled with what makes him whole. And I focused on seeing him that way and how it felt. I breathed out love toward him, surrounding him with light and lifting him up in joy. This practice makes me so happy that I easily slip into seeing myself in the same light and love.

The more I practice, the less I worry. And the energy of fear dissipates and becomes peace.

Please enjoy this meditation as a first step to transforming worry to peace:

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That’s what the Wizard from the Wizard of Oz called himself. And what was his gift? To help the Lion, the Scarecrow and the Tin Man see that all that they needed was already inside them.

The Lion learned that courage isn’t the absence of fear, but the willingness to proceed in spite of it.

The Scarecrow learned that knowledge is more than memorizing data, it’s the ability to think and clarity of mind.

The Tin Man found that his heart was not just the physical organ that pumps blood, but the soul that connects with other souls.

And Dorothy found that home lives in her heart, along with all the people that she loves.

At least that’s the way I see it. I have been blessed with many Mystical Consultants, from my parents and siblings to my husband, life coaches, friends, gurus and teachers. My clients sometimes teach me the most.

So now I’m a Mystical Consultant – that wizard behind the scenes to help you clear away the smoke and the cobwebs to look into the mirror and see – the light within.

Intuition is a blessing that you can use everyday, once you get the “hang” of it. It informs your relationships, your work, your parenting – it affects your very outlook on life. For me, using intuition just flows naturally out of the spiritual work I’ve done over many years. Mixed in with heavy doses of gratitude, it’s helped me to have an amazing marriage, joyful friendships, and beautiful work.

Intuition encompasses so many things – I’ll just dip my toe in the subject today. At it’s simplest, intuition is the ability to see the light. Rather than being some mysterious psychic ability, intuition is an awareness, a sense of knowing that you can develop and deepen over time. All of us are born with it – it’s a free gift from Spirit.

You’ll find your own unique way to awaken your intuition. You can start by getting quiet and observing what’s around you, and learn more about how energy flows through everything.

Look up!

You might think you’re already aware of your world. But how about when you hear of a new fad or music group? You’re not quite sure how it got past you, when everyone else seems to know about it. And then you hear about it every time you talk to someone.

Last weekend I told my friend Deb that I never knew there were so many hawks in the sky. She wisely said, “You just weren’t looking.” That’s exactly it.

In meditation one day I asked for what I needed to know, and I got the message, “Look up.” I didn’t know what that meant, but I started looking up anyway. What I saw were trees, birds, clouds – a whole world up there I wasn’t paying attention to! Hawk struck me deeply as a totem animal – one that always had a message for me.

Now I see hawks all the time. In fact, I’ve begun to rely on their presence when I need verification. I started noticing that a hawk or other bird was flying over, just at the moment when I made an important decision or had a new idea. At first I was amazed; almost dumbstruck. But it is an everyday occurrence. Now I smile and laugh when I see that shadow of wing; I send up some gratitude for the angelic “thumbs-up” and know that I’m on the right path.

Energy Awareness

Developing my intuition started out with simple awareness, like my bond with hawks, and grew into an understanding of energy. Everything shares energy – from the sun, from within, between people, and most important, from Spirit, which shines through all. Meditation and other practices can help guide you to a greater understanding.

For me, meditation led to a calm, a place I could find a peace and clarity that didn’t exist in my outside world. Making a practice of getting “out of my mind” and into that deeper place meant that it became easier to find that peace more often. Then a real shift happened – that peace started crossing over from my “meditation world” to my everyday existence. The beautiful gift from that peace is the openness to Spirit that happens in meditation can how happen at any time. That energy easily flows into everything. Intuition is now informing my decisions without my really thinking about it. That’s what I think of as really being in the flow of life – one with that truth of Spirit.

Gently increasing awareness of your own energy and the energy of everything around you is a transformation – it puts you in the center of a ton of information that you were missing out on before. Having so much more available to you naturally gives you the ability to make decisions with clarity and certainty.

My best advice about where to start is: look up, look around, but first – look within.

Do you ever wish that you could “listen to your gut” and make clear decisions with confidence? Feel more connected to Spirit? Feel that you belong and have a purpose? This lighthearted class introduces ways that you can use to deeply connect every day. We’ll cover:

• Divination cards
• Pendulums
• Energy work
• Animal Totems
• Sacred Space

This course helps you discover that deep connection with nature that you’ve always felt. We explore the animal traditions of different cultures and discuss what meaning they bring to our modern lives. Through relaxing breath and visualization exercises, you’ll uncover the intuitive within and meet the animal totem that has a message for you today.